1956-1962: Early Career in Christchurch
Merritt was interested in music from an early age and started guitar lessons at twelve. By 1955 he encountered the rock'n'roll of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley; after leaving school in 1956, aged 15, Merritt formed The Meteors with friends Ross Clancy (sax), Peter Patonai (piano), Ian Glass (bass) and Pete Sowden (drums). Initially a part-time group, they played dances and local charity concerts, Merritt continued his day job as apprentice bricklayer in his father's business. When his parents, together with local Odeon theatre manager, Trevor King, developed the Christchurch Railway Hall into a music venue, The Teenage Club, they hired Merritt & The Meteors. The Teenage Club drew hundreds of locals and increased their popularity in the city when most businesses and public venues closed until late on Sunday afternoon.
Clancy was replaced by Willi Schneider during 1958, the band released their debut single "Get a Haircut" in June on HMV Records. By 1959, The Meteors had become a top youth attraction, regularly pulling crowds of 500 or more. Merritt borrowed players from other bands if a Meteors' member was unavailable, one such band was Ray Columbus & the Invaders fronted by vocalist Columbus. From this band Merritt recruited guitarist Dave Russell and bass guitarist / keyboardist Billy Karaitiana (a.k.a. Billy Kristian). In January 1959, New Zealand's top rocker Johnny Devlin played in Christchurch, afterwards Devlin saw Merritt at a "Rock'n'Roll Jamboree" charity concert where Devlin's manager Graham Dent was impressed enough to praise their performance to Auckland promoter Harry M. Miller. Miller added the Meteors to Australian rocker Johnny O'Keefe's 1959 tour of New Zealand.
Christchurch had been chosen as the site for a United States paramilitary base to access Antarctica, code-named "Operation Deep Freeze" - it had the only airfield large enough to handle the huge transport planes. The US presence provided a greater influence of rock'n'roll music - young servicemen discovered The Teenage Club and the gravel-voiced young Kiwi singer, Merritt. More rock'n'roll and R&B records entered local jukeboxes and were on radio. From their US connections, both The Meteors and The Invaders were able to equip themselves with Fender guitars and basses, which were still rare in Australia and the UK due to import restrictions. By 1959 the line-up for the Meteors had become Rod Gibson (saxophone), Ian Glass (bass guitar), Bernie Jones (drums) and Billy Kristian (piano) and early in 1960, HMV released their debut album C'mon Let's Go. Follow up singles were "Kiss Curl" and "C'Mon Let's Go" in 1960 and "Mr Loneliness" in 1961, they had local support but were almost unknown beyond South Island. In an effort to break into the more lucrative North Island market, both Max Merritt & The Meteors and Ray Columbus & the Invaders relocated to Auckland in November 1962.
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