Zaine Griff -

Zaine Griff is a singer-songwriter, bassist, and visual artist from New Zealand. He cut two albums with The Human Instinct, then moved to England and released a single apiece with the bands Baby Face and Screemer. As a solo artist, he released the 1980–82 albums Ashes and Diamonds and Figures.

Background

Zaine Griff was born on October 4, 1957, in Auckland, New Zealand, and grew up under the name Glenn Mikkelson. His adoptive Danish parents encouraged painting and poetry. Griff learned guitar after his mother bought him instruments, and cousin John Staines showed him chords. Older cousin Max Thomson, drummer with television group The Pleasers, lent him Bob Dylan records. He attended Avondale Intermediate and Avondale College, where he formed The Fable with fellow student Peter Greenwood and rehearsed at St Judes Church Hall.

The Human Instinct

The Fable staged self-promoted local shows around Auckland. Griff later answered a bass-player advertisement and joined Madison Kate, which held a residency at the Montmartre nightclub on Lorne Street. Club manager Phil Warren moved Madison Kate to Hatchett’s on Cook Street, where The Human Instinct shared alternating sets with the band. Drummer Maurice Greer then recruited Griff to replace bassist Neil Edwards in The Human Instinct.

The Human Instinct moved to Christie nightclub in Christchurch with bassist Griff, drummer–singer Greer, and guitarists Martin Hope and John Donoghue. The group later played Ali Baba’s in Wellington before returning to Auckland for a residency at Granny’s nightclub. Donoghue helped Griff edit songs, and Greer added Griff compositions to the set. Griff wrote five of nine songs for The Hustler, the 1974 Zodiac album recorded at Stebbing Recording Studios in Auckland. The group followed the album with concerts in Tahiti. Recordings from the same phase later supplied the archival album Peg Leg.

Migration

Griff moved to London with his wife and child and carried reel-to-reel masters of nine Human Instinct songs. He used the recordings to secure a publishing deal with Chappell Music. Griff answered a Melody Maker advertisement and joined Baby Face as bassist and singer. Baby Face toured Britain and Europe before Johnny Wakelin recruited the group for the Black Superman album. Griff and guitarist Alan Coates arranged most of the Wakelin material and later appeared on European television after “In Zaire” reached No. 4 in Britain.

Riki Thompson, manager of the Dance Studio on Floral Street, introduced Griff to classes under mime artist Lindsay Kemp, who trained Griff for a year and cast him in the West End production Flowers. Griff left the company when Kemp accepted an Australian season.

Screemer

Griff resumed his music career in Screemer, a London five-piece formed by Baby Face guitarist Alan Coates along with drummer Adrian Sheppard, keyboardist Rob Norman, and second guitarist Dave Wells. Screemer joined the May 31, 1975, Hyde Park free concert below Don McLean and Caravan. The group also worked London rooms such as the Bridge House in Canning Town and Three Rabbits in Manor Park.

Screemer made a February 21, 1976, appearance on the ATV talent series New Faces. Bell promoted the group with the one-sided Lyntone flexi Scream, a 33-rpm disc with excerpts from the forthcoming single and spoken band messages. Bell issued “Interplanetary Twist” in June 1976 (b/w “Billy”). Phil Wainman produced the single and co-wrote the A-side with Richard Myhill. Griff, still credited as Mikkelson, co-wrote “Billy” with Coates.

Screemer supported Slik on early-1977 British dates, including Cardiff Top Rank and Caesar’s Palace in Luton. Arista issued their April 1977 second single “In the City,” a Griff original backed with the Wells/Norman track “Joey Corrella,” both Wainman productions. Griff recalls the emotic drawl of Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter on “In the City,” a mid-tempo rocker with Sixties vocables and a haunting Moog refrain (far removed from the namesake concurrent Jam single).

Early Solo Activity

Screemer changed their the billing to Zaine Griff in late May after the singer learned of his adoption and birth name. Griff fronted the revamped act at a June Sound Circus show with drummer Clive Edwards and guest guitarist Chris Thompson, the New Zealand-raised Earth Band singer whom Griff knew from Auckland. Thompson joined previous Screemer appearances at the Bridge House.

Arista A&R head Andrew Bailey signed Griff as a solo artist and arranged unreleased sessions with Thompson and Manfred Mann. Griff also cut bass overdubs for the Kinks album Misfits. He played more than 175 live shows a year with Edwards, guitarist Steve Bolton, bassist Matt Irving, and keyboardist Bernard Clark. Griff used the unreleased Arista recordings as demos for a Warner Bros. deal and signed to Warner label Automatic Records.

He met keyboardist Hans Zimmer at a March 1979 Utopia Studios pre-production session with Colin Thurston. Griff kept Zimmer in his band and recruited Ultravox drummer Warren Cann for the Reading Festival that August. Warner executive Nick Mobbs then linked Griff with Tony Visconti, the longtime David Bowie producer with recent credits behind Sparks and Thin Lizzy.

Ashes and Diamonds

Zaine Griff released his debut album, Ashes and Diamonds, in September 1980 on Automatic.

Griff drew the eleven songs from his stage set and arranged each title for a near-live studio performance. He handled bass and lead vocals beside guitarist Steve Bolton and synthesist Hans Zimmer. Keyboardist Andy Clark (Be-Bop Deluxe, Red Noise) and drummer Andy Duncan completed the principal group.

“Tonight” glistens through buoyant synths with taut precision. “Run” glides toward a bright keyboard solo. “She’s My Man” veers through an angular instrumental break. “The Scandinavian” rises from sparse electronic figures to an emphatic finish. “Ta Cigarette Après L’Amour” softens midway, then opens onto an extended wordless passage.

A1. “Tonight” (3:12)
A2. “Run” (2:54)
A3. “Ashes and Diamonds” (4:41)
A4. “Secret Pleasures” (3:13)
A5. “She’s My Man” (3:09)
A6. “Things You Say” (3:03)

B1. “The Scandinavian” (5:00)
B2. “Orient” (3:58)
B3. “The Iron Curtain” (4:12)
B4. “Ta Cigarette Après l’Amour” (3:41)
B5. “The Sentimentalists” (3:56)

Griff began pre-production in March 1979 at Utopia Studios, where Colin Thurston introduced him to Zimmer. Tony Visconti produced and mixed the album at Good Earth and Scorpio Sound. Further work took place at Tapestry and Rock City. Visconti also engineered the eight-week project. His concurrent work with David Bowie brought Griff and Duncan into a separate three-song television session for The Kenny Everett Video Show.

The black front sleeve places a formal Griff portrait inside pale-green lettering and a thin matching border. The original UK edition included a lyric inner sleeve.

Automatic issued “Tonight” in January 1980 (b/w “This Could Mean Everything”); the single reached No. 54 on the UK Singles Chart. “Ashes and Diamonds” followed in May (b/w “The Haunt”) and reached No. 68. The label released “Run” in August (b/w “She’s My Man”).

Ode reissued the album on CD in June 2012 through the New Zealand catalogue. MiG paired both early albums in an August 2017 two-disc set with B-sides and demos. The collection also added previously unreleased recordings.

Figvres

Zaine Griff released his second album, Figvres, in September 1982 on Polydor.

Griff co-arranged the album’s eleven originals with Zimmer. Andy Clark returned from the debut, while Cann and Yellow Magic Orchestra drummer Yukihiro Takahashi joined the revised cast. New Zealand bassist Billy Kristian also entered the sessions. Kate Bush and Linda Jardim supplied backing vocals; Bush appears on “Flowers,” Griff’s tribute to Lindsay Kemp.

“The Proud Ones” sweeps through glistening synth lines to a frenetic violin break. “The Vanishing Men” ticks through mechanical accents before Warren Cann’s Simmons solo. “Flowers” lingers on sustained dramatic chords with Kate behind Zaine. “Hot” revs through a sleek synthetic rush beneath recurring strings. “Fahrenheit 451” rides a motorik tread under orchestral strikes.

“Figures” traces a sharp electronic motif across spare ivory lines. “Time Stands Still” flashes through electronic waves before a skipping-record stutter. “The Beating of Wings” swells from a lavish symphonic opening through to a lengthy instrumental finale.

A1. “The Proud Ones” (5:07)
A2. “The Vanishing Men” (3:48)
A3. “Flowers” (4:26)
A4. “Hot” (4:36)
A5. “Fahrenheit 451” (5:50)

B1. “Figures” (3:04)
B2. “The Stranger” (2:41)
B3. “Time Stands Still” (3:18)
B4. “83rd and 4th” (3:25)
B5. “Chance of a Dance” (3:48)
B6. “The Beating of Wings” (5:34)

Griff and Zimmer produced Figvres in 1982 at Snake Ranch and Rockfield. Additional sessions took place at Red Bus with engineer Steve Rance. They mixed the record at Musicland in Munich. Arun Chakraverty mastered it at the Master Room. The assignment gave Zimmer his first album-production credit after an earlier single for The Damned.

Figvres appeared in an inner picture sleeve designed by Peter Saville and Brel Wik through Grafica Industria G32, with photography by Richard Haughton. Mark Wardel served as artistic consultant. Paul de Comarmond supplied fashion. The package combines a blue-toned Griff portrait with flowers and lily pads across blue-violet water. Scattered objects and a classical head complete the surrounding image. Saville also shared cover credit for the May 1982 Roxy Music album Avalon.

Polydor issued “Figures” in July 1982 (b/w “Mental Pictures”). The label followed in September with “Flowers” (b/w “Turn Out the Light”).

Ode reissued Figvres on CD in June 2012. MiG paired the album with Ashes and Diamonds in August 2017. The expanded edition added the two B-sides, the 1983 single “Swing,” and archival recordings.

1983–84 Activity

After promoting Figvres, Griff joined Hans Zimmer and Warren Cann on the Helden project, contributing lead and backing vocals to six songs for the proposed Spies album. ZiCa issued the Griff–Linda Allan duet “Holding On,” but the full record remained unreleased. Polydor followed with Griff’s standalone “Swing” in October 1983, backed on the 12-inch by his version of the Ultravox song “Passionate Reply,” the 1980 “Vienna” b-side.

Griff pursued a third solo album through separate work with Midge Ure and producer John Punter, who recorded three tracks with him at AIR Studios. Gary Numan also brought Griff into the Berserker sessions for backing vocals on “The Secret.” European touring, a Marquee Club residency, and six months in Amsterdam accompanied the unfinished album project. Griff returned to Auckland in 1984 and later established the nonprofit Jazz Palace.

2010s Solo Albums

Griff resumed album work after a trip to Prague supplied material for his 2011 comeback album Child Who Wants the Moon, recorded with bassist and aupo Bay studio-owner Billy Kristian. Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner produced the 2013 follow-up The Visitor, followed by the four-song Abjure EP.

For his 2016 Ode release Mood Swings, Griff worked with co-producer and guitarist Hugh Nettar across studios in Tokyo, Surrey, and Wellington. Screemer drummer Clive Edwards returned for the sessions, joined by Japanese players including keyboardist Miori Kuniyoshi and bassist Masami Nishijima.

Archival Releases

In 2013, Griff discovered box of 1978–83 London studio demos, restored for the 2014 Ode archival release Immersed, a twelve-track disc with early versions of Figvres songs “83rd and 4th,” “Flowers,” and “The Vanishing Men,” alongside unreleased material such as “Molly Molly,” “The Kids,” “Back to the Heart,” and “Horizontal Hold.”

The original Helden recordings remained shelved after Zimmer moved into film scores. While making Mood Swings, Griff discussed reviving the material with Nettar and eventually rebuilt the project with Stephen Small, Clive Edwards, Debbi Doss, Dave Johnston, and engineer-producer Julian Mendelsohn. Sony Music Japan released the newly recorded The Helden Project // Spies in late 2022 through ZG Music.

Visage 1980–2020

In 2020, former Visage drummer Rusty Egan invited Griff to front Visage 1980–2020, an audio-visual live project based on the catalogue associated with the late Steve Strange. The planned W-Fest appearance fell to the pandemic, but the organizers subsequently proposed new Visage material. Egan paired Griff with “Fade to Grey” co-writer Chris Payne, whom Griff first met at Numan’s 1984 Berserker sessions.

Payne sent instrumental ideas from Britain for Griff to develop in New Zealand. When the Visage project stopped, the pair retained their new songs and continued independently with American producer Hilary Bercovici. Their collaboration produced the 18-track A Double Life, which ZG Music released on March 1, 2024.

Discography: