THE FOURMYULA

“Nature, enter me!” What a line, what a song, and what a band. The Fourmyula were Wellington’s greatest ever hitmakers, and in an age where cover versions were the norm, they wrote the book on self-penned songs. The Upper Hutt band formed in 1967, and just a year later, they made it to number 2 on the charts with their first single, “Come With Me”. Over the next three years, they would manage an astonishing 10 entries in the NZ Top 20, including “I’ll Sing You A Song”, “Forever”, “Home”, “Alice Is There” and the now-iconic “Nature”, a number 1 single in December 1969.

Comprised of Chris Parry (drums), Martin Hope (guitar/vocals), Carl Evenson (lead vocals), Ali Richardson (bass/vocals) and Wayne Mason (guitar/keyboards/vocals), in 1969 the group traveled to the UK, where they got to record at the famous Abbey Road studios while The Beatles worked in the studio next door. Returning there the following year, they recorded an album that, for contractual reasons, would remain unreleased for 40 years, and tried to win over Europe. But by 1971, they had disbanded. Despite all their members going on to fruitful careers in music, it took The Muttonbirds’ 1992 reworking of “Nature” to remind us of one of our key groups. Subsequently, the Wayne Mason composition was voted NZ’s greatest ever pop song, and it featured as the title track on the huge selling Nature’s Best compilation of great Kiwi tracks. This led to a revival of interest in The Fourmyula, and a 4-CD set, The Complete Fourmyula, as well as a brief concert reunion in 2010.

INDUCTEES:
Carl Evenson (vocals) • Martin Hope (guitar) • Wayne Mason (guitar, keyboards, vocals) • Chris Parry (drums) • Ali Richardson (bass).