Bill and Boyd
| Bill and Boyd | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Wellington, North Island, New Zealand |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1959–1989 |
| Labels | Stetson, Peak, Philips, Sunshine, Fable, EMI |
| Past members |
|
Bill and Boyd were a pop music duo from 1959 to 1989 consisting of William "Bill" Cate (born 1940) and William "Boyd" Robertson (born 1941), both on lead vocals and lead guitar, which started recording in 1960. They began their careers in Wellington, New Zealand before relocating to Sydney by 1964. In 1968 they toured United States supporting The Supremes and Herb Alpert. Bill and Boyd's highest charting single, "Santa Never Made It into Darwin", peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in early 1975. It was a charity single in support of rebuilding Darwin after its devastation by Cyclone Tracy on the previous Christmas Eve – Christmas Day. At the Country Music Awards of Australia of 1976 "Santa Never Made It into Darwin" won the APRA Song of the Year for the duo and Cate its writer. Their self-titled album from 1975 reached No. 1 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, while "Put Another Log on the Fire" (December 1975) reached No. 5 on the related New Zealand Singles Chart and No. 23 in Australia. The duo continued together until 1989. Cate formed a self-titled trio.
William "Bill" Cate (born 1940) and William "Boyd" Robertson (born 1941) both attended Naenae College, a secondary school in Lower Hutt, in the mid-1950s. They started practising pop music in Robertson's bedroom and recorded a home version of "Angel" in about 1956. They formed a duo, Bill and Boyd, with both on lead vocals and lead guitar. They began public performances at local halls including a residency at Lower Hutt's Town Hall. Their early repertoire was cover versions of overseas artists, especially The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley. In 1959 they supported local rock and roller, Johnny Devlin, in Wellington.
By 1960 they had signed with Peak Records label, and issued five singles over the following year including "Fall in Love with You" and their cover of "Corrina, Corrina". Late in 1961 they switched labels to Philips Records and two years later relocated to Auckland. During 1963 they toured with Peter Posa, Max Merritt and Dinah Lee. By 1964 they had relocated to Sydney with the release of their single, "Chulu Chululu", receiving attention in Australia. The track was co-written by Cate and Robertson.
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