Tony Worsley - 1966 - Missing You FLAC

Missing You/All Over You/With You By My Side/The Kind



   
English-born singer Tony Worsley migrated to Australia with his parents at the age of 13. He started his singing career on the Brisbane dance circuit during 1963 when he was 18. A year later (around May 1964), he teamed up with popular Melbourne rock'n'roll band The Blue Jays who had been together since 1959.

The original Blue Jays line-up comprised Frankie Brent (vocals, rhythm guitar), Chris Lawson (lead guitar), Doug Stirling (piano) and Bob Johnson (drums). The band's first single, `Maori's Farewell'/`Everybody Loves Saturday Night', came out on the Crest label in October 1961. The Blue Jays issued the album Arthur Murray's Twist Party on Crest in 1962. By that stage, the line-up comprised Brent, Johnson, Laurie Allen (vocals, guitar, piano; ex-Malcolm Arthur and the Knights), Johnny Cosgrove (vocals, lead guitar), Alan Easterbrook (vocals, sax) and Ray Houston (bass). Laurie Allen and the Blue Jays issued the single `Wolfman'/`Kept a Broken Heart in Broken Hill' in January 1962. In 1963, the line-up became Allen, Johnson, Easterbrook, Mal Clarke (rhythm guitar), Dennis Tucker (bass) and Doug Flower (lead guitar). Allen left in 1963 and eventually joined up with Bobby Bright as Bobby and Laurie. By early 1964, the line-up was Johnson, Clarke, Ray Eames (lead guitar), Paul Shannon (sax) and Royce Nicholls (bass).

After promoter Ivan Dayman matched Worsley with the already established Blue Jays, the union proceeded to score a series of hit singles. The band's first release on Dayman's Sunshine label, however, was the instrumental `Jaywalker'/`Pathfinder' (sans Worsley and credited to The Fabulous Blue Jays, October 1964). A month later, Tony Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays issued the single `I Sure Know a Lot About Love'/`Me You Gotta Teach' on Sunshine. The single peaked at #25 in Brisbane, which provided the band with a stepping stone on to the local scene. The Fabulous Blue Jays issued their second single without Worsley, `Motivate'/`We're Friends', in January 1965. That same month, Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays supported UK visitors The Kinks, Manfred Mann, The Honeycombs and Tony Sheveton on The Big Show package tour. Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays' second single, `Just a Little Bit'/`If I', reached #23 in Sydney during March. The Fabulous Blue Jays' third single, `Zoom Gonk'/`Hey! Jack', also came out in March.

Sunshine issued the band's self-titled debut album, with one side dedicated to Worsley's songs and the flip to The Fabulous Blue Jays (sans Worsley). Of the album's 16 tracks, ten had already been issued as A and B-sides of singles. Eames left the band around that time to be replaced by Jimmy Cerezo (ex-Pleazers). The Fabulous Blue Jays backed Worsley on his third single, Chuck Berry's `Talkin' About You'/`I Dream of You' (June 1965), although their name was dropped from the label credit. The Fabulous Blue Jays issued their final single, `Beat Out Dat Rhythm'/`I'll Make You Cry', at the same time. Dayman began pushing Worsley as a solo artist, so his next three singles on Sunshine appeared credited to Tony Worsley.

They were `Velvet Waters'/`Rock-a-Billy' (September 1965), `Missing You'/`Lonely City' (January 1966) and `Something's Got a Hold on Me'/`Something' (March). Although the bulk of Worsley's material was rocky and uptempo, the ballad `Velvet Waters' provided him with the biggest hit of his career. It reached #5 in Sydney and #14 in Melbourne during October. A second ballad, `Missing You', failed to replicate that success (#28 in Sydney). Sunshine issued Worsley's second album, Velvet Waters and Other Great Songs, in late 1965. `Something's Got a Hold on Me' returned Worsley to more upbeat material, but it too failed to chart. Not long after the single's release, Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays parted company. The last Worsley record to feature The Fabulous Blue Jays on a couple of tracks was the album My Time of Day (November 1966).

Worsley formed a new, short-lived version of The Fabulous Blue Jays with Phil Manning (lead guitar), Brian Patterson (rhythm guitar), Brian Saunders (bass) and Jimmy Thompson (drums). By 1967, Manning had joined The Laurie Allen Revue, before going on to work with celebrated blues band Chain. Worsley's last three singles for Sunshine, `Raining in My Heart'/`Knocking on Wood' (May 1966), `No Worries'/`Humpty Dumpty' (January 1967) and `Reaching Out'/`Do You Mind?' (October 1967), sank without a trace, and Worsley disappeared from view. He joined a Brisbane band, Hands Down, in 1969, but virtually retired from the music industry soon after. In the early 1990s, Worsley issued three singles on the local Enrec label, `Heartache for You', `High on Love' and `Hey Hey Little Girl'.

During their time with Sunshine, Worsley and the Blue Jays issued eight EPs: `Pathfinder' and `Jaywalk' (The Fabulous Blue Jays), `I Sure Know a Lot About Love' (Tony Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays), `Motivate' (The Fabulous Blue Jays), `If I' (Tony Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays), `Velvet Waters' (Tony Worsley), `Missing You' (Tony Worsley), `Something's Got a Hold on Me' (Tony Worsley) and `Raining in My Heart' (Tony Worsley). Of The Fabulous Blue Jays members, Bob Johnson and Paul Shannon formed Grandma's Tonic with erstwhile Blue Jays member Ray Houston (bass) plus Dennis Whitehead (guitar). Grandma's Tonic backed solo singer Peter Doyle for a time, and also issued two singles on the Astor label, The Troggs' `Hi Hi Hazel'/`Johnny the Hammer' (October 1966) and the punkish `Lost Girl'/`I Know' (April 1967).

Royce Nicholls formed a folk-blues duo with English-born, Brisbane-bred singer Toni McCann. The Fabulous Blue Jays had already backed the teenage McCann on her astonishing debut single for Sunshine `No'/`My Baby' (July 1965). McCann issued a second single, `Saturday Date'/`If You Don't Come Back', which came out on the Everybody's label in December 1965. Both singles are among the wildest garage/R&B releases of the era (indeed, in the words of the late Dean Mittelhauser, `Australia had never heard a girl singer quite like Toni McCann before!'). There is some conjecture as to whether it was The Fabulous Blue Jays, or Steve & the Board that backed McCann on `Saturday Date'. Either way, it was McCann's riotous vocal delivery (in that boisterous Wanda Jackson vein), and the rough-hewn sound quality on offer, that precluded any notion of chart success for the singles.

McCann recorded a third solo single, `Buy Some Love'/`Look on', which was due out on CBS in December 1966, but never seems to have appeared. Toni and Royce issued two singles on CBS, `On The Road'/`Happiness is Just a State of Mind' (May 1967) and `The Streets are Not Deserted Now' /`Even I Can Hear the Grass Grow' (February 1968), before disappearing from view. Mal Clarke went on to work with Ray Brown and Moonstone, the Ray Burton Band, Chariot and Bullamakanka.

Tony Worsley - 1965 - Velvet Waters

Velvet Waters/Rock A Billy/Missing You/All Over You


Tony was born Anthony Asheen Worsley in England in 1944 and emigrated with his family from his hometown of Hastings to the sunnier climes of Brisbane when he was 15. Tony had already set his sights on a show biz career. As a lad he won several amateur talent quests in England including one judged by Lonnie Donegan and Tommy Steele, which carried first prize of a Decca recording contract. Needless to say, his parents' decision to leave for Australia right at this point didn't go down too well with the ambitious young singer -- "I didn't get on with my parents too much on the ship for the first few weeks!" -- but he was determined to fulfill that dream in his adopted country. By day he worked as an apprentice rigger in the Brisbane dockyards, but at night he patrolled the dance halls, waiting for his chance to get up on stage. 

Tony quickly developed into a consummate performer, gigging around Brisbane's dance circuit with a variety of pick-up bands. His outrageously long collar-length hair, wild stage presence and repertoire of Merseybeat tunes (copped from imported records sent by his friends in England) which earned him his early nickname "Brisbane's Beatle". As early as 1961, Tony had come to the attention of Ivan Dayman, a pop entrepreneur, and a budding 'svengali' figure in the mould of Lee Gordon. Dayman -- who would soon also steer Normie Rowe and Mike Furber to national success -- was on the lookout for a suitable backing band for his young discovery and he believed he had found it when he made a new addition to the Sunshine roster, the popular Melbourne dance band The Blue Jays. Dayman's offer of AU£35 per week to sing with The Blue Jays was simply too good for the young singer to refuse. It was a huge salary for the times -- ten times what Tony was being paid as a sailmaker -- and as late as 1966, even the members of The Small Faces, then one of Britain's top bands, were being paid just UK£20 per week each! The teaming of Tony with this tight, professional outfit in early 1964 proved to be an inspired choice. 

 Dayman teamed The Blue Jays with Tony Worsley at the start of 1964, and with their name enhanced by the suitably glamorous prefix Fabulous the group immediately set about creating a dynamic stage show, centred on Tony's gritty tenor voice, good looks and dynamic showmanship. Tony's 'take-no-prisoners' attitude was backed up by one of the tightest and most competent bands in the country and the Blue Jays trademark 'fat' sound blended sax and guitar in a potent lead instrumental assault, giving them a powerful attack comparable to earlier rock'n'roll groups like Johnny O'Keefe's Dee Jays. From his recently acquired Brisbane HQ at the legendary Cloudland Ballroom (a landmark Queensland venue, sadly demolished in the 1980s) Dayman promoted the group in package extravaganzas up and down the coast, including appearances at his popular "Bowl" venues, and they soon earned a reputation for upstaging the main acts.

There were more lineup changes during 1964 as the Beat Boom hotted up and the band's frantic touring schedule took its toll, but by the end of the year the Blue Jays had settled into the first 'classic' lineup, each of whom earned their own nickname: Ray 'Screamy' Eames (lead guitar), Mal 'Beaky' Clarke (rhythm guitar), Paul 'Bingo' Shannon (sax and keyboards), and Royce 'Baby' Nicholls (bass), completed by the return of founding Blue Jays drummer Bobby 'Spider' Johnson. In mid-1964 Dayman took over the Saturday night lease on Melbourne's largest indoor venue, Festival Hall, renaming it "Mersey City". On 2 May 1964 he opened with Tony and the Fabulous Blue Jays. Over 4500 teenagers attended: "That was 500 more than saw the Beatles" according to Tony. Dayman also used them to open several other Queensland venues as his Sunshine empire exapnded to Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Inala and Surfers Paradise. 

In late 1964, Dayman formed the Sunshine record label (distributed by Festival) with partners Nat Kipner and Apt Aulton. The first single, released in October, was an original instrumental by The Blue Jays called "Jay Walker". The next (November) was the debut single by Tony Worsley & The Fabulous Blue Jays, and it was a killer combination: the A-side was a scorching version of "Sure Know A Lot About Love", backed by a terrific acoustic-driven original, "Me You Gotta Teach", composed by what soon developed into the bands resident writing partnership of Beaky Clarke and Baby Nicholls. 

 

 1965 was without doubt the peak of their meteoric career. February saw the release of the second Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays single and perhaps their best recording, a raucous, syncopated cover of Rosco Gordon's "Just A Little Bit", which broke through onto the national airwaves in early '65 and became a significant hit, charting particularly well in Melbourne and Brisbane. Tony and the Blue Jays had picked up on the song from a version by English band The Undertakers, but coincidentally it was also recorded at that time by The Animals (under the title "Don't Want Much"). The Animals' version was recorded during the sessions for their second LP Animal Tracks but it didn't make the funal cut and remained unreleased until The Complete Animals 2CD set was issued in 1990. It has to be said that The Animals' version sounds distinctly anaemic compared to the red-hot Worsley/Blue Jays version. Lobby Loyde's Purple Hearts covered it later a year or so later, but even their version pales by comarison.  (Bio Continued in post below)

Tony Worsley - 1966 - Raining In My Heart

Raining In My Heart/Knocking On Wood/Ready Steady Let's Go/Tell Me Why



Unfortunately, around this time Pat Aulton and guitarist Ray Eames had a major disagreement in the studio, and Eames was unceremoniously ousted from the group and replaced by Jimmy Cerezo, from The Pleazers. Jimmy fitted in well and also brought his own writing skills to the group, contributing the ska-flavoured "I Dream Of You" to the flip-side to their next single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Talkin' 'Bout You" (April '65). Over the course of 1965 Tony and the Blue Jays reputedly sold over 70,000 records, climaxing in their biggest and best-remembered hit, a dreamy cover of the Australian pop ballad, "Velvet Waters".

 The song had first been recorded in the early Sixties as an instrumental by Perth band The Megatrons; this was followed by Bruce Gillespie's vocal version which featured lyrics penned by renowned Australian songwriter Dorothy Dodd, although neither of these versions had any success at the time. Near the end of a recording session in mid-1965, producer Nat Kipner asked the band if they had any other tracks they could record; Cerezo, who had learned the song from Gillepsie, suggested "Velvet Waters"; after a quick run-through, they cut the track in a matter of minutes.  

 Tony and the Blue Jays' version was released in September 1965 and it quickly shot into the national Top 5. The fact that one of the "softest" of their recordings became their biggest hit for our hard-rocking heroes was an irony that wasn't lost on the group, as Tony recalled in an interview with the late Dean Mittelhauser for the Born Loser fanzine:

"We were going leave the studios in Sydney, at Festival at Pyrmont and we'd just recorded an album ... oh, about twenty songs, and we thought, 'Oh, we're gonna go home now'. And Jimmy Cerezo, the guitarist said 'What about this?' And we did it in about ten minutes and of course the rest is history. You could spend, like, days on a song -- now they tend to spend years -- but in those days we spent days on a song and it went nowhere, and you'd do something in ten minutes and it just catches the public ear, y'know? It just took off; we were really thrilled about that! I remember getting back from a tour and hearing that it was number one somewhere, and I couldn't believe it. Our stage act was full of really wild tracks, both covers and originals, and I could never understand why our ballad records went so well."

 With a major hit coming almost out of nowhere, Sunshine hoped they'd hit on a winning formula, so they immediately followed it up with another finely-arranged ballad, "Missing You", but this only managed to get into the lower reaches of the some charts, with its best placing being #28 in Sydney. But The Blue Jays continued to draw a healthy following, particularly among young female admirers, and Tony and pals developed a certain notoriety for their off-stage antics as well. (The old chestnut, "lock up your daughters!" should suffice as an explanation!) and the records kept coming, including a second LP, My Time of Day. This included a cover of the song "How Can It Be", originally recorded by UK band The Birds, and the Worsley-Blue Jay is considered by many to be superior to the original.

During 1965, the group won prestigious support slots with The Seekers, Johnny O'Keefe and Johnny Farham, as well as supporting the 1965 Australian tour by Britain's Dave Clark Five. Probably the most notorious show from this period was the now-legendary 4BC Sound Spectacular concert in Brisbane in December 1965. The first half of the show, featuring MPD Ltd, went smoothly enough, but when Tony and The Blue Jays hit the stage things had started to get out of hand, and by the time headliners The Easybeats came on a full-scale riot had broken out, with kids breaking down barriers, repeatedly storming the stage and smashing chairs and equipment. 

Police stopped the Easys after only 17 minutes and halted the show. In the melee that followed, the Easybeats only barely escaped the frantic fans, who stopped their 'getaway' car and stomped all over it, puncturing the roof and bonnet with their heels and doing hundreds of pounds' worth of damage. Tony himself nominates the January '65 tour with The Kinks, Manfred Mann, The Honeycombs and Tony Sheveton as the highlight of the band's career -- even though he copped some flak from the irascible Manfred Mann, who was apparently rather jealous of the frenzied fan reaction Tony & the Blue Jays were generating, both on and off stage.

(Bio continued in post below)

Tony Worsley - 1966 - Something's Got A Hold On Me

Something's Got A Hold Of Me/Something/My Friend/With You By My Side


 The group continued performing into 1966 with their popularity unabated, and for their first single of the year they got back to business in a big way with a barnstorming cover of Etta James' "Something's Got A Hold On Me". (80s indie icons The Reels' also covered this song in tribute to Tony & The Blue Jays' effort.) Regrettably, this was to be the last single billed to Tony and The Blue Jays. Just as he did with Mike Furber and The Bowery Boys, Ivan Dayman was intent on promoting the singer at the expense of the group. He pushed the Blue Jays further and further into the background and it wasn't long before the 'original' Blue Jays split, although this was also partly due to family pressures on some of the members:

"Bobby Johnson and Ray Eames left ... they were married and when Beatlemania spread to Australia, of course we'd be gettin' publicity with girls in your rooms and all that -- their wives called 'em home so they left the band."

The significant factor in the split was Tony's spiralling drug and alcohol intake and his increasing unreliability. Fellow performer (and future Uptight host) Ross D. Wylie recalled the hazards of touring with Tony at this time:

"Anything he could swill, swallow or smoke. Poke for that matter. Out of control was Woozle. I’m designated Bus Driver due for the five hours drive to the next up-country gig. 9am start we’re delayed. Worsley’s’ wrecked the toilet again, the tour manager’s’ arguing with the publican about if only gold plating will replace it. Worsley he’s got a hot slab and his usual back row seat. We’re driving. Woozle starts up wanting to use his nozzle. Pit stop Tony must be shy, starts thrashing his way out of sight up through this banana plantation. Next thing, this brumbie horse charges out pursued by Tony. 'Must be a mare' says Marcie (Jones & The Cookies). Antics like that, catch up with you. That’s unreliability."

Over the next few months, Tony's brief solo career continued as Sunshine released a string of solo singles -- a lovely version of Buddy Holly's "Raining In My Heart" (May '66), followed by "No Worries" / "Humpy Dumpy" (Jan. '67); his final single, released in October 1967 and with backing by The Escorts, featured Lionel Bart's "Do You Mind" backed by the soulful Penn-Oldham number "Reaching Out".

Late in 1966 Tony put together a "New" Blue Jays, which included such future OzRock luminaries as Vince Maloney (ex-Aztec and future Bee Gee), John A. Bird (Country Radio) and Phil Manning (Chain). In December, they played at a huge Dayman-promoted event, 'The Johnny Young Show', at Brisbane Festival Hall, sharing the bill with virtually the entire Sunshine roster -- Johnny Young, Ronnie Burns, Peter Doyle, Mike Furber, Ross D. Wylie, Thursday's Children, Graham Chpaman, Greg Anderson, The Escorts, Marcie & The Cookies, The Pleazers, and Julien Jones & The Breed. Tony managed to steal the show with his version of James Brown's famous fainting routine. in which he pretended to collapse and have to be led off-stage, only to only to be doused with water, revive and return for encore after encore.

Unfortunately, The Johnny Young Show show effectively became the wake for the the ailing Sunshine empire -- by the end of 1966 the company was in serious financial trouble, its resources severely strained by Normie Rowe's attempt to break into the English pop scene, and its reputation compromised by Dayman's allegedly dubious financial practices. In early 1967 Dayman was forced to close his shortlived Kommotion label and soon after Sunshine was taken over by its major creditor, Festival Records.

Tony himself was exhausted and close to burn-out point -- he was using speed heavily (which he spoke about quite openly, even then) his weight had dropped by almost half, and he had gained a reputation for unreliability.

  Dayman put Tony on the oft-derided tent show circuit -- where Johnny O'Keefe was plying his trade at the same time -- performing all over northern Australia including Brisbane, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns, Camooweal, Longreach, Mt Isa, Winton, and even Darwin. While touring in Adelaide in late 1966, Tony cut a cover of Jagger and Richards "So Much In Love", which featured Terry Britten of The Twilights providing the distinctive 12-string Rickenbacker riff, but this remained unrelased at the time. One of Tony's last major public appearances was at the 1967 Sydney Royal Easter Show, performing in a Sunshine Records package show with Mike Furber.
Not long after, Tony dropped out of performing for a couple of years. He resurfaced in 1969 when he joined Brisbane's Hands Down, a band which aimed for a Small Faces sound, and rivalled teen-pop outfit, The (Brisbane) Avengers for popularity. After Tony left in 1969, the group changed its name to Burke & Wills. Tony completed a short solo tour in Germany which was well-received by punters, but failed to make any significant inroads in Europe. He also visited the US in the early Seventies but was somewhat dispirited by having to tackle it alone and quickly returned to home turf.

 Tony spent most of the '70s getting his life and health back in order, working variously as a water ski instructor, a waiter, and occasionally performing on the club circuit before he took up an enviable existence singing at major resorts in the South Pacific, Hawaii, and America. Heading down to Sydney, he put together a new band called Tony Worsley & The Decades in the late '80s, and he has recorded sporadically over the years, releasing three singles on the Enrec imprint in the early 90s. Plans were afoot for a fresh spate of recording in 2000, this time in the currently in-vogue Latin style.

Tony has lost none of the magic or charisma he exhibited in his youth; he has performed regularly in club shows whenever he was not busy as "mine host" and number one entertainer at his own in Caloundra (Sunshine Coast) restaurant called -- of course -- "Velvet Waters", and decked out, appropriately, with rock memorabilia. Tony continued to run the restaurant very successfully until late 2007, when it was purchased by another company. Tony was also one of the many  luminaries who attended George Crotty's now-legendary Sixties Reunion Party in Sydney in 2001.

Tony Worsley - It I

If I/Just A Little Bit/I'm So Glad/If You See My Baby



A British-born artist who made his name in Australia. Tony was born Anthony Asheen Worsley in England in 1944 and emigrated with his family from his hometown of Hastings to the sunnier climes of Brisbane when he was 15. Tough cookie Worsley was the first beat era artist in Australia to sport outrageously long hair. In 1964, he joined forces with a backing band called The Blue Jays who had various members during their two year existence Worsley's gruff and surly demeanour ensured that many of their live appearances ended in riots. He toured rural Australia extensively with The Easybeats.