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Trevor King R.I.P. (1924 - 2011)

Trevor King R.I.P. (1924 - 2011)

Kua hinga he totara i te wao nui a Tane

Six hours following the Christchurch earthquake, one of the city's great characters died, aged 87.

Trevor King was a longtime Kerridge Odeon employee and theatre manager, and for generations of Christchurch children he was known as Uncle Trevor. With equal affection, to many musicians from Canterbury and beyond, he was known as The Master.

In 1956, with Jim and Ilene Merritt, Trevor King founded the Teenage Club at the Railway Hall in Sydenham. The Teenage Club featured Christchurch's first rock'n'roll band, led by Jim and Ilene's son - Max Merritt & the Meteors. Trevor managed Max though till 1963, and other Christchurch talents to receive his assistance included Ray Columbus & the Invaders, Dinah Lee, Dave Miller & the Byrds, Peter Nelson & the Castaways, and many more.

His reputation soon spread outside the Garden City and throughout the 1960s he toured with numerous national and international acts throughout New Zealand, including the Howard Morrison Quartet and the C'Mon Shows. He may very well have been the only person in the world to have tour-managed both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He was still occasionally active as late as the 1990's - tour managing the Morrison Orpheus Choir and Al Jarreau.

In 1983 Trevor King was recognised by the NZ Entertainers & Operators Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Other awards included a NZ Commemorative Medal (1990), the Queen's Service Medal (1992), the Christchurch City Council Civic Award (1998) and he was inducted into the ROCKONZ Rock Hall Of Fame (2007). In 2006 he published his autobiography, King Of The Road.

Above all, though, Trevor King was a true gentleman who always put others' welfare above his own, one of The Good Guys. He was definitely one of a kind. Farewell, Master . . . Hei maumaharatanga ki te tino hoa . . .

ENDS

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