Peter Williams

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Above - THE GROOVE in Paris

  PETER WILLIAMS, a local Christchurch lad, made his early reputation in New Zealand sharing vocals and playing guitar as a member of MAX MERRITT & the METEORS band in the1960’s. He moved to Auckland with the band and they soon broke into the Auckland scene, creating a large following. The journey continued to Australia where Peter, with Max & the Meteors, continued
his success.  After 3 years he left to form
his own group THE GROOVE with fellow
kiwi ROD STONE. They were an instant
success - labelled as Australia’s first
'Super Group'. They went on to create a
string of hit records and THE GROOVE
won the prestigious 'Hoadleys Battle of the Sounds' against most of the top Australian bands of the time, including Max Merritt & the Meteors.

This led to a recording contract with EMI in the UK - recording product in no less than 'Abbey Road', creative home of The Beatles, Olympic Studios, likewise The Rolling Stones and later at Rockwell Studios where Queen did their masterpiece 'Bohemian Rhapsody'! Peter also secured recording contracts with Decca Records, United Artists and a solo deal with Phillips. Peter toured England with CLIFF RICHARD as a backing vocalist for Cliff with Australian vocal group THE COOKIES.

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While in the UK he was recruited as the lead singer/ guitarist for THE MIXTURES and their single 'The Pushbike Song' went to number one across the UK, Europe and most of the Western world! After writing their next success 'Captain Zero' Peter was contracted to MAM Music - the recording & publishing company owned by Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdink & Gordon Mills.

As a songwriter Peter enjoyed great success in the 70’s with many of his songs recorded by British & European artists. These include THE MARMALADE, TINA CHARLES, JOE DOLAN, JON HENDRICKS and HAMISH STUART (of the AVERAGE WHITE BAND) and later from THE PAUL McCARTNEY BAND. His songs have also been released by New Zealand artists, such as FRANKIE STEVENS and CAL-Q-LATED RISK.

He has also toured with THE ROLLING STONES, CHUCK BERRY, TOM JONES, THE SEARCHERS, HERMAN’S HERMITS and many more!
Peter still enjoys performing regularly within New Zealand. He can be contacted at bigdad@paradise.net.nz


Above - Peters with his prized possessions - his Gold Record for "The Pushbike Song", his "ROCKONZ" award and his Gibson ES335 wich has been with him all the way and has played through the same amplifiers as Keith Richards and John Lennon!