Footrot Flats;
The Dog's Tail Tale

All of which constitutes a fairly extraordinary achievement for a neophyte film scorer who openly warned his employers "Hey, you're taking a risk; I've never done this before". Unable to read or write music, Dobbyn set about his task with commendable diligence. First he spent a month hiring every animated video available at his local rental shop. "Once I got over the flattery of being asked, I bought up all these books and records. I thought I'd better look at how people did film music so I got hold of a lot of John Williams soundtracks. I tried to do homework as every professional should, I suppose, but I got more confused doing that. After a while I threw all the stuff I'd bought away because I realised they wanted my music."

Dobbyn equipped himself with a computer keyboard and an 8-track recording machine and settled down to a solid year of work. "It was very much sink or swim, I really learnt on the job. I worked from the script up, following the animation and coming up with character songs as well as the incidental music. I was given a free hand. It was a very happy marriage. It was a totally different way of working for me. It was strict discipline- up at eight in the morning, stop for meals and then work until eight at night. It was certainly a change from the lifestyle I'd known since I was 18- staggering up the stairs at 5 a.m. after a late gig out of town!"

Once he had assembled his package of reggae rock, hard rock, light pop and assorted incidental sounds, Dave took up residence in a 24-track Auckland studio, where the final tracks were put down with the assistance of Maori group Herbs, the band Ardijah and a school choir. The tone of his music assisted the producers in their goal of having Footrot Flats accepted as something more than a children's cartoon film. "It is very satisfying to be able to rework and experiment with sounds until you are happy," he reflects.

[excerpt adapted from Glenn A. Bakers article "DAVE DOBBYN'S DOG'S TALE" from the August 1987 issue of the APRA magazine .]