The Seekers

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Undetermined Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on The Seekers Similar Undetermined Music Search Artistopia

Biography

The Seekers are an Australian folk music|folk -influenced pop music group which was originally formed in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were a highly popular band during the 1960s with their best-known configuration as: Judith Durham on vocals, piano and tambourine ; Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar , banjo and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin , banjo and vocals.

The group had top& nbsp;10 hits in the 1960s with " I'll Never Find Another You ", "A World of Our Own", " Morningtown Ride ", " The Carnival Is Over " (Russian folk song which The Seekers have sung at various closing ceremonies in Australia, including World Expo 88 and the 2000 Summer Paralympics|Paralympics and still stands as the 30th best selling song in the United Kingdom), "Someday One Day", and " Georgy Girl (song)|Georgy Girl " (the title song of the Georgy Girl|film of the same name ). Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described their style as "concentrated on a bright, uptempo sound, although they were too pop to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock."

In 1968, they were named as joint Australian of the Year|Australians of the Year – the only group thus honoured. In July of that year, Durham left to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. The band reformed periodically and, in 1995, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame . "I'll Never Find Another You" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011. Woodley's and Dobe Newton's song " I Am Australian ", which was recorded by The Seekers, and by Durham with Russell Hitchcock and Mandawuy Yunupingu , has become an unofficial Australian anthem. As from 2004, The Seekers have sold over 50& nbsp;million records.

An Australian band

The Seekers were formed in 1962 in Melbourne by Athol Guy on double bass, Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar and Bruce Woodley on guitar. Guy, Potger and Woodley had all attended Melbourne High School (Victoria)|Melbourne Boys High School . In the late 1950s Potger led The Trinamics, a rock 'n' roll group, Guy led The Ramblers, and, with Woodley, they decided to form a doo-wop group, The Escorts. The Escorts had Ken Ray as the lead singer and in 1962 they became The Seekers. Ray left the group to get married. His place was taken by Judith Durham , who was an established traditional jazz singer, having recorded an extended play disc on W& G Records with the Melbourne group Frank Traynor 's Jazz Preachers.

Durham and Guy had met when they both worked in an advertising agency – initially Durham only sang periodically with The Seekers, when not performing at jazz clubs. She was replaced in the jazz ensemble by Margret RoadKnight . The Seekers performed folk music|folk -influenced pop music and soon gathered a strong following in Melbourne. Durham's connections with W& G Records led to the group signing with the label. Their debut album, Introducing The Seekers , was released in 1963. Their debut single was the bush ballad , " Waltzing Matilda ", which appeared in November and reached the Melbourne top& nbsp;40 singles chart. When being photographed for the album's cover, Potger was replaced by Ray – his day job with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) as a radio producer disallowed him from involvement in a commercial enterprise.

Discovery in the United Kingdom

The Seekers were offered a twelve-month position as on-board entertainment on the Sitmar Line|Sitmar cruise liner, Fairsky , in March 1964. In May, they travelled to the United Kingdom and had intended to return to Australia after staying ten weeks, but upon arrival they were offered work by a London booking agency, The Grade Organisation. They signed with World Record Club and issued a single, "Myra" – which was co-written by the group. The group regularly appeared on a UK TV series, Call in on Carroll , hosted by Ronnie Carroll .

After filling in on a bill headlined by Dusty Springfield , they met her brother, songwriter and producer Tom Springfield , who had experience with folk-pop material with the siblings' earlier group The Springfields . He penned " I'll Never Find Another You ", which they recorded in November 1964. It was released by EMI Records , on their Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia label, in December and was championed by the offshore radio station Radio Caroline . Despite the fact that the group had not signed a contract with EMI, the single reached the UK Top& nbsp;40 and began selling well. In February 1965, it reached No.& nbsp;1 in the UK and Australia, and No.& nbsp;4 in the United States where it was released on EMI's Capitol Records|Capitol label. "I'll Never Find Another You" was the biggest selling single in the UK for 1965 and went on to sell 1.75 million copies worldwide.

The Seekers were the first Australian pop group to have a top& nbsp;5 hit in all three countries – Australia, UK and US. Australian music historian, Ian McFarlane described their style as "concentrated on a bright, uptempo sound, although they were too pop to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock." The distinctive soprano voice of Durham, the group's harmonies and memorable songs encouraged the UK media, including the BBC , to give them exposure, allowing them to appeal to a broad cross-section of the pop audience.

String of hits

The Seekers followed "I'll Never Find Another You" with "What Have They Done to the Rain" in February 1965 which did not chart in the top& nbsp;40. In May, another Tom Springfield composition followed, "A World of Our Own", which reached top& nbsp;3 in Australia and the UK and top& nbsp;20 in the US. Malvina Reynolds ' lullaby " Morningtown Ride " was issued in Australia in July and peaked in the top& nbsp;10. Single with Russian folk song , " The Carnival Is Over ", appeared in November, which reached No.& nbsp;1 in both Australia and the UK. At its peak, the single was selling 93,000 copies a day in the UK alone.

Also in 1965, they met Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel ) who was pursuing a solo career in the UK following the initial poor chart success of the duo's debut LP, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. . In 1966, The Seekers released the Simon-penned "Someday One Day", which reached No.& nbsp;4 in Australia and No.& nbsp;11 in the UK. Their version was Simon's first UK success as a songwriter, and his first major hit as a composer outside of his work with Art Garfunkel . Woodley co-wrote some songs with Simon, including " Red Rubber Ball " which became a US No.& nbsp;2 single for The Cyrkle . The Seekers version was provided on their 1966 LP Come the Day (released as Georgy Girl in the US).

Early in 1966, after returning to Australia, The Seekers filmed their first TV special, At Home with The Seekers . The band were named "Best New Group of 1965" at the 1966 New Musical Express Poll Winners Awards. They appeared at the celebratory Wembley Arena concert, on a bill which included The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , Dusty Springfield and The Animals . The same year, the group appeared at a Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium , before Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon|Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother . In November, a rerecorded version of "Morningtown Ride" was released in the UK, which reached No.& nbsp;2. The song had been recorded earlier as an Australian single from the 1964 album Hide and Seekers and appeared on the 1965 American debut, The New Seekers . In February 1967, "Morningtown Ride" reached the top& nbsp;50 in the US.

In December 1966 they issued " Georgy Girl (song)|Georgy Girl ", which became their highest charting US hit when it reached No.& nbsp;2 on the Billboard Hot 100| Billboard Hot& nbsp;100 and No.& nbsp;1 on the Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox Top& nbsp;100 in February 1967. It was the title song for the Georgy Girl|film of the same name and sold 3.5& nbsp;million copies worldwide. The band were awarded a gold record certificate by the Recording Industry Association of America . The Seekers At Home and Down Under – VHS and DVD releases. Meanwhile it was No.& nbsp;3 in the UK, and No.& nbsp;1 in Australia. Its writers, Jim Dale and Tom Springfield, were nominated for the 1966 Academy Award for Best Original Song , but lost out to the title song from the film Born Free .

Return to Australia and break up

In March 1967, The Seekers returned to Australia for a homecoming tour, which included a performance at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, attended by an estimated audience of 200,000. Guinness Book of World Records (1968) listed it as the greatest attendance at a concert in the southern hemisphere. Melburnians were celebrating the annual Moomba|Moomba Festival , a free community festival, and many thousands were enjoying other attractions but are included in the crowd estimate. The Seekers were accompanied on their 20-minute set by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra , conducted by Hector Crawford. Film of their appearance was incorporated into their 1967 Australian television special The Seekers Down Under , which was screened on the Seven Network|Channel 7 and drew a then record audience of over 6& nbsp;million.

In January 1968, on Australia Day , in recognition of its achievements, the group was named joint Australian of the Year|Australians of the Year – the only group to have this honour bestowed upon it. They personally accepted their awards from Harold Holt , the Prime Minister of Australia , during their tour. During this visit, the group filmed another TV special, The World of The Seekers , which was screened in cinemas before being screened nationally on Nine Network|Channel 9 to high ratings and is in the Top& nbsp;10 most watched TV shows of the 20th century in Australia.

In July 1968, Durham announced that she was leaving The Seekers to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. Their final performance, on 7 July, was screened live by the BBC as a special called Farewell The Seekers , with an audience of more than 10& nbsp;million viewers. The special had been preceded by a week-long season at London's Talk of the Town nightclub and a live recording of one of their shows was released as a live LP record, The Seekers Say Goodbye Live from The Talk of the Town . It reached No.& nbsp;2 on the UK charts. Also in July, the compilation album '' The Seekers' Greatest Hits|The Best of The Seekers was released and spent Number-one albums of 1968 (Australia)|17 weeks at No.& nbsp;1 in Australia . It was re-titled as The Best of The Seekers in the UK and spent one week at No.& nbsp;1 in February 1969, managing to knock The Beatles (album)|The Beatles (White Album) '' off the top of the charts and preventing The Rolling Stones ' Beggars Banquet from reaching the top spot. The album spent 125 weeks in the charts in the UK.

Reunions in the 1970s and 1980s

Following The Seekers' split, Durham pursued a solo career. She released a Christmas album called For Christmas with Love (recorded in Hollywood, California) and later signed with A& M Records, releasing more albums including, A Gift of Song and ''Climb Ev'ry Mountain . Guy hosted his own TV show in Australia, A Guy Called Athol , before entering politics in 1973. In 1969, Potger formed and managed another group, the The New Seekers|New Seekers in the UK, which were more pop-oriented. Woodley released several solo albums and focused on songwriting, including co-writing the patriotic song " I Am Australian " with Dobe Newton (of the The Bushwackers (band)|Bushwackers ) in 1987.

From 1972, Guy, Potger and Woodley planned on reforming The Seekers without Durham. By 1975 they had recruited Louisa Wisseling, a semi-professional folk singer formerly with Melbourne group the Settlers. They had a top& nbsp;10 Australian hit with the Woodley-penned "The Sparrow Song". Woodley left the group in June 1977 and was replaced by Buddy England , a former 1960s pop singer and member of The Mixtures . In 1978, Guy was replaced by Peter Robinson (ex-Strangers) and the group issued an album, All Over the World in November. In 1988, Guy, Potger and Woodley reformed The Seekers with Julie Anthony (singer)|Julie Anthony , a popular cabaret singer. In May, the group sang "The Carnival Is Over" at the World Expo 88 in Brisbane. In April 1989, the group re-recorded some of their earlier work for The Seekers Live On , which peaked in the top& nbsp;30 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Charts|Albums Chart . In June 1990, Anthony left and was replaced by Karen Knowles , a former teen pop singer on Young Talent Time . However the unique timbre of Durham's voice was missing from their sound and the group split again.

1990s and 2000s

The Seekers reunited late in 1992, with the classic line-up of Durham, Guy, Potger and Woodley. A 25-Year Silver Jubilee Reunion Celebration tour in 1993 was sufficiently successful that the group remained together for a further 11 years. They staged several sell-out tours of Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The reformed group issued more albums, including new studio albums Future Road in November 1997 (which peaked at No.& nbsp;4 on the ARIA Albums Chart) and Morningtown Ride to Christmas (which reached the top& nbsp;20 in 2001).

In 1995, the group were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame . In the build up to the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics , an ABC TV satire, The Games (Australian TV series)|The Games , parodied The Seekers in the final episode, "The End". Durham had suffered a broken hip and sang "The Carnival Is Over" in a wheelchair at the closing ceremony of the related 2000 Summer Paralympics|Paralympic Games on 29 October. Long Way to the Top was a 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation six-part documentary on the history of Australian rock and roll from 1956 to the modern era. The Seekers featured on "Episode 2: Ten Pound Rocker 1963–1968" broadcast on 22 August, in which Durham and Woodley discussed their early work on a cruise ship, meeting Tom Springfield and their success in Britain. Four of their songs were played during the episode: "I'll Never Find Another You", "The Carnival Is Over", "A World of Our Own" and "Georgy Girl".

In October 2002, on the 40th anniversary of their formation, they were the subjects of a special issue of Australian postage stamps. On 1 September 2006, The Seekers were presented with the Freedom of the City|Key to the City by Melbourne's Lord Mayor, John So . In February 2009, SBS One|SBS TV programme RocKwiz hosted a 50th anniversary concert for the Myer Music Bowl, RocKwiz Salutes the Bowl , which included "World of Our Own" performed by Rebecca Barnard and Billy Miller and "The Carnival Is Over" by Durham.

In 2004 the DVD "The Seekers At Home and Down under" was released, consisting of a 1966 television documentary on the Seekers and a 1967 special. The cover includes a photo from the 1966 documentary.

In October 2010, '' The Seekers' Greatest Hits|The Best of The Seekers (1968), was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums . Also in October, they toured various Australian cities in support of violinist André Rieu and his symphony orchestra. They released another Greatest Hits'' compilation in May 2011 which peaked into the top& nbsp;40. That month they supported Rieu on another Australian tour. "I'll Never Find Another You" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011.

Million sellers

The following recordings by The Seekers were each certified as having sold over one million copies: " I'll Never Find Another You ", "A World of Our Own", " The Carnival is Over " and " Georgy Girl (song)|Georgy Girl ". They were each awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc . As of 2004, The Seekers have sold 60 million recordings worldwide.

Discography

Albums

Introducing The Seekers (1963)

The Seekers (also known as Roving with The Seekers ) (1964)

The Seekers Sing Their Big Hits (1965) W& G 25/2512

Hide & Seekers (1965)

A World of Our Own (1965)

Come the Day (1966)

Georgy Girl (1966) (U.S release)

Seekers Seen in Green (1967)

''The Seekers' Greatest Hits (1968) Columbia SCXO 7830

The Seekers Live at the Talk of the Town (1968)

'' The Seekers' Greatest Hits|The Best of The Seekers (1968)

The Seekers (1975)

Giving and Taking (1976)

Live On (1989)

Future Road (1997)

Morningtown Ride to Christmas (2001)

Night of Nights... Live! (2002)

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: The Seekers


1. Jacques Brel 2. Malvina Reynolds 3. Yothu Yindi 4. The New Seekers 5. Dale Jim = 6. Waltzing Matilda) 7. Simon & Garfunkel 8. Australian Crawl 9. Boom Crash Opera 10. California Dreaming 11. Charlie Chaplin 12. Cyrkle 13. New Seekers 14. Rolf Harris 15. Seeger, Pete 16. seekers 17. Wild Rover

Undetermined Music Artists