Johnny O’Keefe: Wild One, Six O’Clock Rock and the first Aussie rock’n’roller | Ultimate Aussie Pub Rock Reunion

Why fans still care

Before the pub circuit, before Sunbury, before anyone in this painting plugged in, there was JOHNNY O’KEEFE. Wild One made him the first Australian rock’n’roller on the national charts in 1958, and he put rock’n’roll on Australian television with Six O’Clock Rock. He racked up 29 Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1973. When ARIA started its Hall of Fame in 1988, he went in with the first class, alongside AC/DC.

Early life

He was born John Michael O’Keefe in Sydney on 19 January 1935. His dad sold furniture and played in a jazz band on the side, and later served as Mayor of Waverley. Young Johnny went to Christian Brothers’ College, Waverley, sang in the school choir, learnt piano and had a go on radio’s Australian Amateur Hour. Then in 1955 he saw Bill Haley in Blackboard Jungle, and that was that.

Career chapters

1. 1956forms the Dee Jays with Dave Owens
2. 1957first Festival single; Lee Gordon’s Big Show at Sydney Stadium
3. 1958opens the Buddy Holly, Paul Anka and Jerry Lee Lewis tour; Wild One charts nationally
4. 1959Six O’Clock Rock begins on the ABC; signs with Liberty Records
5. 1960She’s My Baby, his first national number one
6. 1961The Johnny O’Keefe Show on ATN-7
7. 1967hosts Where the Action Is on Ten
8. 1969entertains Australian troops in Vietnam
9. 1973wins over the Sunbury crowd
10. 1974The Good Old Days of Rock’n’Roll opens at St George Leagues Club
11. 1988ARIA Hall of Fame

Coogee to Sydney Stadium 1956 to 1958

The Dee Jays started at Stones Cabaret in Coogee, and by early 1957 they were playing four dances a week plus intervals at the Embassy Theatre in Manly. Festival signed them, and the first single was You Hit the Wrong Note Billy Goat, which is a title you don’t forget. In October 1957 he was on Lee Gordon’s Big Show at Sydney Stadium with Little Richard, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. Early in 1958 he opened for Buddy Holly, Paul Anka and Jerry Lee Lewis. Wild One first turned up on the EP Shakin’ at the Stadium, with crowd noise dubbed over a studio take.

Leedon, Liberty and the telly 1958 to 1965

He became an A&R man for Lee Gordon’s Leedon label, signing Lonnie Lee, Barry Stanton and The Crescents. Six O’Clock Rock started on the ABC on 28 February 1959 and he soon took over as compere. The NFSA calls it Australia’s first live-to-air music TV programme. He also hosted Rockville Junction on ABC radio. In November 1959 he signed with Liberty in the US, and recorded She’s My Baby at Gold Star studios in Los Angeles, with Snuff Garrett producing. Back home it became his first national number one. The Johnny O’Keefe Show followed on ATN-7 in 1961.

Comebacks 1964 to 1978

He called 1964 “the biggest downer” of his career, and he banned Beatles haircuts on his show, which tells you how he felt about it. He kept working: Where the Action Is on Ten in 1967, shows for Australian troops in Vietnam in 1969. At Sunbury in 1973 he faced a crowd that wasn’t sure about him, and won them over. Mockingbird, his duet with Margaret McLaren, was a hit in 1973 and 1974. Then The Good Old Days of Rock’n’Roll opened at St George Leagues Club in August 1974, with Johnny Devlin, Lonnie Lee, Barry Stanton, Jade Hurley, Tony Brady and Laurel Lea, and kept touring the clubs.

Craft, sound and style

The voice and the presence

The Australian Dictionary of Biography is blunt about it: his voice was unexceptional, but he had “presence”. He modelled his delivery on Johnnie Ray and could do a ballad too, as I’m Counting On You shows. His own take: “It didn’t matter how you sang the song; it mattered what you did.”

The show

An NFSA archivist describes him “jumping, kicking and leaping about”. His 1970s manager John Hansen called him a brilliant showman.

The suits

The Powerhouse Museum holds a yellow shawl-collared suit trimmed with black velvet and diamantes, and a red one with leopard-patterned velvet trim, reputedly made by his mother. A red velour suit made the 1998 stamp.

Stories people still tell

1. The crowd that wasn’t there.

   The roar on Shakin’ at the Stadium was dubbed on. The studio take underneath is the real thing.

2. The Boomerang Boy.

   US publicity gave him that tag after his boomerang demonstrations.

3. No Beatle cuts.

   In 1964 he banned Beatles-style haircuts on his show.

4. The Wild One, again.

   In 2008 Jet, fronted by Nicholas Cester, Who’s Who number 5, recorded The Wild One with Iggy Pop.

Legacy

O’Keefe died in 1978. Ten years later ARIA started its Hall of Fame and put him in the founding class with Col Joye, Slim Dusty, Dame Joan Sutherland, Vanda & Young and AC/DC, the band of Bon Scott, Who’s Who number 3, and Angus Young, Who’s Who number 6. Terry Serio played him in the TV mini-series Shout! The Story of Johnny O’Keefe, and David Campbell took the role in the stage musical Shout! The Legend of the Wild One from December 2000. Wild One has been covered by Jerry Lee Lewis, Iggy Pop and the Barnestormers, with Jimmy Barnes, Who’s Who number 14. His family gave about 700 items to the NFSA, which keeps a Johnny O’Keefe collection.