Lyall McGregor - An entertainment icon and still rocking it at 77
He’s an entertainment icon, playing ukelele publicly from age seven, backing NZ’s leading 1960s and 70s stars and even jamming with singer-actress Bette Midler.
Still rocking it at 77, ask Lyall McGregor though what his most memorable music moment is and he fights back the emotion. “I was invited to sing with a crowd of cancer survivors after the 24-Hour Relay For Life fundraiser at Lake Hayes,” he says. “I sang ‘Here Comes The Sun’ as they each lit a candle. It was very moving.”
Born in Dunedin in 1946, Lyall’s been playing guitar and singing for 70 years. He completed his Linotype operator apprenticeship at the Otago Daily Times just as the systems were computerised. Music then became his main earner. “We played ukelele at the bowling clubs, graduating to the high school band – The Discords, in demand at popular Bible School dances,” says Lyall. By 18 they played at the first Dine & Dance at the City Hotel which was even televised.
After playing at Dunedin’s Savoy Restaurant the band was hired by entertainment icon Joe Brown, of Miss NZ and Search For The Stars fame, touring the country. “We played from Invercargill to Rotorua, backing the likes of Eddie Low, John Hore and Bunny Walters, and played with Tom Sharplin. You couldn’t get out the back door of the theatres.”
A gig at the Frankton Motor Hotel saw the boys, with, by then, Lyall’s wife Ann, packed into an adjacent camping ground cabin. Packers Arms and Trans Hotel were all on their 70s circuit, backing the likes of The Yandall Sisters, Ray Wolfe and the Happen Inn dancers, followed by a stint for Sydney-based Pacific cruise ships.
Back in Queenstown fellow band members Peter Doyle and Colin Robinson pursued other ventures while Lyall went solo, one of just four Queenstown Borough Council employees by day. “We did everything – collected rubbish, cleaned gutters, even dug graves. The post-election party drinks were legendary.” Queenstown was a small town then with two cops, illegal Sunday morning sessions at Wicked Willies Bar behind closed curtains.
Spotted by the owner of Wellington’s James Cook Hotel Lyall was invited to play there six nights a week, moving the family to Wellington. The who’s who of music all stayed there, (Sir) Elton John, Paul Simon and (Sir)Rod Stewart all dropped into the bar for a chat.
Back in Queenstown Lyall leased a jetboat launching Lakeland Jet and instructed for Colin’s ingenious tourist ride in Brecon Street – an anchored Bell helicopter offering simulated flights 25-feet (7.6m) in the air. His family later sold the idea to the US Navy.
Lyall drove for H&H around the South Island, including the postal delivery run to Glenorchy before driving local limos, chauffeuring the likes of American actor Robin Williams and his family while here on holiday.
“One day I picked up a tiny 4-foot (1.2m) nothing redheaded girl who played ukelele for me. I said, ‘Do you play? She replied, ‘I did in my last movie, but don’t tell anyone,” grins Lyall. “I realised it was Bette Midler. Every night she’d play ukelele in the Blanket Bay Restaurant and we’d sing in the limo sometimes.”
Lyall joined the Queenstown Fire Brigade in 1975 as a volunteer almost 40 years ago, and is now a life member. He’s attended far too many car accidents and helped fight some mighty fires – The World Nightclub among the worst. He has a swag of medals, including the prestigious Gold Star and a Long Service Good Conduct Medal, although he almost missed out on that. “I used to jump up when the siren went off and drive from Fernhill in my underpants, but when our first woman firefighter, Vicki Paddon joined, the boys asked me to get dressed,” grins Lyall.
If he, Colin and Peter were playing a gig during the early days they’d suddenly lose their bass guitarist. “If there was a call-out I’d just walk off the stage.”
Fire Brigade Winter Festival floats went all out with 38-foot (11.5m) high scaffolding, huge flames, firemen sliding down poles and Lyall on the back singing his own versions of ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Disco Inferno’.
He’s been heavily involved with Showbiz Queenstown and Remarkable Theatre on and of stage and currently performs locally with Melita Langston, at Remarkables Market, also for charity shows.
A past president of Queenstown RSA, he’s a Poppy Trust trustee and been awarded a Certificate of Appreciation.
In 2018 Queenstown Rotary awarded Lyall the local Unsung Hero Award.
He loves Queenstown but misses its friendly, unclogged streets. “If you talked to yourself in the toilet in the old days you started a rumour,” laughs Lyall.
