The Merseymen


You probably had to be there. Because it wasn’t about the hair, the boots and the suits. And it wasn’t only about the music either, although that certainly drove everything. It was the sheer excitement of the time, the thrill of being young in the early 60s and having a music of your own which was upbeat, fresh and just kept arriving. Not just from The Beatles, but every week a new British band came over the horizon and into record shops: The Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Peter and Gordon, The Who, Pretty Things …

Then there were local editions: Ray Columbus and The Invaders and others who played clubs and at church hall dances in the suburbs almost every weekend. And in downtown Auckland our own short-lived club, The Beatle Inn, with a resident group that distilled the idea of the Liverpool scene: The Merseymen.

Dylan Taite (aka Jett Rink) with The Merseymen
Photo credit: Ken Cooper collection
The Merseymen - Girl Can't Help It 10" 78rpm acetate, recorded at Astor Studios (Allied International)
Photo credit: 78rpm.net.nz
The Merseymen - Great Balls Of Fire (Zodiac, 1964)
The Merseymen - Down The Hall On A Saturday Night (Allied International, 1966)
The Merseymen, featuring a young Dylan Taite (as Jett Rink) on drums, with their 1964 album A Visit To The Beatle Inn
The Merseymen - Just A Little Bit (Allied International, 1965)
The Merseymen - Jambalaya (Zodiac, 1964)
The Merseymen - The Girl Can't Help It (Allied International, 1965)
The Merseymen - Memphis Tennesse (Zodiac, 1964)
The Merseymen - Little Bit 10" 78rpm acetate recorded at Astor Studios, 1965.
Photo credit: 78rpm.net.nz
The Merseymen - A Visit to the Beatle Inn, B-side label  (Zodiac, 1964)
Back cover to The Merseymen's 1964 album A Visit To The Beatle Inn
The Merseymen - Maybelline (Zodiac, 1964)
Dylan Taite (aka Jett Rink), second from right, with The Merseymen. 
Photo credit: Ken Cooper collection
Auckland band The Merseymen being filmed for an unknown show.
The Merseymen - A Visit to the Beatle Inn, A-side label (Zodiac, 1964)
The Merseymen catch up on their reading at the Auckland railway station newsagent, 1964. From left: Dave Moan (Jerry at School), Jim Newton (True Confessions), Jett Rink (Centurs), Bob Paris (Little Lulu), Mike Leyton (Man Annual).
Members:

Dave Moan - vocals

Bob Paris - guitar

Dylan Taite - drums

Mike Leyton - bass

Ian McIntyre - bass

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