Col Joye

Last updated

Col Joye
AM
Birth nameColin Frederick Jacobsen
Born (1937-04-13) 13 April 1937 (age 87)
Sydney, Australia
GenresPop, rock and roll, country
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • businessman
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals
Years active1959–present

Colin Frederick Jacobsen AM (born 13 April 1937), better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian pioneer rock singer-songwriter, musician and entrepreneur with a career spanning almost sixty-seven years, starting from the late 50s. Joye was the first Australian rock and roll singer to have a number one record Australia-wide, and experienced a string of chart successes in the early Australian rock and roll scene, performing with his then band the Joy Boys (formerly KJ Quintet).

Contents

Early life and education

Colin Jacobsen was born in Sydney, New South Wales, [1] on 13 April 1937. [2] Graduating school, prior to stardom, he worked as a jewellery salesman. [3]

Musical career

Jacobson started performing and recording in the late 1950s with his backing band, originally called the KJ Quintet, the predecessor of what would become the Joy Boys, [3] which included his brothers Kevin and Keith. [4]

As Col Joye he enjoyed a string of hits on the local and national singles charts of Australia beginning in 1959. Joye's first single, "Stagger Lee" was a cover of the Lloyd Price US original. However, his third single "Bye Bye Baby" (written by American Frank McNulty [5] ) reached No.3 on the Australian Kent Music Report charts in 1959, followed by "Rockin Rollin Clementine" also peaking at No. 3. [4] His fifth single, "Oh Yeah Uh Huh", [1] became his most successful, peaking at No. 1. He also had other charting singles, including "Yes Sir That's My Baby" peaking at No. 5 nationally.

Backing vocals on "Bye Bye Baby" were by male trio The Sapphires. [6] The Sapphires were Duke Finlay, Tony Garrick and Ned Hussey, [7] initially starting as a Sydney vocal trio in 1957, Barry Carroll was added in 1960 to round out their sound (much like the Deltones ) and they were used as backing group for many Australian artists on studio recordings in the early 1960s. They also appeared in Lee Gordon concert shows, and wrote some songs. [8] [9] [lower-alpha 1]

In mid-October 1959, Joye and The Joy Boys, performed in shows titled Lee Gordon's 1959 Rock'n'Roll Spectacular. The concerts at the Sydney Stadium were edited into a film called Rock 'n' Roll which premiered on 30 October. Four of the five songs performed by Joye were included on the album Songs That Rocked the Stadium, released December 1959. [10] The film, thought lost but rediscovered in 2020, includes rare footage of a 1950s rock and roll concert in Australia. [11] [12]

Joye was an original member of the television program Bandstand , and appeared regularly on the show over a fourteen year period. He toured Australia with fellow acts that where featured on the program, including Judy Stone, the De Kroo Brothers, Sandy Scott and Little Pattie. Joye and the band also entertained troops in Vietnam and Borneo and recorded several songs in Japan in the mid-1960s. [13] [14]

Joye's popularity levelled off after the changes to the music scene associated with the rise of surf music and the British Invasion, and it was not until 1973 that he had another hit record, with the country music song "Heaven Is My Woman's Love", reaching No. 1 on the Go-Set charts that year. [2] [4]

Entrepreneurship

During the period between personal musical successes in the late 50s and early 1960s, Col and Kevin Jacobsen built an influential entertainment management, publishing and recording business, including ATA Studios in Glebe, New South Wales. This business worked with developing and promoting artists including the Bee Gees, and their brother Andy Gibb. [1] Their promotions company, Jacobsen Entertainment, continued into the 2000s, with the brothers remaining as principal directors. [15]

Personal life

In 1990, while pruning a neighbour's tree with a chainsaw as a favour, Joye slipped and fell six metres onto brick paving below, striking his head and falling into a coma, as well as sustaining serious lower back and shoulder injuries. Initially given a poor prognosis, he eventually recovered to start performing and touring again in 1998. [16]

Honours, awards and recognition

On 8 June 1981, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his entertainment and philanthropic work. [17] In 1988, the ARIA Music Awards in 1988, inducted Joye into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1988Col Joye ARIA Hall of Fame Inducted

Country Music Association Awards (CMAA)

In 1974, Joye won a CMAA award for "Top Selling Album of the Year". [18]

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
1974Heaven Is My Woman's Love Top Selling Album of the YearWon

Mo Awards

Joye won two Mo Awards. [19]

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
1980Col JoyeJohn Campbell Fellowship AwardWon
1988Col JoyeMost Outstanding Club ActWon

Others

In 1998, Australia Post issued a special-edition set of twelve stamps celebrating the early years of Australian rock and roll, featuring Australian hit songs from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. One of the stamps commemorated Joye, based on the song "Oh Yeah Uh Huh". Australia Post wrote that "Each of them said something about us, and told the rest of the world this is what popular culture sounds like, and it has an Australian accent". [20]

In 2010, "Bye Bye Baby" (1959) was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia register. [6] [21] The curator's notes commented that:

There is not a lot to this pop song, written by American Frank McNulty, other than a catchy title hook. The lyrics are about the singer saying goodbye to his girlfriend and how lonely he will be without her until the next time they meet. The original recording was made using a nylon string guitar, bass (wonderfully out of tune in the beginning) and minimalist drums with Col Joye almost whispering the vocals (as he had a cold at the time). This is the released version, with added celeste and 'ooh-ahh' backing vocals from the Sapphires, presumably to give it a little more musical interest. [5]

Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart
positions
AUS
[22]
Jump With Joye
  • Released: 1959
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FM-6010)
Songs That Rocked The Stadium
  • Released: 1959
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-7152)
The Golden Boy
  • Released: 1960
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-7225)
Joy To The World
  • Released: 1961
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-30636)
Col Joye Sings His Solid Gold Hits
  • Released: 1961
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-30644)
Joyride
  • Released: 1961
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-30692)
Col Joye And The Ballad
  • Released: 1962
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-30801)
Col and Judy With Orchestra
(with Judy Stone)
  • Released: 1962
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-30901)
Classics Of Rock
  • Released: 1963
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-31078)
Stomp Around The Clock
  • Released: 1964
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-)
Rock'n Roll Classics
  • Released: 1964
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Seven Seas (MH-182)
Rock Classics No. 2
  • Released: 1964
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival Records (FL-)
The Exciting Big Beat - the best hit parade
  • Released: 1965
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Seven Seas (SET-29)
Joy Boys In Tokyo
  • Released: 1965
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Seven Seas (SET-30)
For the Good Times
  • Released: 1972
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Ata Records (L 25210)
Heaven Is My Woman's Love
  • Released: 1973
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Ata Records (L 35036)
For You
  • Released: 1975
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Ata Records (L 35489)
Truck Stop
(with Bob Purtell, Laurie Allen and Jim Cooper)
  • Released: 1976
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Ata Records (L 35943)
A Little Bit of Country
(with Little Pattie)
  • Released: 1978
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Pisces (L27031)
86
Back to Rock 'N' Roll
  • Released: 1990
  • Format: LP, CD
  • Label: Ata Records (D 30233)

Charting compilation albums

List of albums, with Australian chart positions
TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart
positions
AUS
[22]
The Very Best
  • Released: 1980
  • Format: LP
  • Label: J&B (JB046)
47
20 Most Requested Songs
  • Released: 1984
  • Format: LP
  • Label: J&B (JB174)
20

Charting singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
YearTitlePeak chart
positions
AUS
[22]
1970"Come into My Life"56
1973"Heaven Is My Woman's Love"1
1978"Rock Around the Clock"94

Other singles

List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions
TitleYearPeak chart positions
AUS
[23]
"The Garden"
(as Australia Too)
198522

Footnotes

  1. Not to be confused with a Melbourne instrumental group of the same name, active between 1958 and 1964, led by guitarist Charles Osbourne. [8]

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References

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  10. Vinyl Album: Col Joye And The Joy Boys - Col Joye Sings Songs That Rocked The Stadium (1959) , retrieved 13 July 2024
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  14. "The Joy Boys - Discography (Japan)".
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  17. It's an Honour – Member of the Order of Australia – 8 June 1981.
  18. "CMAA Award Winners". 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  19. "MO Award Winners". Mo Awards. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
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  23. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 22. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.