Tributes flow for Gordon “Snowy” Fleet, drummer with ‘60s hitmakers The Easybeats, the first Australian rock band to enjoy a global following.
Fleet died in Perth on February 18th, aged 84.
Along with Dick Diamonde, George Young, Harry Vanda and Stevie Wright, Snowy co-founded The Easybeats in Sydney in late 1964.
The following year, in May 1965, a hit with “She’s So Fine”. Then, in 1966, the band had an international smash with “Friday On My Mind,” a single that would crack the UK top 10, peaking at No. 6, and would later be covered by David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Gary Moore and others.
The Easybeats went on to release a string of hits including “Women,” “Come and See Her,” “I’ll Make You Happy,” “Sorry” and 1968’s “Hello, How Are You”, which reached No. 20 in the UK, along with two EPs and two albums.
Raised in Liverpool, England, Fleet learned his trade with various Merseyside groups, including The Nomads, before emigrating to Australia, initially Melbourne then Sydney’s Villawood.
Fleet was the timekeeper and the joker in the Easybeats, and it was the Brit who gave the band its name. That “Snowy” nickname was a reference to his crop of jet-black hair.
In 1967, Fleet split with The Easybeats to spend more time with his wife and young children, and went on to become a successful builder in Perth before running a rehearsal studio in Jandakot, WA. He was replaced in the band by Tony Cahill.
Two years later, in 1969, The Easybeats disbanded. The outfit briefly reunited in late 1986 for a tour of Australia’s capital cities.
That 1960s heyday, however, continues to shape popular culture.
Songwriter and producer pair Harry Vanda and George Young were inducted into the inaugural Hall of Fame in 1988; in 2005, the Easybeats were elevated into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and in 2001, “Friday on My Mind” came in at No. 1 on APRA’s list of best Australian songs of all time, a poll conducted to coincide with the organisation’s 75th anniversary.
On Wednesday night in Sydney, Vanda & Young were saluted with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MPEG Awards, celebrating the country’s finest music producers and engineers. Fleet’s spirit was in the room, and his name was on the lips of many guests.
With the passing of Fleet, Vanda is the only surviving member of the original Easybeats lineup. Diamonde died in September 2024, Young in 2017 and Wright in 2015.
“It’s such a great loss to hear of the sad passing of Snowy, one of the last two remaining members of this iconic band,” comments Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS. “The Easybeats are synonymous with Australian music, and Snowy’s name will forever live on as an integral part of that. They were the architects of Australian rock and roll who laid the foundations for many others to follow. He will be deeply missed, and our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.”
Adds labels body ARIA: “His legacy as a pioneer of Australian rock will continue to inspire generations”.
In a statement published by Alberts, the Easybeats’ music company, Vanda remarks, “Snowy was the perfect drummer for The Easybeats, and [he] was also a comedian who could always make us laugh!”
