Dragon

thrash metal

There are multiple artists with this name: 1) Dragon formed in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1972, with a line-up that featured Todd Hunter, guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer Graeme Collins; by 1974 several personnel changes had occurred including the introduction of Todd's brother Marc Hunter on vocals and Neil Storey on drums. The band recorded two progressive rock albums in New Zealand, Universal Radio and Scented Gardens for the Blind, the second with an added guitar element from Robert Taylor. Paul Hewson also joined the band on keyboards and from this point Dragon's music took on a pop-flavoured AOR feel. Dragon eventually landed a contract in Australia with CBS Records and relocated to Sydney in 1975. Always a lightning rod for controversy, the band was rocked by the heroin overdose death of drummer Neil Storey only weeks after arriving in Australia, and their original manager was also deported back to New Zealand on drugs charges. By then, founding member Ray Goodwin had left the group. Storey was replaced by Kerry Jacobson and, between 1975 and 1979, Dragon scored a string of major hits on the Australasian pop charts with songs including April Sun in Cuba, Are You Old Enough and Still in Love With You and with the albums Sunshine and O Zambezi, making them one of the region's most popular rock acts. Marc Hunter left Dragon in 1979 due to health problems which were, by then, seriously affecting his performances. New singer Richard Lee was recru...