Shona Laing

From AndrewJFisher 04/15/2019 22:46

Many are probably wondering about the album title. "1905" was the name Shona's first single, which became a New Zealand hit in 1972 and one of her best known songs. So she started out doing a kind of folk rock/pop. Her second album was less folk, more rock and her '80s albums were synth-pop/stadium rock, her best known song from that period being "(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy". I think Shona has a very good voice and one thing I respect most about her is that she always sang in a more natural, New Zealand-accented voice, starting at a time when it was common for Australasians to imitate American or British singers. She doesn't sound pretty exactly, she's sort of "Kiwi sheila", though she is unmistakably female. She's a songwriter too, most of her songs, in this 1972-1990 period at least, credited to her alone and they're very impressive, especially considering she began releasing her songs at only 16 years old.