Johnny O'Keefe

With just a little assistance from promoter Lee Gordon, Johnny O'Keefe willed Australian rock and roll into existence. Determination was one important Johnny O'Keefe characteristic. The other was showmanship. His first successes on stage came from a Johnnie Ray impersonation, which saw O'Keefe wearing fake glasses that allowed him to produce tears at the appropriate moment from a hidden water-filled bulb. Then in June 1955 he saw the film 'Blackboard Jungle' and it changed Johnny O'Keefe's life. He fell in love with rock'n'roll.

Canadian-born but settled in Sydney, Lee Gordon in the meantime had decided to bring international talent to Australia, Lee in his own way also determined and also a showman. He had made and lost several fortunes already, and was back on in the black when rock'n'roll arrived. His future as a promoter depended on his success at bringing the new music here. He followed tours by Nat King Cole and Johnnie Ray by bringing a package tour headlined by Bill Haley and The Comets.

O'Keefe had formed his own rock band, the Dee Jays, saw all the Johnnie Ray shows, and was regularly seen hanging around the Lee Gordon offices, sitting on the concrete steps outside, hoping to catch someone's ear, hoping to be added to one of Lee Gordon's Stadium Shows. His tenacity paid off when he was added to the Haley bill, if only to give something to the Sydney audiences to hear as they found their seats. It gave O'Keefe the chance to see Haley perform, hang out with him in the dressing room, and to take him home to meet Mum.

Lee Gordon still wasn't in the least interested in Australian talent. But when Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps were stranded in Honolulu on their way to join Little Richard and Eddie Cochran on tour, O'Keefe and his group were quickly contacted to fill in for one night. A chance was all O'Keefe ever needed.

Bill Haley had mentioned Johnny O'Keefe to his Australian record company, but nothing happened, so JOK took the initiative. He told a friendly journalist that Festival Records had signed him on Haley's recommendation. The first time Festival knew about it was when they read it in the newspaper, but it was enough to encourage them to check O'Keefe out, and make the planted story a reality.

Johnny O'Keefe became the first Australian 'pop' star to chart. To help promote his Stadium Shows Lee Gordon had encouraged stations to adopt the Top 40 format, with a chart Lee Gordon's people helped put together. Johnny O'Keefe's breakthrough came with his third release, a song called 'I'm The Wild One', written and recorded for an EP supposedly recorded live during a Stadium Show. The Stadium audience was real. The song was recorded in the studio.

The teenagers had taken over. In America and England TV shows featuring rock and pop were achieving massive ratings. In November 1958 Channel 9 introduced its version of America's 'Bandstand', compered by newsreader Brian Henderson. In February the next year the ABC came up with 'Six O'Clock Rock', initially compered by an American girl. Johnny O'Keefe was guest on the first show. After six episodes he was compere, and had his platform for national success. A tour of New Zealand had convinced Lee Gordon to give Johnny O'Keefe and The Dee Jays star status.

The Wild One on stage, on record Johnny still struggled with coming up with the right formula of songs that radio wouldn't find too wild and his audience would go wild for. August 1958's 'So Tough' was the benchmark, but on record he didn't hit his stride until a year and five singles later, with 'Shout' (on YouTube) He was now recording on Festival's Leedon label, named after Lee Gordon. O'Keefe was by now also charged with discovering new talent as an official Festival Records Artists and Repertoire manager.

In 1959 O'Keefe asked for an airfare rather than a fee for his appearance on Lee Gordon's latest Big Show tour, and in November of that year, took himself to Los Angeles with no real plans other than to somehow break into the American market. Legend has it he booked himself into a motel, and the first thing he did was visit the drug store next door to sample his first American thick shake. He just happened to be carrying an acetate of his 'Shout' single, and someone who happened to be a Liberty Records executive walked to ask about the record he was carrying. The executive offered to have a listen and within half an hour John had an American recording deal. The next week he recorded several songs and came back to Australia with what became his first Number One record, 'She's My Baby'. Liberty was convinced they had discovered a major talent.

In April 1960 Johnny O'Keefe returned to America armed with his Liberty Records advance, every penny he could borrow, and a few hundred genuine boomerangs inscribed with his name which he planned to use to help promote the release of his American album, picturing John throwing a boomerang on the cover. The trip was a mixed success. His 'It's Too Late' made Number One in New Orleans, but John was having too good a time and turned up at several promotional events just a little under the weather. Liberty Records quickly lost interest.

Johnny O'Keefe came back to Australia with nothing much to show for his adventure, and empty pockets. But typically he had to pretend otherwise and, as a symbol of his new status, bought himself a bright red Plymouth Belvedere on hire purchase. On June 27, 1960 O'Keefe crashed his car returning to Sydney from the Gold Coast, suffering severe facial lacerations, concussion and shock. Within a month he was back at work. By August, with scarred face, he was back on TV. That accident remains a symbol of the rest of Johnny O'Keefe's life and career. He was all go, and it took a car accident or a mental breakdown to slow him down, just for a while. The hits continued, including three more national Number Ones with 'I'm Counting On You', 'Move Baby Move' and 'She Wears My Ring'.

Then the Beatles generation hit, and the generation of Australian rock JOK had fostered fell from sight almost overnight, in John's case fighting and scratching all the way. But it was sad to hear of The Wild One banning long haired musicians from his latest family TV show, 'Sing Sing Sing'.

Although radio stopped playing his new records, Johnny O'Keefe was always out there trying, and built up a healthy management and touring company. He was still one of Australia's hardest working and best paid entertainers. If he saw a chance to expose himself to a new audience he grabbed it, as happened with his appearance at the 1973 Sunbury Rock Festival. They came to see "Thorpie", and found themselves won over by Australia's original rocker.

When he died on October 6, 1978 of a heart attack induced by an accidental overdose of prescribed drugs, Johnny O'Keefe was busy planning the expansion of his successful business and performing activities. 3000 people crammed into the Waverley, Sydney church and thousands more lined the streets to watch the funeral procession. January 4, 2001 saw the first performance of a highly successful musical, 'Shout!', starring David Campbell, based on J O'K's life and career. The legend lives on.