Pick It Up – 1987 America's Cup Jingle

Loading the player...

"Pick It Up" was a promotional jingle written by Murray Grindlay for New Zealand's KZ-7 1987 America's Cup challenge, sponsored by Bank of New Zealand. It was released as the B-side of the 45rpm single "Sailing Away." It is used here as the intro for Radio New Zealand's live coverage of the yacht racing in Perth, hosted by Paddy O'Donnell in "The Tonight Show."

"Sailing Away / Pick It Up" spent nine weeks at number 1 in the singles chart. It was in the tradition of the "celebrity super-group" singles, which were popular in the 1980s (such as "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and "We Are The World") and featured a who's who of Aotearoa's pop and rock talent of the day, performing under the name "All of Us."

However, some were not so enthusiastic about "Sailing Away's" appropriation of the traditional waiata "Pokarekare Ana."