From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Jan 19, 2002  2:09 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Johnny O'Keefe
 
JOHNNY O'KEEFE (Co-written by Tony Wilkinson)

Born John Michael O'Keefe, 19 January 1935. Sydney, Australia
Died 6 October 1978, Sydney, Australia

The undisputed King of Australian rock 'n' roll. He is probably best
known for his much covered, self-penned standard "The Wild One"
(aka "Real Wild Child") (1958). Initially starting out as a Johnny Ray
clone, he switched to rock 'n' roll after supporting Bill Haley on an
Australian tour. His first record was a cover of "You Hit The Wrong
Note Billy Goat" and he continued recording mostly cover versions
of American hits in the fifties. The charismatic performer later
started writing his own songs. With his backing band, The Dee Jays
and vocal group The Delltones in the Jordanaires role, O'Keefe
performed to packed houses of screaming adolescent girls in
his native country. The guys also dug him as well. He laid down
a multitude of hard rockin' tracks. But apart from the isolated UK
release of "Real Wild Child"/ "Shake Baby Shake" on Coral, his
records were not released in Europe at the time, while his success
in the US (where he tried to promote himself as "The Boomerang
Boy") was also limited. He tried several times to break
into the international scene but these attempts were rebuffed.
In all, O'Keefe recorded over 40 albums. In the seventies he formed
an entertainment management company. He died of a heart attack
at the age of 43.
O'Keefe was celebrated in the low budget 1986 film biography
"Shout! The Story Of Johnny O'Keefe". Around this time, Iggy Pop
had a major hit with "Real Wild Child" (which had also been a US
hit in 1958 for Ivan aka Jerry Allison of The Crickets. The song
had also been cut by Jerry Lee Lewis after he had heard the song
during his 1958 tour of Oz). Currently the musical "Shout" is
doing the rounds in Australia, this is a sort of Oz version of "Buddy".
The legend continues..

Biography: Damian Johnstone, The Wild One : The Life And Times Of
Johnny O'Keefe. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2001 (352 p.).
Recommended listening:
Real Wild Child (single CD issued on Festival D1944 in 1981) ;
Rockin' With Johnny O'Keefe And The Dee Jays (2-CD, issued 2000,
on Festival Spin D46 109) ;
The Birth Of Australian Rock 'n' Roll (3-CD, issued 1996 on Festival D80610)

Website: http://cust.idl.com.au/powercd/jok/