10 months ago

Album: Stoned Guitar
Read more & listen to this New Zealand volume of TDATS here: https://aftersabbath.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-day-after-sabbath-34-shafts-of.html
The Human Instinct's track here is a cover of a 1970 single from a short-lived Australian band called 'Mecca', which has thankfully been posted on youtube elsewhere. Apparently Mecca had connections to bands Chariot, Kahvas Jute, Planet Alliance and The Rayders and I need to investigate them further... The Human Instinct was a continuation of the group, the Four Fours. The transition to Human Instinct began in 1966 when Trevor Spitz, founding member of the Four Fours, decided to leave when the other group members wanted to embark on a trip to England to seek their fortune and fame.

Trevor was replaced by 19 year old Maurice Greer. Hailing from Palmerston North, Greer had formed his first band when he was 14, and two years later joined Manawatu's number one group, the Flares Show Band. In 1963 Greer and his brother Frank opened their own Palmerston North nightspot, the Flamingo, and the following year Maurice formed the Big Three with ex-Flares Peter Knowles on guitar and Trevor Harrison on bass. It was with Big Three that Greer first used a restructured drum kit, allowing him to play while standing, to allow him to better handle lead vocals. In 1965 Greer formed the Saints, (not to be confused with the Christchurch Saints from 1962), with Doug Rowe on bass, Dave Hurley on guitar and Winston Cartelli on vocals. They played in the Manawatu area, but in order to get greater recognition they were soon gigging in Wellington, before moving up to Auckland, which is where Greer came to the attention of the Four Fours.

He passed an audition to join the group and his first recording venture with them was the very successful "Go Go". Within six months he was on his way to England with the rest of the group. Dave Hartstone had been planning this trip for some time and arranged for them to take up a residency on board the Fairsky in return for reduced fares to England. It was during that voyage that it was decided that a name change was required to something more fitting for a group about to conquer the hip UK market. Human Instinct was the name decided upon. Three months would pass before they got their first paying gig, but in the meantime they caught up with all the new sounds and what was hip in the fashion world. At the beginning of 1967 they auditioned for a booking agency. Playing an impressive version of the Beach Boys classic, Good Vibrations, they were successful over a number of other hopeful groups and soon found themselves gigging regularly, even landing a support role for the Small Faces on a tour of Northern England.

A recording contract was signed with Philips, who released three singles for them on the Mercury label. All songs were written by Dave Hartstone. The first release was "Can't Stop Around"/"I Want To Be Loved By You My Friend" in 1967. The "Can't Stop Around" song has often been referred to as "Can't Shop Around" and "Can't Stop Loving You". The single was not successful, but the follow-up "Rich Man"/"Illusions" received the following favourable review in "New Musical Express": "A pounding up-tempo piece with ear-catching lyrics and some weird guitar sounds. Self-penned and out of the ordinary". Unfortunately the review didn't help with sales and the third single release, a remake of the Four Fours "Go-Go" backed with "I Can't Live Without You" fared even worse. As a result, Philips terminated the contract, but they were immediately picked up by Decca for release on their Deram label.

The first Deram single in 1967 was "A Day In My Mind's Mind"/"Death Of The Seaside" and this was followed by a Byrds cover, "Renaissance Fair"/"Pink Dawn" in 1968. Human Instinct once again failed to achieve recording success in Britain and Decca soon lost interest in them. Most of the two years the band had been in England was spent on the road. It was not a lifestyle that Bill Ward was happy with so he decided to return to New Zealand. Dave Hartstone had no plans for leaving England, while Frank Hay also decided to return to New Zealand for a break. Maurice Greer was undecided, as he had been offered the drummer's seat with the new Jeff Beck band, the line-up which also included Rod Stewart. In September 1968 he decided to return to New Zealand to reform a new line-up with the hope of eventually returning to England.

Back in New Zealand Maurice replaced Bill Ward with a friend of his from Palmerston North, 21 year old Billy Tekahika, who had been with the Sinners. Billy was later better known as Billy TK. Frank Hay stayed for a short time, but when Maurice decided to take the band on a national tour, he decided to leave and was replaced by Michael Brown. During the tour Michael left to join Dunedin band, the Klap, and was replaced by P .....read the rest here: https://aftersabbath.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-day-after-sabbath-34-shafts-of.html

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