Most of the articles I have written about on these pages are
of actual artists or groups, but now and again there are individuals who may not
have performed solo or made a record by themselves, but have contributed
significantly enough to warrant a listing in the artists who have shaped the
history of New Zealand music.
One such person is Invercargill born bass player Peter
Skerrett. Peter was born in 1944 and his music career started in 1957, at the
young age of 13, when he made his stage debut, in Maurice and Paul Tansley's
variety concert parties which played around Southland, singing totally without
backing.
He started playing in local bands when he was 15 and decided
to move to Auckland to continue performing when he was still only 16. There he
turned professional, just managing to exist. Auckland was thriving with bands in
1960, with the likes of Ian Lowe and the
Tornadoes and Cliff
Williams and the Dualtones, who became the Dorados, led by
Errol Timbers. Peter played bass in the Dualtones for a
little while. One of the major bands around at the time was the
Keil Isles and Peter was soon playing bass for
them.
In 1962, when Del Shannon and Bobby Rydell
toured New Zealand, the Keil Isles were the
backing group. When the regular bass player couldn't make the tour, Herma
Keil asked Peter if he could do it, and this was the lucky break Peter
needed. His reputation was virtually made by this tour.
In 1963 Peter played bass on
Peter Posa's famous hit "White Rabbit".
In August 1965, Eden Kane, P J Proby and
Wayne Fontana toured New Zealand. Peter was on that tour. Below is a photo
showing the touring party at Invercargill airport. Peter Skerrett
is third from
right.
P J Proby returned to New Zealand in October 1966 and this time the touring party included Dinah Lee and the Chicks. Peter once again played bass on the tour, with the exception of P J Proby's actual performance. He had brought his own bass player, so Peter provided backing vocals along with the Chicks.
Also in 1966, Peter was with the Mike Perjanik Group, and when that group decided to move to Australia, Peter went with them. They had a residency at Sydney's Coogee Bay Hotel, before moving into the prestigious Latin Quarter in May 1967. With them in the early part were Allison Durbin and Tommy Adderley for whom they provided backing.
At the Latin Quarter. Allison Durbin and Tommy Adderley at the
back. Peter centre between them.
Peter spent a few years in Sydney as a session musician, doing radio and television advertisement music, as well as doing live gigs and studio work. He played on "Hayride", the hit single for Australian group Flying Circus. There is an extensive list of other artists for whom Peter has played with over the years. They include Gene Pitney, the Coasters, the Platters, John Farnham, Ricky May, Tony Williams and Don Burrows. Other notable recording sessions involving Peter Skerrett include Frankie Steven's "My Elusive Dreams" in 1969 and Reg Lindsay's "Armstrong" in 1971.
In 1974 he returned to Invercargill, doing a few jobs with Bill McLachlan and John Husband before joining Vision. After that he formed a trio with guitarist Danny Johnson and Dave O'Connor, who later became the long-term drummer for Tom Sharplin. The threesome were the house band at the Ascot.
When he went back to Australia in 1981, he joined the Dee Jays, the group that had been Johnny O'Keefe's backing band back in the late 50's, early 60's. He later met up again with an old friend Chris Lancaster and continued to work with him until 1990. Chris Lancaster was a Gold Coast Agent whom Peter had known for 20 years. Chris had worked with Peter a lot in the past, both in bands and also as his booking agent. Chris had also been hired by Johnny Tillotson's promoters to set up a tour, and he immediately offered Peter the bass player role. Johnny Tillotson toured Australia three times between 1988 and 1990 and Peter was on all of them.
During this time he also supported Johnnie Ray on his tour.
Peter and Johnnie Ray
In 1990, Peter returned to Invercargill and took up a job
teaching at the Southland Polytechnic,
now SIT, Business Division of Te Pukenga,
continuing to grow and use his abilities as a teacher, mentor and experienced
professional musician.. Peter believes that his experience of working with Lancaster had given
him enough insight into management and promotion, the professional side of the music
business, to give him enough credentials for the teaching job. Putting together this, with
his years of practical experience playing with some of the best in the business,
and you have the complete package that not many get to experience. In the
1990s Peter Skerrett began working with the City of Invercargill Caledonian Pipe
Band; they created ‘Pipin’ Hot’, a show which combined the traditional bagpipes
and drums with a rock band. This was a critical and popular success; the equally
successful offshoot of this in the 2000s was Pipeworkz, a
smaller group with again, a hybrid of Celtic, Maori and contemporary
music. With Peter Skerrett as Musical Director and bass player, they toured NZ,
Australia, Canada, and Germany. Sadly Peter passed away on December 16, 2021.
My special thanks to Jane and Peter Skerrett for providing me
with the photos and information.
Here is a link to a memorial page put together by SIT,
Memorial Recognises Decades of Dedication to SIT and Students - Southern
Institute of Technology, NZ