Wellington's own 'answer to The Beatles' say they re keeping rock and roll alive.

It was 1967 when four Court Fields students came together to form The Lynx - an enduring local boyband.

The original lineup featured Graham Hart and Derek Bristow on the guitar, Dave Cordy on bass, Chris Heal on the drums and Dave Greedy as the singer. They took their name from a brand of cistern in the Barley Mow pub's loos.

In their early days The Lynx played a number of gigs at the Wellington Arts Centre, then the Blue Horizon Hall. These shows won the boys fans who still turn up for the band to this day.

As Graham puts it 'Although we didn't reach international stardom, history shows we managed to accrue some local fame, or possibly infamy.'

The band laid down their instruments in 1970, before coming back together 34 years later in 24 when they reformed the group.

Sadly Dave Cordy, to whom Graham paid tribute as the best loved member of the band, had passed away. Today the bass is played by John Hayhurst with the other original members resuming their roles.

The band now put on a small number of shows each year for the town, with their next set for a sunny Sunday in the park on August 27.

Graham explained the history of the band: "Years ago everyone in Wellington would have known The Lynx. We were among three well-known groups at the time, the other two being The Pride and The Storm.

"I was in The Pride in 1967 and then I wasn't - I was sitting at home one day when Derek Bristow knocked on my door and said 'do you want to start a band?'

"Derek's friend, Chris Heal played the drums, at the time he was just playing on dustbin lids and things like that before he got a drum kit. We all started off a bit rough.

"We wanted a bass player and Dave Cordy showed an interest. Then we recruited a singer, Dave Greedy and we played on until 1970. I can't remember why but the band members went went their own way and we were all in different bands at different times.

The band got together again almost 20 years ago and have been putting on shows in and around Wellington ever since. Graham said:

"We reformed in 2004 and have kept going ever since, we do gigs here and there, more for the fun than anything else. We do maybe four or five gigs a year.

"In 2004 Wellington Arts Association held a 'music day' and they suggested we get together. I contacted the surviving band members, and they were all keen, so we reformed The Lynx.

"John Hayhurst now plays bass and we have a guitarist named Clive Cavill. I have a studio out in Westleigh and we all pile in their on a Wednesday night and have a few laughs.

"We play all sorts of music, we play everything from Michael Bublé to ACDC. We do a lot of 60s music, 70s and 80s but not much from the 90s because we don't like - it is overproduced and we can't make a sound like it.

"We play songs that everyone knows, we play in The Vintage pretty regularly, things like Bon Jovi, Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones and that sort of thing.

"We do the odd one or two Beatles songs, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Brian Adams, Robert Palmer and Status Quo of course.

"As long as we are still alive we are keeping rock and roll alive."

Graham encouraged residents to join them on the weekend when The Lynx will play a 30 track set. He said:

"Come along to the park on Sunday, enjoy the occasion and bring a picnic. Sit on the grass have your picnic and listen to some music. We will be playing about 30 different numbers, it depends how garrulous I get.