Andrew Fagan

Andrew Fagan (born 1962) is a New Zealand writer, singer-songwriter and long-distance solo sailor. He grew up in Wellington. He gained fame in New Zealand in the 1980s as the lead singer of the pop group The Mockers.

Following the success of The Mockers' 1985 hit "Forever Tuesday Morning", Fagan won the RIANZ 1985 award for Top Male Vocalist of the Year. Since The Mockers broke up, he has recorded and performed as a solo artist under the name Fagan (releasing his debut solo album Blisters in 1994); and with his band LIG. Owner of the yacht Swirly World In Perpetuity, he has written three accounts of solo voyages he's undertaken; Swirly World, the Solo Voyages (2003); Swirly World Sails South (2012); and Swirly World: Lost at Sea (2024), plus several collections of poetry, being included in anthologies/magazines, and a poetry CD (2018), touring with John Cooper Clarke. He has also been involved with the TVNZ Intrepid Journeys television series.

Fagan has lived in London and now resides in Auckland. He is married to the writer and television/radio broadcaster Karyn Hay. He co-hosted a talkback show with Hay on Radio Live from 7 pm to 10 pm on week nights from 2008 to 2015, with Hay continuing as a solo host until 2017.

Fagan performs regularly around New Zealand with his band Andrew Fagan and the People, including a seven-date North Island tour in April 2021. The band has released two critically praised albums; Admiral of the Narrow Seas (2011) and Act Normal (2020). In 2025, he released a retrospective of his solo work Passage of Time: 1991-2025.

Discography

Albums

Year Title Details Peak chart
positions
NZ
1994 Blisters
  • Label: Sony
 —
1997 Bacterial Activity (as Lig)
  • Label: Abstract Sounds
 —
2011 Admiral of the Narrow Seas (as Fagan and the People)
  • Label: Aeroplane
 —
2020 Act Normal (as Andrew Fagan and the People)
  • Label: Big Ear Music
 —
2025 Passage of Time: 1991–2025
  • Label: Big Ear Music
 25
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
NZ
1991 "I Still Want You" 47 Blisters
1994 "Jerusalem" 39
"Exciting" —
1995 "Now You Know" —
1997 "Empty" (with Lig) — Bacterial Activity
2011 "Religion" (with Fagan and the People) — Admiral of the Narrow Seas
2020 On Channel Me (with Andrew Fagan and the People) — Act Normal
2020 "Act Normal" (with Andrew Fagan and the People) — Act Normal
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

  1. ↑ Gilchrist, Shane (8 January 2015). "New projects keep frontman evolving". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 The Mockers, music.net.nz. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  3. ↑ Fagan, Andrew (2001). Swirly World the solo voyages. Auckland, NZ: HarperCollins. ISBN 9781869504021.
  4. ↑ Fagan, Andrew (2012). Swirly World Sails South. Auckland, NZ: HarperCollins. ISBN 9781869509828.
  5. ↑ Fagan, Andrew (2024). Swirly World: Lost at Sea. Auckland, NZ: Swirly World Books. ISBN 9780473717780.
  6. ↑ Fagan, Andrew (1984). Take the Chocolates and Run. Lower Hutt, NZ: David Cohen Publications. Fagan, Andrew (1987). Salt Rhythms. Christchurch, NZ: Hazard Press. Fagan, Andrew (1991). Serious Latitudes. Christchurch, NZ: Hazard Press. Mark Pirie ed. (1998). New Zealand Writing: The NeXt Wave. Dunedin, NZ: Otago University Press. Mark Pirie (2002). "Between the Land: An Account of the Poetry of Andrew Fagan". Wellington, NZ: JAAM 17, p. 50-64. Mark Pirie and Michael O’Leary eds. (2004). JAAM 21: Greatest Hits: An Anthology of Writing 1984-2004. Wellington, NZ: JAAM/HeadworX/ESAW. Riddell, Ron and Saray Torres eds (2005). Towards the Impossible: 3rd Wellington International Poetry Festival Anthology. Upper Hutt, NZ: Casa Nueva Publishers/Poetry Education Trust. Mark Pirie ed. (2006). Poetrymath: Winter Readings. Paekakariki, NZ: Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop. Fagan, Andrew (2006). Overnight Downpour. Wellington, NZ: HeadworX. Fagan, Andrew (2018). It was always going to be like this. NZ: Plus1 Ltd [CD]. Mark Pirie ed. (2020). Broadsheet: New New Zealand poetry: Featuring the Poetry of Andrew Fagan. Wellington, NZ: The Night Press, p. 14-22.
  7. ↑ "Indonesia: Andrew Fagan | Intrepid Journeys | Television New Zealand | Television | TV One, TV2, TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7". Archived from the original on 15 October 2009.
  8. ↑ Karyn Hay and Andrew Fagan, Screen Talk interview, NZ On Screen. (Available under a CC BY-NC licence.) Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "RadioLIVE > On-Air Hosts > Fagan and Hay". RadioWorks Limited. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008.
  10. ↑ Staff writer (17 April 2015). "Karyn hay flying solo on RadioLIVE". Radio Today. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022.
  11. ↑ Newshub reporter (27 February 2017). "RadioLIVE host Karyn Hay leaves MediaWorks". Newshub. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Official Top 40 Albums". Recorded Music NZ. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025.