This morning I heard that Johnny Dick died earlier this month. Kiwi’s will remember him as the drummer with Max Merritt & the Meteors in the mid-sixties. The first time I heard him play was with Max & the Meteors during the On-Stage ’64 show when it played in New Plymouth in October 1964.

He was born in Wales, grew up in the Hawkes Bay & came to Australia with Max & the Meteors in the mid-sixties. He was a drummer in demand; quickly snaffled by Billy Thorpe to join the second line-up of the Aztecs; a line-up that included Kiwi bass player Teddy Toi who had also been in the Meteors. So Max lost two members of his band at about the same time.

Over the years Johnny played in many well-known Australian bands including Doug Parkinson In Focus, the Wild Cherries, and a late version of the Aztecs. He & Teddy Toi were also in Fanny Adams which formed in the UK in the very early 70s.

NB: photos from the On-Stage ’64 programme