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John Sanchez-Lloyd — a veteran of Blues Army Salvation (Salvation), The Cowboys, The Ranchsliders, The Coalrangers, The Individuals and Rocks Off
John Lloyd (now John Snachez-Lloyd) had been in a couple of minor Christchurch bands before joining The Blues Army Salvation, later shortened to just Salvation, in 1968. They were signed to Barry Coburn’s short-lived Viking Ventura label and released the single, I'd Rather Be Asleep, written by bassist Don McKenzie. The flip side was a cover of The Byrds' Why with Sanchez-Lloyd on lead vocals. When the band fell to pieces 1972, John took a break from the music scene and became an art teacher at Christchurch Boys' High School. At the end of the 1970s his former Salvation bandmate Mike Waldegrave invited him to join his new band to be known as The Cowboys, and with a repertoire ranging from Frank Zappa to The Allman Brothers Band and on to a few of their own songs, The Cowboys maintained a residency at the Carlton Hotel for several years during the early 80s, but a lack of mutual enthusiasm for each other’s songs helped bring an end to the band. John and bass player Geoff Farmar were then in a bunch of short-lived groups together before John became involved with New Zealand legend John Hore Grenell's annual Whitecliffs music festival. A graphic designer, he handled advertising and artwork. At one of the festivals, Sanchez-Lloyd and Farmar met up with Queenstown band Cat N The Rats, featuring guitarist Des Hetherington. Cat N The Rats and Farmar came together as a makeshift backing band for Californian Ron Valente who had fallen in love with the South Island since arriving in New Zealand around 1980 and becoming a regular on TVNZ's That’s Country as half of the American duo The Gypsy Mountain Pickers. John would go on to record with The Individuals backing Ronnie and Dougal for the flash in the pan EON Recordings label, and to join Rocks Off circa 1978 |
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