Australian Pop 60's Influence Johnny Young Part 4

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TODAY 22.4.2018


Johnny Young

Speaking of Perth … that was home for a young Johnny Young before he broke into the pop star world with his single ‘Step Back’/‘Cara-Lyn’ in 1966 (both on the E.P. I brought to Singapore).

‘Step Back’ was written by Stevie Wright and George Young of the Easybeats. The story goes that when the band was performing in Perth, Johnny pestered Stevie and George for a song that he could record and they handed him ‘Step Back’. Whose idea it was to record ‘Cara-Lyn’ by US band The Strangeloves is less clear to me. Anyway, it’s a good version.

Both songs did well and according to what I have read, another Perth youngster with pop star aspirations was watching Johnny Young’s career starting to take off and thought to himself that if Johnny Young can do it so could he. His name was Bon Scott, who achieved far greater fame when he fronted AC/DC.

Johnny Young, meantime, was a genuine pop star in Australia, but like many of his peers he thought he should go to England. After some initial success in 1967, it was clear Johnny wasn’t going to be a hit in the UK and he returned to Australia in 1968.

Johnny then took on a new role as a songwriter. His first big hit was the Russel Morris psychedelic monster ‘The Real Thing’, which he followed up with ‘Part Three Into Paper Walls’. He wrote more songs for Russel Morris and others, but then started looking into other avenues of work. He already had radio and TV experience and fell easily into DJ work and as a television compere.

In 1971 he started to compere on a program called Young Talent Time, which featured the work of young performers, some children and some teenagers. A number of them became genuine pop stars later on.

Because the show lasted for nearly twenty years, most people mainly identify Young with it, but he had a lot more experience and talent than many people appreciate. He went back to performing when Young Talent Time finished up and he’s still doing it today.

Article: Dr Steven Farram (right), from Darwin U, Western Australia. Read Steve's articles by clicking his name under Labels below.

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