first Australian television appearance on Johnny O'Keefe's Sing Sing Sing. By April 1965, the second Meteors' album was finally released on RCA Records and contained a range of styles, including the single "So Long Babe". Other singles followed but Toi and Dick left to join Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs and were eventually replaced by former member Kristian on bass and Bruno Lawrence on drums. During February 1966, visiting UK acts the Rolling Stones and the Searchers were supported on tour by Max Merritt and The Meteors. After a cruise ship gig to New Zealand (during which Lawrence abruptly left the group), Merritt heard Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness" and recorded his own cover in 1967. Turmoil within the Meteors saw a rapid turnover of members and by May, Merritt with Bob Bertles on saxophone, Stewart "Stewie" Speer on drums and John "Yuk" Harrison on bass guitar, decided to relocate to Melbourne. 1967–1971: Melbourne and Max Merritt and the Meteors In Melbourne, Merritt and his band initially found it difficult obtaining regular gigs and so travelled widely through the state. On 24 June 1967 the van they were travelling in to Morwell collided head-on with a car near Bunyip, Bertles suffered a broken leg, Speer had both legs crushed, broke both arms and lost the tops off several fingers. Merrit lost his right eye and had his face scarred. It took the band nearly a year to recover. By July 1968 they competed in Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, finishing behind winners the Groove, the Masters Apprentices and Doug Parkinson. In 1969 the group were re-signed by RCA and they released their first single for over two years, a cover of Jerry Butler's "Hey, Western Union Man", which reached No. 13 on the Australian singles charts. In early 1970 their third album, Max Merritt and the Meteors, was released with six original tracks and five covers. It reached No. 8 on the national albums chart. Dave Russell (ex-Ray Columbus & the Invaders) replaced Harrison on bass and Merritt's band were asked by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to provide a four-part TV series called Max Merritt and the Meteors in Concert. In late 1970 they released Stray Cats and followed with the singles "Good Feelin'" and "Hello LA, Bye Bye Birmingham" in 1971 and "Let it Slide" in 1972. Neither the album nor the singles charted well.