(Various Australian, Bristish and American artists from the 60's)
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The 60s decade produced some of the best music of all time. Even today it is listened to not only by the 60s generation but by our children and grandchildren. Oldies stations playing the 60s are popping up everywhere. The music is popular today as it was when we were kids. The music of the 60s generation had rock, instrumentals, love songs, surfing music, songs of protest, hillarious and crazy songs. The 60s generation of music set the stage for music to come. Countless songs from the 60s generation have been remade by others. Television commercials used the recordings to sell their products. Movies such as Dirty Dancing and American Grafitti immortalized a period of our history.
Australian music charts in the 1960s were dominated by American and British music, and local acts were strongly influenced by overseas trends. Some Australian musicians enjoyed international success. Folk outfit the Seekers were extremely popular in America and Britain, becoming the first Australian group to sell over a million records.
By the late 1960s, the American psychedelic and acid rock movements had filtered into Australia. This music was prompted by, among other factors, Vietnam War protests and the new drug and counter-culture scene. Lyrics from this music style spoke of peace, love, freedom, social protest and civil rights - the social revolution had arrived.
Most of the artists on this compilation are representative of the 'popular music' being produced in Australia, Britian and the States at that time.
Band Profiles: (mostly sourced from discogs.com and wikipedia)
Gerry And The Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent during the 1960s. Like The Beatles, they came from Liverpool and were managed by Brian Epstein. The group was comprised of Gerry Marsden, Freddie Marsden, Les Chadwick, and Arthur McMahon (aka Arthur Mack), who was replaced on piano by Les Maguire in 1961. They are the second most successful group from Liverpool to hit the U.S. pop charts behind the Beatles.
Their first big hit, "How Do You Do It" was released 14/03/1963 and spent 18 weeks in the charts reaching No. 1 for 3 weeks.
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop group formed in Manchester in the early 1960s. Most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and early-1970s. They enjoyed considerable
popularity in many countries, although they did not achieve major US chart success until 1966. Along with the Rolling Stones and the Searchers, they are one of the few British pop groups of the early 1960s that have never officially broken up and that continue to record and perform. The Hollies were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
"Bus Stop" is a song about a couple who meet one rainy day at a bus stop. Love blooms when they share an umbrella. In a Manchester newspaper, Graham Gouldman said he wrote this whilst riding on the No. 95 bus. It ran from East Didsbury - the route went through Manchester city centre, to Sedgeley Park, Cheetham Hill, Prestwich, and on to Whitefield near Bury. Graham was living with his family on this route in Broughton Park Salford at the time. It reached number five on the UK chart and on the US pop chart in 1966. It was The Hollies 12th UK hit but only their 4th US hit.
The Easybeats
The Easybeats, are one of Australia's greatest pop bands of the 60's. Formed in Sydney in 1964, they were the first Australian rock n roll act to have an international hit with 'Friday On My Mind'.
Lead singer Stevie Wright originally came from England (although he'd been in Australia for some years), and bassist Dick Diamonde hailed from the Netherlands, as did guitarist Harry Vanda, while the others, guitarists George Young and drummer Gordon "Snowy" Fleet, were recent arrivals from Scotland and England -- most significantly, Fleet was Liverpool born and raised, and had been a member of the Mojos, one of that city's more promising bands of 1963 and 1964. They all had talent, but he had a sense of style and an idea of what worked in rock & roll; it was Snowy Fleet who came up with the name "The Easybeats," and the sharp image for the early group, which made them a piece of authentic Brit-beat right in the heart of Sydney, 13,000 miles from Liverpool and as precious there as water on a desert. By the time "Friday On My Mind" was released in Australia, The Easybeats had already had half a dozen Top 10 hits in Australia, including four at #1. "Easyfever" may have engulfed the Aussie pop scene, but in London the pressure was on them to come up with something fresh for their new British producer, Shel Talmy. One of the results, Harry Vanda and George Young’s Friday On My Mind, was their fifth Australian #1, but this time it was an international hit as well. It rose to the Top Ten not only in England but across Europe and much of the rest of the world, and reached the Top 20 in the United States as well where, for the first time, Americans became aware of The Easybeats.
Cilla Black
Cilla Black is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality. She began her career as a singer in 1963, and is most famous in the UK for her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (1964) and "You're My World" (1964), both of which reached number one. Black had eleven Top Ten hits on the British charts between 1964 and 1971.
She was a close friend of The Beatles, and was a hat-check girl at the Cavern during their formative years as a group. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote songs for her to launch her career as a singer and her manager was Brian Epstein.
In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 claimed that her version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was the UK's biggest selling single by a female artist in the 1960s."You're My World" was also a modest hit in the United States, peaking at No.26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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The Monkees
Unlike most bands of the time, the Monkees were not formed by its members, but rather by TV producers: they were a fictional band in the TV show of the same name.
TV producers, Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson, formulated an idea for a show about a Beatles-like band, then put ads in newspapers, seeking musicians to star in the series.
The band was composed of Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork. All of the members had some musical experience.
The Monkees' principle audience consisted of young teenagers and children. Nonetheless, singles like 'I'm a Believer' became Top 10 hits, and the 'Prefab Four' became media icons. By 1967 the Monkees were the most popular band in the US, their records outselling the Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Other top hits included 'I'm a Believer' (1966), 'A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You' (1967), 'Mary Mary' (1968) and 'I'm Not Your Stepping Stone', with the group selling over 65 million records worldwide.
Peter & Gordon
Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, comprising Peter Asher (b.1944) and Gordon Waller (1945-2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling transatlantic No.1 smash "A World Without Love". The duo had several subsequent hits in the so-called British Invasion-era.
Peter Asher and his sister, actress Jane Asher, were child actors in the 1950s. They played brother and sister in a 1955 episode of the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. Jane Asher dated The Beatles' Paul McCartney between 1963 and 1968, and Peter and Gordon recorded several songs written by McCartney but credited to Lennon–McCartney, including "A World Without Love" which reached No.1 on the US & UK charts.
Peter Asher and Gordon Waller were often called "the Everly Brothers of the British Invasion." They harmonized in ear-pleasing intervals, strummed acoustic guitars in tandem and recorded an impressively consistent string of hit songs. Blending folk, blues and rock 'n' roll with their own pop-flavored English sensibility, their sound and vocal work powerfully influenced the Byrds and others that followed in the wake of the Invasion.
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band (with a strong jazz foundation) of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
A 5-piece group led by Keyboardist/vocalist Manfred Mann, they signed a record deal with EMI in 1963, under the HMV label. From 1964 to 1969 they had a succession of hit records: ("Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Sha La La", "Pretty Flamingo", and "Mighty Quinn"). Both Do Wah Diddy Diddy and Pretty Flamingo reached No.1 on the UK and US charts.
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The Animals
The Animals were part of the budding, homegrown U.K. blues scene of the early Sixties and one of the most noteworthy bands of the British Invasion. Comprised of Eric Burdon (vocals), Chas Chandler (bass), Alan Price (keyboards), John Steel (drums) and Hilton Valentine (guitar).
Originally known as the Alan Price Combo, the group changed its name to the Animals when Burdon joined in 1962. In 1963, they performed a monthlong residency (much like the Beatles did) in Hamburg, Germany. They also served as the U.K. backing band for visiting bluesmen, including John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson. Their career took off with their move to London in January 1964. Less than a year later, on September 5, 1964, “House of the Rising Sun” became the Number One single in America. Their brooding arrangement of “House of the Rising Sun” - a traditional folk song recorded by Josh White and Bob Dylan - became an early milestone in
the British Invasion. Despite the song's unconventional lyrics (it was
about a house of prostitution in New Orleans), “House of the Rising Sun”
topped the American and British charts. In fact, it stayed at Number
One in the U.S. for three weeks.The Animals followed “House of the Rising Sun” with seven more Top 40 hits (and six more Top 40 hits as Eric Burdon and the Animals), at least four of which – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” (Number 15), “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (Number 13), “It’s My Life” (Number 23) and “Don’t Bring Me Down” (Number 12) – are bonafide classics of the British Invasion era.
Johnny Farnham
John Farnham, aka Farnsy, Johnny, Whispering Jack and The Voice is an iconic Australian entertainer whose career has spanned over four decades.
Farnham was born on the 1st July 1949 in England and moved to Melbourne at the age of 10 and has lived here ever since. This wannabe plumber took a break from his apprenticeship in order to pursue a music career which has seen him become one of Australia's best-loved performers with a career spanning over 40 years.
In 1967, Sadie (The Cleaning Lady) was his first hit which topped the Australian charts for six-weeks running. Selling 180 000 copies in Australia, "Sadie" was the highest selling single by an Australian artist of the decade. Farnham's debut studio album, Sadie was issued in April 1968.
He later released a cover of BJ Thomas's "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" in 1969, which also reached the #1 position on the Australian charts.
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, the Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962. The band's early music gained popularity across the United States for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance.
"Good Vibrations", which Brian described as a "pocket symphony" became the Beach Boys' biggest hit to date and a US and UK number one single in 1966; many critics consider it to be one of the best rock singles of all time. It was one of the most complex pop productions ever undertaken, and was reputed to have been the most expensive American single ever recorded at that time. The song's innovative instrumentation included drums, Hammond organ, piano, tack piano, two basses, guitars, electro-theremin, harmonica, and cello. The group members recall the "Good Vibrations" vocal sessions as among the most demanding of their career.
"I Can Hear Music" was released in 1969 (from the 20/20 album) but was not the mega hit that Good Vibrations was.
The Twilights
One of the better Australian groups of the '60s, the Twilights were not especially innovative, but played competent, harmony-driven British Invasion-styled rock, strongly recalling both the "beat" and pseudo-psychedelic era Hollies. Relying largely on the original material of guitarist Terry Britten, they recorded over a dozen singles, as well as a couple albums, between 1965 and 1968, chalking up a few large Australian hits such as "If She Finds Out", "Young Girl", and "Cathy Come Home", as well as cover versions such as The Velvelettes' "Needle In A Haystack", and Sam Cooke's "You Got Soul".
Popular in Adelaide from 1964, The Twilights expanded their national audience when they relocated to Melbourne in 1965. As part of their prize in winning the national Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds in July 1966, The Twilights were produced by Beatles engineer Norman "Hurricane" Smith at Abbey Road
Twilights vocalist Glenn Shorrock and guitarist Terry Britten have followed long and diverse careers: Shorrock was famously with Axiom and Little River Band, and Britten's compositions have been widely recorded, including We Don't Need Another Hero and What's Love Got To Do With It? by Tina Turner
Russell Morris
Originally a member of Melbourne's Somebody's Image between 1966-68, guitarist and vocalist Russell Morris struck out on his own in 1969. Morris' career started in September 1966 with the formation of the Melbourne group Somebody's Image, which rose to prominence with a local hit version of the Joe South song "Hush." He then achieved a No. 1 hit in 1969 with the Johnny Young song "The Real Thing" which was pruduced by the guru of Aussie Rock 'Ian Molly Meldrum'. "Real Thing" remained at No. 1 for weeks and was the largest selling Australian single in 1969. The song itself was a seven-minute epic moving from a gentle beginning through full-on psychedelia with sound effects and phasing (ending with a 'Zeig Heil' and a nuclear explosion!).
As well as its amazing chart success in Australia, and Without any promotional support from Morris, "The Real Thing" became a hit in several American cities, reaching #1 in Chicago, Houston, and New York.
Kathy Kirby
Vocalist. Nicknamed "The Golden Girl of Pop", she was one of the most successful female singers to hail from Great Britain during the 1960s. Born Kathleen O'Rourke, she received a Christian School education and was in possession of a voice with operatic range at an early age. In 1956 she was brought to the attention of bandleader Bert Ambrose (whom she would perform with), and he served as her manager during the peak of her career in the mid-1960s. Kirby, would adopt the "blonde bombshell" look with her hairstyle which was compared to that of Marilyn Monroe and after signing with the Decca record label, she was voted Top British Female Singer (1963), as she scored five Top-40 hits on the UK Charts which included her cover of the Doris Day hit "Secret Love" (1963) and "I Belong" (1965). Her popularity reached across the Atlantic, as she appeared on a 1965 episode of "The Ed Sullivan Show", and back in England she hosted her own TV series "The Kathy Kirby Show" (1964 to 1965). By the late-1960s, she was recording with Columbia Records and remained with the label until the early 1970s. At that period, her career was on the decline and with the exception of sporadic performances in public, she was no longer associated with the entertainment industry.
Billy Thorpe
Rock musician born in Manchester, England. Family moved to Australia in the 1950s. Billy Thorpe is one of the enigmas of Australian music, a man of many careers. It began in Brisbane when the young Thorpe was overheard by a television producer playing his guitar and singing at the back of his parents' Brisbane store. At the age of ten he was appearing regularly on Queensland television and appearing on the same stage as many of the top artists of the day.
When he was 17 he moved to Sydney as a solo country/pop singer just as the Beatles were breaking. Always one to recognize opportunity knocking, Thorpe teamed up with instrumental band the Aztecs and together they became one of the first Australian groups to contribute to the new '60s era of pop, in June 1964 scoring a huge national hit with their version of the Rolling Stones' version of "Poison Ivy." After a couple more era-influenced hits, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs gravitated toward releasing songs that showed off Thorpe's fine singing voice and scored another major hit with a straight ballad version of "Over the Rainbow" from the film The Wizard of Oz, and in July 1965 a version of the Platters' "Twilight Time." By now the original Aztecs had been replaced by other musicians. Thorpe also became the star of his own national TV show, 'It's All Happening' in 1966. In the space of two years he had scored nine major hits. By early 1967 the band had broken up.
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This post is an MP3 rip (320kps) taken from almost virgin vinyl and includes album artwork and all photos depicted. This is probably my favourite compilation album of 60's music, with all songs being No.1 Hits that have lasted the test of time. Hope you enjoy it.
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Track Listing
01 - How Do You Do It (Gerry and the Pacemakers)
02 - Bus Stop (The Hollies)
03 - Friday on My Mind (The Easybeats)
04 - You're My World (Cilla Black)
05 - A Little Bit Of Me, A Little Bit Of You (The Monkees)
06 - World Without Love (Peter and Gordon)
07 - Pretty Flamingo (Manfred Mann)
08 - House Of The Rising Sun (The Animals)
09 - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Johnny Farnham)
10 - Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys)
11 - I'm A Believer (The Monkees)
12 - Do Wah Diddy Diddy (Manfred Mann)
13 - Needle In A Haystack (The Twilights)
14 - Look Through Any Window (The Hollies)
15 - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (The Animals)
16 - The Real Thing (Russell Morris)
17 - Secret Love (Kathy Kirby)
18 - I Can Hear Music (The Beach Boys)
19 - Over The Rainbow (Billy Thorpe)
20 - I Like It (Gerry and the Pacemakers)
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Hits of the 60's Link (145Mb)
Link Fixed 10/04/2020
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Formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1975, the success of Redgum’s brand of folk/rock political satire has since been regarded as an anomaly, albeit thoroughly deserved. The core members comprised university students John Schumann (vocals/guitar), Verity Truman (vocals/tin whistle/saxophone), Michael Atkinson (vocals/guitar/mandolin), and have in the past included 15 other musicians.
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