Wellington City Libraries

Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui

Search options

Soundells

Decade(s) active:

We say:

soundells
Soundells in Auckland without Malcolm Hayman.
L to R: Garth Wall, Warren Potter, Jackie Pou, Leo George, Lani Love and Ria Kerekere.

Line-Up:
Malcolm Hayman (Lead Guitar / Vocals)
Lani Love (Bass Guitar)
Jackie Pou (Saxophone)
Warren Potter (Organ / Saxophone)
Ria Kerekere (Guitar / Vocals)
Leo George (Drums)
Betty Katae (Vocals)

The Soundells were formed in Wellington in 1966 by Malcolm Hayman. Malcolm had previously been in the Trademarks from 1956 to 1961, before traveling to Australia and the Pacific region for a few years. There was plenty of experience in the Soundells, with Lani Love having previously played with the Cascados and also the Diplomats with Jackie Pou and vocalist Betty Katae. Ria Kerekere was from Gisbourne where he played in a band called Who’s Who.

They were a brassy rock band who had a residence at the Downtown Club in Wellington. During 1967 they released a single on HMV called “I’m In Love With A Stranger”/”Take Me Where The Music’s Playing”. In late 1967, Phil Warren visited the club and was impressed enough with the group to offer them a well-paid gig at the Oriental Ballroom in Auckland.

The group accepted the offer, with the exception of Malcolm who stayed in Wellington. The rest of them shifted to Auckland and Malcolm put together the beginnings of Quincy Conserve.

Garth Wall was brought in to replace Malcolm, and eventually Garth was replaced by Bob Wynyard, who had been with the Sundowners. Ria Kerekere left the group to return to Wellington where he rejoined Malcolm Hayman in Quincy Conserve. Ria was replaced by Maurice Watene.

The Soundells without Malcolm Hayman was just not the same and they never really won over their Auckland audiences. By 1969 they had disbanded.

Warren Potter, the brother of Rodney “Dody” Potter of the Dallas Four, was killed in a car accident caused through a heart attack. Sadly Jackie Pou also died in a car accident. Maurice Watene joined the Herbs in the eighties.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Bruce Sergent for letting us use this material from his great discographical site New Zealand Music of the 60’s, 70’s and a bit of 80’s.


8 Replies to “Soundells”

  1. Janis halidone

    Warren Potter did not die of a drug overdose. He died of a heart attack.
    I am his sister Janis, and I would like this corrected.

  2. Janis halidone

    I would like the comment concerning my brother Warren’s death corrected. He died in a car accident caused through a heart attack. Long overdue. Regards his sister Janis.

    • Mark

      Hello Janis. The information on this page was sourced from a website that used a (long out of print & unavailable) reference book called ‘When rock got rolling: the Wellington scene, 1958-1970’ by Roger Watkins, which was published in 1989. We have a copy of this book & I have checked the original entry on the band. It looks like Mr. Watkins got the deaths of the two band members mixed up, attributing the wrong death to each of them, which I’m sure was an honest error on his part. We have updated the page to reflect your comments. Apologies for this error.

  3. Janis halidone

    When u put in Soundells it still comes up stating Warren Potter died of a drug overdose.
    Please correct this.Regards Janis.

    • Mark

      Hello Janis. This entry has in fact been updated as stated. Perhaps you need to clear the cache on your internet searches? Regards.

  4. Maurice Pou

    Hi, I am Jackie Pou’s son and I would also like this article corrected. My father did not die of a drug overdose he died in a car accident.

    Thanks
    Maurice

    • Mark

      Hello Maurice. The information on this page was sourced from a website that used a (long out of print & unavailable) reference book called ‘When rock got rolling: the Wellington scene, 1958-1970’ by Roger Watkins, which was published in 1989. It appears the original Soundells article contained some incorrect information regarding cause of death for some of the band members, which we are sure was an honest error on behalf of the author. We have updated the page to reflect your comments. Kind regards.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *