Rock ‘n’ roll trivia

Woodstock was held 15-18 August 1969, on a dairy farm in Bethel, 60km out of Woodstock. It attracted about half a million people and was headlined by now-legendary acts like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Joe Cocker, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The festival has become widely regarded as a pivotal moment in popular music history as well as a defining event for the ‘Counterculture Generation’.

Sunbury Pop Festival or Sunbury Rock Festival was an annual Australian rock music festival held on a private farm between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Victoria, on the Australia Day long weekend between 1972 and 1975. The festival attracted some of Australia’s best musical talents from the time including Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Daddy Cool, Country Radio, Johnny O'Keefe, Renee Geyer, and Skyhooks.

Sunbury is often wrongly attributed as Australia's first ever large scale music festival but the title really goes to Ourimbah. Billed as the 'Pilgrimage for Pop', Ourimbah took place only a few months after Woodstock in 1970. Even though Ourimbah was the first Australian festival, Sunbury was certainly the most influential.

Johnny O'Keefe (a.k.a. The Wild One or J.O.K.) was often described as Australia's answer to Bill Haley or Elvis Presley and Australia's original rock 'n' roll star. He released over 50 singles, over 40 EPs and over 30 albums with No.1 single records, including Sing, I'm Counting on You, Move Baby Move, and She's My Baby. He was the first Australian act to appear on 'American Bandstand' and the 'Ed Sullivan Show', and entertained troops in Vietnam.

On 3 February 1959, American Rock 'n' roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. This tragedy would later inspire Don Mclean to write a tribute song, American Pie.

The Stomp was a popular dance craze that swept Australia in the 1960s. Critics of the stomp labelled it as ‘weird and undignified’, and several councils banned it due to a fear that the vigorous stomping movements might cause damage to dance floors and foundations.

For three weeks in 1964 The Beatles toured Australia and New Zealand, playing 32 concerts in eight cities. Crowds lined city streets to see them in an eruption of Beatlemania. This was the first and only tour of Australia The Beatles ever made.

Normie Rowe was one of the biggest pop stars in Australia when he was conscripted into the Vietnam War in 1969. His two-year stint in the army curtailed his music career, forcing him to start from scratch when he returned.

Elvis Presley was drafted to the US Army in 1958 at the peak of his career. Unlike Normie Rowe, his two-year stint in the army did not negatively affect his music career, with his manager keeping his music fresh in the public eye by releasing pre-recorded singles throughout his service.

All five founding members of The Easybeats met at the Villawood Migrant Hostel and were from families that had migrated to Australia from Europe. Lead singer Stevie Wright and drummer Gordon Fleet were from England, guitarist George Young was from Scotland, and lead guitarist Harry Vanda and bassist Dick Diamonde were from the Netherlands.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is often dubbed ‘The Godmother of rock 'n' roll’ and was an influence on Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her unique gospel recordings.

It is worth noting that while male singers and bands largely dominated the charts during this time there were many successful female artists from Australia and across the world who had a significant impact on Rock 'n' roll. Notable Australian female artists include Little Pattie, Lynne Randell, Noeleen Batley and Betty McQuade, and Marcie & the Cookies to name a few.

In 1957 Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old second cousin Myra Gale Brown. His career was nearly ruined when news of the marriage reached the media. It is also true that he accidently shot Butch Owens in the chest.

The bodgies and widgies subculture came into prominence in the late 1950s. The males were called bodgies and the females were called widgies. Most bodgies rode motorbikes or hotted-up cars, wore tightly pegged pants and leather jackets and were considered by many to be teenage delinquents. The Sharpies subculture emerged later in the 60s and 70s. Named for their sharp dress sense they often touted a distinct hairstyle and dance (the ‘Sharpie Shuffle’).

Formed in Melbourne in 1962 The Seekers were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major success in the United Kingdom and the United States. Their best-known configuration is: Judith Durham on vocals, piano, and tambourine; Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo, and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and vocals.

The original incarnation of The Seekers had Ken Ray as the lead singer, but he left the group to get married and was replaced by Judith Durnham.