RECORD COVER, LP, Johnny O'Keefe, 'She's My Baby'

H2016.155

Front of album - Black and White. Live Performance photograph of Johnny O'Keefe singing into microphone which he is holding. He is wearing dark coloured jacket with light coloured button up shirt. Background is black. 'STEREO' printed top left hand side in box. 'she's my baby/ johnny o'keefe' printed in white justified right hand side. 'Leedon' logo printed underneath.

Back of Album - Black and white '33 1/3 rpm/ Long Play Microgroove' top left hand corner. 'MONAURAL LL-33.541/ STEREO SLL-933.541' top right hand corner. 'SHE'S MY BABY/ JOHNNY O'KEEFE' printed underneath. Song list running down left hand side 'Side One:/ 1. She's My Baby/ 2. I'm Counting On You/ 3. Sing (And Tell The Blues So Long)/ 4. Move Baby Move/ 5. Good Luck Charm/ 6. She Wears My Ring/7. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow/ 8. The Sun's Gonna Shine Tomorrow/ Side Two:/ 1. Come On And Take My Hand/ 2. Save The Last Dance for Me/ 3. Rock 'N Roll Will Stand (It Will/ Stand)/ 4. Twist And Shout/ 5. Heaven Sent/ 6. You'll Never Cherish A Love So True/ (Until You Lose It)/ 7. Right Now/ 8. Mansion Over The Hilltop. Biography written next to song list. 'What goes into the making of a star? Countless/ adoring fans, personality, giving the masses what they/ want, when they want it, energy to keep going when/ things are on the brink of crashing around you,/ appearance, voice the drive of a tycoon. You could/ fill a book with a list of do's, don'ts and if's about/ what makes an artist into a star. Whatever it is,/ Johnny O'Keefe has a bit of every one of these rolled/ up into one 5ft. 7in. dynamo./ Back in 1957 in the days of Bill Haley and at the/ start of the great new rock era when gold lame, pink/ shoes and leopard skin suits were a vital part of a/ new fashion in a pop star's wardrobe, Johnny was/ emerging as a new force to be reckoned with in the/ numerous dances behind him, J.O'K moved into a/ recording studio and out of the first session came/ "Bill Goat" - not a bad record but it failed to create/ a great wave of sales. "The Chicken Song", "Lordy,/ Miss Clawdy" and "Over the Mountain" followed. The ripples developed into a wave. J'O'K had/ arrived!/ "So Tough", "That'll Be Alright", "Peak A Boo",/ "Why Do They Doubt Our Love" and "You Excite/ Me" proved that Johnny was not an overnight flash/ like so many others and just to make sure, as if any-/ one at that time could have doubted it, "Shout" was/ released and swamped the homes of thousands of/ teenagers across Australia. O'Keefe was here!/ The moulding of a star was in process. TV was a/ new toy. O'Keefe on television was a must and he/ appeared on numerous teen-slanted TV shows across/ Australia, including "Bandstand" and the first of/ several of his own shows, "Six O'Clock Rock"./ Concerts in all States were booked out, fans scream-/ed, fainted and screamed some more as pop fans do./ His car was painted with lipstick by adoring fans, his/ clothes were ripped off and his hair was clipped to/ adorn some teenager's rumpus room./ O'Keefe appealing to a more mature audience/ seemed remote at this time, but with one record, "I'm/ Counting on You", people listened. Was this the/ O'Keefe the teenagers had placed on a pedestal to be/ Australia's first teenage idol? A ballad, sung with the/ feeling it was, along with the teenagers, Mums and/ Dads went into the record bars and bought their first/ J.O'K. record. To see Johnny sing "I'm Counting On/ You" on television was to see an artist at work. Fan/ letters poured in and along with them thousands from/ his new-found adult audience./ How do you follow a song like "I'm Counting On/ You". "Sing" was chosen and off it went up the/ charts, quickly followed by "Yes Indeed", "Move/ Baby Move", "Shake Baby Shake" and "She Wears/ My Ring". Albums emerged and quickly followed the singles into the best selling lists. More TV shows - "Sing Sing Sing", "The J.O'K Show", star appear-/ ances around Australia, concerts, dances, recordings,/ fostering new Australian talent, advising them, helping/ them and then...collapse. It became "too much"./ Eighteen hours a day of work had caught up with him. A nervous collapse. More were to follow. Each/ time the whispers, J O'K has had it. But that was not to be - he bounced back each time./ "Come On And Take My Hand", "Will You Still/ Love Me Tomorrow", "Cry Baby Cry", "The Sun's/ Gonna Shine Tomorrow" smashed their way into the/ charts. Several more albums. More TV shows. An-/ other collapse. And what emerged after this was a/ different O'Keefe. The same bubbling J.O'K. of old,/ but somehow quieter, more mature, but in business/ again. Packed club circuits, tours interstate, more/ television, a tour of Vietnam for the Australian Gov-/ ernment billed as "The Australian Ambassador Of Entertainment", during which he spent 17 days and/ did 20 shows in American and Australian bases./ A showman - yes. A dynamo- yes. A star - yes./ Go back 10 years to "She's My Baby", recorde/ during one of John's tours of America and a Number/ One record back in 1959. Could it become a hit again/ in 1969? One way to find out- re-release it. And was/ it a hit? - yes. And to follow that, this album contain-/ ing16 hits from the great J.O'K. Listen to Johnny/ O'Keefe's 12 years of hits, whether it be a soft ballad/ or a wild, wild rock tune. Listen to an artist, a star,/ an Australian. Leedon logo printed underneath 'Manufactured in Australia by Festival Records Pty Limited. Handwritten name in blue pen at top 'RADFORD. 1.'

Department: 

History Department

Collection

History Collection

Collection Item Data

Accession Number: H2016.155
Accession Date: 22 Jul 2016
Acquisition Year: 2016

Material

Cardboard/Paper
Plastic/Synthetic/Polymer

Measurement

circumference63cm
width305mm
length305mm
height5mm

 


 

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Western Australian Museum Collections https://museum.wa.gov.au/online-collections/content/H2016.155
Accessed 14 Jun 2024

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