John Bissett
John Bissett is best known as vocalist and guitarist for 1960s Hamilton band The Mods.
Bissett was born in Te Awamutu, but spent most of his childhood in Cambridge. At Cambridge High school he formed his first band, The Shadracks. At the end of 1963 he left school and joined Hamilton band The Mods as rhythm guitarist and vocalist in 1964. This lasted until 1966, at which time Bissett moved to Auckland and formed the band The Action, first on rhythm guitar and later on keyboards. He moved to Sydney with the Action, but they split up after six months there. Between 1968 and 1973 he joined Levi Smith's Clefs, which evolved into Fraternity. The latter band included Bonn Scott, who later went on to AC/DC. Fraternity won the Australian Battle of the Sounds in 1971, and travelled to London in 1972, but split up in 1973. In 1981 Bissett returned to Australia and formed Diamond Cutter. This lasted until 1983, when he returned to Hamilton.
In 1988 Bisset formed Mods II with ex-The Mods drummer Kevin McNeil. The band played covers of the 1960s bands (including the Beatles and Rolling Stones) in pubs around Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua and South Auckland.
