The Fourmyula

aka Pipp, In-Sect


Between 1968 and 1971 when they disbanded, The Fourmyula had a string of hits unmatched by any other New Zealand group.

They bucked the tradition of local bands covering overseas songs, insisting on recording their own material. One of these originals, ‘Nature’, composed by pianist/guitarist Wayne Mason, gave the group a No.1 hit and went on to be covered by numerous artists over the following decades – including a second hit version in 1993 by The Mutton Birds – eventually being voted the nation’s best song of the past 75 years in the 2001 APRA poll.

In-Sect in Upper Hutt circa 1965: Wayne Mason, Martin Hope, Chris Parry and Cass Gascoigne
Photo credit: Martin Hope collection
Alice Is There
The 1968 debut album, Fourmyula, with a period cover designed by Barry Clothier and Lyn Berquist
Turn Your Back On The Wind - live in 2010
After hours on the Fairsky, the Fourmyula mingle with other passengers. The band is, from left: Martin Hope, Carl Evensen, roadie Jim Pilcher, Ali Richardson, and Chris Parry. Wayne Mason is absent; the camera-shy man on the far right is unidentified
Bubbles for the Fourmyula on board the 'Fairsky', December 1969-January 1970. From left, Ali Richardson, Martin Hope, Chris Parry, roadie Jim Pilcher, Carl Evensen, Wayne Mason 
Fourmyula in fancy dress on the Fairsky: Carl Evensen, Martin Hope, Wayne Mason
"Buy Fourmyula Records". Outside a record store in Upper Hutt, 1969.
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
The Fourmyula, 1967: Chris Parry, Wayne Mason, Ali Richardson and Martin Hope
The Complete Singles As & Bs: a compilation of every Fourmyula single, released in 2010
In-Sect, one of several pre-Fourmyula bands, 1966. At the rear on the guitar is Frankie Stevens.
Photo credit: Mark Nicolle collection
The secretary of the Fourmyula Fan Club, Diane Mackenzie, with silver disc awarded for sales in excess of 10,000 copies of the song "Nature". Photograph taken 6 February 1970 by an Evening Post staff photographer.
Martin Hope (front) and Chris Parry of The Fourmyula, late 1969
The Fourmyula, 1968
The Fourmyula, 1969
Ali Richardson of The Fourmyula, in Kaikoura at the start of a South Island tour, Spring 1969
Record displays, 1969 style in a Hutt Valley store
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library
Four Hits EP, 1969
The Fourmyula - short interview and live performance of 'Nature' (2010)
Wayne Mason, one a series of Fourmyula portraits taken in 1969 in Upper Hutt
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
Martin Hope
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
The Fourmyula leave Wellington, 1969
The Fourmyula outside their flat at Willesden Green, London NW10, late 1970
The Fourmyula playing (and about to win) the Wellington Battle of the Sounds, 1968
Ali Richardson
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
Chris Parry, in Kaikoura with The Fourmyula, Spring 1969
The Fourmyula in August 1969 on board Castel Felice returning to New Zealand from London. L to r: Wayne Mason, Ali Richardson, Carl Evensen, Chris Parry and Martin Hope.
Photo credit: Perry Lennon collection
In-Sect, 1966 - Martin Hope, Wayne Mason, Ron Gascoigne and Chris Parry. Within a few months they would be The Fourmyula.
The Fourmyula in the UK, 1969
Carl Evensen, in Kaikoura with The Fourmyula, Spring 1969
Lew Pryme ponders The Fourmyula's big problem
Shane Hales, The Fourmyula's Carl Evensen & Martin Hope, and Bruce 'Phantom' Robinson in London in February 1971. Taken outside The Fourmyula's flat in NW10, where Phantom and Shane were staying after their arrival in the UK on the cruise ship The Ellinis.
Photo credit: Shane Hales collection
The Fourmyula, 1967
Turn Your Back On The Wind
Album cover outtake 1969
Photo credit: Photo by Sal Criscillo
Early footage of Sinewaves and The Fourmyula in Upper Hutt
Wayne Mason with his 1970 APRA Silver Scroll for Nature
The cover of the band's second album, Green B Holiday, from 1969, featuring their 1949 Commer truck
Carl Evensen and Wayne Mason with fans, Lower Hutt, 1969
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
Carl Evensen
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
2013 UK compilation of The Fourmyula
Chris Parry in 1969
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
Wayne Mason, Chris Parry, Ali Richardson, Martin Hope, 1967
The 1969 album, Creation
The Fourmyula stand beside the Hutt River
Wayne Mason of the Fourmyula, a day off at Lake Reserve in the Wairarapa, late 1969
Join The Fourmyula Fan Club, 1967: Martin Hope, Ali Richardson, Wayne Mason, Chris Parry
Turn Your Back On The Wind: Recorded in London in 1970 but not released until 2010
The Fourmyula, Lower Hutt 1969
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
The Fourmyula, 1967
1970 Pipp single sleeve
The Fourmyula in the Rugby Gym, Upper Hutt, 1968: Ali Richardson, Chris Parry, Carl Evensen, Martin Hope and Wayne Mason
Alive: recorded at the Wellington Town Hall in 1970; Shane fronts the band on three tracks.
The Fourmyula's reunion gig, 2010
Photo credit: Andrew Schmidt Collection
Trivia:

In 2013 UK label RPM issued a collection of 21 remastered Fourmyula tracks

In 1968 The Fourmyula featured in an NZBC show Has Religion A Place In The World? thus becoming the first New Zealand pop act to appear in a religious show.

Nature
Members:

Carl Evensen - vocals

Martin Hope - guitar

Wayne Mason - keyboards

Chris Parry - drums

Alistair Richardson - bass

Labels:

HMV


Columbia


EMI

The Fourmyula was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2010. The Hall of Fame is an initiative of Recorded Music NZ and the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), whose support of AudioCulture enables the site to stream music content.

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