Nashville, TN (1888PressRelease)
August 28, 2008 - The growing popularity of the four Haystack songs featured on the compilation Album "Kiwi Made Music" Vol.2 has prompted Tree Records to offer it again initially as a Digitally delivered product from CD Baby and iTunes.
This original Album was recorded at the EMI's new 32 track Studio at Lower Hutt in mid 1977 with a Christmas release along with a 7" vinyl Single "Bright Boy", taken from the Album. Apart from a rave Review in the NZ Listener Magazine by famous NZ 60's pop star Ray Columbus, the Album did not take off with the New Zealand general public.
Then in 1996, a Record Shop in New Plymouth purchased the last remaining mint copies of the single and Album from Tree. The next thing, it was being offered on E-bay and sold for $100 USD. The local price had risen to $60 NZD while the original suggested retail price was just $9.95 in 1977. By 2002, the Album was selling for $150-$160 USD on E-bay.
When Tree Records decided to join the new Digital Age back in 2007, it released just the two CD Set "Kiwi Made Music" Vols. 1 & 2 which featured all Tree's original single releases from 1968 to 1977. CD Baby who also sell the hard copies of these two separate CD's and the Digital tracks and Albums were sold on iTunes, Tradebit and Napster.Thirteen months later, the "Kiwi Made Music" material was dominating Tree's TOP 10 Digital Sales Chart and all four of Haystack's tracks were in the TOP 10.
Originally planned as a simple country rock Album, at studio session #4, a synthesizer appeared in the studio and the Album's Engineer, Frank Douglas said EMI owned it and it could be hired. In those few seconds, the country rock tag shattered and a new, yet to be coined tag replaced it - 'progressive country'. It was not till 10 years later that what Tree's Dene Kellaway and Haystack did was repeated by Jim Moss with his Jayrem Label and a band called The Body Electric.
Unique, all original material penned mostly by Charles Harter, a school teacher specializing in music and maths who was also the husband of Haystack's lead singer Merilyn Harter. Neil Frances added several Beatles inspired songs to make a delightful Album with a subtle message in it.
In re-releasing this Album, Tree Records were mindful of the Collectors of the original vinyl and removed one track and reduced the printed lyrics to just 3 songs for the CD version, making the original vinyl even more valuable than before to serious Collectors and Haystack fans.
More information on Haystack and the iTunes link to them can be found at http://www.treerecords.net/index.html and 2 minute sound samples of all tracks can be heard at www.cdbaby.com/cd/haystack
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