As a young boarder at Auckland's Sacred Heart College, Split Enz co-founder Mike Chunn had two aspirations - to be a Beatle and an All Black.
But after breaking his leg in a match against a rival team from St Paul's College featuring future All Black legend Bernie Fraser, his rugby dream was over.
"That left me being a Beatle. Mr Finn [Tim] and I left school with big dreams and in a few years they were starting to come true.
"The music industry in New Zealand was in its infancy. No-one was over 30 years old.
"But we strove and strove and cut through and hopped on planes and went overseas."
On Saturday night, Chunn (58) was on hand to share some of that wealth of experience with the grand finalists of Queenstown's 2010 Ultimate Battle of the Musos at a sold-out charity dinner for X-it Youth Centre.
Chunn summed up his love of popular music with a quote from Ben Hecht, the one-time "Shakespeare of Hollywood", who said:"Old songs are more than just tunes. They are small houses in which our hearts once live."
It seems Ultimate Battle of the Musos winners The Fletcherz (who were seated at Chunn's table) may have taken some of the Enz' philosophy to heart.
"We want to stick together as long as we can, go on tour and get as big as we can," Fletcherz guitarist George Hartshorn (14) said, summing up the band's masterplan.
X-it Youth Centre trustee Kim Wilkinson said although a final tally was not yet available, ticket sales and a silent auction had raised "in the vicinity" of $5000 from the gala event.
