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EARLY CAREER - CHRISTCHURCH 1956-1962 Max became interested in music at an early age and started taking guitar lessons at twelve. In the mid-50s he discovered rock'n'roll and fell under the spell of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley . In 1956 , just after leaving school at 15, he formed The Meteors with friends Ross Clancy (sax), Peter Patene (piano), Ian Glass (bass) and Pete Sowden (drums). They started out as a part-time group, playing at dances and at charity concerts at the local Odeon theatre. Over the next six years the band played many such shows, raising thousands of dollars for local charities. During the day Max worked his apprenticeship in his father's bricklaying business. With the enthusiastic support of his parents and the help of Odeon manager Trevor King , they launched Max in the music business, hiring and setting him up in his own venue at the Railway Hall in Christchurch, which they dubbed "The Teenage Club". Held every Sunday from 3-10 pm, The Teenage Club was an instant success. The first and only attraction of its kind in town, it drew hundreds of local teenagers every week and proved hugely popular in a city and at a time when almost all businesses and public venues were closed until late on Sunday afternoon. Clancy was replaced by Will Schneider during 1958 . By 1959 the Teenage Club had added a regular Wednesday night session, and The Meteors had become the top youth attraction in Christchurch, regularly pulling crowds of 500 or more. Max occasionally borrowed players from other bands if a Meteors member was unavailable, and one of the groups they borrowed from was The Invaders , fronted by another aspiring young Christchurch performer, Ray Columbus . Through Ray, Max met his two guitarists Dave Russell (for whom Max was a major inspiration) and young multi-instrumentalist Billy Karaitiana (a.k.a. Billy Kristian). Merritt received the ultimate seal of approval in January 1959 when New Zealand's top rocker Johnny Devlin played in Christchurch. Then at the peak of his meteoric career, Devlin played his own show before 3000 fans, after which he went across town especially to meet Max, who was playing at a "Rock'n'Roll Jamboree" charity concert. According to New Zealand music historian John Dix , the meeting also made a big impression on Devlin's manager Graham Dent , who enthusiastically sang their praises to Auckland promoter Harry M. Miller . Although it was primarily a university town, Christchurch gained a unique advantage as the Sixties began. In 1959 , the United States government launched a huge paramilitary project to establish an American Antarctic base, imaginatively code-named " Operation Deep Freeze ". Christchurch happened to have the only airfield in the region large enough to handle the huge transport planes that the Americans used to ferry staff and materials to and from the base. The American presence brought many benefits for the locals and helped make Christchurch a hotbed of rock'n'roll music. Young American servicemen who were stationed there discovered the Teenage Club and were soon raving about the gravel-voiced young Kiwi singer. Before long, original American rock'n'roll and R&B records were finding their way onto local jukeboxes, and into the hands of fans including Max. And there was another invaluable musical advantage conferred by the American' presence – through these new connections, both The Meteors and The Invaders were able to equip themselves with full sets of prized Fender guitars and basses, which were still hard to get in countries like Australia and the UK , due to import restrictions. By 1959 the line-up for the Meteors had become Rod Gibson (Saxophone), Ian Glass (Bass Guitar), Bernie Jones (Drums) and Billy Kristian (Piano). Toward the end of 1959, HMV released their first single "Get A Haircut"/"Dixieland Rock", and their debut album "C'mon Let's Go" was released at the beginning of 1960. AUCKLAND 1963-1964 SYDNEY 1965-1967 MELBOURNE 1967-1971 ENGLAND 1971-1976 In England, the group played the British pub circuit, slowly building up a solid following. As their popularity grew, they secured support roles for leading British bands, including Slade and the Moody Blues. "Slippin' Away"/"I Keep Forgetting" was released in 1975. "Slippin' Away" caught the attention of radio programme directors in both Australia and New Zealand and with constant playing over the summer of 1975/76 it climbed to number 2 on the Australian national charts becoming the group's biggest Australian hit ever. The song was also well received in New Zealand where it climbed to number 5 and stayed on the charts for 6 months. However, "the onslaught of punk music killed the pub rock scene in Britain", and at the end of 1976, Max Merritt and the Meteors broke up as a working band. U.S.A. 1977 In 1977 Max relocated to America and signed a solo deal with Polydor Records. His first album release for Polydor was in 1978 called "Keeping In Touch". Max returned to Australia for a couple of tours in 1979 and 1980. On the second occasion he put together a band for the tour which comprised Stewie, Paul Grant on guitar, John Williams on keyboards, Martin Jenner on guitar and Phil Lawson on bass. This was Max and Stewie's last major tour together; Stewie died of a heart attack on 16 September 1986. Max released only two more singles in his solo career, "Growing Pains"/"Prove It" in 1982 and "Mean Green Fighting Machine"/"My Best Friend" in 1986, the second a promotional single for the Canberra Raiders Rugby League team. RESURGENCE The year 2002 marked the start of a new era for the 61 year old Max Merritt. April and May were spent touring Australia under the banner "The Heart & Soul of Rock & Roll" with Doug Parkinson, and in August and September he was part of "Long Way To The Top - The Concert" tour. Since then, whenever Max has returned to Australia, Max Merritt & The Meteors have been in demand for Special Events and Music Festivals. Max and the band have headlined shows at the Melbourne Music & Blues Festival, The Perth Moonlight Festival, The Veterans Games in Alice Springs, The Queenscliff Festival, The Toyota Muster in Gympie, and in April 2006, the Byron Bay Blues Festival and the Gladstone Harbour Festival. In April 2007 Max was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital suffering kidney failure1 and was diagnosed as having Goodpasture's Syndrome , a rare auto-immune disorder2. DISCOGRAPHY REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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