Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, Australian rock and Aussie rock, has a rich history, rooted in an appreciation of various rock genres originating in the United States and Britain, and to a lesser extent, in continental Europe and Africa. Australian rock has also contributed to the development of some of these genres, as well as having its own unique Australiana sound with pub rock and its indigenous music.
Festival Records was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
Leslie William Morrison, known professionally as Lucky Starr, is an Australian pioneer rock and roll, pop and country music singer, guitarist and television presenter. His most popular single, "I've Been Everywhere", appeared in early 1962, which peaked at number one in Sydney. Starr became well known through his many TV appearances on show's such as Bandstand and Six O'Clock Rock, in which he briefly hosted taking over from Johnny O'Keefe, he was the first star to entertain troops in Vietnam.
Barry John Stanton was an English-Australian rock and roll musician. He performed on pop music programs, Six O'Clock Rock, Bandstand, Johnny O'Keefe Show, Sing Sing Sing, Saturday Date, and Woody's Teen Time. He issued a compilation album, A Tribute to the King Rare Songs 1957-1965, in 1988.
"Wild One" or "Real Wild Child" is an Australian rock and roll song written by Johnny Greenan, Johnny O'Keefe, and Dave Owens. While most sources state that O'Keefe was directly involved in composing the song, this has been questioned by others. Sydney disc jockey Tony Withers was credited with helping to get radio airplay for the song but writer credits on subsequent versions often omit Withers, who later worked in the United Kingdom on pirate stations Radio Atlanta and, as Tony Windsor, on Radio London.
John Michael O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include "Wild One" (1958), "Shout!" and "She's My Baby". In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe released over fifty singles, 50 EPs and 100 albums. O'Keefe was also a radio and television entertainer and presenter.
Lonnie Lee is an Australian singer, who has fronted Lonnie Lee and the Leeman and Lonnie Lee and the Leedons. He is a pioneer of Australian rockabilly music and has worked in the industry for 60 years. At the peak of his career, Lee had eight top 100 singles, which included three top 20s, "Ain't It So", "Starlight Star Bright" and "I Found a New Love" (September). He achieved five gold records. Lee, although although released his last single, "Sad Over Someone" in 1969, continued to tour and perform into the 2000s and released his last album in 2019 called Back to Base X,
Lee Gordon was an American entrepreneur and rock and roll promoter who worked extensively in Australia in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gordon's jazz and rock'n'roll tours had a major impact on the Australian music scene and he also played a significant role in the early career of pioneering Australian rock'n'roll singer Johnny O'Keefe, serving as his manager.
Spin Records was an Australian popular music label, active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
George Assang (1927–1997) was an Australian jazz and blues singer and actor from Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia. He performed under his own name and the stage name Vic Sabrino. Assang was of Aboriginal, Pacific Islander, and Asian descent.
The Delltones were an Australian rock 'n' roll band, which formed in 1958. They started as a doo-wop, harmony quartet with Warren Lucas, Brian Perkins, Noel Widerberg and Ian "Peewee" Wilson. In July 1962 Noel Widerberg died in a car accident in Brighton-le-Sands in Sydney, and three weeks later the group's single, "Get a Little Dirt on Your Hands", reached the top five on the local charts. Widerberg's position was filled by Col Loughnan. The group disbanded in 1973.
Johnny Rebb, born Donald James Delbridge, was an Australian singer.
Warren Williams, is an Australian rock musician. In the 1950s, he was a pioneer of Australian rock music, forming the group Warren Williams and the Squares. Williams was a prolific songwriter.
Diane Marie Jacobs, known as Dinah Lee, is a New Zealand singer who performed 1960s pop and adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zealand and in the Australian cities of Brisbane and Melbourne. It was followed in September by her cover version of Jackie Wilson's, "Reet Petite", which also reached No. 1 in New Zealand and peaked at No. 6 in Melbourne. The Australian release was a double A-sided single with "Do the Blue Beat". On her early singles she was backed by fellow New Zealanders, Max Merritt & His Meteors. Lee appeared regularly on both New Zealand and Australian TV variety programs, including Johnny O'Keefes Sing, Sing, Sing and Bandstand. She toured supporting Johnny O'Keefe, as well as Ray Columbus & the Invaders and P.J. Proby. According to Australian rock music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, in the 1960s, "Lee was the most successful female singer in both her New Zealand homeland and Australia ... on stage and on record Dinah had all the adventure and exuberance for the time the boys had".
Rock 'n' Roll is a 1959 Australian film directed by Lee Robinson. While often referred to as a documentary, it is essentially a complete filming of a rock concert held in October 1959, at Sydney Stadium. The film was commissioned by Lee Gordon to promote a string of 1959 shows entitled Lee Gordon's 1959 Rock'n'Roll Spectacular, mainly showcasing Australian and New Zealand artists. While the show was largely based around native talent, the headline act was the American singer and pop idol Fabian.
Digby George "Dig" Richards was an Australian rock and roll singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, musical theatre actor and television presenter, active during the late 1950s and early 1960s as lead singer with the R'Jays. Richards was the first Australian rock and roll artist to record a 12" LP record in Australia, with the self-titled album Dig Richards, released in November 1959. From 1971 he performed as a solo country music artist. According to the Kent Music Report he had four Top 30 national hit singles, "(My) Little Lover" / "Quarrels ", "A Little Piece of Peace", "People Call Me Country" / "The Dancer", and "Do the Spunky Monkey". On 17 February 1983 Digby Richards died of pancreatic cancer, aged 42. He was survived by his wife, Sue and two children.
Lorraine May Chapman, professionally known as Laurel Lea, was an Australian popular singer of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Lea appeared regularly on TV series, Bandstand, Six O'Clock Rock and Saturday Date. In 1974 and 1975 she toured throughout Australia with contemporaries Johnny O'Keefe, Johnny Devlin, Lonnie Lee and Barry Stanton. On 31 January 1992 Lea died of leukaemia.
April Elizabeth Dove Potts, known professionally as April Byron, was an Australian pop singer and songwriter. She was the first female artist to collaborate with the Bee Gees after their formation as a band, on the 1966 single "He's a Thief" / "A Long Time Ago".
The Crescents were a vocal harmony group which formed in Sydney, Australia in late 1958 under the name The 4 Tops. The Crescents were best known for their Top 10 hit "Mr. Blue" and for their tours with Lee Gordon's "Big Shows" supporting Johnnie Ray, Fabian, and Ricky Nelson.
Colin John Loughnan is an Australian jazz saxophonist, teacher, and composer, best known as a member of the Delltones, Ayers Rock, Judy Bailey quartet, and as a teacher of saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Although Loughnan has long been associated with jazz music, the first nine years of his career were spent as a non-instrumental vocalist with vocal harmony groups The Crescents, and The Delltones starting in 1958. In the 60s, he learnt to play the saxophone, performing as an instrumentalist with Col Nolan and The Soul Syndicate, and as a founding member of the Daly-Wilson Big Band. At this time Loughnan was proficient in saxophones, flutes, and clarinet.
