Interview with Peter Williams(MAx Merritt and the Meteors/The Groove/The Mixtures) part 2- The Groove

this is from the Telegraph Brisbane February 8th 1968-this is from the Telegraph Brisbane February 9th 1968-the last 3 three photos sent to me by Peter Williams. In June I had done an email interview with legendary musician and singer Peter Williams who was a member of Max Merritt and the Meteors, an founding member of the late 60's group the Groove and an member of the Mixtures and in the first part of the interview Peter talked about his time in Max Merritt and the Meteors so here is part 2 as Peter talks about the Groove which i hope you enjoyed this read. Peter Williams- I left Max Merritt and the Meteors in 1967 to initially join the Vibrants in Melbourne I travelled down from Sydney by overnight train ending up sitting on my suitcase with my trusty 335 waiting for one of the boys(Mick or Hoss (Mick Hamilton guitarist and sax player John Hossen) to pick me up with the platform covered in steam and no one in sight. After about an hour and a half later who should arrive but Garry Spry to pick me up & tell me there was a new group being formed & they wanted me to be the vocalist here I was expecting to join an established band with an already established income all of a sudden who knew what was in store? We got stuck straight in to rehearsal at Garry's nightclub Pinnochios and within 3 weeks we started working and we all celebrated when our individual wages topped $50 each week a few months later within 18 months we were the highest paid band in Australia. Our first gig was at Pinnochios can't remember how we came up with the Groove but I do remember we came up with the bass drum sign from the brand name on a Sam Cooke album Dynagroove without the dyna with a large V We entered the 67 Battle of the Sounds finishing down the field to the Groop but the experience stood us in great stead for the next year which we won. Garry was a very good manager for us perhaps not as good on the promotional side but definitely good on the financial side. Hence us becoming the highest paid band in Australia most of our income was saved to finance our stint in the UK which was the prize when we won for winning the Battle of the Sounds. EMI was our record company. Simon Says was our first single it was a double sided hit the other side being a Platters' song With This RIng. Max Merritt found the Isley Bros song "Simon Says" for me while I was in the Meteors on the same day I found Fannie Mae for him. David Mackay was our record producer & we worked well with him including at Abbey Road. We played all the major venues in Australia of the time & enjoyed them and the audiences. We actually covered a lot of territory during our less than 2 years in Australia between our formation in 67 and departure for Europe in 69 who knows if we hadn't won the Battle we might have stayed in Australia and won the "War" and become more of an Identity on the local musical landscape. But none of us will die wondering. We found the UK and European experience absolutely invaluable and I personally feel a great sense of fulfilment having worked in all those venues studios etc. We changed our name to Eureka Stockade because the record company felt the Groove was old fashioned and we wanted a name that fell a bit in line with bands of the time Jethro Tull etc but we wanted to keep an Aussie flavor. We broke up amicably when our LP was never released and individuals in the band had other projects.