Vale Gordon Fleet

Vale Gordon Fleet

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Australian songwriter and drummer, Gordon “Snowy” Fleet.

Along with Dick Diamonde, George Young, Harry Vanda and Stevie Wright, Snowy co-founded luminary band The Easybeats in Sydney in late 1964.

Best known for their 1966 No.1 hit “Friday On My Mind”, the band quickly earned the title of Australia’s first rock band to achieve international success both here and in the UK. They went on to release four singles, two EPs and two albums to public and critical acclaim.

Snowy left the band in 1967 to spend more time with his wife and young children, becoming a successful builder in Perth before running a rehearsal studio in Jandakot, WA.

The rest of the band disbanded in 1969, briefly reforming for an Australian tour of capital cities in late 1986. Wright went on to reform the Stevie Wright Band, while Vanda and Young returned to Young’s brothers Malcolm and Angus to produce the 1988 AC/DC album, Blow Up Your Video.

In 2001, to celebrate its 75th anniversary, APRA released a list of the Top 30 Australian Songs of all time, with “Friday On My Mind” taking first place. In 2005, Snowy joined former bandmates Wright and Vanda as The Easybeats were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS, says: “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.

“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.”