Wayne Allen

ROCKONZ NZ Star Award

John R Campbell Collection

Wayne Allen

Wayne Douglas Allen a.k.a Biggy Rat (latterly Captain Krakka), was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on November 5th, 1946.  Over the course of many years (and MANY bands as indicated below), Wayne has "resided" at significant spots such as The Plainsman in Christchurch, NZ and The Whiskey À GoGo in Sydney, Australia, has appeared on many television shows including That's Country and Paris by Night, and toured with well known local artists such as Suzanne Prentice.  His career began began back in 1958, when at 12 years of age Wayne had started to learn the guitar from tutor Tommy Kahi.  After about a year he found difficulty with bar chords as his fingers were short.  It was time to find another instrument, as he loved music and wanted somehow to play an instrument - even if it involved beating something.  He was always hitting things around the house and being told off by his mother for doing so, so he thought why not take up the drums - an excellent way to gain attention around home!  1959 saw Wayne making a kind of drumkit using a wooden tomato box from his father's shed, two cooking pots and his mum's favourite cake stand (off which he unscrewed the top plate to act as a cymbal).  It's easy to imagine this tomato box upright with two pots nailed on top, and a stick nailed to one side with the cake stand plate attached ... unfortunately Wayne doesn't have any photos of the "drum kit".

Wayne with his mentor Pete Ward

Wayne in the early days

Wayne with Toni Williams

Wayne with colleague Craig Nicholson

He didn't suspect that his folks would soon stump up with a REAL drum kit for his 13th birthday.  Wayne remembers coming home from school and finding the real drums in his bedroom, and after setting them up, he was into playing them in a demented manner until bed time.  The drums were Edgeware brand, and the colour was white.  His mum said that she had got them from Elaine Moody's music shop on the Manchester/Lichfield Street corner, so if anything went wrong he knew where to go for advice.

The Secrets Mark 1

The Secrets Mark 2

Everton Park

The Simple Image in the news
Harry Leki, Bruce Walker, Barry Leef, Wayne Allen and Ronald Cascoigne

The Simple Image in Sydney
Ronald Cascoigne, Barry Leef, Wayne Allen, Harry Leki and Bruce Walker

Wayne is mainly a self-taught drummer, and he listened to old Rock 'n' Roll records as well as playing along with Shadows LPs and thinking how he would like to be able to play like Tony Meehan or Brian Bennett.  Then he started to listen to big-band drummers like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson and thought that someday he would like to play just like them.  In 1961 Wayne was asked to join his first band, and the rest is musical history.

That's Country Backing Group

Wayne in The Vigilantes 2006 - Spencer Street Revisited

Wayne Allen performing 2006

Wayne has played in a multitude of significant groups over the course of his career and these included  —  The Telstars 1961, The Mustangs 1962, The Diamonds 1963, The Dynamics 1964, The Secrets 1964/65, The Echophonics 1966/67, The Funny Feeling 1967/68, The Secrets 1968/69, The Simple Image 1969/71, Everton Park 1972/78, Julian Jones and The Avengers 1971/81, Guilty 1981, Murray Wood and Harvest 1982/85, That's Country TV Show 1982/84, Southern Justice 1998/2004, The Vigilantes 2006, BackPack 2015 and Krakkajack 2018.

Wayne Allen with his latest super-group Krakkajack

Captain Krakka

Wayne Allen always behind his drumkit