Australian Story: Apr 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjHgz7RZKeA&feature=youtu.be

Australian Story on Monday has quite a scoop with “A World of their Own.”

This marks the first TV documentary all 4 members have participated in since their split 50 years ago. It also includes rare footage and an interview with Bert Newton.

I’d tip TV screens across the country to be humming along to this on Monday. The Seekers are the soundtrack to many Australian lives…. legends every one….

In the 1960s Australian band The Seekers took the world by storm when their first three releases went to the top of the charts in the UK, knocking the Beatles out of the number one spot along the way.

Best known for their unique blend of harmonising voices led by singer Judith Durham, the band went on to produce a string of hits composed by singer Dusty Springfield’s brother Tom.

They were the first Australian band to make it internationally and paved the way for bands like the Easybeats that followed.

“They were unlike anyone else,” recalls Bert Newton who presented a television variety show at the time. “The Seekers (were) a totally different band.”

“People went wow, what’s that sound?” says Abbey Road sound engineer Richard Lush.

Fresh from singing their way across the Atlantic on the ‘Fair Sky’, The Seekers quickly established themselves in London. “It was the swinging capital of the whole universe. There were The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, solo artists like Dusty Springfield,” says the band’s guitarist Keith Potger.

After whirlwind success in England, The Seekers broke into the difficult US market as the first Australian group to get a number one hit with the iconic single ‘Georgy Girl.’

But for Judith Durham, who had always harboured aspirations to go solo, the price of fame and fortune was high. “I found that artistically I wasn’t quite on the same page as the boys,” she recalls. “So I wrote to (manager) Eddie Jarrett and said I wanted to leave.”

Now, fresh off the back of a record deal featuring the release of material including their final tour, The Seekers are taking part in the first television documentary since their split fifty years ago. All four band members Athol Guy, Bruce Woodley, Judith Durham and Keith Potger discuss their music, the impact of sudden fame and the painful fallout from their famous parting.

The program also includes interviews with those who witnessed their incredible rise to the top and previously unreleased material from The Seekers’ personal archive, including audio recordings of their first reunion session and super 8 footage shot behind the scenes during their heyday.

Producer: Jennifer Feller

Monday, April 8 at 8pm on ABC.