Sir Duke founder Neil Sloan, the drummer in the band for 50 years and who died last Sunday. Photo / Supplied
Sir Duke founder Neil Sloan, the drummer in the band for 50 years and who died last Sunday. Photo / Supplied
Neil Patrick Sloan
July 7, 1952 – June 8, 2025
The backbone of Hawke’s Bay’s most durable rock music and covers band has died just days ahead of the 50th anniversary gig he decided would go ahead with or without him.
Neil Sloan (“Sloany”), founder and long-time drummer of Waipukurauband Sir Duke, died on Sunday at Cranford Hospice, aged almost 73, and the reunion will go ahead on Saturday at the Taradale RSA, with hopes son Brad will take his place with the sticks.
A parallel gig led by stalwart Sir Duke vocalist and guitarist Pik Atkinson and to have been at the RSA on Friday, has been cancelled, the funeral being held that day at Stonehaven, in Waipukurau, starting at 1pm.
Originating from a group known as Theme, Sir Duke became a popular covers band in Hawke’s Bay and further afield as pubs developed entertainment venues in the 1970s, with later hours following the end of the six o’clock swill (when bars closed at 6pm).
With appearances behind them on television’s New Faces and live 24-hour fundraiser Telethon, the band took up a residency at the Greenmeadows Tavern in 1975, being credited with spearheading the establishment’s revival.
Within a year they were lured to the new Leopard Inn on Napier’s Marine Parade, and travelled from Central Hawke’s Bay, with their Humber Pullman Hearse and gear trailer, almost every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next nine years, up to six days a week in summer.
But it was more the end of one chapter than the end of an era, and they would return to Napier many more times, including a 2009 reunion at “The Leopard”, still the nostalgic name for what had become the Napier Cosmopolitan Club (closed in 2012 and redeveloped as office premises).
It would be almost four decades after the foundation that Sir Duke, the brand enduring a variety of personnel goings and comings, would reach a pinnacle, as support act, by “popular demand”, for Ronan Keating and others at the 2014 Mission Concert.
Sir Duke continued keeping up appearances, from a 40th anniversary gig in 2015 to continued gigs this year, still mixing the popular music from through the decades of the last half-century.
The 2010 version of Sir Duke, from left, at the 2010 Central Hawke's Bay A&P Show, mainstays Pik Atkinson, Pat Mahoney, Barry Robertshaw and Neil Sloan. Photo / NZME
There were chances for the band and members to go professional, but they all held down day jobs, including Sloan, who ran family business Sloans Saddlery, started by father Pat in the 1960s after emigrating from Rostrevor, Ireland.
Born in Waipukurau, one of three sons of Pat and wife Helen, Sloan went to Waipukurau Primary School and Central Hawke’s Bay College, leaving aged 15 to join the business, and with brother David, be trained by their dad, the pair eventually running the business.
Having over the years become Sloans Saddlery and Canvas Co as it grew from the role of traditional saddlery to include marquee and event necessities hire, the business was sold about six years ago.
On March 28, 1980, he married fellow local Karell Brown and they had two children, son Brad and daughter Hayley.
The family said his interest in music was “in the blood”, the career taking shape as he followed brother David, who also played in bands, including Theme and Sir Duke.
Their loyal entourage was such that they were able to enjoy numerous social trips, such as cruises, becoming their own “Travelling Wilburys”.
Neil Sloan is survived by his wife, his son and daughter and four young grandchildren - who, according to Karell, “take after Neil with music, and love a good hit-out on the drums too”, - one brother, and by a legion of Sir Duke musicians and fans.
