Kevin Borich

Kevin Nicholas Borich (born 27 October 1948, Huapai, North Island, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter.

He was a founding member of The La De Das, the leader of Kevin Borich Express, and a founding member of The Party Boys, as well as a session musician for numerous acts.

Kevin Borich was born in 1948 in Huapai north west of Auckland on New Zealand's North Island.

He attended secondary school at Rutherford High School in Te Atatū Peninsula, a suburb of Auckland.

In 1961, at the age of 12, Borich recorded a private single on Astor Records with sisters Judi and Sue Donaldson (later as New Zealand duo The Chicks).

As a guitarist, Borich formed The Mergers in late 1963 with fellow students Brett Neilsen on drums and Trevor Wilson on bass guitar.

Initially they performed covers of The Shadows' material as an instrumental band after school and on week-ends.

With the addition of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Phil Key, The Mergers with Borich on lead guitar/vocals, Neilsen on drums/vocals and Wilson on bass guitar, were eventually renamed as The La De Das in 1964 in Auckland, New Zealand.

In June 1965 they recorded their debut single, "Little Girl", and later that year added Bruce Howard on keyboards.

From 1966 to 1967 they had five New Zealand top 10 hits, "How is the Air Up There?", "On Top of the World", "Hey Baby", "All Purpose Low" and "Rosalie".

By 1968 they were based in Sydney and recorded their concept album, The Happy Prince, in 1969 on EMI.

Borich wrote "Gonna See My Baby Tonight" for The La De Das, which became a top 10 hit in 1971 on the Australian singles chart.

Line-up changes occurred, with Borich and Key joined by Peter Roberts on bass guitar and Keith Barber on drums by 1971's Australian Kent Music Report top 10 hit single, "Gonna See My Baby Tonight".

It had been written by Borich, who had established a reputation as "Australia's guitar hero supremo" and regularly performed "All Along the Watchtower" using Jimi Hendrix' interpretation of the Bob Dylan song to close The La De Das' live set.

He performed at some of Australia's biggest rock events including the 1972 Sunbury Pop Festival and the late 1970s Rockarena tours with 60,000 people, featuring Fleetwood Mac, Santana and The Little River Band.

He played in two New Year's Eve celebrations at the Sydney Opera House with 70,000 people as well as support shows for international acts including Elton John, Status Quo, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy.

Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane has described Borich as "one of the most celebrated guitar players in the history of Australian rock. He also remains an underrated songwriter, and his live reputation has rarely been reflected in record sales".

His son Lucius Borich joined Kevin Borich Express as a drummer and was later a member of Sydney-based progressive rock band Cog.

In late January 1972, they appeared at the inaugural Sunbury Pop Festival and featured on the subsequent double album, Sunbury, released in October by EMI/HMV.

The La De Das recorded further albums and singles and, despite critical acclaim, had little chart success.

Only Borich remained throughout until he disbanded the group in 1975.

After The La De Das, Borich toured with John Paul Young & the Allstars for some months before forming a new band.

Kevin Borich Express was formed in early 1976 by Borich on lead guitar, lead vocals and occasional flute with Harry Brus on bass guitar (ex-Blackfeather) and Barry Harvey on drums (Wild Cherries, Chain).

They recorded a track, "The End of Me", before Brus and Harvey were soon replaced by Reuben San Fiansco on bass guitar and Gil Matthews on drums.

Subsequent line-ups were typically a three piece with a succession of bass guitarists and drummers.

They released their debut single, "Goin' Somewhere", in October using Fiansco, and John Annas on drums (Wendy Saddington Band).

Following in March 1977 was their debut album, Celebration! with Annas, and Tim Partridge on bass guitar (Mighty Kong, The Johnny Rocco Band).

The album was favoured by critics and peaked in the top 30 on the Australian albums charts.

In early 1977, Borich supported the tour by UK rock guitarist Jeff Beck.

Mid-1977 saw the release of the band's follow-up album Lonely One.

This was followed in October by supporting the Rockarena tour with Fleetwood Mac, Santana and Little River Band; Borich was invited on-stage to jam with Carlos Santana.

In May 1978, the band toured the US in support of Australian heavy rockers AC/DC, with Annas, Paul Christie on bass guitar and keyboard player Tim Shafer (Gary Wright Band).

This line-up recorded No Turning Back which was released in March 1979.

By mid-year, Partridge had returned with both Christie and Shafer departing, and together with Annas, Borich recorded Live!, using the 2JJ mobile studio equipment over performances in Melbourne and Wollongong.

Live! contains one of the most incendiary and atmospheric versions of "Little Red Rooster" ever recorded, along with a number of Borich standards.

In July, Kevin Borich Express appeared on Renée Geyer's album Blues License.

A European tour by Kevin Borich Express resulted in a compilation album being released in Germany.

After the tour, John Watson (Heavy Division) replaced Annas on drums and the band recorded Angel's Hand in November 1979.

Similar line-up changes continued into the early 1980s with Michael Deep replacing Partridge in April 1980.

This line-up collaborated with solo artist Dutch Tilders to record Blues Had a Baby and They Called It Rock'n'Roll in 1981 on RCA Records.