W.O.C.K On Vinyl: EMI Little LP Sampler Show Special (1969)

 Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

This very rare EMI  E.P, was a Show Souvenir Sampler, from Sydney’s 1969 Royal Easter Show.  Profits from the sale of this record were donated by E.M.I. (Aust.) Ltd., to the 1969 Heart Fund Appeal.

Being a Melbournite, I first thought this Show Special may have originated from our very own Royal Melbourne Show, but after some research discovered that it was referring to Sydney's Royal Easter Show. 

Now, I am unsure if this EP was associated with one of the many novelty show bags sold at the Royal Easter Show, or was simply on sale at the entry / exit gates. If anyone can sheed more light on how this EP was distributed, I would love to know.

Featuring some well known Australian artists from the 60's, this really is a very rare gem indeed and I am grateful to Deutros for providing the rip (MP3) and artwork. Of course this item certainly ticks the Obscure box for this months WOCK on vinyl post and I have only ever seen one advertised for sale over at popsike.com (selling for $64).   

And now for some back ground information on the artists and tracks featured on this little EMI sampler:

The Flying Circus - Shame Shame
The original lineup of Flying Circus was Doug Rowe [lead guitar, vocals], James Wynne [lead vocals, rhythm guitar], Bob Hughes [bass, vocals] and Colin Walker [drums].

 

"Shame, Shame" was to have been Sydney band Flying Circus’s first single. Instead, the first single was Hayride (1969 #3 Sydney #1 Brisbane #13 Perth), followed by La La (#5 Sydney #4 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #1 Adelaide #9 Perth). The song was a cover of The Magic Lanterns’ hit, and was written by Keith Colley - Knox Henderson - Linda Jo Colley.

A custom acetate pressing of  "Shame, Shame" is shown right, but it was never released to the general public. It was, however, later anthologised by Glenn A. Baker on the CD release 'Best of Flying Circus 1969-71 (1995)'. 

So its appearance on this EMI sampler makes it highly desirable and rare.

The Groove - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow
The Groove were an Australian band from Melbourne (1967-1970). Their name changed to Eureka Stockade in 1970. They recorded 5 singles and 1 album in Australia and 2 singles in England.
Band members were Jamie Byrne [Bass], Geoff Bridgford [Drums], Rod Stone [Guitar], Tweed Harris [Organ] and Peter Williams [Vocals], and they were mostly a soul-pop band.

This Marvin Gayer cover appeared on their selftitled album which was released in 1968, however it was never released as a single. So again, its appearance on this EMI sampler makes it highly desirable to collectors.

Johnny Farnham - Everybody Oughta Sing A Song
'Everybody Oughta Sing A Song' is the second solo studio album by Australian pop singer John Farnham (billed then as Johnny Farnham) and was released on EMI Records in November 1968. Its first single, released in July, was the double A-sided, "Jamie"/"I Don't Want To Love You", which peaked at #8 on the Go-Set National Singles Charts. The second single, "Rose Coloured Glasses" was released in October and peaked at #16. Writers on the album included Hans Poulson, Neil Diamond and Quincy Jones. The album was re-released in 1974 with a different cover, it shows Farnham performing live on stage, whereas the initial 1968 release had him leaning against a Holden Monaro (see above).

The title track "Everybody Oughta Sing A Song" was released as the B-Side to the New Zealand release of "Jamie" and appears on this EMI sampler.

Little Pattie - What The World Needs Now
Patricia Amphlett (aka Little Pattie) began singing while still a young schoolgirl and had a surprise hit in 1963 with "He's My Blonde Headed Stompie Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy". 

She released further singles over the following two years, scoring a number of hits, making regular appearances on shows like Bandstand and Sing, sing, sing, and winning the Best Australian Female Vocalist award in 1965. By 1966 she was among Australia's most popular performers. 

Having made one of several attempts to drop the 'Little' from her name, Pattie became, at 17, the youngest Australian entertainer to perform in Vietnam. She was performing at the Australian base at Nui Dat on the night of the Long Tan battle. Some soldiers recall having heard snatches of music as they headed out on patrol in the hours before the fight.

Patti released 8 solo albums and 30 singles during her career, and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2009. She was inducted by her cousin, Christina Amphlett of Divinyls, with former Australian Idol star, Lisa Mitchell performing "He's My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy".

Her Burt Bacharach cover "What The World Needs Now", was never released as a single and was lifted from her 1969 LP 'Beautiful In The Rain' for inclusion on this EMI Sampler.

Johnny Ashcroft and Kathleen McCormack... By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Johnny Ashcroft and Kathleen McCormack were Australian country music artists who collaborated on the album "You And I - Country Style" in 1967, which was a major success, catapulting modern country music into mainstream markets.

 The album is credited with awakening the sleeping giant of modern country music in Australia, and it quickly went gold, becoming the biggest-selling Australian country album of its time.
Ashcroft's album featured a set of duets with Australian singer-actress Kathleen McCormack, who had an extensive recording career of her own, mostly covering nostalgic oldies as well as Irish and Scottish folk songs and Australian-themed material. 

The gimmick on this album was that McCormack and Ashcroft traded off dueling version of country hits, strung together as medleys of sorts -- i.e. "He'll Have To Go" paired with "He'll Have To Stay" or "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" with "By The Time You Get To Phoenix" -- and various themed medleys: songs about roses, songs about waltzes, songs with German motifs, etc. A little bit corny, if you ask me.

Their Glen Campbell cover "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" was chosen for inclusion on this EMI sampler.

The Twilights - Once Upon A Twilight
The Twilights were an Australian rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1964 by Peter Brideoake on rhythm guitar, John Bywaters on bass guitar, Clem "Paddy" McCartney and Glenn Shorrock both on lead vocals. They were joined by Terry Britten on lead guitar and Laurie Pryor on drums within a year.

Heavily influenced by the British Invasion, they became a significant Australian band during the mid-1960s. They were noted for their musicianship, on-stage humour and adoption of overseas sounds and trends. Their most popular single is a cover version of "Needle in a Haystack" (originally by the Velvelettes), which topped the Go-Set singles chart in 1966. Also in that year, they won the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds competition and were awarded a trip to London.

During late 1967 and early 1968 the Twilights were incredibly busy with endless tours and the filming of their prospective TV pilot. All the more remarkable then that the group managed to find the time to construct a record as satisfying as their sophomore album 'Once Upon A Twilight', a tour de force of songwriting and studiuo sawy unprecedented in Australia up to that point. There is no doubt that the expert ear of producer Mackay and the brilliant orchestration of Johnny Hawker were of immense benefit, as was the arrival of a Scully 8-track machine, the first in the country. But it was The Twilights themselves whose instrumental competence and sheer inspiration that made Once Upon A Twilight such a successful album.

There are subliminal touches of Beatles and Hollies, and hardcore followers of the era will find facile references to many of the UK records of that time.This point is made not to suggest that Once Upon A Twilight is derivative: rather, it is cut from the same cloth as, and can stand proudly alongside, the prime arbiters of British pop-psych of that era. Indeed, had the album been the product of a UK act rather than one of its outpost colonies, it would now be a far more familar and highly-regarded recording from the 60's.

The title track from the album was never released as a single, however it has been included on this EMI sampler for your enjoyment.

Track Listing:

Side One 

1) The Flying Circus ...Shame Shame 

2) The Groove...Stubborn Kind Of Fellow 

3) Johnny Farnham...Everybody Oughta Sing A Song 

Side Two 

1) Little Pattie...What The World Needs Now Is Love 

2) Johnny Ashcroft and Kathleen McCormack...By The Time I Get To Phoenix 

3) The Twilights...Once Upon A Twilight.

EMI Little LP Sampler Link (30Mb) NewLink 1/09/25

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Various Aussie Artists - Aussie Coca-Cola Commercials 60's - 70's

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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

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Advertising slogans are a part of everyday life for consumers around the world, and Coca-Cola has produced some great ones throughout their 130+ year history.

Coke's very first ad was published in the Atlanta Journal newspaper on May 29, 1886, a few short weeks after the drink was first served in Jacobs’ Pharmacy. The ad featured one of their longest-running slogans: “Delicious and Refreshing.” Those two words appeared on almost every ad or piece of merchandise (trays, clocks, etc.) until 1920.

 In the mid-1890s, The Coca-Cola Company hired Massengale Advertising of Atlanta. They produced very elegant advertising for the company featuring slogans like “Coca-Cola is a Delicious Beverage, Delightfully in Harmony With the Spirit of All Outings,” “The Great National Temperance Drink,” or “Coca-Cola Revives and Sustains.”

While these wordy slogans were in line with the advertising of the day, the company’s president, Asa Candler, and head of advertising, Samuel Candler Dobbs, spotted the trend toward national magazine advertising with the standardisation of four-colour printing, which rendered more visually dynamic ads than their black-and-white predecessors.

To produce this enhanced advertising, Candler and Dobbs hired the D’Arcy agency from St. Louis. D’Arcy was significant in helping to create a brand identity for Coca-Cola. W.C. D’Arcy was associated with Coca-Colafor the next four decades (he even served on the Board of Directors for a time) until his retirement in 1945.

Together with his creative director, Archie Lee, he crafted some of the greatest slogans in advertising history. While “Delicious and Refreshing” was part of the plan D’Arcy’s first big change was to add an arrow to all the advertising and packaging while adding the slogan, “Whenever You See an Arrow, Think of Coca-Cola.”

Their longest-running tagline, “The Pause That Refreshes” (1929),
was used in one form or another for almost three decades.

 In 1907 they added the slogans “Good to the Last Drop,” (yes, we beat Maxwell House with this one) to the advertising. The team hit their stride by the 1920s when they created the “Thirst Knows No Season” (1922) and our longest-running tagline, “The Pause That Refreshes” (1929). That campaign was used in one form or another for almost three decades.

Advertising began to change after World War II, when music and sung jingles played an increasingly important role in campaigns. Slogans became shorter to fit into a catchy melody.

By 1955, Coca-Cola began to look for another agency who specialised in the modern radio and television advertising. In 1956, McCann Erickson was named the lead worldwide advertising agency for Coca-Cola.  The changes in advertising were dramatic, and when the McGuire Sisters sang “Be Really Refreshed,” the company was aligned with the times. 

In 1963, Bill Backer, creative director for McCann, penned the jingle “Things Go Better with Coke,” and had the Limeliters record a demo in a run-down apartment on 57th Street in New York City.  Backer had to splice together several tapes, and you could still hear several flaws in the recording. The company loved it and used that demo for the next six years! Backer also developed the slogan, “It’s the Real Thing,” for which he and his team wrote “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” in 1971.

By 1993, with the constant evolution of advertising, The Coca-ColaCompany once again switched agencies. We hired CAA (Creative Artists Agency) to develop ads for Coca-Cola. CAA would hire the best and brightest producers and directors in the field to produce ads based on the slogan, “Always Coca-Cola” (1993). Luminaries like Ken Stewart (the mastermind behind the iconic Coca-Cola Polar Bears) and Rob Reiner created the ads, and the jingle became an instant classic.

Ken Stewart was the mastermind behind the iconic Coca-Cola Polar Bears.

Animated ads have always been a staple of Coca-Cola advertising, and the “Coke Side of Life” (2006) and “Open Happiness” (2009) campaigns featured some of the best the company has ever produced, including “Grand Theft Auto,” “It’s Mine” and “Happiness Factory.”

Slogans, by their very nature, are supposed to be “mindstickers” or “earworms.” The purpose of advertising is to make people associate a slogan with a brand. Coca-Cola is fortunate to have had some of the greatest creative talent in advertising work on our marketing. While the fictional Don Draper from Mad Men could always come up with a slogan, in the real world, industry giants like W. C. D’Arcy, Archie Lee and Bill Backer produced some of the greatest slogans, jingles and ads of all time.  [Article by Ted Ryan (director of Heritage Communications for Coca-Cola) and sourced from Coca-Cola's Website with thanks].

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Because 'Things Go Better With Coke' - including music, I've decided to share with you some fairly Obscure Aussie Coke Jingles from the 60's & 70's for this month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl Post.  Oh, and by the way, as a bonus I've made it Sugar Free as well !   Thanks to WoodyNet for the RIP and Sunshine for a late addition with some bonus tracks by The New Seekers.  All files are in FLAC 

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Track Listing

01-Bee Gees 1

02-Bee Gees 2

03-The Valentines

04-Billy Thorpe

05-Sherbet

06-Brian Cadd

07-Doug Parkinson

08-Dragon

09-Ronnie Burns

10-Easybeats 1

11-Easybeats 2

12-Johnny Farnham

13-The Executives

14-The Groove

15-The Seekers 1

16-The Seekers 2

17-The Twilights

18-Normie Rowe

19-Alison Durbin

20-New Seekers 1

21-New Seekers 2

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Aussie Coca Cola Commercials (107Mb) New Link 18/11/2024