[August 2003] His father, Barry O'Keefe, died in Sydney, Australia on 24 April 2014, aged 80. In early 1974 he scored his last big hit with a version of the old Inez and Charlie Foxx hit "Mockingbird", recorded as a duet with vocalist Margaret McLaren. Some of his hits include "Wild One" (1958), "Shout!" and "She's My Baby". Synopsis: Woody (Tom Hanks) is stolen from his home by toy dealer Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight), leaving Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). O'Keefe and the Dee Jays quickly attracted a strong local following. Reluctant radio stations gave very little airplay to Johnny's first record but, by the time of his next recording, Wild One, early in 1958, there was sufficient demand from Johnny O'Keefe Fan Clubs throughout the country to make it a hit. John Michael (Johnny) O'Keefe (1935-1978), rock'n'roll singer, was born on 19 January 1935 in Sydney, second of three children of Raymond Moran O'Keefe, furniture salesman, and his wife Thelma Edna, ne Kennedy, both born in New South Wales. Within a few months the emergence of the new wave of guitar/vocal groups led by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones ushered in a new era in popular music, and their advent signalled the start of a rapid decline in O'Keefe's career. Often referred to by his initials "J.O.K." O'Keefe is one of five children. tflight", "Johnny O'keefe - television - A Sydneybiz.com project", Hello Ego! Genres Rock & Roll, Pop, Pop Rock Share Tweet Follow 66 followers During his high school days he would sing at the odd school dance and socials. O'Keefe also toyed with the local press, playing on Lou Casch's exotic appearance by telling journalists that Casch was the son of an Arrernte Aboriginal chieftain from Ayers Rock (Uluru) and that Casch's hand-built guitar was made from mulga wood. During his convalescence the TV show was renamed Sing, Sing, Sing and he was temporarily replaced as host by folk singer Lionel Long.O'Keefe scored his fourth Australian #1 hit with "Move Baby Move" in July 1963, and also "Shake Baby Shake" (#8, October '62) and "Twist It Up" which reached #32 in December '62.It was around this time that O'Keefe finally parted ways with his faithful backing group The Dee Jays, as he devoted more and more time to TV which was in the shocking era of all major artists miming songs at outdoor locations such at Manly Beach's Fairy Bower in 1967. The Story of Johnny O'Keefe, which starred actor-singer Terry Serio as O'Keefe. O'Keefe, whose hits include Wild One also a global smash for Iggy Pop in 1986 Shout and She's My Baby, was Australia's first rock'n'roll star, enjoying success here and overseas. 68 on the American Billboard singles chart and was revived in 1986 and recorded by Iggy Pop as "Real Wild Child'. Impressed, O'Keefe offered him the job and handed him a pile of records, saying "Here, learn these. We are now well on the way to colorising the entire film. Johnny O'Keefe's life changed irrevocably after seeing and hearing Bill Haley singing "Rock Around the Clock" in the film Blackboard Jungle in June 1955. Born in Sydney on 19 January 1935, Johnny O'Keefe became the undisputed King of Australian rock and roll. From this point until the late 1960s, all O'Keefe's recordings came out on the Leedon label. While the song is credited officially to Johnny Greenan, Johnny O'Keefe, and Dave Owens, some sources suggest that O'Keefe was not directly involved in the composition. Besides being a great showman himself, he is also credited for nurturing other Australian talent, like Barry Stanton and Lonnie Lee. O'Keefe continued to issue singles, including a cover of the Harry Vanda-George Young song "Saturday Night", originally recorded by The Easybeats. Besides being a great showman himself, he is also credited for nurturing other Australian talent, like Barry Stanton and Lonnie Lee. Tune into Johnny O'Keefe album and enjoy all the latest songs harmoniously. To cover his US failure he bought a bright red imported 1959 Plymouth Belvedere on hire purchase and began touring relentlessly up and down the east coast of Australia to pay off the car and replenish his finances, returning to Sydney every Saturday to present Six O'Clock Rock. He is one of five children raised in Sydney. [40], In 1986 punk legend Iggy Pop recorded a cover version of O'Keefe's signature tune "Wild One" under the title "Real Wild Child", which was included on his album Blah Blah Blah and released as a single. [citation needed] After the second US tour collapsed, he flew to London on impulse, but he reportedly overdosed on a combination of alcohol marijuana and prescription medication in his room at the Park Lane Hotel. During these appearances, O'Keefe would sing his specialty, Johnny Ray's "Cry", while wearing a pair of trick glasses which would squirt water over the audience. O'Keefe's last major hit of the Sixties came in April 1964 (two months before the Beatles toured Australia) when "She Wears My Ring" reached No. Ses chansons les plus connues sont Wild One, Shout! 4.7. Many of these outfits were made for him by Sydney 'showbiz' costumier Len Taylor, although one famous red suit trimmed with leopard-print velvet cuffs and lapels (now in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney) was reputedly made by his mother Thelma.At the time Casch joined the band, they were promoting their own dances at local venues such as the Balmain Workingmen's Institute and Stone's Cabaret. His father was Barry O'Keefe, a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He was the second of three children of Raymond Moran O'Keefe and Thelma Edna Kennedy. Like Elvis, he was the real deal. O'Keefe took the staid NZ music scene by storm, although he was banned from playing at some halls and faced problems getting airplay. According to Lou Casch, they backed acts including Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, Fabian, Tab Hunter, Jimmie Rodgers and Ricky Nelson, and on his 1960 tour, Nelson was booed by fans of O'Keefe's whom he had reputedly planted in the audience. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. His decision to try his luck in the USA was strongly opposed by his friend and mentor Lee Gordon but the ever-ambitious O'Keefe had already set his sights on breaking into the American market, and in L.A. he met with record executive Mickey Shaw who introduced him to executives of Liberty Records.In February 1960 O'Keefe returned to the U.S. for a promotional tour, where he was promoted as "The Boomerang Boy", and much to his chagrin, O'Keefe was obliged to give boomerang throwing exhibitions. The Legend of The Wild One, with book by John-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow and featuring music made famous by O'Keefe and other hits of the 1950s. [4] He attended the University of Southern California but left midway through his sophomore year after his father died. He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the . Dale went into the Army and O'Keefe went into the RAAF. However the follow-up single charted significantly lower, peaking at a modest #30, and titles of the two songs seemed, in retrospect, to presage the downturn in O'Keefe's career the A-side, "Rock'n'Roll Will Stand" was backed by a cover of the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Some of his hits include "Wild One" (1958), "Shout!" and "She's My Baby". Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, [4] O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, [5] Irish vaudevillians working in the United States. He came to Australia under the Colombo Plan in 1952 to study Medicine at the University of Sydney. The show was a rather daring departure from the ABC's otherwise rather staid entertainment programming, as its charter obliged it to cater to a mainstream audience and its radio and TV outlets had until then, featured little of the new rock'n'roll craze.Six O'Clock Rock premiered on 28 February 1959 and was originally hosted by Ricki Merriman, but after six episodes O'Keefe took over as host, marking the beginning of the most successful phase of his career. The King Of Australian Rock 'n' Roll Johnny O'Keefe is recognised as the pioneer of Australian Rock 'n' Roll music. Another major blow to O'Keefe was the sudden death of his partner and friend Lee Gordon, who died from a heart attack in London on 7 November 1963. The Living Legend of Johnny O'Keefe (1975) Johnny O'Keefe 1. He is from Australia. The 49-year-old appeared in Waverley Local Court today, charged with assaulting his partner, Orly Lavee, at a home in Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs in January. Fastrac 45 deg crossovers NIB. AU $10.95 postage. In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe released over fifty singles, 50 EPs and 100 albums. According to Ian McFarlane, Liberty offered to pay $5 to anyone who could throw further than the singer, but they had to pay out many times at one exhibition when O'Keefe turned up drunk.O'Keefe undertook a gruelling tour that visited 35 states, but he made little impact, although "She's My Baby" reputedly sold more than 100,000 copies in the USA, and the flipside, "It's Too Late" briefly reached #1 in New Orleans. My parents had landed in New York on the eve of the depression; my father's hope was that I would never have to live through one myself. Johnny O'Keefe won one awards in that time, and the encouragement award was named named him.[47]. His mother was an excellent pianist[5] and his father occasionally played in a jazz band. "Wild One" was recorded originally by Jerry Allison with Buddy Holly backing on guitar in 1958 under the alias "Ivan" (his middle name) after hearing O'Keefe perform it on tour; it reached No. He had twenty-nine Top 40 hits in Australia between 1958 and 1973. He subsequently had to undergo many gruelling operations to reconstruct his face, which left his appearance permanently changed. It was this incident, according to Casch, that inspired O'Keefe's signature tune, "Wild One". He was raised as a Catholic and attended the local Catholic primary school, followed by secondary schooling at Waverley College in nearby Waverley.[3]. O'Keefe also toyed with the local press, playing on Lou Casch's exotic appearance by telling journalists that Casch was the son of an Arrernte Aboriginal chieftain from Ayers Rock (Uluru) and that Casch's hand-built guitar was made from mulga wood. Their skill and energy and O'Keefe's frantic performances also saw them upstage many of the visiting performers. Visit RYM: Best of 2022 for our special year-end feature with member reviews. [41], "She's My Baby" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2007. O'Keefe issued three more singles during 1958: "Over The Mountain" b/w Lawdy Miss Clawdy", "So Tough" b/w That'll Be Alright" (a cover of The Cuff Links song which reached No. O'Keefe was born in the eastern Sydney suburb of Bondi Junction on 19 January 1935. As a small child, he joined his parents' act and later wrote skits for the stage. et She's my Baby [1].Au cours de ses vingt ans de carrire, O'Keefe a sorti plus de cinquante singles, 50 EP et 100 albums. Australian rock historian Ian McFarlane succinctly described O'Keefe's qualities in his article on the singer in the Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop: In September 1956 O'Keefe and his friend Dave Owen (an American-born tenor sax player) formed Australia's first rock'n'roll band, the Dee Jays. 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