Hello Sailor frontman Graham Brazier was working "on one of his best" albums when he died.
The 63-year-old died on Friday at an Auckland rehabilitation facility where he was treated after suffering a heart attack in August.
Brazier's longtime friend Kelly Addis paid tribute to the frontman's musical talents and said his almost-finished new album was one of his best.
"We've just finished the most amazing album with Alan Jansson. It's just a pleasure sitting here with Alan going 'gosh, aren't we glad we done this'.
"It's the best work Graham's done since Inside Out, Graham actually said to Alan 'Oh mate, can we hurry this album up because I don't want this album to be posthumous'. It obviously turned out to be prophetic."
The new album, titled Left Turn at Midnight, would likely be released towards the end of the year and Addis said he had also been working with Brazier on a stage production into the Hello Sailor story.
It was a sad loss for New Zealand music, but Brazier had lived the hard life of a rock frontman, Addis said.
"Graham lived a hard life and drunk more than most men, lived harder than most men and I guess it's not a surprise to me.
"I saw Graham last week with my mum and hugged him. Loved him. Always loved Graham."
Hello Sailor were forced to cancel their 40th anniversary tour of the North Island after Brazier suffered a heart attack while holidaying in the Bay of Islands. A benefit concert was planned to take the place of the Auckland concert at the Powerstation on Friday, September 18.
Bryan Bell, of the Exponents, met his friend Brazier more than 15 years ago, and was invited to play guitar at Hello Sailor's 25th anniversary concert. Bell was also part of the cancelled 40th anniversary tour and will play at the tribute concert.
"He was one of the great frontmen, he was absolutely captivating and had a great voice. He was always a passionate singer. On his day there were few who could come close to him," said Bell.
He remembers Brazier as a "Clydesdale of a man" who "always seemed as strong as an ox."
"The thing I will remember the most, he was the most well read person, and he would just wax lyrical and drop amazing lines from the most obscure books, and Shakespeare," said Bell.
He recounted urban myths of Brazier being invited to join the Doors after Jim Morrison died, and the guitar solo from The Knack's My Sharona was heavily influenced by Hello Sailor, after the bands toured together.
"They made an impression not just in New Zealand but overseas."
In a 2011 interview, on the eve of Hello Sailor's induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, Brazier clarified those "could have been in The Doors" stories.
"Jim Morrison had been well dead, 10 years I think, probably more... they put out an album of his poetry called American Prayer and it was to be backed by ambient music but they wanted someone to sing the hits, Light My Fire, Love Me Two Times, blah blah, all that sort of thing and they approached me to do it," said Brazier.
"But I didn't because if I had done that, it was 28 shows, it was around the unis and colleges. I would have had to leave these guys [Hello Sailor], I would have compromised the band, so being the loyal socialist that I am, I didn't do it."
In the 1970s David Gapes managed Hello Sailor and travelled to America with the band.
"It was right when they were a rock n roll phenomenon. It was the first band that charged to go to pub to see them. It was a great ride, it was very exciting," said Gapes.
And Brazier was the source of their success, he said.
"He was a star, he could sing like angel. He was a poet so he could write. He had that bad boy quality. He was a constant source amusement, excitement and astonishment," said Gapes.
"Graham's showmanship and personality shone through always, on the back of huge talent, and good looks, he was the whole package," he said. "He was an extraordinary talent."
Andrew Fagan, the former frontman for the 1980s rock band The Mockers, said Brazier's death was terrible news.
"I played lots of gigs with Graham, you know, Hello Sailor and my band over the last few years, and had a few good times with Graham."
They weren't particular mates, but they'd spent a lot of years in the industry together, he said.
"When you're playing gigs with people, that's when you really hang out afterwards and that kind of thing.
"The last time I saw Graham, we did a tribute to (Hello Sailor founding member) Dave McArtney, a fundraiser for his wife Donna Mills at the Powerstation, and we all sang different Dave McArtney songs."
McArtney died at his Point Chevalier home in Auckland in April 2013.
Frontman of the Dance Exponents, Jordan Luck, first met Brazier when opening for his band The Legionnaires. He credits Brazier with facilitating the success of his own band.
"Graham was instrumental in helping the band. We ended up being one side of Live at Mainstreet, The Legionnaires were on the other, and our audience grew exponentially. All of a sudden we were reaching 1000s overnight," he said.
Luck was especially upset by Brazier's death, because he knew there was more music to come.
"It is sinking in, but I am really saddened because I know he has an album in the works. there is a lot of stuff he wanted to say. He was very vibrant," said Luck.
"The thing about it is the body of work that Graham has got; his solo stuff is incredible, then you have the Legionnaires, then Hello Sailor. I have been performing Blue Lady for about five years. I learned the harmonica just so I could play the bridge," he said.
Hello Sailor formed in 1975 and were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1977 and produced three top-20 singles: Gutter Black, Blue Lady and Lyin' in the Sand.
In 2013, Brazier was sentenced to community work and intensive supervision for assaulting his partner and former partner.
At the time, the sentencing judge noted Brazier had a "long-standing dependency/addiction to substances".
Source: Stuff.co.nz
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