Here's a little gem of Aussie TV history just uploaded to YT this month. It is unedited tape from the Graham Kennedy Show, just before he resigned from Nine in 1975, where he says his mind about Minister for The Media Douglas McClelland.
As much as some of that looked a bit dated (well, just Daryl, really) the things Graham had to say about Government interference in the media could have been said last week.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.
This poem was penned by future Prime Minister RG Menzies for my uncle after his death: they were great mates.
His was the call that came from far away –
An Empire's message flashing o'er the sea –
The call to arms! The blood of chivalry
Pulsed quicker in his veins; he could not stay!
Let others wait; for him the glorious day
Of tyrants humbled and a world set free
Had dawned in clouds and thunder; with a glee
Born not of insensate madness for the fray,
But rather of a spirit noble, brave,
And kindled by a heart that wept at wrong,
He went. The storms of battle round him rave
And screaming fury o'er him chants its song,
Sleep, gallant soul! Though gone thy living breath,
Thou liv'st for aye, for thou has conquered death!"
Popular music was changing radically in the early- to mid-1960s. It was the time of the Beatles, The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan; the Rolling Stones and that Presley Bloke; and Peter, Paul and Mary. Australia had, up until then, been famous for Slim Dusty, Frank Ifield and Rolf Harris and our greatest rock export of the decade, the Easybeats, were the new kids on the block (so to speak). And then along came one of the most phenomenally successful groups this country has ever seen - The Seekers.
Beginnings
The group was formed in 1962 by double bassist Athol Guy (b. Jan. 5, 1940), who had formerly led a band called the Ramblers, and guitarists Keith Potger (b. Mar. 2, 1941 in Colombo, Sri Lanka), former leader of a rock'n'roll band called The Trinamics and Bruce Woodley (b. July 25, 1942). The three had all attended Melbourne Boys High School together in the 50s.
Completing the initial line-up as a doo wop outfit called The Escorts was vocalist Ken Ray, although it wasn't long before the group came under the influence of the increasingly popular folk music movement and evolved into The Seekers.
Late in 1962 the Seekers met singer Judith Durham (b. July 3, 1943), who worked at the same advertising agency as Athol. Not long after this auspicious meeting Ken Ray left the band to get married. What a great career move that was
Nevertheless, the changeover resulted in the band's best-known and most enduring configuration, and wrote the first lines on a new page in Australian music history.
Born with perfect pitch, Judith orignally planned to sing opera until she was bitten by the jazz bug, and despite this remaining her favourite genre she agreed to try singing folk music on the nights she wasn't playing jazz gigs. She could sing opera, jazz, blues and gospel, and her soulful and versatile voice gave the group the crucial edge that soon took them the top of the thriving Melbourne folk scene.
Judith Durham - The unmistakable voice of the Seekers
The Seekers soon gathered a strong following in Melbourne, and Durham's connections with W&G Records led to the group's being offered a contract. Their rise to fame and fortune began in 1963 when W&G released their debut album Introducing The Seekers, and in November their debut single, a rendition of the perennial "Waltzing Matilda", entered the Melbourne Top 40 chart at #37. Some of you will recognise this as the 'Queensland' version of the song.
Off to the Old Dart
Unlike the many pop and rock bands who followed them, the most interesting feature of The Seekers' career is that they left Australia before they were nationally famous. But this was not part of any grand plan, and their success was a mixture of some good planning, lots of good luck and being in the right place at the right time.
In March 1964, the Sitmar line offered them twelve months' work entertaining passengers on one of its world cruises. They readily accepted, since it would enable them to travel to the UK, where they hoped to get some exposure for their music. Seven weeks later, in early May, The Seekers landed in the UK. They only intended to stay for a ten-week working holiday before rejoining the cruise, but fate decreed otherwise. They had wisely sent some of their records ahead of them to London agencies, hoping it might lead to some work when they got to England. When they arrived they found that leading London agency, The Grade Organisation willing to represent them, and Grade staff agent Eddie Jarrett already had gigs lined up for them.
Say what you will - the 60s were a lot of fun
Working in London turned out to be a great opportunity and the group's success playing gigs in the City led to the cutting of their first single, Myra, and then two albums, The Seekers and Hide and Seekers for the World Record Club. (I still have my copy of The Seekers. ) Eddie Jarrett also kept them in the public eye with regular TV appearances, including ITV's Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
During this period the band shared a bill with Dusty Springfield (real name Mary O'Brien) who was still riding the wave of success from her hit single I Only Want To Be With You and while this in itself was no big thing, it led to a meeting with Dusty's brother, singer/songwriter/producer Tom Springfield (Dion O'Brien) who found himself at that time to be at a bit of a loose end following the recent breakup of The Springfields, a folk trio. He and Eddie Jarrett formed a production company, signed a contract with The Seekers and wrote a new song for them which they recorded in November 1964. It was released as a single by EMI Records (Columbia label) in December of that year and despite only minimal airplay it made it onto the UK Top 40 and began selling well. In February 1965, it reached #1 in the UK and Australia, and #4 in the U.S.
The song was I'll Never Find Another You.
It eventually sold 1.75 million copies worldwide making the Seekers the first Australian pop group to have a Top Five hit in all three countries simultaneously, and the first to sell over a million copies of a single. This was quickly followed by another Springfield-penned smash, A World of Our Own, which went to #2 in Australia, #3 in the UK and #19 in the USA during April 1965. Reaching another milestone, The Seekers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and then returned to Australia to tour with The Dave Clark Five. The album A World of Our Own reached #5 on the UK charts in July. This was issued as The Seekers in Australia.
The next single Morningtown Ride reached #8 in Australia and #44 in the USA in August 1965. The Seekers re-recorded it in 1966 for the UK market, and it reached #2 there in November. Yet another Springfield classic, the elegiac The Carnival is Over took The Seekers to #1 during November 1965 in both Australia and the UK, where it knocked The Rolling Stones' Get Off My Cloud from the top spot, reputedly selling over 90,000 copies per day. It has since become the group's most celebrated and popular song.
Back to Oz
The Seekers returned to Australia in February 1966 for triumphant concert tour. During 1965 they had met American folk musician Paul Simon, who was then living and working in London, and this led to another fruitful collaboration. They recorded a cover of Simon's Someday, Oneday, which reached #4 in Australia in March 1966 and #11 in the UK. This was Simon's first British success as a writer, and his first hit as a composer outside of his work with Art Garfunkel. Woodley also co-wrote Red Rubber Ball with Simon, which The Seekers included on their second UK Top 10 album Come The Day and US band The Cyrkle later enjoyed a #1 American hit with it. Their last single for 1966, Springfield's Walk with Me took The Seekers to #10 in the UK and #31 in Australia in October.
Their next single, Georgy Girl became the biggest hit of their career. Co-written by Tom Springfield and actor-composer Jim Dale. It was #1 in Australia, #3 in the UK and gave The Seekers their first and only US #1 in February 1967. Written as the theme song to Silvio Narizzano's feature film Georgy Girl starring Lynn Redgrave, James Mason and Alan Bates, it was a huge success, selling a staggering 3.5 million copies worldwide. With the addition of this new hit, EMI released a US version of the Come The Day album, renamed Georgy Girl. Bruce Elder has called this “probably the best of all their LPs, containing a stunning array of originals by Springfield and Woodley, and superb covers of songs such as Tom Paxton's The Last Thing On My Mind.
Georgy Girl was pretty much The Seekers' last US hit, but in Australia and in the UK, they remained hugely popular and in recognition of their many achievements, they were named Australians of the Year for 1967. In March 1968 they set a new Australian concert record when they performed a 20-minute set before an estimated crowd of 200,000 people at the Moomba concert at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. They filmed two hugely successful television specials during the year, The World Of The Seekers and The Seekers Down Under. According the book The Real Thing, the latter still holds the record as the highest rating TV special ever screened in Australia.
Nothing Lasts Forever
In mid 1967 Judith Durham had released her debut solo single The Olive Tree. It reached #33 on the UK chart and while hailed as a long-overdue achievement, it was received by many with a sense of foreboding.
In July of that year the band toured in the US with fellow Aussies Rolf Harris and Normie Rowe and they appeared in a special concert which was broadcast world-wide via satellite from Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada. The second half of the year saw several more hits, including On the Other Side, which reached #19 in Australia in October, followed by When Will The Good Apples Fall? (Australia #35, UK #11) in November, and Emerald City (Australia #28, UK #50) in December.
After the release of Emerald City and the album, Seekers Seen in Green, EMI UK released Judith's second solo single, Again and Again/Memories, and at the start of 1968 it became clear that she had definitely decided to leave the band. The four had agreed that they would give the others six months' notice if any of them decided to leave, so she announced her intention and the group recorded a final single, Days of My Life in April. The record was produced by famed British independent producer Mickie Most, who was behind some of the biggest British hits of the 60s including The Animals, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Lulu, Herman's Hermits and many others but against all expectations it proved to be the least successful single of the group's career. Their final album, Live at The Talk of the Town was much more successful and reached #2 in the UK in September. Their BBC-TV special, Farewell The Seekers (in which the above version of Georgy Girl appeared), also attracted a huge audience.
In a fitting farewell, they capped their amazing six-year career with the release of The Best of The Seekers which reached #1 in Britain in November 1968, knocking The Beatles White Album from the top position, and it stayed on the British charts for an incredible 125 weeks.
Noted Australian journalist and author, Lillian Roxon, famous for her 1969 Rock Encyclopedia, described The Seekers this way:
"If there hadn't been The Seekers some shrewd manager would have invented them. One cuddly girl-next-door type (complete with nose-crinkling smile) and three sober cats who looked like bank tellers. They came from Australia, singing nice harmonies for their supper on a boat bound for England. The English squares liked them immediately because they represented something they could understand and feel secure with. As for the rest, well, it was a good clean sound and the tunes were catchy.
Their sound was, for lack of a better name, pop-folk with the strong and vibrant voice of Judith Durham giving it definition and added distinction. They didn't really click in America until 'Georgy Girl' (done for the film in 1966, which went on to become a White Rock radio commercial. After that there was success wherever you looked: back in Australia, where they visited in triumph, in England, with TV show after TV show, and in America. But by the summer of 1968, inexplicably, they were tired of it all. They had never meant to stay together, they said. Durham of the exceptional voice says she'll sing solo. Bruce Woodley, who wrote 'Red Rubber Ball' with Paul Simon, will probably come to America to write songs. Their last hit in England was 'The Carnival Is Over', and it was."
But Then Again . . .
After the group disbanded in July 1968, Bruce Woodley returned to Australia to concentrate on songwriting. He began collaborating with singer-songwriter Hans Poulsen, with whom he co-wrote Monty and Me for Zoot and Hans' 1970 hit Boom Sha La La Lo. In 1971, Bruce recorded an album for RCA called Just Good Friends, and contributed four songs to the soundtrack of Tim Burstall's surfing film Getting Back To Nothing.
Athol Guy for a time hosted his own television show in Australia - A Guy Called Athol. He later established a marketing and promotions company and in 1973 he moved into politics, being elected to the NSW state parliament as a Liberal MLC.
Keith Potger stayed in the UK, where he formed and managed The New Seekers, although he only only performed publicly with them for a short time and later handed over their management to others. His only hit with the group was Look What They Done to My Song, Ma (UK #44 in October 1970), a cover of the Melanie Safka original. Not long after, several other founding members left the band and among the replacements was Australian singer Peter Doyle (1970-73) who had travelled to the UK in 1969 as a member of The Virgil Brothers. The New Seekers went on to record a string of international hits including Never Ending Song of Love, You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me and I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.
The New Seekers - A tragic look, but they sounded OK
Judith Durham launched her post-Seekers career in 1969 and it was at this time that she met musician and arranger Ron Edgeworth. Their professional association soon led to more personal ties and they were married later that year. Shortly afterwards Judith released her first solo album, For Christmas with Love, followed by A Gift of Song and the singles The Light is Dark Enough and Let Me Find Love in early 1970. The album and single Climb Ev'ry Mountain were released in 1971. Durham then returned to her first loves, jazz, and blues, and with Edgeworth she formed The Hottest Band in Town. Her fourth solo album, Judith Durham and the Hottest Band in Town and the single I Wanna Dance to Your Music, came out in 1973, followed by Judith Durham and the Hottest Band in Town II (how original!) in 1974 and an Australian national tour in January 1975.
In 1972 Bruce, Keith and Athol began planning a new incarnation of the band. Singer/songwriter/producer Buddy England was a friend of the group and he became closely involved in the reformation, ultimately helping to find Louisa Wisseling as a replacement (as if) for Judith.
The reborn Seekers were immediately successful and entered the charts with Woodley's Sparrow Song (#2 in June 1975) and the album The Seekers (#17 in July). In September 1975, they undertook a national tour and released three subsequent singles: Reunion (October), Where in the World? (April 1976) and Giving and Taking (June '76). Bruce Woodley left in June 1977 to concentrate on songwriting and production, at which point Buddy took over, remaining with them until the group split again. Athol quit in 1978, replaced by another veteran of the Melbourne '60s scene, Peter Robinson (formerly of The Thunderbirds and The Strangers). This version of The Seekers released one album, All Over the World in November 1978 and continued performing in Australia and overseas until 1981.
Doing a Melba
In 1989, after almost a decade of silence, Bruce, Athol and Keith announced a third iteration of The Seekers, but this time they surprised everyone by choosing Julie Anthony as the new lead singer. They toured successfully, recording The Seekers Live later in the year. The new Seekers delighted both Seekers and Anthony fans, but it was apparently not a perfect match, and Julie quit in June 1990 (to concentrate on singing the anthem, I believe ). She was briefly replaced by former Young Talent Time star Karen Knowles before the band again folded.
The Seekers Mk III (with Julie Anthony)
Judith Durham, meanwhile, had been working both in Oz and in England, finally settling in Australia in 1977. In that year she released the single I Love you and in 1978 she sang at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York. During the 80s she performed in a number of international venues, but only rarely appeared on stage in Australia.
In May 1990, after an Australian tour, Durham and Edgeworth were badly injured in a car accident on the Calder Highway just outside Melbourne, which put Judith out of action for over a year. She returned to recording and performance in late 1991 and Polygram released her new single, Australia, Land of Today in January 1992. To mark the opening of the Melbourne Cricket Ground's Great Southern Stand later that year, Judith performed the song before 100,000 people at the World Cup Cricket final.
To mark the thirtieth anniversary of their formation, Durham, Potger, Woodley and Guy ended years of speculation by reforming the original Seekers lineup in late 1992.
Now co-billed as 'Judith Durham: The Seekers' the group recorded two new songs, Woodley's Keep a Dream in Your Pocket and the Judith Durham-Johnny Young collaboration One World Love. In April they began the hugely popular 'Judith Durham: The Seekers Silver Jubilee Reunion Tour' in Australia and New Zealand.
The Silver Jubilee Album peaked at #3 on the national chart in May 1993, eventually selling an extraordinary 140,000 copies making it the third highest selling Australian album that year, behind Jimmy Barnes' Heat and John Farnham's Then Again. It also sold double platinum in New Zealand and did similar business in the UK, reaching #4 on the British charts.
During April 1994, Judith Durham: The Seekers performed two sell-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, and they returned in 1995 for a full-scale British tour. On the back of the reunion, Judith's seventh solo album, Let Me Find Love, made the Australian Top 10 in May 1995.
In amongst all that, they found time for this, one Saturday afternoon in September, 1994
But Wait, There's More . . .
In early 1997 The Seekers signed a new deal with EMI Australia, which claimed to be the most lucrative domestic recording contract ever, with each member reportedly paid $1 million each for a two-album deal. The Seekers' new CD single, Far Shore came out in March 1997, followed by two boxed-sets, The Seekers Complete (five CDs containing 126 songs, including live tracks, rarities and previously unreleased material) and Treasure Chest (three CDs, including the Seekers Seen in Green and Live at The Talk of the Town albums, plus the Far Shore single and group interviews).
In May 1997, Judith, Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply) and Mandawuy Yunupingu (Yothu Yindi) collaborated on the Bruce Woodley-Dobe Newton single I Am Australian, which was also used in an extensive government media campaign and reached #17 on the national chart in June. The next month Judith's ninth solo album, Always There was released.
Judith Durham: The Seekers' new album, Future Road, came out in October 1997. It reached #13 on the national chart, and by the end of the year had achieved platinum status with over 70,000 copies sold. A second single, Calling Me Home was released in October but didn't do all that well.
The band went quiet again until March 2000, when EMI released an album and video of The Seekers 1968 BBC Farewell Spectacular. The video and audio tapes of the event, long presumed to have been lost, were rediscovered in the late 1990s. This historic TV performance was the group's farewell special for British TV, recorded in London and broadcast to an audience of over 10 million viewers. Proving The Seekers' enduring popularity, this recording of the 30-year-old concert reached #12 on the Australian chart, and sold over 35,000 copies. To promote it, The Seekers reunited for 'The Carnival of Hits Tour' in Australia and the UK in early 2000.
These were supposedly their last concerts ever, with the farewell shows played at the Melbourne Concert Hall in April. According to a press release: "The band themselves want it to be made perfectly clear that these really will be the last times they play together."
But The Seekers proved once more that "it ain't over 'til the fat pretty lady sings stops singing". After much speculation (and a hilarious send-up of the coming event by ABC TV's Olympic satire The Games) The Seekers reunited one last time for the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games on 29 October 2000, with a performance of The Carnival Is Over. They were apparently approached to perform at the closing ceremony of the main games, but unfortunately an injury to Judith Durham (a broken hip) made this impossible, so the band performed at the Paralympics instead, with Judith singing from a wheelchair.
for now . . .
Fun Facts
Before joining The Seekers, Judith Durham had recorded an EP with the Melbourne group Frank Traynor's Jazz Preachers. When she left this group she was replaced by Margret RoadKnight.
The Seekers, for all their success, also missed some crucial career opportunities. According to Bruce Elder, they were offered the chance to perform at the 1967 Academy Awards, which by this time were being televised internationally, but previous commitments in the UK clashed with the Oscars, so the group turned it down.
Tom Springfield adapted the melody for The Carnival is Over from a Russian folk song called Stenjka Razin.
The 1967 song Emerald City was co-credited to the legendary Kim Fowley (who later masterminded The Runaways) and "John Martin". Years later it was revealed that John Martin was actually Keith Potger, who had used the pseudonym to avoid causing friction within the band.
The New Seekers hit single, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing was originally written as a Coca-Cola jingle.
That's the one you had been promising us. Well it was worth the wait and a good read. Any plans for any more like that? Plenty of unsung Aussie singing and musical heroes out there.
That's the one you had been promising us. Well it was worth the wait and a good read. Any plans for any more like that? Plenty of unsung Aussie singing and musical heroes out there.
I was going to do another critter next, but I'll definitely be doing more musicians down the track. Damien picked the Seekers so if there's anyone you'd particularly like to read about, give me a hoy and I'll get on it.
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