Australian Music Stars of the 60's (4/4)

The "second wave" of Australian rock is said to have begun in about 1964, and followed directly on the impact of The Beatles. In the immediate wake of The Beatles' momentous Australian tour, many local groups that had formerly played guitar-based instrumental music recruited singers and took up the new 'beat' style. Some of the best-known and most popular acts in this period were Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs and Ray Brown & The Whispers, The Easybeats, The Bee Gees, The Masters Apprentices, The Twilights, The Groop, The Groove, The Loved Ones and cult acts like The Throb and solo star Normie Rowe, who quickly became Australia's most popular male pop vocalist. During this period a wave of acts also came from New Zealand, including Ray Columbus & the Invaders, Max Merritt & The Meteors, Dinah Lee, Larry's Rebels and The La De Das.

Many Australian bands and singers tried to enhance their careers by moving overseas, in particular to England, then seen as the mecca of popular music but few bands were successful and of those who relocated to the UK only The Seekers and The Bee Gees (who were actually born and raised in the UK) enjoyed any lasting success. Others that made the journey were The Easybeats (the first rock band to crack the UK market), The Twilights, The Groove, Lloyds World and the La De Das.

(extract from Wikipedia 2011)

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