When a local version of Elvis was needed, Johnny Devlin stepped forward; when the fashion shifted to teen idols, someone a little less confronting was needed. In 1960, the chosen one was Ronnie Sundin, a 16-year-old from Auckland.
Sundin was still at Avondale Technical College and about to sit School Certificate when Viking Records released his debut single in September 1959. In the USA, the original version of ‘Sea of Love’ had yet to reach No.1 in the R&B charts when Sundin recorded it, with ‘Waltzing Matilda’ on the B-side.
Al Paget first played with Sundin when he was 21, and a member of Bill Sevesi’s group the Jesters; he was then called Alex Patchett.
‘Sea of Love’ was revived in 1989 for a hit film of that name, starring Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. Besides the original 1959 version, the soundtrack featured Tom Waits singing the song.