Alastair Riddell's band Space Waltz was a short-lived one-album New
Zealand rock act who hit gold with a #1 hit single in October 1974 with
the song 'Out On The Street' but thereafter failed to achieve anything
even close to that feat. While relegated to one-hit-wonder status in the
eyes of many, to this day Riddell and Space Waltz epitomize the
mid-1970s heyday of glam rock in New Zealand. But in truth their impact
went far beyond this. Their generationally divisive nation-wide debut on
the hugely popular MOR television talent quest Studio One/New Faces
demonstrated the power of mass media exposure - they were instantly
signed to a record deal with industry giant EMI - while Riddell's
controversial gender-bending image provided a cultural crossroads that
greatly impacted the wider youth culture of Aotearoa New Zealand. In
addition, while the album's most famous track, 'Out On The Street, ' is
rightly regarded as New Zealand's glam rock anthem, the wider album
demonstrates a compositional and musical depth that goes far beyond glam
rock and into the realm of sophisticated progressive rock, ultimately
providing an unlikely and highly unique musical amalgam.