How does a recording by a couple of teenagers in 1969 find its way into a
2011 release for one of Australia and New Zealand's most famous bands?
Back in 1969, Max Merritt and The Meteors, like many other top of the line
bands, used to play regularly at a Saturday night dance in the S.E.
Melbourne suburbs called Spectra. It was held biweekly and alternated
between Waverley and Ashwood high schools, and would draw about
1,000 teenagers.
My older brother, some mates and I, volunteered as stage crew to help the
roadies setup and breakdown, as there were often 3 or 4 bands that
played each night. Between sets we got to listen from anywhere in the hall
we wanted, including backstage, and into the bargain, we did not have to
pay to get in. Life for teenage boys in Melbourne didn't get much better
than that in those days.
On one dance night in 1969, after we cleared it with Mr. Cook, the
promoter, we rigged a set of four mics - three overhead and one for the PA
- and fed them into the hall's mixing board, and then fed the mix into a
mate’s reel-to-reel tape recorder. The hope was to get permission to
record the bands, and at the very least we would end up with a recording
or two for our own enjoyment.
So after my brother got face-to-face permission from Max, we rolled the
tape and captured the set. Shortly after we made the recording, we had a
one-off LP cut from the tape, and I have had that LP in my possession
since it was made. I digitized it a few years back so I could listen to it as
much as I wanted in iTunes without tearing up the LP, which was as far as I
knew, the only copy left of the recording we had made.
After recently going through a very long spell of unemployment, I was trying
to think of different ways to earn some money. I credit my ex-wife Bonnie
with the idea of releasing the Merritt recording as a way to break my
financial drought. That prompted me to contact my old friend Lloyd in
England, who had some hands-on experience in the music business. He
advised us we had great content that would make a good release, if we
could find the master tape and get it digitally remastered. To me, that was a
very big "IF".
Unbeknownst to me, my brother kept the master tape stored away all those
years too, and recently having found the tape, I had it digitally remastered,
and that was really what kicked off the project. The quality was so good it
was a no-brainer. In the intervening years between recording the set and
having it digitally remastered, it became more and more apparent to me
that we had captured something special. As a fan, it had always bothered
me that other Max Merritt & The Meteors fans did not have the opportunity
to listen to this live set, so it was now up to me to make sure that
happened. I became a man on a mission.
As I was a complete outsider to the music industry, I had to put a lot of
effort into making the project work. I decided that before I could present a
plausible plan, I had to find out what a producer does after you get the
remastering done; things like formulate a release and promo plan, learn the
ins and outs of music distribution in the online world, cover and CD design
and photo licensing, and identifying all the song copyright owners for
mechanical royalties, among many, many other things. Lucky for me I am a
quick study, and my enthusiasm made up for any lack of prior knowledge
and experience. As many of the folks involved in the project well know, I am
also a relentless question asker, ad nauseam.
After I formally contacted Max and eventually sent him a remastered
sample for his approval, and he said "let's do it", everything fell into place.
All the homework I had done paid off. If it wasn't for the tools on the
Internet for the Indie labels, like mechanical licensing made easy, new
ways of globally distributing physical and digital music through companies
like Tunecore, CD Baby, Bandcamp and Amazon, economical high-tech
promotional tools like Play MPE and AMRAP, and getting help from
complete music industry strangers, whose only interest was in getting the
music out to the fans, the project would never have got off the ground.
Special thanks to my angel investor Jo Tampas, without whom it would
never have happened.
The most gratifying aspect of the project for me, was how helpful the
veteran rockers were, and their universal interested in supporting my
ambitious goal of turning a 42 year old tape into a 2011 release. From the
graciousness of Max on down, there was not a single person I contacted in
the course of the project that did not go out of their way to support what I
was trying to do. They patiently heard me out, and helped turn my ideas
into a project, and ultimately a release. I was humbled, and I am also very
thankful to every one of them. I could not have done it without them. I am
also extremely proud that I was able to finally get this music into the hands
of Max Merritt and The Meteors fans around the world. A little late in
coming maybe, but better late than never.
Max Merritt & The Meteors
Line Ups
Max Merritt (guitar, vocals)
Ian Glass (bass) 1956-60
Ross Clancy (saxophone) 1956-58
Billy Kristian (Billy Karaitiana) (bass) 1959-67
Peter Patene (piano) 1956-59
Rod Gibson (bass) 1959
Pete Sowden (drums) 1956-59, 1960-63
Geoff Cox (guitar) 1961-62
Peter Williams (lead guitar, vocals) 1962-67
Mike Angland (bass) 1963-64
Jimmy Hill (drums) 1964
Johnny Dick (drums) 1963-65
Teddy Toi (bass) 1964-65
Bruno Lawrence (drums) 1965-67
Bob Bertles (saxophone) 1967-74
Stewie Speer (drums) 1967-80
Graeme "Yuk" Harrison (bass) 1967-69
Dave Russell (bass) 1969-74
Howard "Fuzz" Deniz (bass) 1975-78
Barry Duggan (sax, flute) 1975-
John Gourd (guitar, slide guitar, piano) 1975-
(Reprinted from Milesago.com/Max Merritt & The Meteors)
