'That was dance music' - Kount Five Plus Two's guide to music

An exhibition in New Plymouth is taking its inspiration from a famed Taranaki show band to transport visitors on a journey back in time through the fashion, music and technology of the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Kount Five Plus Two - the backing band for touring luminaries such Ray Columbus - played dances, cabarets, and hotels across the region over a 17-year career.

To enter the exhibition at Puke Ariki is to step into a time machine - one travelling from the era of country hall dances through to the pub scene of the 70s and 80s.

Your guide is Kount Five Plus Two - a seven-member covers band - who were a fixture on the Taranaki music scene at the time.

John Paki Paki - vocalist from 1966 to 1983 - said their job was to get people on their feet.

"We really were a local band and a dance band. The foundations of the band came from dancing.

"Dancing in those days ... we played dance nights in a weekend in Stratford - 1100 people and no grog."

He said the right songs were vital.

"Anything Frank Sinatra did or some of those guys Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones. That was dance music.

"And, of course, that invited the couple to be able to spend at least three or four minutes with that particular person who got the girl up to dance."

Then the 70s came along, with new fashion demands.

"The shirt in the middle [of this display] is an original and that's what we wore on stage when we did television.

"I'm not sure if those are wings around the neck, but I think you could probably get off the ground with those if there was a good enough wind out there."

Puke Ariki curator social history Megan Wells said John Paki Paki, who had collated the band's memorabilia, was the inspiration for the exhibition

"He got in touch and shared his story with us and I picked up on that and went there's some amazing storytelling in this and it's such and amazing time period that we don't often dig into at the museum and something that is within living memory and a really special time."

She said the band was part of huge social change in New Zealand.

"From the beginning of the exhibition you're watching the band as they're playing in dance halls. They are playing those no alcohol events where the women sat on one side and the men on the other and they asked each other to dance which is a very different feeling from the end of the exhibition, where you are in these big pubs which are massive venues."

Wells said the show used fashion, technology, music and interactive activities to flesh out that story.

Museum visitor Emma Eliason brought the family.

"I wanted to bring the children to have a look and just get an understanding of what it was like back in our day, but yeah, very cool it opens up their eyes to sort of a different time."

Susan had fond memories of seeing Kount Five Plus Two at the Westown Hotel in New Plymouth.

"The fun, the music, the clothing, you know, the big flared jeans and all of that sort of thing.

"I think it's absolutely fantastic to see this here and for another generation to see what we saw because we don't have bands like this any more."

John Paki Paki could barely fathom the band was the subject of an exhibition.

"When we did the opening and we walked down here and looked at the show, because none of us had seen it up to that point, it just blew us away. Yeah, it was unbelievable."

Kount Five Plus Two: Pop Culture in Retro Taranaki 1966-1983, runs until 8 June.