Peter Doyle - Music man
He’s organised do’s for the Queen and birthday bashes at Eichardt’s for friend Kenny Rogers and his band. Legendary Queenstown entertainer and events man Peter Doyle even started Queenstown’s own jazz big band.
The son of a well-known professional Sydney pianist, who once played for silent movies, it was inevitable that Peter would have the music in him.
From a very young age he’d be bundled off with a pillow and a blanket to gigs with Mum, sleeping outside in the car. Peter’s parents married after meeting in the Australian Air Force during World War II and Peter was born in 1947. Sadly, his father died when he was just 18 months old.
At six, Peter was playing drums for school assemblies in Mr Robertson’s primary school band. “I’ve never had a lesson in drums but made a living from playing them all my life.” Mr Robertson made the banjos, flutes, a bass drum, himself.
The biggest turning point came when a 13-year-old Peter cracked open a door to watch in awe as an older teen played drums at a Sydney Police Boys Club. “Mum did shows there and I’d go along.” The older boy invited Peter to try. He was hooked immediately.
“I got a job at the local picture theatre and saved 27 pounds for my first drum kit. Mum said I couldn’t have drums in the house so I asked the man at the picture theatre.” They set the drums up amid fabulous acoustics. “He’d put a 1950s record on up the back by the projector and call out, ‘Ya ready?’ That’s how I learned to play… by ear.”
At a teenage party Peter and a friend formed, The Hustlers. “We played lots of gigs – house parties and dances.” It was the 60s and The Beatles were big. They learned the songs by ear.
After Agriculture College – he’d planned to become a vet - he did an apprenticeship in compositing and graphic arts.
By the time Peter was 21 the Vietnam War was in full force. Scores of American GIs were about to flood Singapore, Thailand and Sydney on leave. Entertainment agencies jumped at the opportunity to take over the nightlife and Peter got in on the action playing in Singapore and Bangkok.
Peter then travelled to the likes of India, Nepal, Iran, Lebanon and Egypt, then England, before heading back to Aussie to play for well-known band, The Victoria Tea Party in North Queensland. At 24 he and a few mates hopped on a ship for a New Zealand holiday where they worked as wine waiters at Wairakei Resort before Peter discovered Queenstown. That was 1971 and he’s never left. Before long he was playing in a band with Lyall McGregor and the late Colin Robinson. “Things were so quiet here then.” The Cord 3 were regulars at Packer’s Arms, then the new Trans Hotel (now Rydges) for 10 years. They even did four-month summer stints on Pacific cruise ships.
A natural events man, it was Peter and then Eichardt’s manager Laurie Wilde who started the first Queenstown Winter Festival over a beer. “We thought it would be great for people here skiing to have something to do.” Iconic events like the Peak to Peak and Dog Derby were born. “We formed a committee and put all our ideas in a hat and off we went.”
A role as events and conference manager at the Rydges followed, then in the 90s marketing manager for Millbrook Resort. Peter compered Top Town in Queenstown, worked on the $10 Challenge, New Year’s Eve celebrations for many years, the Arrowtown Autumn Festival, played in the Arrow Miners Band, and compered local shows. On the side he ran his own radio show on Sundays on Resort Radio.
He even organised the entertainment for the Queen’s visit in 1990, met American actor Danny Kaye, and joined singer Kenny Rogers and his band sightseeing locally. “We organised a basketball game with Kenny and the First Edition in the old Queenstown stadium, and cricket on the Rec Ground in the late 70s.” They threw a big party at Eichardt’s for a band member. “He even came to my house to meet my family.”
Peter married his Kiwi pharmacist wife, Marilyn, in 1985, and they opened Frankton Pharmacy. Three sons followed and they sold the pharmacy, later purchasing Arrowtown Pharmacy.
Peter has been a member of the Queenstown Lions for 33 years, including a stint as president, and was awarded the prestigious Melvin Jones Fellow Award in 2019. He’s been chairman of Wakatipu High School’s Board of Trustees, served on St John’s area committee, and been a regular in the Showbiz Queenstown orchestra for years.
His family has been through immense tragedy – the loss of wife Marilyn and his precious son, Richard, in 2010, within months of each other. “Despite the terrible tragedies that have happened, my 50 years in Queenstown have been share bliss,” he says. He’s immensely proud of how his other two boys have pulled through and made huge successes in their own lives – Matt, popular head of music at Mount Aspiring College, and Tim, a graphic designer and musician in Dunedin.
In 2011 Peter formed the Queenstown Jazz Orchestra, which now has 16 musicians, including leading players from Dunedin, and they’re in demand around the region.
These days he’s a Grandad and marriage celebrant, both of which he loves.
