The Happy Prince (The La De Das album)
The Happy Prince is a studio album by the New Zealand rock band The La De Das, released in June 1969. It was the third album from the group and is often cited as the first Australian and New Zealand concept album. Background In early 1967, while preparing for their second album, bassist Trevor Wilson anticipated an era when rock music would be taken seriously as an art form. He came up with a project that he felt would put the group far in front of their contemporaries, and put them on the map internationally. His idea was to create what would later be called "rock opera". For the basis of the piece he chose to adapt Oscar Wilde's classic tale "The Happy Prince". Unfortunately, keyboardist Bruce Howard was his only ally in the band, but together they started to piece the work together, although it would take several years to come to fruition. It was also the seed of later divisions within the band. Later in mid-1967, The La De Das would see the Australian rock group The Twilights at Berties nightclub in Melbourne. Fresh from their recent trip to England, decked out in the latest Carnaby Street gear,