Rob Aickin was New Zealand's top record producer in the late 70's early 80s. He produced many gold and platinum records for artists like, Patsy Riggir, Hello Sailor, Golden Harvest, Th Dudes With Dave Dobbyn, Toni Williams, Murray Grindlay and many others while working for Stebbing Recording studios.
In the early 1960s, he was in a band from an Auckland called Papakura. The band was called Four Quarters.[1] Later he was bass player in a group from Clevedon, just outside of Auckland called The Clevedonaires. Other members were Ron and Graham Brown on guitar and drums and sister Gaye playing keyboards. In 1966, they were signed by Benny Levin to his record label, Impact. After releasing a few singles they were set to go to Vietnam to entertain the troops. As the Vietnam War was escalating their promoter didn't guarantee them return tickets. So they went to Australia instead. They did quite well and eventually became a group called Bitch. Aickin came back to New Zealand in the mid-1970s.[2]
In 2015, he was interviewed for the NZ Musician magazine about his days with The Clevdonaires and Bitch. It was published in the June/July issue.[3]
Rob Aickin was the "in house" producer at Stebbing Studios in Auckland.[4] [5]
In 1978, he won the Producer of the year award for the Hello Sailor album by Hello Sailor.[6]
| Artist | Title | Release info | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Havoc & The Hurricanes | Havoc! | RTC RTS 71012 | 1979 | Co-produced with Gary Havoc |
| Th'Dudes | So You Wanna Be A Rock'n'Roll Star | Key L 20041 | 1982 | |
| Hello Sailor | Last Chance To Dance | Key L 20042 Festival Records L 20042 | 1982 | |
| Artist | Title | Release info | Year | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello Sailor | Hello Sailor | Key L 36336 | 1977 | ||
| Murray Grindlay | Murray Grindlay | Key KK4 | 1977 | ||
| Toni Williams | The One I Sing My Love To | Interfusion L-36339 | 1977 | ||
| Golden Harvest | Golden Harvest | Key L 36681 | 1978 | ||
| Hello Sailor | Pacifica Amour | Key L 36682 | 1978 | ||
| Th'Dudes | Right First Time | Key L 36685 | 1979 | ||
| Patsy Riggir | Lay down beside me & Are you lonely | EPIC | 1981 | Both albums made Gold & Platinum sales | |
| Th'Dudes / Hello Sailor | So You Wanna Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star / Last Chance To Dance | Key D 30560 | 1991 | CD compilation Production: Ian Morris (tracks: 1 to 12) Production: Rob Aicken (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 11) | |
| Hello Sailor | The Sailor Story 1975-1996 | Festival Records D 31672 | 1996 | 2 x CD compilation | |
| Various artists | Give It A Whirl (The Soundtrack To The Major Television Series) | Propeller REV504 Universal New Zealand 99632 | 2003 | 2 x CD compilation Producer on, Hello Sailor - "I'm A Texan" Th'Dudes - "Right First Time" | |