Dave flew out to Christchurch the day after the closure of the Easter Show to be married and to have a well earned break. His life had been a hectic 'roller coaster ride' ever since mid 1963 when he joined The Playboys (to become The [NZ] Byrds), in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Bowl Disco, in Sydney, had been a whirlwind as well. It operated five nights a week -- Wednesday through Sunday -- with Saturday and Sunday afternoons on top. In addition it operated midday to 2:00 pm, every working day lunchtime, Monday through Friday. Dave worked every session, unless he was 'out on the boards' in the 'back stop' role. Working alongside Lonnie Lee, the principal booking agent for Sunshine artists, at The Bowl, Dave was only too aware how poorly paid bands really were. It was cheaper and easier to favour solo artists. As a consequence, a number of the roster's names had been encouraged to divest themselves of their bands. With only themselves to think of they could get better fees, could be moved around the country much more easily, and accommodated more satisfactorily and economically. Aware of all this, and taking into account his own burgeoning solo career, Dave arrived back in Sydney harbouring a fair degree of trepidation. So much so, that before leaving Christchurch, he had propositioned Brian Ringrose (formerly of The [NZ] Byrds) to consider a musical director's role within a solo career structure. With a family, on the way, Brian had declined.

In a three week period, while Dave was in New Zealand, the members of The Dave Miller Set had decided, amongst themselves, to talk Dave into pursuing a band career and had completely restructured themselves. Ray Mulholland was the only original member to stay on board while John Robinson had claimed the guitarists role and had brought in his long time musical ally, Bob Thompson, on bass. Pretty much a case of 'while the cat's away'…

The group, in that configuration, 'clicked' really well and the John and Bob combination worked from experience. Thanks to the Easter Show The Dave Miller Set was a 'buzz' word and the 'leg up' had them gigging pretty much from the inception - albeit, slowly at first. Thanks to the likes of The Who, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix, the three piece 'power trio' instrumentation saw The Dave Miller Set 'sitting pretty', but there were 'dues to pay' before branching out in those directions. Sydney was in the grip of Soul music, in early 1967, due principally to the fact that it was the R & R port of call for American Servicemen, from Vietnam, and their music of choice was Soul music. The 'new-to-the-scene' The Dave Miller Set performed a select range of soul classics from the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Arthur Conley, and Eddie Floyd, but as the band's reputation blossomed, the musical emphasis shifted and the group began carving a niche in a 'Zeppelin' direction before the 'Brit' super-group had become a reality.

The Bowl became the 'Op Pop' and was in decline. Dave decided to link with the Spin Records Booking Agency under the watchful eye of creative 'whizz', Nat Kipner. As a spin-off from The Easter Show, the Amco Clothing Company approached Dave to continue the association as part of their in-store promotions built around fashion shows, featuring a troupe of young, fit, mixed dancers dressed in the company's latest styles, 'serving it up' to the music of The Dave Miller Set, and presented by 2UW's Ward 'Pally' Austin. The entire ensemble 'turned it on' in all the principal shopping centres around the metropolitan area. The Amco parades came at the right time and helped establish The Dave Miller Set. As personal appearance demands picked up, so too was there a demand for TV appearances on the likes of Channel Nine's 'Saturday Date' program. Without a recording contract The Dave Miller Set decided to lay down a handful of 'one-shot' takes of some of their most popular live performance numbers, especially to accommodate those occasions. After just three months the band was standing out significantly on the Sydney scene, and was also figuring prominently in other regions as well.

In May, 1967, The Dave Miller Set were thrust even further into the limelight when they were chosen to feature on the Sydney leg of The Easybeats' national 'return home' tour while riding the crest of the wave created by the international success of 'Friday On My Mind'. The performances were at the old Rushcutters Bay 'Stadium' with its revolving stage, and its unmatched history of great shows, and great artists.

Around the same time, in 1967, Channel Nine TV decided a new teen styled 'pop' show was worthy of consideration and narrowed the presenters down to either Jon Blanchfield or Dave Miller. Before a format, and a decision had been finalised, it was dropped like a 'hot potato' when The Monkees took off and pointed 'pop TV' in a whole new direction.

In a year of firsts for The Dave Miller Set, one of the great novelties was pioneering a disco train 'to the snow'. On board a packed train, an entertainment carriage had been stripped of all furniture and set up to become a dance floor and bandstand for the 'snow people' to 'party on' all through the night from Sydney's Central Station to the southern highlands town of Cooma. It was presented by Saturday Date TV's Tony Murphy, with live music by The Dave Miller Set. After a night of 'rail motion and sway', the bleary-eyed party goers were then transported, by buses, right at the chilly point of daybreak, to The Lodge at Thredbo to continue a big weekend of non-stop partying. The Dave Miller Set were the star attraction at The Lodge over two consecutive nights, while enjoying the comforts of accommodation in The Lodge, itself. The popularity of the event paved the way for other bands to also 'rock on rails'. The Dave Miller Set had delivered.

Dave Miller was probably one of the few artists that did not audition for Spin Records. Nat Kipner was happy with Dave's front-man part on The [NZ] Byrds releases and completely comfortable with his 'back stop' appearances connected to The Bowl, but he wanted to check out the group in a studio situation. With Ray Mulholland's [NZ] Rayders long time experience, there was no need for concern. In a low budget, limited time session at a North Sydney studio, generally used for commercials and 'voice-overs', the band laid down The Hollies song, 'A Hard Hard Year'. Everyone was sufficiently happy with the result and, subsequently, that track would eventually become the B-side of 'Why Why Why', the only recording not produced by multi-faceted, Pat Aulton.

In September the band went into Festival's Studio at Ultimo and laid down 'Why Why Why'. Written by Phillip Volk of Paul Revere and the Raiders prominence, it was the A-side choice. All conceded that the original version was 'a bit pale and wimpish', but there was a form, to the song, that was liked. Dave's concept was to treat it in an Eric Burdon and the Animals way. Given that licence, the band went to town to turn the song into something with dynamics and a heavier character, changing the 3/4 time signature to 4/4. Back to back the two versions are hardly comparable.

"Why Why Why b/w A Hard Hard Year" was released in the Spring of 1967 and coincided with a huge inner-city rock concert staged in Hyde Park, as part of the Waratah Spring Festival. The Dave Miller Set was one of the headlining acts.

In the first week of December, 1967, The Dave Miller Set embarked on another first and, without doubt, it was a real trail blazer for the times. After consultations with Dave Miller, the P & O Shipping Company decided to 'bite the bullet' and take a risk using The Dave Miller Set to provide pop/rock music for their younger passengers on their South Pacific cruise liners. Taking in places like Noumea, in French Caledonia, and Suva, in Fiji, it turned out to be a staggering and unexpected success and The Dave Miller Set was lauded by the P & O 'top brass' for, not only fitting in, but for being a popular adjunct to their cruise itineraries. Long held fears were put to rest and The Dave Miller Set paved the way for others to follow. The real purpose for the arrangement was to get The Dave Miller Set to New Zealand where, thanks to Dave Miller & The Byrds, a record buying market had already been established. The band still had to breakthrough in Australia but the 'back-up' was all about re-activating the NZ market place and, with that as an objective, the group spent nearly two months working from Auckland to Christchurch before joining another P & O liner, out of Wellington, for the cruise home to Sydney. It all coincided with Why Why Why's release, in NZ, and, as a consequence, the song made it into the Radio Hauraki Top 50 and other North Island regional Top 40's. It is interesting to understand that the 'Pirate' radio station, 'Radio Hauraki' recorded all programmes in studios, on shore, in Auckland, but, in typical British 'pirate' style, had to broadcast, towards the mainland, from a ship anchored three miles out into international waters. As the 'pirates' had shaken up the staid BBC, so too did Radio Hauraki shake up the NZBC.

Dave Miller Set 1968 publicity shot for the launch of "Hope" L to R: John Robinson, Ray Mulholland, Dave Miller & Bob Thompson.

The Dave Miller Set arrived back, in Sydney, at the end of January, 1968, and "Why Why Why" had not set the 'world alight'. Overall it made a mark as a 'first timer'. Pat Aulton suggested to Dave that a song called 'Hope' could be a good prospect for the next single. He had discovered it on an album by The Candymen who were originally Roy Orbison's backing group. Dave concurred and promptly learned the song. He decided to re-visit Sam Cooke's 'Having A Party' for the B-side, with a few song titles changed in the lyric structure, to give it an 'update'. The release of 'Hope', in March 1968, coincided with another round of Amco Fashion Shows and, as luck would have it, Ward Austin really liked the song, and made sure it was on his playlist. 'Hope' made the Sydney charts on all stations and peaked at place 21.

EP including first & second singles

The success of 'Hope' created a popularity 'territory', outside of Sydney, from Canberra, through Woolongong and Port Kembla, to Newcastle, then up the eastern seaboard to Coffs Harbour, and on to the Gold Coast and Brisbane. Referred to, by the band, as 'the territory', it stayed faithful to The Dave Miller Set for the duration. It meant, of course, that the band was constantly on the road and the live work load was considerable, due to the persistent demand. 'Hope' brought about mainstream changes like newspaper and magazine interviews, and guest 'shots' on radio and television shows, often figuring in 'chat' segments. The Dave Miller Set started becoming 'media savvy'. Apart from the 'teen' gigs, licensed clubs opened up for the band for guest appearances, and Universities in NSW and Queensland added the group to their respective gig calendars.

With popular music now into the 'guitar hero' phase it was in this period, between the latter part of 1967 and the end of 1968, that John Robinson's development, as a skilful and fluent player, came to the fore. His progress in that twelve month period was staggering, and on the local scene he stepped right up and 'grabbed' it. The personal appearance demand for the band had intensified to the point that it was not until September, 1968, that they returned to the studio to record a follow up to 'Hope'. In the interim John had commissioned a sitar from one of India's oldest and most renowned families of instrument manufacturers. It turned out to be a magnificent artefact and as soon as it arrived, in Australia, John, in typical fashion, set about mastering all the basics. When Pat Aulton suggested The Youngbloods' 'Get Together', as the next single A-side, John's skills had him able to devise complimentary sitar phrases and fills to give the song a new and different character. The band was going through a very creative patch, at that time, and Dave penned the B-side, 'A Bread and Butter Day'. The group, collectively, structured an arrangement most suited to the band's style.

"Get Together b/w A Bread And Butter Day" was released in October, 1968, and was immediately picked up by radio. It ultimately peaked at place 27 in the NSW charts. The label department, of Festival Records, had clumsily prefaced the title with 'Lets' and caused annoying confusion as that had formerly been the title of a Hayley Mills hit. To this day it is still constantly mis-printed.

The release of 'Get Together' timed out nicely to coincide with the annual Waratah Spring Festival, and once again The Dave Miller Set were headliners at another Hyde Park inner-city rock concert. 'Hope' and 'Get Together' were really well received, along with a Dave Miller Set 'nod' to Jimi Hendrix with a bracket of some of his most acknowledged favourites. On the day, The Dave Miller Set were 'cooking' and security personnel had to prop up the stage safety fencing because of a mass surge during 'Purple Haze'!

On the first cruise to Fiji, in 1967, Dave had been sought out by an enthusiastic Suva night club operator, who was also a dealer and musical instrument importer. He pointed out to Dave that should the band return on a subsequent occasion, that he would happily order in any instruments that the group would like, provided he was given sufficient time. Suva, being a duty free port, made that offer very attractive. Further-more, he travelled to Sydney a couple of times a year and, as a consequence of that, he knew of The Dave Miller Set and had seen the group on television. His fervent hope was that he could get the band to make a guest appearance at his night club. Both he, and Dave, kept in touch and when the band decided to tour New Zealand again, in the summer of 1968 into 1969, he arranged guitars for both Dave and John and pencilled in the proposed night club appearance. Because the initial Pacific Islands cruise, to feature 'rock' music, had been a great working holiday experience for the band, along with the fact that the NZ tour had been well received and had proved considerably beneficial, The Dave Miller Set collective decided to do it all again, in the summer of '68 into '69, when 'Get Together' started 'taking off' with a lot of 'press' and a lot of 'plays', setting up a new boost in popularity as a result. The P & O Company was more than happy to work the same arrangement, and the itinerary was a repeat of the first time, taking in Noumea and Suva. The only difference being that the cruise liners kept changing. At the 'eleventh hour', before joining the cruise in Sydney, Dave was contacted by his entrepreneurial friend in Fiji and asked if the group would consider making a special afternoon concert appearance in Suva on the day of arrival. The band was happy to oblige and when the windfall, from the combined concert and night club fees was shared out, it made for very indulgent duty free shopping before leaving the Island for Auckland. Unbeknown to The Dave Miller Set, the concert was the very first, by any international act, and it was staged in Suva's brand new Civic Auditorium. It was a totally packed sell-out, filled with many local dignitaries along with hundreds of 'Get Together' fans, thanks to repeated plays by Radio Fiji.

'Get Together' went to number one, in Suva, and stayed there for quite a few weeks. The Dave Miller Set were 'wined, dined, and feted', within Suva's night life, after the runaway successes of both the concert and night club appearances, and the band most certainly left an indelible imprint on friendly and hospitable Fiji. It dawned on the band, in New Zealand, that with a significant portion of Fiji's population being of Indian descent, the sitar, on Get Together, probably found additional favour in those quarters as well, resulting in that extra push to 'the top'. Whatever it was, the group was happy, and so were the organisers and the people.

The Dave Miller Set started the New Zealand tour with ten days of intensified gigging around the Auckland scene, centred on The Galaxie night-spot. In addition they were added to an outdoor concert bill at a North Shore sporting facility which drew considerable crowds, especially as the weather was 'perfection'. While stationed, in Auckland, the group made arrangements with the Jansen musical instrument and amplification company for all new gear which elevated the group into the 'bigger league', especially as outdoor events were becoming more in vogue - the start of the 'festival era'.

As a consequence of the 'new gear' Dave joined into the group as rhythm guitarist on selected songs, to 'fatten' the sound, especially on heavy 'rockers' like Jeff Beck's treatment of the old Yardbirds' classic, 'Shapes Of Things'. The band started taking on a whole new character with a 'bigger' and more powerful sound. Entrepreneur, Phil Warren, gifted Dave the keys to the dance hall section of Rotorua's Soundshell complex, and said: "This hasn't worked for us this summer. It's all paid for, you know how to run shows, it's yours - break a leg"! The Dave Miller Set followed in the footsteps of 'The Byrds', of 1965, and ran a week of appearances in Rotorua which turned out to be profitable and fun, mainly because the Maori kids loved Jimi Hendrix, and that was right up The Dave Miller Set street. From Rotorua the group trained to Wellington and worked around a rather vibrant scene, centred on a venue known as 'The Cave'. The Dave Miller Set drew a really healthy fan base in Wellington and Bob Thompson was singled out as a favourite. Being English It reminded him 'of home' and the first pangs of home-sickness appeared.

In the early new year, of 1969, The Dave Miller Set were in Dave's hometown of Christchurch and, in a similar manner to previous occasions with The [NZ] Byrds, Dave master-minded and ran four consecutive packed-out nights of appearances at The Mecca night spot. In the second week of January The Dave Miller Set trained from Christchurch to Dunedin, and played a series of club gigs from Thursday through Sunday. Although Dunedin is a University and college city, and January is part of the 'shut down' period, the venues, like the nights in Christchurch, were packed sell outs. In the third week of January The Dave Miller Set was back in Christchurch for two final appearances, and then the band set forth on one of the wildest and roughest overnight ferry crossings, of all time, for Wellington, and a full weekend of gigs before boarding the 'Arcadia' back to Sydney.

On the first cruise voyages, in 1967 into 1968, Dave, in consultation with various captains, made offers for the band to perform for all off-duty crew members. It was a precedent that other entertainers had not taken up, and it was considered a generous gesture. The Dave Miller Set became somewhat the 'toast of the fleet' and hundreds of crew members embraced it as a 'Vegas' styled occasion for dressing up and partying. In fact, for the band, those outings turned out to be some of the most enjoyable of their career even though they were simply staged in the crew's 'mess' quarters. Based on the overwhelming success of the 'private party' aspect of those nights Dave adopted the same procedure on the second year of 'cruising' and the rapport between crew members and the band was second to none, so much so, that the band did not have to lift a finger to move equipment anywhere on board, any of the vessels, and received wonderful attention in the dining rooms. A genuine case of mutual fairplay and respect.

At 5:00am on the morning that the Arcadia was to dock at Circular Quay, in Sydney Harbour, Dave was in the ship's ballroom numbering and labelling the group's equipment prior to lugging it through Customs. Kneeling down attaching labels and making notes a voice from behind said: "You fellows played a very good concert in here last night. I thought you performed very well, and you were certainly liked." Dave turned around and there, in tow with four security personnel, was (Sir) John Gorton, the Prime Minister, of Australia. Dave replied: "Thank you sir, I was unaware that you were on board." They both engaged in conversation for around four minutes, then shook hands, while the Prime Minister wished the band well for the future.

Bass player, Bob Thompson, was very unsettled when the band arrived back in Sydney, towards the end of January, 1969. He had felt really at home in the Englishness of Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin and, as a consequence of that, was hankering for his own homeland. After about six weeks of being unsettled he dropped his 'bombshell' on the band - he had sold all his new Jansen bass gear, while it was still in pristine condition, and, in so doing, realised the funds necessary for his return home. With an intensified workload of gigs, because of the two months out of the country, it could not have happened at a worse time for the other members of The Dave Miller Set. The decision Bob had taken really unsettled John Robinson. Both he, and Bob were close friends and rather inseparable musical 'soul mates'. Apart from technique and skill it had all the hallmarks of being a daunting task to find a bass player that John could feel comfortable with. Both Bob and John had worked together for some considerable time and the closeness was almost telepathic.

Dave received a phone call from one of Sydney's top 'roadies' who told him that Leith Corbett was looking for a bass playing gig. He had recently left the Sydney 'big band', 'Heart & Soul' and was available to start almost immediately. The Dave Miller Set had a workout with Leith, and Ray and Dave believed he would fit the bill quite comfortably. Certainly his brazen, out going personality and his sense of 'theatre' was considered to be a real attribute, and that is exactly how it turned out to be. Thanks to all the airtime on both 'Hope' and 'Get Together' The Dave Miller Set fan 'territory' expanded substantially. With Leith on board it broke new ground across the west of NSW in places like Bathurst, Orange, Parkes, Forbes and Young and, in the southwest, in towns like Griffith and Hay. That led the band to Melbourne for club appearances and TV, and ultimately to Adelaide. More than ever the band was out on the road and away from Sydney, and, as a consequence, out of the recording studio as well. It was not until June of 1969, that the band set out to follow up the previous year's hit, 'Get Together'.

With Dave's good reputation amongst the local record companies, a somewhat 'career changing' event occurred around the end of May. Dave was asked by one of the Phonogram reps to give an opinion on the market possibilities, in Australia, of an album by an unknown Irish group, named Eire Apparent. The only real claim to fame attached to it was that it had been produced by Jimi Hendrix - the most heralded of the 'guitar heroes' in that period of the 1960's. There was an urgency, and all that Phonogram had to go on was a 'white labelled' test pressing with no other information, other than the track titles. They needed Dave's opinion, within 48 hours, so that it would coincide with a meeting for the company's forward projections for product marketing. Dave did that, but in the meantime, he was taken with the chart possibilities of two tracks on the disc, namely 'Mr. Guy Fawkes' and 'Someone Is Sure To'. Dave borrowed his mother-in-law's old National reel-to-reel tape recorder and made a copy of both songs. He had a vision for Mr. Guy Fawkes, specifically, and, with scissors and sticky tape, cut sections out of the original to fit the concept he visualised. At that point Leith Corbett arrived in the middle of it and got caught up in Dave's enthusiasm. The pair worked up the ideas ready for presentation to the band and Dave ultimately explained, in lengthy detail, to Pat Aulton, what he envisioned and the effects he considered imperative. Pat, to his credit, listened intently and took it all on board. He said to Dave: "It's a big call, but I think we can do it." He did, with panache, class, and brilliance and, to this day, it is a testament to his skills, especially as it was recorded on just four tracks! A fact, not generally known, is that The Dave Miller Set, when they laid down the 'Guy Fawkes' and 'Someone Is Sure To' tracks, also laid down, in the same session, tracks for the Frank Lewis single, 'Year Of War' and 'Indianapolis'. As an amusing adjunct, and this is not generally known, Leith was the bass player on Heart & Soul's 'Lazy Life' as well as the bass player on 'Year Of War' and 'Mr. Guy Fawkes'. He featured on three Top 20 chart hits simultaneously that year. Not bad for someone outside of the 'session' ranks.

'Mr. Guy Fawkes' was released in July, 1969, amidst a fair degree of controversy. The managing director of Spin Records hated it and berated Dave for the worst load of rubbish the company had been involved in. He made it very clear that had he followed its progress through the studio he would have pulled the plug on it. He considered that Pat Aulton had also let the company down, and had it not been 'pressed' it would never have been released to the market place!

 
EP including third & fourth singles

When Mr. Guy Fawkes 'clicked' the manager of Spin Records was considered progressive, in a visionary way, mainly due to the song's production, and within a very short space of time he was promoted to managing director of TCN Channel Nine, in Sydney. Pat Aulton established his own production business, and that was due, in part, to his superlative work on 'Mr. Guy Fawkes'.

As Mr. Guy Fawkes started getting good airtime The Dave Miller Set, through the Nova Booking Agency, flew to Djakarta, in Indonesia, for a series of eight concerts in a ten day period. The Dave Miller Set were the first international rock vocal group to break into this brand new territory. It turned out to be a debacle that got clouded in a clumsy international intrigue, and The Dave Miller Set, as a consequence, had trouble getting out of the country before the expiration of their 10 day visa. After three big nights in Djakarta, itself, the tour came to a crashing halt because the stadiums planned for staging the next five concerts had not been booked and were being utilised for a series of international sporting events, and all the tickets for those shows had been pre-sold! The organisers tried to hold The Dave Miller Set, in Indonesia, until the venues were cleared but did not take into account the group's 10 day visa situation. It quickly became the biggest nightmare of Dave's entire career. A case of 'easy to get in, but hard to get out of'!

The Dave Miller Set 1969. Gathered at Djakarta International Airport after just landing in Indonesia.
L to R: Leith Corbett, Mike Furber, Dave Miller, Nicolette Bradley, John Robinson & Ray Mulholland.

Arriving back in Sydney, Mr. Guy Fawkes, was in the Top 10 keeping pace with Thunderclap Newman's 'Something In The Air'. The first major event, after the 'Indonesian affair', was Mad Mel's 'Giant Stir' under The Sydney Harbour Bridge. Mel was a disc jockey with radio 2SM and the 'one-day festival' outing saw crowds of 50 - 60,000 people all converge onto the sunny grassy spaces for a day of great Sydney music. Along with The Dave Miller Set, some of the other acts to 'grace the harbour space' were Tamam Shud, House Of Bricks, Frank Lewis, Heart and Soul, and American country singer/sometimes comedian, Ray Stevens. It all helped push Mr. Guy Fawkes inside the Top 10. At its best point it peaked at Number 2, for one week, behind Honky Tonk Women, by The Rolling Stones.