Pier 13

Still in his late teens, Russell Crowe was never shy about coming forward. Indeed, arguably the most ironically prophetic title ever found on a New Zealand pop record was on his 1982 single for Ode Records, ‘I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando’

It wasn’t even a particularly good record, in fact, it was rather awful, but to everyone who knew Crowe in his years as a pop-wannabe in New Zealand, it was clear that the singer was somewhat driven. Indeed, the sleeve of that single has a very moody Crowe leaning in a doorway, ciggie in hand, looking confident beyond his then rather lowly position in the Auckland pop strata.

It shows some determination, and a 1983 Russ le Roq press release includes “being interrupted while working” as a pet hate, along with “excess drinking” (one has to be amused at yet another irony here – Crowe’s extreme partying over the years has long been notorious) and “drugs of any kind”. However, it’s a strange, almost detached determination rather devoid of anything beyond the pose. He stands, he stares, he shows complete self-belief. But you just know that the record is going to be merely passable, which rather precisely set the parameters of Russell Crowe’s career as a musician going forward into the 21st Century.

It seems everyone who was going to gigs, playing in bands or simply there in those somewhat in-scene post-punk days, has a Russell Crowe story to tell. Perhaps that’s because he refused to play the conformity game. He always seemed out of step with fashion, and either oblivious to that or more likely he’d calculated that conformists are usually overlooked. And, yes, it was hard to overlook the confident and aspiring singer who could often be found near the intersection of Queen and Wellesley Streets in a jacket that said simply “RUSS” on the back.