JOHN Paul Young and The Allstar Band will take to the beer garden stage at Toroto Hotel to perform a concert of classic hits this Sunday afternoon, May 6.
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“For John and many of his band, this is their local, so they’ll be out to impress,” publicist Dianna O’Neill said.
“With all the hits John’s known for, including I Hate the Music, Yesterday’s Hero, Standing In The Rain, I Wanna Do It With You, Love Is In The Air, plus many more, you’ll be dancing like it’s 1979.”
JPY is one of the most popular Australian artists of the 70s.
He cemented himself a place in music history with a string of hits resulting in more than 4 million record sales, capped with an induction in the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2009.
After migrating from Scotland with his family in 1966, it wasn’t long before John finished school and formed a semi-pro band with some friends, Elm Tree, to perform at local dances at weekends.
“Elm Tree managed to record one single, Rainbow, and reached the Sydney final of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds, at the Capitol Theatre,” O’Neill said.
Elm Tree soon disbanded and not long after JPY successfully auditioned for Harry M Miller’s Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, landing the role of Annas.
He stayed with the production throughout its 700 performances from May, 1972, to February, 1974.
“During that period, as John Young, he released his first singles under the direction of English producer and kingmaker Simon Napier-Bell, the man behind T Rex,” O’Neill said.
The first of those singles in May, 1972, Pasadena, also JPY’s first hit, was written by songwriting legends Harry Vanda and George Young of Easybeats’ fame.
“When John released his fourth single, Jesus Christ Superstar had ended and Harry Vanda and George Young had returned to Australia as house songwriters and producers for Albert Productions,” O’Brien said.
“The song they wrote and produced for John Young was Yesterday’s Hero, about someone who had once been famous. He performed the song on Countdown and by the time filming was finished he had convinced the audience he really was a star.”
Yesterday’s Hero was initially released under the name John Young, but became such a major hit, the singer became John Paul Young to avoid confusion with 1960s pop star, Johnny Young.
JPY went on to became a Countdown regular, both as a guest host and performer.
More major hits followed – The Love Game, I Hate The Music, I Wanna Do It With You, and Standing In The Rain.
It was his June 1978 No 1 song, Love Is In The Air, that became a huge hit internationally.
It led to JPY having television performances on Britain’s ‘Top Of The Pops’ and in the US.
For his live performances, JPY assembled The Allstar Band, featuring Warren Morgan (Chain, Aztecs) and Ronnie Peel (La De Das) who are Lake Macquarie locals and The Allstar Band’s longest-serving members who, together with Greg Plimmer, Juan Gonzalez and Michael Walker and Paul Kirtley, form the line-up today.
“At Sunday’s gig, John Paul Young will perform all of his greatest hits spanning his impressive 40-plus-year career, showing his enduring presence in the soundtrack of Australia. We can already feel the Love in the Air!” O’Brien said.
Entertainment starts at 2pm with JPY and The Allstar Band hitting the stage at 5pm
General admission tickets cost $35 plus booking fee.
They are available from the hotel bottle shop (cash only), or visit eventbrite.com
