External links
- Amplifier NZ Music
- Pop Archives Feature – "Don't Come any Closer"
- Pop Archives Feature – "Put Your Hand in the Hand"
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
Allison Durbin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Allison Ann Durbin |
| Born | 24 May 1950 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Singer |
Allison Ann Giles, who performed as Allison Durbin [1] (born 24 May 1950), is a former New Zealand Australian singer, known for her success in the late 1960s and 1970s as a teen idol. She is a relative of Canadian-born actress and lyric soprano Deanna Durbin. [2]
Allison Ann Durbin was born in 1950 in Auckland to Owen Durbin (born c. 1912/1913) and Agnes Durbin, the second eldest of seven children. [3] She attended school at Westlake High School, and performed for four years in a children's choir. She became interested in singing and was inspired by artists like Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Dionne Warwick, [2] and began performing in public in her early teens.
After winning a talent contest at an Auckland ballroom, she was signed to Eldred Stebbing's Zodiac Records at the age of 14 and issued a number of singles. Her third Zodiac single, a cover of Herman's Hermits "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", out-sold the original in New Zealand and became her first charted hit. [4] She built up a following in New Zealand, recording and fronting the Mike Perjanik Group and travelled with them to Australia in 1966 for residencies in Sydney. After nine months in Sydney, she left the group to pursue a solo career, making numerous appearances on Australian TV pop and variety shows. [4]
Durbin's first single for His Master's Voice, "I Have Loved Me a Man", (a cover version of the song by Morgana King) became a No. 1 hit in New Zealand and also a hit in Australia. The song won her a New Zealand music award, 1968 Loxene Golden Disc, and she was named New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1969. [4] For three years running (1969, 1970 and 1971), she won Australia's King of Pop Award for "Best Female Artist", commonly called the "Queen of Pop". [5] In 1971, she recorded a duet album, Together , with Johnny Farnham, who had been voted Australia's "King of Pop" during the same years Durbin received her awards. [4]
In the late 1960s, Durbin began a relationship with expatriate New Zealand record producer Howard Gable, then a senior A&R manager and in-house producer for EMI Australia. They married in 1969 and started a family. [5] During the 1970s, as her career waned, Durbin began using heroin and her marriage to Gable ended. In 1985, she publicly acknowledged her battle with drugs and sought treatment at Odyssey House, a drug rehabilitation centre, but she was struck by a car two days after leaving the centre, which left her with serious injuries, including a broken jaw. [5] After she recovered, she worked as a country music singer in the late 1980s. [6] In 1986, she married for a second time to Ray Giles. [5]
On 1 June 2007, under her married name Allison Giles, she was sentenced to 12 months' jail for cannabis trafficking. One of her co-accused, Giuseppe "Joe" Barbaro, whom she allegedly supplied with marijuana was a previously convicted drug dealer. [7]
| Year | Title | Performance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969–1970 | In Melbourne Tonight | Singer | 7 episodes |
| 1969; 1970 | The Mike Walsh Show | Singer | 2 episodes |
| 1970 | Bandstand | Singer | 1 episode |
| 1970 TV Week Logie Awards | Singer ("I Have Loved Me a Man" / "River Deep – Mountain High") | TV special | |
| Happening '70 | Singer | ||
| 1971 | Happening '71 | Singer ("Holy Man" / "A Man and a Woman" / "Baby Without You" with John Farnham) | 3 episodes |
| Uptight | Singer | 1 episode | |
| Young Talent Time | Singer | 1 episode | |
| 1972 | The Graham Kennedy Show | Singer ("Amerikan Music") | 1 episode |
| Happening '72 | Singer ("Amerikan Music") | 1 episode | |
| 1973 | Australian Popular Song Festival 1973 | Singer | TV special |
| 1974–1975 | The Ernie Sigley Show | Singer | 9 episodes |
| 1977 | Telethon '77 | Singer | TV special |
| 1980; 1982 | The Don Lane Show | Singer | 2 episodes |
| 1980; 1983 | The Mike Walsh Show | Singer | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Tonight with Bert Newton | Singer ("I Love a Rainy Night") | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Hey Hey It's Saturday | Singer ("Put Your Hand in the Hand" / "Can't Get Over You") | 2 episodes |
| 1994–1995 | Good Morning Australia | Singer ( "Bright Eyes" / "Crazy" / "River Deep – Mountain High") | 3 episodes |
| 2003 | Love is in the Air | Herself | Episode 2: "She's Leaving Home" |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [8] | ||
| I Have Loved Me a Man |
| - |
| Soft and Soulful |
| - |
| Together (with Johnny Farnham) |
| 22 |
| Amerikan Music |
| - |
| Born a Woman |
| 75 |
| Are You Lonesome Tonight |
| 52 |
| Three Times a Lady |
| - |
| Bright Eyes |
| 34 |
| Shining Star |
| 43 |
| My Kind of Country |
| 97 |
| Nothing But the Very Best (with Diana Trask) |
| 88 |
| Country Love Songs |
| 79 |
| Reckless Girl |
| - |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [8] | ||
| 1968 | "Don't Come Any Closer" | 47 |
| "I Have Loved Me a Man" | 27 | |
| 1969 | "Games People Play" | 29 |
| "He's Bad Bad Bad" | 98 | |
| 1970 | "Golden Days" | 98 |
| 1971 | "Put Your Hand in the Hand" | 24 |
| "Baby, Without You" (with Johnny Farnham) | 27 | |
| 1972 | "Amerikan Music" | 33 |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | New Zealand Music Awards | Most Promising Female | "I Have Loved Me a Man" | Won [9] |
| 1969 | The Go-Set Pop Poll by Go-Set | Best Female Vocal | 1st | |
| TV Week The King of Pop Awards | Best Female Artist | Won | ||
| 1970 | The Go-Set Pop Poll by Go-Set | Best Girl | 1st | |
| TV Week The King of Pop Awards | Best Female Artist | Won | ||
| 1971 | The Go-Set Pop Poll by Go-Set | Best Girl Vocal | 1st | |
| TV Week The King of Pop Awards | Best Female Artist | Won | ||
| 1972 | The Go-Set Pop Poll by Go-Set | Best Female Vocal | 2nd | |
| TV Week The King of Pop Awards | Best Dressed Female Performer | Won | ||
| 1979 | Mo Awards | Country Female Entertainer of the Year | Won | |
| 1980 | Country Female of the Year | Won |
Works cited
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
