Zoot | |
---|---|
Also known as | Down the Line |
Origin | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
Genres | Pop rock |
Years active |
|
Labels | |
Spinoffs | Little River Band |
Website | zootlive.com |
Zoot were an Australian pop rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1964 as Down the Line. [1] [2] [3] They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne. [1] [2] They had a top-five hit on the Go-Set national singles chart with a heavy rock cover of the Beatles' ballad "Eleanor Rigby" released in 1970, but they disbanded in May 1971.
Mainstay members were Beeb Birtles on bass guitar, later a founder of Little River Band in 1975, and Darryl Cotton on lead vocals, later a solo artist and then a television presenter. Their guitarist and singer-songwriter, Rick Springfield, from 1969 to 1971, moved to the United States in 1972 and achieved international fame as a solo artist, songwriter and actor. [1] Zoot reunited for the Rick Springfield and Friends cruise in November 2011. Darryl Cotton was diagnosed with liver cancer in May 2012 and died in July 2012.
In 1964, Plympton High School friends John D'Arcy, Gordon Rawson and Gerard Bertlekamp (later known as Beeb Birtles) began to learn and play popular songs of the day. Ted Higgins was added and the band was named Times Unlimited. [4] [5] They were joined by Darryl Cotton, lead vocalist from local rivals the Murmen [3] [6] and were renamed Down the Line from The Hollies' version of Roy Orbison's song "Go Go Go (Down the Line)". [3] [7] Down the Line performed covers of English Mod groups such as the Hollies, the Move, the Who and the Small Faces in many clubs and discos around Adelaide, gradually gathering a following. [1] [3]
In May 1967, Darryl Sambell, who also managed rising singer Johnny Farnham, used Down the Line as session musicians on demo recordings which secured Farnham a contract with EMI Records. After recording with Farnham, Down the Line were approached by Adelaide-based promoters Alan Hale and Doc Neeson who were interested in band management and suggested to change their name to "Zoot". [3]
Zoot were playing some original material in their set and by early 1968 decided to move to Melbourne. D'Arcy did not want to go and was replaced on guitar by Steve Stone. [1] [3]
In August 1968, Zoot arrived in Melbourne and were co-managed by Wayne de Gruchy and Tony Knight. The group were signed with Columbia Records/EMI Music and recorded their first single, "You'd Better Get Goin' Now", a Jackie Lomax cover with David Mackay producing. [1] [3] Both Higgins and Stone returned to Adelaide and were replaced in September by Rick Brewer on drums (ex-Third Party) and Roger Hicks on lead guitar. [1] [3] It was de Gruchy's idea to create a publicity gimmick, "Think Pink – Think Zoot". [4] On 3 September 1968, de Gruchy invited the music media to Berties discothèque—co-owned by him and Knight—to promote Zoot's debut single. [1] [3] [4] Continuing the "Think Pink" theme, band members were dressed head-to-toe in pink satin and arrived at venues in Cotton's pink painted car. [1] [3] The gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted teenage female fans, however it caused problems in establishing their credibility as serious rock musicians and a backlash from male fans. [1] [3]
By December, management by de Gruchy was dropped in favour of Sambell and Jeff Joseph who also managed Farnham and the Masters Apprentices. [3] The "Think Pink" theme continued. [1] [3] Zoot's second single, "1 × 2 × 3 × 4", recorded by the Birtles, Brewer, Cotton and Hicks line-up, was released in January 1969 and reached No. 32 on the Go-Set National Top 40 singles chart. [1] [8] Besides radio airplay, the band appeared regularly on local pop music TV show Uptight! . [1] [3] The band's third single, "Monty and Me", continued the "Think Pink" theme with Cotton's dog, Monty, dyed pink. [1] [3] The track was produced by Go-Set's writer, Ian Meldrum and reached No. 33 June. [9]
In June 1969, Zoot were voted Top Australian Group in Go-Set's pop poll. [10] In July they undertook a tour through the eastern states with Ronnie Burns, the Sect and Jon Blanchfield on the bill. [3] In September 1969, Hicks left for the Avengers, and was replaced by Rick Springfield (ex-Icy Blues, Moppa Blues Band, Wickedy Wak). [11] Also in that month, Zoot joined other Australian bands on the national Operation Starlift tour, which was generally a publicity success but a financial failure. [3] For Zoot, it also brought about increased media ridicule, peer envy and scorn from detractors, much of the criticism was homophobia such as "pretty pink pansies" taunts. [3] In October 1969 they issued another single, "About Time"/"Sha La La". [3] In December they made headlines when they were assaulted by street toughs in Brisbane.[ citation needed ]
By early 1970, band members had tired of the garish pink outfits and associated harassment and physical abuse. To rid themselves of the bubblegum/teen idol image, they burnt their outfits on TV music show Happening '70. [1] In April 1970, Zoot promoted their single "Hey Pinky" with an advertisement in Go-Set which featured a nude picture of their buttocks. [1] "Hey Pinky" was a hard charging guitar-oriented song but it failed to chart. [1] The song was rebellious in nature and openly mocked the pink outfits as well as their previous management and their detractors. [3]
The group's debut studio album, Just Zoot , was released in July 1970 and reached number 12 on the Australian Kent Music Report. In August 1970, Zoot finished second to the Flying Circus at the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds competition. [1] [12]
In December 1970, Zoot released a heavy ockl cover of the Beatles' song "Eleanor Rigby". It became their most popular single when it peaked at No. 4 in March 1971. [13] It remained in the Top 40 for twenty weeks and reached No. 12 on the Top Records for the Year of 1971. [14] Their next single, "The Freak" / "Evil Child", another hard rock song, was released in April 1971 and peaked in the top 30. [15]
With the chart success of "Eleanor Rigby", RCA expressed interest in bringing them to the United States to record, but they encountered problems with visa work permits and Springfield was being scouted for a solo career. [3] Along with other disappointments and frustrations this led to the band breaking up in May 1971. [1] Go-Set published its 1971 pop poll results in July, with Zoot in third place behind Daddy Cool for Best Group, while "Eleanor Rigby" won Best Single ahead of Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock". [10] EMI/Columbia released a compilation, Zoot Out late in 1971. [1]
After Zoot, Birtles and Cotton almost immediately formed a duo called Darryl and Beeb, which became Frieze when they were sponsored by Frieze Brothers (a clothing company). [1] The band released a single, "Feelings", in September 1971 on Sparmac Records and an album, BC 1972, on Warner Brothers in June 1972 using session musicians. [1] [16] Frieze disbanded in May and Cotton travelled to America while Birtles joined Mississippi (previously known as Allison Gros and then as Drummond). [1] Mississippi evolved into Little River Band in 1975. [1]
Springfield also signed with Sparmac and released "Speak to the Sky" in October 1971, [1] which peaked at No. 6 on the Kent Music Report. Sparmac's label owner, Robie Porter, was also producer and manager for Springfield. [3] After recording his debut album, Beginnings, in London, Springfield moved to the United States in mid-1972 where he achieved international fame as a solo artist, songwriter and actor and continues to record. [1]
Brewer drummed for a succession of bands including, Cashbox, Bootleg, Whole Man and I'Tambu before joining the Ferrets in 1976, [17] which had a No. 2 hit with "Don't Fall in Love" on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. [18] He has also drummed for Jim Keays (ex-the Masters Apprentices) in his band Southern Cross and subsequently for the Motivators and Greg Baker's Blues Party. [17]
Zoot reformed for the Rick Springfield and Friends cruise in November 2011. [19] The cruise took place from 5–10 November 2011 on the Carnival Destiny out of Miami. The band consisted of Springfield, Birtles, Cotton and Brewer. [20]
Darryl Cotton died on 27 July 2012 from liver cancer. [21]
In 2018, the band released an anthology entitled Archaeology, including a new recording of "Life in a Northern Town". [22]
In late 2020, Zoot were scheduled to reform for four Australian shows, with a line-up consisting of band friend and contemporary Russell Morris joining Springfield, Birtles and Brewer; however, owing to COVID-19, the tour was postponed to 2022. [23] In April 2022, it was announced that the tour had been cancelled. [24]
On 24 June 2022, Zoot released "That Was Then". [25]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
AUS | ||
Just Zoot | 12 | |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Zoot Out |
|
Zoot Locker |
|
Live - The Reunion |
|
Archaeology |
|
Title | Album details |
---|---|
4 Shades of Pink | |
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Go-Set [27] | KMR [18] [28] | |||||||||||||
1968 | "You'd Better Get Goin' Now" | — | 87 | Just Zoot | ||||||||||
"1 × 2 × 3 × 4" | 32 [8] | 25 | ||||||||||||
1969 | "Monty and Me" | 33 [9] | 36 | |||||||||||
"About Time" / "Sha La La" | — | 73 | ||||||||||||
1970 | "Hey Pinky" / "Strange Things" | — | 61 | Zoot Out | ||||||||||
"Eleanor Rigby" | 4 [13] | 4 | ||||||||||||
1971 | "Evil Child" / "The Freak" | 27 [15] | 27 | |||||||||||
2022 | "That Was Then [25] " | - | - | non album single | ||||||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
The Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds was an annual national rock/pop band competition held in Australia from 1966 to 1972. [29]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | themselves | Battle of the Sounds National Final | 2nd |
The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. [30]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | themselves | Best Australian Group | 1st |
1970 | themselves | Best Australian Group | 5th |
Ricky Springfield | Best Australian Guitarist | 2nd | |
Rick Brewer | Best Australian Drummer | 3rd | |
Ricky Springfield | Best Australian Composer | 5th | |
1971 | themselves | Best Australian Group | 3rd |
Darryl Cotton | Best Australian Male Vocal | 6th | |
Ricky Springfield | Best Australian Guitarist | 1st | |
Rick Brewer | Best Australian Drummer | 2nd | |
Ricky Springfield | Best Australian Songwriter/Composer | 4th | |
"Eleanor Rigby" | Best Australian Single | 1st | |
Beeb Birtles | Best Australian Bass Guitarist | 2nd |
The South Australian Music Awards are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry. They commenced in 2012. The South Australian Music Hall of Fame celebrates the careers of successful music industry personalities. [31]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Zoot | Hall of Fame | inductee | [32] [33] |
Richard Lewis Springthorpe, known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut single, "Speak to the Sky", which reached the top 10 in Australia in mid-1972. When he moved to the United States, he had a No. 1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He followed with four more top 10 US hits: "I've Done Everything for You", "Don't Talk to Strangers", "Affair of the Heart" and "Love Somebody". Springfield's two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog (1981) and Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982).
Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart including Diamantina Cocktail and First Under the Wire, which both peaked at No. 2. Nine singles appeared in the top 20 on the related singles chart, with "Help Is on Its Way" (1977) as their only number-one hit. Ten singles reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Reminiscing" their highest, peaking at No. 3.
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) recognised Morris' status when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Glenn Barrie Shorrock is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of rock bands the Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and post LRB spin-off trio Birtles Shorrock Goble, as well as being a solo performer.
Beeb Birtles is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975–83) and Birtles Shorrock Goble (2002–07). He has also worked as a solo artist, including releasing an album, Driven by Dreams (2000). In 2004, Birtles and other members of the classic line-up of Little River Band were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Darryl Grant Cotton was an Australian pop, rock singer-songwriter, television presenter and actor. He was a founding member of Australian rock group Zoot in 1965, with Beeb Birtles, and were later joined by Rick Brewer and Rick Springfield. As a solo artist Cotton released the albums, Best Seat in the House (1980), It's Rock 'n' Good Fun (1984) and Let the Children Sing (1994). In April 1980 his biggest solo hit, "Same Old Girl", which was co-written by Cotton, peaked at No. 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. He acted in the TV soap opera, The Young Doctors (1979), and on stage as Joseph in the theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (1983).
Mississippi were an Australian soft rock band (1972–1975), which included Graham Goble on lead vocals and guitar, Beeb Birtles on lead vocals and guitar, and Derek Pellicci on drums. The band had started as Allison Gros in Adelaide in 1970 and moved to Melbourne in 1971 where they recorded as Allison Gros, Drummond and, early in 1972, became Mississippi. As Drummond they issued a cover version of "Daddy Cool", which peaked at No. 1 on the Go-Set National Top 40 for eight weeks. As Mississippi they reached No. 10 with "Kings of the World". In early 1975, with Birtles, Goble and Pellicci aboard and the addition of Glenn Shorrock, the group were renamed Little River Band.
Sleeper Catcher is the fourth studio album by the Little River Band, released in May 1978. It peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 16 on the Billboard 200. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA in May 1979.
The Ferrets were an Australian pop band. They are best known for their song "Don't Fall in Love" and album, Dreams of a Love which were both released in 1977.
Roger Anthony Glanville-Hicks is an Australian former rock and classical musician. As Roger Hicks, he was the lead guitarist in the pop group Zoot from 1968 to 1969 before relocating to Brisbane, where he joined another group, the Avengers. Hicks provided acoustic guitar for Russell Morris's first two singles, "The Real Thing" and "Part Three into Paper Walls" – both reached No. 1 on the Go-Set National Top 40 singles chart. Under his full name, he returned to his classical music origins, during the 1970s. He subsequently provided classical guitar for theatre productions, theorbo for ensemble performances and lute for films.
Cotton Keays & Morris was an Australian rock band formed in 2000 consisting of singer-songwriters Darryl Cotton, Jim Keays and Russell Morris. Each wrote and recorded numerous hit songs since the 1960s. The band toured Australia regularly, their stage show featuring the hits of each member and their previous groups.
Sparmac was an Australian independent record production company and recording label of the early 1970s, best known for its association with the successful Australian rock band Daddy Cool.
John Farnham, billed under stage name Johnny Farnham from 1964 until 1979, is a British-born Australian pop singer who has released 21 studio albums, 6 live albums, 3 soundtracks, 19 compilation albums, 13 video albums, 3 extended plays and 74 singles.
Johnny is the fifth studio album by Australian pop singer John Farnham, which was released on HMV for EMI Records in August 1971. It peaked at No. 24 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Charts. Farnham had earlier No. 1 singles with "Sadie " in 1968 and his cover of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in 1970; a non-album single, "Acapulco Sun" was released in May 1971 but there were no charting singles from Johnny. The album features compositions from artists as diverse as George Harrison, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Joe South and George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin.
James Keays was a Scottish-born Australian musician who fronted the rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player from 1965 to 1972 and subsequently had a solo career. He also wrote for a music newspaper, Go-Set, as its Adelaide correspondent in 1970 and its London correspondent in 1973.
The Masters Apprentices are an Australian rock band fronted by Jim Keays on lead vocals, which originally formed as The Mustangs in 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970 before disbanding in 1972. Their popular Australian singles are "Undecided", "Living in a Child's Dream", "5:10 Man", "Think About Tomorrow Today", "Turn Up Your Radio" and "Because I Love You". The band launched the career of bass guitarist Glenn Wheatley, who later became a music industry entrepreneur and an artist talent manager for both Little River Band and John Farnham.
Together is a studio album of duets by Australian pop singers John Farnham and Allison Durbin, which was released on HMV for EMI Records in September 1971. It peaked at No. 20 on the Australian Go-Set's Albums Chart.
Burns Cotton & Morris was an Australian rock band formed in 1996 consisting of singer-songwriters Ronnie Burns, Darryl Cotton and Russell Morris. Each wrote and recorded numerous hit singles in the 1960s and 70s in Australia. The band toured Australia and released a self-titled album in 1996, which was a compilation of their individual hits as well as three new tracks. Two additional albums were released by the trio, Hear and Now in 1997 and Three in 1998.
Just Zoot is the debut and only studio album by Australian rock/pop band Zoot. The album was released in July 1970 and peaked at number 12 on the Kent Music Report.
It's a Long Way There (Greatest Hits) is the first compilation album by the Australian group Little River Band, released in Australia and New Zealand in September 1978. The album peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart and No. 12 in New Zealand. The album sold over 200,000 copies in Australia. Retitled It's a Long Way There (1975–1979) it was re-issued in Germany for the European market in 1979.
{{cite book}}
: |work=
ignored (help)