Dragon are a New Zealand rock band which was formed in Auckland in January 1972, and, from 1975, based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The band was originally fronted by singer Graeme Collins, but rose to fame with singer Marc Hunter and is currently led by his brother, bass player and co-founder Todd Hunter. The group performed, and released material, under the name Hunter in Europe and the United States during 1987.
Maxwell James Merritt was a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who was renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B. As leader of Max Merritt & The Meteors, his best known hits are "Slippin' Away", which reached No. 2 on the 1976 Australian singles charts, and "Hey, Western Union Man" which reached No. 13. Merritt rose to prominence in New Zealand from 1958 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, in December 1964. Merritt was acknowledged as one of the best local performers of the 1960s and 1970s and his influence did much to popularise soul music / R&B and rock in New Zealand and Australia.
"Que Sera, Sera " is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), singing it as a cue to their onscreen kidnapped son. The three verses of the song progress through the life of the narrator—from childhood, through young adulthood and falling in love, to parenthood—and each asks "What will I be?" or "What lies ahead?" The chorus repeats the answer: "What will be, will be."
"Help!" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that served as the title song for the 1965 film and the band's accompanying soundtrack album. It was released as a single in July 1965, and was number one for three weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, "Help!" was written by John Lennon with some assistance from Paul McCartney. During an interview with Playboy in 1980, Lennon recounted: "The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was subconsciously crying out for help".
Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
The Purple Hearts were an Australian R&B, rock group, formed in Brisbane as the Impacts in 1964. The band included lead vocalist Mick Hadley, lead guitarist Barry Lyde, rhythm guitarists Paul Steffen (1964–65) and Fred Pickard (1965-66), bassist Bob Dames, and drummers Adrian "Red" Redmond (1964–66) and Tony Cahill (1966-67). The group issued an extended play, The Sound of the Purple Hearts (1966), and several singles, including "Long-legged Baby" (1965) and "Early in the Morning" (1966). They disbanded early in 1967.
Norman John Rowe is an Australian singer and songwriter. He rose to national prominence in the mid-1960s as a pop star and teen idol, backed by The Playboys. His 1965 double A-side "Que Sera Sera"/"Shakin' All Over" was one of the most successful Australian singles of the decade.
Marcie & The Cookies were an Australian musical ensemble, made up of Marcie Jones and the three Cook sisters. The all girl, vocal only group, were a rarity in Australia's "mod" music scene of the 1960s, dominated as it was by all male rock bands and solo artists.
Procession were an Australian psychedelic band formed in Melbourne in 1967. The band was composed of Australian Craig Collinge (drums), New Zealander Brian Peacock (bass), and Englishmen Trevor Griffin (organ) and Mick Rogers, all members of previous bands. They were described by Glenn A. Baker as one of the most ambitious bands in the Australian music scene in their time, although they enjoyed only moderate commercial success. They were regularly championed in Go-Set magazine and had their own segment on music TV show Uptight, of which their manager was the producer.
Peter John Doyle was an Australian pop singer who had success with a number of Top 40 hits in Australia in the 1960s, then success internationally as a member of the New Seekers in the early 1970s, before resuming a solo career in 1973.
The La De Da's were a New Zealand rock band from 1963 to 1975. They were formed as a mod-ish group, the Mergers, in Te Atatū, by long-term members Kevin Borich on lead guitar and vocals, Phil Key on lead vocals and guitar and Trevor Wilson on bass guitar. In mid-1968 they relocated to Australia. Their popular singles in New Zealand were "How Is the Air Up There?", "On Top of the World", "Hey! Baby", "All Purpose Low" and "Rosalie", while their hits on Australia's Go-Set National Top 40 were "Gonna See My Baby Tonight" (1971), "Morning, Good Morning" (1972) and "Too Pooped to Pop" (1974). The group released one of the first Australasian rock music concept albums, The Happy Prince (1969).
William Patrick Aulton was an Irish Australian record producer, musician, arranger, and songwriter. He is best known for the successful pop and rock singles and albums he produced for Australian and New Zealand artists in the 1960s and early 1970s on the Sunshine and Spin Records labels and as the lead vocalist of The Clefs. He also became a successful composer of commercial jingles and TV themes and was a vocal coach. He created many jingles that we still use today, such as "Oh what a feeling, Toyota" and "Aussie kids are Weetbix kids", he also helped in the writing and production of "The Lion King" themes song, "Hakuna Matata". He had five children in the meantime; Kerry, Samantha, Chelsea, Bridget, and Alexander, which led to having many grandchildren, Lydia, Taj, Maggie, Hanna, Jordyn, Ruby, Parker, Riley, Cooper, Charlie, Dakota, Stevie, Harley, Oliver, Declan, Carter and Jaycie.
The Flying Circus were an Australian pop and country rock band with founding mainstays, Doug Rowe on lead guitar and vocals and Colin Walker on drums. They had three top 30 pop hits, "Hayride", "La La" and "Run Run Run", in Australia from 1968 to 1971. These were not typical of their live work nor later recordings. They re-located to Canada from 1971 to 1974 where they achieved chart success with "Old Enough " and "Maple Lady". Doug Rowe died in July 2015.
Sunshine Records was an Australian independent pop music record label of the mid-1960s. It was established in late 1964 by promoter Ivan Dayman in collaboration with musician-producer-arranger-songwriter Pat Aulton and entrepreneur, producer and songwriter Nat Kipner. Although his enterprise was short-lived, Dayman was arguably the first Australian popular music entrepreneur to create a fully integrated pop music company that included artist management and bookings, record production, record labels, venue management and concert promotion.
The Groove was an Australian R&B, pop group which formed in early 1967 with the lineup of Geoff Bridgford on drums, Jamie Byrne on bass guitar, Tweed Harris on keyboards, Rod Stone on guitar and Peter Williams on lead vocals and guitar. In December 1967 their single, "Simon Says", peaked at No. 17 on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles Chart. They followed with "Soothe Me", which peaked at No. 14 in April 1968. Also in April they released their self-titled debut album. In July that year they won the national final of the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds competition with the prize including a trip to London. They relocated there in March 1969, and early the following year they changed their name to Eureka Stockade, they disbanded in 1971. On 13 October 2004 Tweed Harris died of throat cancer, aged 63.
Levi Smith's Clefs, originally The Clefs, were an Australian R&B, pop rock group, which formed in Adelaide in 1963. Lead vocalist, Barrie "The Bear" McAskill, joined in 1965. In 1967 he took over and renamed the group after founding keyboardist, Winston "Tweed" Harris, left. They released a sole studio album, Empty Monkey, in March 1970 and underwent numerous line-up changes until they disbanded in 1972. After their time in the band various members formed the groups: Tully, Fraternity and Southern Contemporary Rock Assembly (SCRA). Winston Harris (1941–2004) died of throat cancer, aged 63. A drummer from 1970 to 1971, Russell Dunlop (1945–2009), died after a seizure, aged 63. Richard Lockwood, flautist and saxophonist in 1968, died in 2012 of bowel cancer.
Ivan Howard Dayman was an Australian music promoter, record producer, label owner and talent manager of the 1960s and 1970s, based first in Adelaide, then Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Although his career was brief – ca. 1964 to 1968 – he is significant in the history of Australian popular music as the first person to establish an integrated entertainment group that included artist management, a booking agency, a chain of venues in major cities, and a recording label. He is also notable for the many successful artists he managed, including his flagship act, Australia's 1960s TV Week "King of Pop", Normie Rowe, whom he managed from 1965 onwards.
Michael Alexander Furber was an English-born Australian entertainer popular in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of Mike Furber and the Bowery Boys. Furber's group had hits with "Just a Poor Boy", "You Stole My Love" and "That's When Happiness Began". In the Go Set Pop Poll, Furber was voted in the top 5 as most popular Male Vocalist in both 1966 and 1967. Furber's subsequent solo singing career was less successful and in the early 1970s he turned to stage musicals: including Godspell and Nuclear. According to police investigators Furber committed suicide on 10 May 1973, by hanging, in the garage of his home. Rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, writes, "Reputedly in the depths of depression, he hanged himself... It has been suggested, however, that Furber was actually murdered because he had befriended a Kings Cross prostitute."
Dave Miller is a New Zealand former rock music singer-songwriter and journalist. He was the founding mainstay of Dave Miller Set, which were based in Australia. Long-term fellow members included Leith Corbett on bass guitar, Mike McCormack on drums and John Robinson on lead guitar. Their cover version of "Mr Guy Fawkes" peaked in the top 30 on the Go-Set national singles chart. The group disbanded early in 1970 and Corbett, McCormack and Robinson founded the fellow rock group, Blackfeather. Miller and Corbett combined for a studio album, Reflections of a Pioneer by Dave Miller/Leith Corbett and Friends. In February 1973 Miller and Robinson briefly revived Dave Miller Set. Before the end of that year Miller travelled to the United Kingdom and worked as a music journalist. He returned to Australia in 1980 and lived in New South Wales. In September 2017 Miller curated a compilation album, Mr Guy Fawkes: Complete Spin Recordings & More 1967-1970, which included tracks by Dave Miller Set and by Dave Miller/Leith Corbett and Friends on CD.
MPD Ltd or M. P. D. Limited were an Australian pop music band formed in 1965 by core members Mike Brady on lead vocals and guitar, Pete Watson on bass guitar and lead vocals, and Danny Finley on drums. They used their first initials to provide the name. Their popular singles were "Little Boy Sad" and "Lonely Boy" (October). MPD Ltd issued an album, The Best of MPD Ltd, in 1966 on Go!! Records before disbanding in 1967. Pete Watson died of an illness on 30 April 1972.
