The campus tours were organised under the auspices of the New Zealand Students' Arts Council. In 19 the band moved into mainstream performance venues with tours of New Zealand tertiary campuses and folk music clubs. At this time Peter Caldwell replaced the late Coldham-Fussell and with the addition of a 'bottler', who was employed solely to take the hat among the audience but whose role rapidly expanded to include clown-like interpretive go-go dancing, the BMSB achieved a high degree of proficiency and were among New Zealand's top earning buskers. The music played was/is generally ironic or humorous, and the group employed tight vocal arrangements.ĭuring the mid-1980s the BMSB was primarily a busking band, having won the Battle of the Buskers in May 1986 at the Gluepot Tavern, and touring New Zealand at irregular intervals. This instrumental line-up has remained unchanged to the present. The original line-up involved tea-chest bass, ukuleles, junk instruments and children's toys. The BMSB played instruments and incorporated musical styles which are found in the bush band and skiffle traditions, but the theatrical background of members contributed to a more visual and humorous street performance style than would normally be associated with these folk/blues music genres. The group has long been connected with the McGillicuddy Serious Party (McGSP), of which Cairns was the leader and a founding member, and some members of the BMSB have also stood as candidates in various elections under the McGSP banner. This specific PEP scheme was run by the Hamilton City Council and involved creating performances and art in public spaces and schools. These schemes were initiatives instigated by the then National Government to undertake public works and provide vocational experience for the unemployed. It was started in 1983 by Jim Fulton, Graeme Cairns and Ian Coldham-Fussell when all three were members of a Project Employment Program (PEP) scheme. The Big Muffin Serious Band (BMSB) is a ukulele-based music performance group from Hamilton, New Zealand. See Monkey, Caldwell, Cairns and Fulton, 1987
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