Ian Saxon

aka Ian Saxon & the Sound


Someone will make a movie about Ian Saxon one day, it’s a sitter, but that movie would concentrate on his, ahem, extracurricular activities. When I first approached Saxon about this profile, I said I’d have to mention his notoriety in passing but the onus would be on his musical career.

In his customary frank way, he said, “Well I don’t really give a fuck about the other, it’s part of who I am, although I have been on the end of a few beat-up articles and misinformation.” He then went on to relate a story from March 1989 so revealing, encapsulating the heights of his dual careers, that it’s difficult not to kick off with it …

Ian Saxon and the Creditors - I'm Getting Better
Ian Saxon interviews Miss Canterbury on the Miss New Zealand show, 1965. 
Photo credit: Gisborne Photo News, May 1965
Freddie Keil and the Kavaliers: Dave Paul, Ian Saxon (guesting), Freddie Keil, Billy Belton, Vic Williams, Brian Smith, Jimmy Murphy and David Smith
Miss NZ Tour 1965. From top left: Wez Taiaroa, Lou Clauson, Ian Saxon, Simon Mehana. Middle row: John Hore, Howard Morrison, Miss NZ 1965 Gay Phelps, Keri Northover. Front: Gary Wahrlich, Rim D. Paul. 
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Rim D. Paul Collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The 1967 Sydney birthday party for Dinah Lee, with Little Millie Small (4th from left), Dinah (in straw hat), Ian Saxon (white trousers), Allison Durbin (next), Bobi Petch (2nd to right)
Photo credit: Bobi Petch collection
Ian Saxon in 1966, from 'Hi-Spots', a quarterly souvenir guide to Sydney nightlife published in the 1960s. Clubs in Kings Cross were featured heavily in its advertising. 
Photo credit: Stations of the X
Ian Saxon and the Sound's Home Cookin' - produced by Mike Perjanik
Miss New Zealand Tour 1965. From top left: Fred Whitaker, Sam Mateparae, Wez Taiaroa, Lou Clauson, Ian Saxon, Simon Mehana, Peter Posa. Middle: John Hore, Howard Morrison, Miss NZ 1965 Gay Phelps, Keri Northover. Front: Gary Wahrlich, Rim D. Paul. Photo Review Dunedin, July 1965
Cris Simmons, Ian Saxon, Pat Simmons, Bill Belton and Pye/WEA boss Tim Murdoch - Santos cafe, Auckland
Ian Saxon in 1967
Ian Saxon and the Sound - Brother, Where Are You?

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