Peter Allen - Australian Singer/Songwriter 1944-1992
Born Peter Richard Woolnough on 10 February 1944 in the New South Wales country town of Tenterfield, Peter grew up in nearby Armidale and began his career there when he was 11, singing in the local pub. His grandfather George Woolnough was the Tenterfield saddler later referred to in the song of that name, whilst his father hit the grog after coming home from WWII and eventually did himself in while Peter was quite young.
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Peter Allen
He taught himself piano, quit school at age 14 and the following year, in Surfers Paradise, created
The Allen Brothers with Chris Bell. Their first major appearance was on the Australian musical variety show
Bandstand in 1959.
In 1961 they had a local hit single with
My Secret and embarked on a tour of the Far East. During this tour Peter came to the attention of Judy Garland's husband, Mark Herron, while the 'brothers' were performing in Hong Kong. He was invited perform with Judy in both London and the United States. Miss Garland introduced Peter to her daughter, Liza Minnelli, and the two became engaged.
How cool is that for a country boy who taught himself to play the piano?
The Allen Brothers made their American debut at the Diplomat Hotel in Miami in December 1964, and they moved to New York semi-permanently. For the rest of the 1960s, they appeared in clubs around the U.S., notably at the various Playboy Clubs.
After a lengthy engagement, Allen and Minnelli married on March 3, 1967. They should have made it longer. For reasons that will become increasingly obvious, it was never gonna end well.
Peter became part of a large, internationally-known group of singer-songwriters prevalent in the early 1970s as well as becoming involved in writing more commercial music. While he was working for wages at Metromedia Records, he co-wrote
Jennifer with Carole Bayer Sager. The song became a Top 40 hit in the Autumn of 1971 and Metromedia signed Peter to record his own album. An eponymous album was released in 1971, and 1972 along came
Tenterfield Saddler.
Somewhat unfortunately, by this time Peter and Liza had separated, finally divorcing in July, 1974. He was teh Ghey, you see, so it was always doomed. It wasn't easy in those days, and it's a pity he felt so constrained by the need to 'keep up appearances'. Bummer.
Anyway, after his initial successes he was signed by A&M Records, and released a third album,
Continental American. In 1976 came
Taught by Experts, which featured
The More I See You, a song also covered reasonably by that Sinatra dude. Not a patch on our Peter's version though.
Some other highlights of this period were:
♫ He wrote
Don't Cry Out Loud which was recorded by Melissa Manchester.
♫ He wrote
I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love, which was recorded by Rita Coolidge.
♫
I Go to Rio, another of Peter's songs, was a hit in America for the band
Pablo Cruise.
♫ Peter wrote his biggest hit
I Honestly Love You which he co-wrote with Jeff Barry and which became a major hit in 1974 for Olivia Newton-John.
ONJ's single reached number one in the United States and Canada and won two Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Newton-John. Take that, you Livvy Bashers™. She are good, albeit a little ditzy.
♫ Peter was top-of-the-bill at Radio City Music Hall, where he danced with the
Rockettes and rode a camel whilst performing
I Go to Rio.
As one does.
In 1981 Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach and Christopher Cross needed to write a theme song for the film comedy
Arthur and CB-S contributed some lines from a song she co-wrote with Peter some time previously.
When you get caught between the moon and New York City. thus became part of the chorus of
Arthur's Theme which topped the charts for Cross in Autumn 1981 and won Peter and his fellow songwriters the Academy Award for best song.
But he was just getting warmed up! During the 1980s:
♫ Peter performed before Queen Elizabeth II in 1980 at The Sydney Opera House
♫ He sang and danced for Prince Charles and Princess Diana, once in Melbourne and again in Sydney for the opening of The Sydney Entertainment Centre, where he first wore the most fabulous shirt in the history of everything. Check it out!
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Made of 100% Australian Win!
♫ Peter performed at the 1980 Australian Rules Grand Final in Melbourne before commencing the hugely successful
Up In One concert tour.
♫ When Australia won The America's Cup, he flew to Perth to sing before an audience of 100,000.
♫ He opened for Frank Sinatra in 1988 at Sanctuary Cove, Queensland.
♫ He also appeared at the celebrations of the 30th Anniversary of Disneyland.
♫ In 1990 he recorded his final album,
Making Every Moment Count, which featured Melissa Manchester and Harry Connick Jr.
One of the songs from this album became popular through its use in television commercials, initially for National Panasonic
® and then after 1988 for Qantas Airlines
® It was titled
I Still Call Australia Home
From the 1970s to 1984 Peter had a long-time companion and lover, Gregory Connell, who was a fashion model from Texas and the designer of the sound and lights for Peter's shows as well as performing as a backup singer. Connell died from an AIDS-related illness in September 1984 at their home in California.
Shortly before his own death from an AIDS-related throat cancer, Peter gave his last performance in Sydney on 26 January (Australia Day) 1992. His ashes were scattered at sea.
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That's a lot of records
A stage musical based on Peter's life, titled
The Boy from Oz opened in Australia in 1998. Using his largely autobiographical songs, the production starred Todd McKenney as Peter and Christina Amphlett of the
Divinyls as Judy Garland. In 2003, the musical opened on Broadway, becoming the first Australian musical ever to be performed there. In this production Allen was played by Hugh Jackman, who won a Tony Award for his portrayal in 2004. Jackman performed this role again two years later when the show toured large arenas in Australia.
A fabulous life.
The late George Woolnough
Worked on High Street
Lived on Manors
52 years, he sat on his veranda
And made his saddles
And if you had questions
'Bout sheep or flowers or dogs
You just asked the saddler
He lived without sin
They're building a library for him
Time is a traveller
Tenterfield saddler
Turn your head
Ride again Jackaroo
Think I see kangaroo up ahead
The son of George Woolnough
Went off and got married
And had a war baby
But something was wrong
And it's easier to drink than go crazy
And if there were questions about why
The end was so sad
Well, George had no answers
About why a son
Ever has need of a gun
Time is a traveller
Tenterfield saddler
Turn your head
Ride again Jackaroo
Think I see kangaroo up ahead
The grandson of George
Has been all around the world
And lives no special place
Changed his last name
And he married a girl
With an interesting face
He'd almost forgotten them both
Because in this life that he leads
There's nowhere for George and his library
Or the son with his gun to belong
Except in this song
Time is a traveller
Tenterfield saddler
Turn your head
Ride again Jackaroo
Think I see kangaroo up ahead
Time is a meddler
Tenterfield saddler
Make your bed
Fly away cockatoo
Down on the ground
Emu up ahead
Time is a taleteller
Tenterfield saddler
Turn your head
Ride again Jackaroo
Think I see kangaroo up ahead
Time is a taleteller
Tenterfield saddler
Turn your head
Ride again Jackaroo
Think I see kangaroo up ahead
- Peter Allen, Australian
Yeah, he's OK.
Cheers,
Dave
