By Danielle Davey
Synonymous with quiet luxury, a strip of boutiques now stands where ear-splitting rock’n’roll once ruled. Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, queues snaked along the main street of Sorrento to get into Tom Katz, a club that dominated the town’s live music scene.
The venue was the brainchild of RMIT advertising students Jeff Leech and Derek Harris. After hosting dances at university and across the CBD, they leased the old memorial hall from the Sorrento RSL, initially booking jazz bands before branching into rock. Little did they know the club would soon join venues at Phillip Island and Lorne to form a triad of coastal nightspots catering to surfers and holidaymakers.
At a time when Sorrento’s pubs closed at 6.00pm and public halls held only formal dances. Tom Katz gave patrons a place to let their hair down. Open every night, it showcased rising stars including Russell Morris, Billy Thorpe and Daddy Cool. The unlicensed venue saw a weekend surge of teenagers, dropped off by willing parents.
The vibrant scene didn’t just captivate local youth; it took over the town. Jeff, who has since retired to Sorrento, says: “Derek and I would book two or three local houses for bands to stay in during their visit. Sometimes groupies discovered the addresses, attempting to break in to get near the band members.”
Sorrento was gripped with excitement when one of Tom Katz’s regular bands gained international stardom. The Mixtures achieved chart-topping success in 1971, so Jeff and Derek had an army jeep do laps of the main street with 3AW’s Ross Campbell announcing through a large speaker: “Tonight at Tom Katz: The Mixtures with their Number One hit ‘The Pushbike Song’!”
Tom Katz had already blazed a trail by the time its lease at the hall ended in the mid-’70s. It remained a rock hotspot under subsequent promoters, hosting major bands like AC/DC, Skyhooks and Australian Crawl.
In a full-circle moment, the current iteration of Sorrento Portsea RSL has revived the spirit of Tom Katz. The committee’s entertainment coordinator, prominent advertising executive and entrepreneur John Skinner, gained approval to use the name and distinctive black cat logo, and it now hosts live gigs every Sunday and special feature shows on selected Saturday nights.
Tom Katz is back in town. To view the gig guide and make bookings, visit www.tomkatz.com.au
