Johnny O’Keefe – Roadrunnertwice

Australian Rock: The Early Seventies

As the sixties drifted into the seventies, the split in the Australian music scene between ‘underground’ and ‘chart’ acts became even more pronounced. Go-Set, still the leading music publication of the day, acknowledged this fact by introducing an ‘underground’ supplement titled Core that featured long, analytical pieces about the ‘significance’ of major artists and styles. The Go-Set Awards of January 1970 saw Doug Parkinson In Focus the most popular group, Johnny

Australian Rock: The Early Sixties

As the sixties dawned the prospects for Australian rock seemed bright. Johnny O’Keefe, the undisputed leader of the rock pack, was hurriedly preparing for his first American promotional trip. The first crop of Australian rock singers and groups were revelling in the exposure provided by the new TV rock shows like Six O’Clock Rock and Bandstand and the newly introduced Top 40 radio was playing their records. When O’Keefe hit

1 June 1987
in Australian Rock, Music
tags 1987, Australian rock, Bill Haley and the Comets, Col Joye and the Joy Boys, Johnny O'Keefe, Johnny Ray, Lee Gordon, Little Richard, Roll Over Beethoven
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Chuck Berry anoints Johnny O'Keefe as Australia's Rock King

Australian Rock: The Fifties

1 June 1987
in Australian Rock, Music
tags 1987, Australian rock, Bill Haley and the Comets, Col Joye and the Joy Boys, Johnny O'Keefe, Johnny Ray, Lee Gordon, Little Richard, Roll Over Beethoven
5

‘The public for pop in the years 1954 to 1964 created a new social order which changed the fabric of life and the course of the century … ‘It was not merely a case of roll over Beethoven, more the almost entire rejection of an inheritance of style, taste, manners, behaviour and ethics in the pursuit of change.’ — Bob Rogers with Denis O’Brien, Rock ‘n’ Roll Australia — the

Tag Johnny O’Keefe