(Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images)
Last week we published our Kings Of Pop Part 1, which was preceded by our Aussie Queens Of Pop list.
The list was simply too great for just one article, so we've split it into Part 2 for you here...
Robin Jolley
Winner of Best New Talent at the 1972 King of Pop Awards was Robin Jolley for his bugglegummy hit “Marshall’s Portable Music Machine”, a tune written by Brian Cadd and his Axiom partner Don Mudie. This song had the dubious distinction of being voted amongst the top 10 worst Australian songs in some stupid poll in 2005. To hell with that – we dig it.
Brian Cadd
The former Groop and Axiom songwriter hit his stride as a solo artist and was voted Most Popular Australian Musician and also awarded Best Songwriter and for Contribution to Australian Pop Industry at the King of Pop Awards in ’74.
Of course, Brian’s talents were no match for…
Jamie Redfern
If it seemed the faces couldn’t get any fresher after five years of Farnham rule, the freshest of then all was a one-off King in ’74. Jamie had won the Newcomer of the Year award in 1971 (the year that Liberace presented the awards), Most Popular Australian Album in ’72 and Most Popular Australian Single (for “Venus”) in ’73 - and had clocked up a number of hits, including this one from ’74.
Daryl Braithwaite
Daz was the first and only King of Pop to not be primarily a solo artist; it says much for the massive popularity of Sherbet (who won Most Popular Group, every year from 1973 to 1978!) that he was singled out, although it is worth noting that he had notched up his first solo hit, “You’re My World”, in late ’73.
John Paul Young
JPY has been notching up hits since “Pasadena” in ’72, but Countdown’s patronage and “Yesterday’s Hero” kicked his career into overdrive in ’75. Despite a succession of Top 10 hits over the next couple of years, it took another 3 years and a change in style for him to be crowned the last King of Pop in ’78 on the back of “Love Is the Air”, which also won him Most Popular Australian Single.
Mark Holden
The lovely Mr. Holden was perhaps the last solo male Australian pop star of the ‘70s. He was so popular he somehow awarded Best Newcomer at the King of Pop Awards two years in a row -Best New Talent in 1975 and Most Popular New Talent in 1976.
John St Peeters
Mark Holden became something of a household name in Australia, which was sadly not the case for John St Peeters, who got his start as the 12 year old accordion-blasting Johnny Lo Piccolo. John won Most Popular New Talent at the King of Pop Awards in 1977, although it must’ve been a bit a lean year; John’s sole 1976 single “You Know That You’re Sexy” only reached #53 nationally, and he wouldn’t have a Top 20 hit until 1979’s “Deep Inside Me”.
- Dave Laing
