The Associated Theatre Services collection

Interning at the Alexander Turnbull Library

Kia ora, my name is Olive, and I have just completed my Master of Museum and Heritage Studies at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. As part of the degree, I was required to do a 600-hour internship, which I recently finished at the Alexander Turnbull Library with the Arrangement and Description team.

I was interested in working at the Turnbull Library because I was already familiar with using the Library for research, and wanted to gain insight into how an institution of this size and scale prepares its collections to be used by the public.

The focus of my internship was arranging and describing the Associated Theatre Services collection, which is part of the Archive of New Zealand Music.

Associated Theatre Services

Operating from the 1970s to the early 2000s, Associated Theatre Services was an event management and logistics company, run by Ray Channon, concerned mostly with live, on-stage entertainment, and assisting the television industry with lighting rigs and mobile staging.

Given the small nature of our country, Associated Theatre Services was not limited to touring musicians around the country, but a variety of different events, including providing the staging and lighting for car launches, assisting when Pope John Paul II visited, stadium openings, and festivals.

This means that the collection is varied and includes things like stage plans and lighting rigs, signed photographs, newspaper clippings and correspondence which tracks across decades, among other items.

Ray Channon

Ray Channon clearly had adept record management skills, as he kept what appears to be everything related to almost all of his jobs. These records paint a picture of a single event, the entire company, and of Ray himself; revealing the intimate details and struggles of a career in the live music industry.

The audiovisual material included in the donation had already been arranged and described by the time the collection came to me, so I was just responsible for the manuscript material, of which there was an estimated 250 folders.

With lots of oversized material that needed to be separated and laid flat for storage, hundreds of fading faxes that needed photocopying onto acid-free paper for preservation, and thousands of staples needing removal, I could leave no page unturned.

Willie Nelson in concert

I found things like concert programmes for Paul McCartney’s 1993 ‘The New World Tour’, blueprints for George Michael’s stage when he toured New Zealand in 1988, and Willie Nelson’s contractual rider, which is about exactly what one would expect — he wanted 15 different varieties of cigarettes to accompany him on stage, alongside a bottle of whiskey.

Newspaper clippings

Ray also seemingly collected every review for every show he worked on, as newspaper clippings are abundant throughout the folders. My favourite is a review for the band Shadows, headlined “Shadows ‘cool but boring’”. The clipping includes the line “technically the show was perfect”, and the review goes on to compliment the sound design and light show while condemning the music that was played. You can see why he kept the clipping.

It’s small moments like this, that are scattered throughout the collection, where you get to see how passionate Ray was about his work, and how proud he was of it.

Something for everyone

If you’re not interested in live music, no worries, as the collection also reveals a fair bit about different cars or car companies being launched in New Zealand. Motorheads will rejoice, as the in-depth details about the launch of General Motor Company, and the Toyota Corolla in Aotearoa, are available.

Ray designed and built unique spinning car displays at these events, as well as controlling the lighting and sound. There really is something for everyone here.

Ray Channon's influence on Aotearoa’s live music industry

Sorting through this material allowed me to get to know Ray, and the rest of his family and crew, who helped run the company. I felt his pain every time someone called him ‘Ray Shannon’ (which I imagine must have been excruciating for him).

There is a high chance that most of New Zealand attended a concert, or stage play, or event that Ray had a hand in putting on between 1970 and 2000. He dominated the live music industry in this country, making large-scale international tours feasible in Aotearoa, his approach to staging and lighting gave promoters the confidence that these events would draw huge crowds.

Just one glance at the names in this collection would astound you. International touring artists like Bob Marley, David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, U2 and Tina Turner along with the biggest New Zealand artists of the time.

Ray’s contribution to the live music industry in this country was considerable and anyone interested in learning more can now access the collection through the finding aid online.

Associated Theatre Services Ltd finding aid (ATL-Group-00583)

Thank you

I would like to say a big thank you to Dr Conal McCarthy, Emma Ravenhall, Dr Michael Brown and Rata Holtsag for supporting me throughout this internship, as without them this would not have been possible.