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![]() Sir Robert Helpmann CBE (1909-1986) - Australian
of the Year 1965 Helpmann was born and trained in South Australia. In 1933 he joined London's Vic Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet) as their premier dancer and began his 27 year partnership with Margot Fonteyn. He co-directed the Australian Ballet with Peggy Van Praagh, 1965-74, and was sole director, 1975-76. He launched the company's international reputation and created several ballets for it, including The Display (1964), based on the dance of the lyrebird. His first acting role was as Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1937) with Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson. He also appeared in 1947 in the Michael Powell classic The Red Shoes, which he choreographed. Although he retired from dancing in 1950, he returned to dance his last role in 1986, at 77 years of age, as the Red King in Checkmate, a ballet he had created for the Sadler's Wells Company in 1937. On the occasion of his award, he praised Australia on its changing attitude to the arts. In giving him this award, he said, his countrymen had declared the value they now set on the national culture. But only three years later he said: "I don't despair about the cultural scene here in Australia because there isn't one here to despair about." |
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2nd
I Feel Fine 9th
I Feel Fine 16th
I Feel Fine 23rd
Over The Rainbow 30th
Over The Rainbow |
2 The first Dutch Top 40 is launched. The most popular single, Zorba's Dance by Trio Hellenique, spends 37 consecutive weeks on the new chart. 4 The death of world-famous poet T. S. Eliot. - American recording and broadcasting giant CBS purchases the Fender musical instrument company for US$13 million. Founded in 1947 by Leo Fender, the company revolutionised popular music with its legendary electric guitars, the Telecaster and the Stratocaster (made famous by Buddy Holly and Jimi Hendrix), the Precision Bass (the world's first electric bass) and its instrument amplifiers, and also exerted a huge influence on the sound of jazz and R&B music with its famous Fender Rhodes electric piano. 7 The first hydrofoil service begins on Sydney Harbour - Notorious London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray are arrested on suspicion of murder. 10 Rising tennis star Evonne Goolagong wins the NSW junior hard-court title. 11 The bodies of two 15-year-old girls, Christine Sharrock and Marianne Schmidt, are found at Wanda Beach in Sydney. In spite of an unprecedented £10,000 reward, the case is never solved. - American singing duo The Righteous Brothers arrive in Britain for a promotional visit and appear on three TV shows, Ready Steady Go!, Scene At 6.30. and Discs A Go-Go. 12 The US Government denies visas to The Nashville Teens and The Zombies (already in New York) forcing the groups to cancel their planned tours. 15 The new American music program Hullaballoo premieres on NBC, opening with Beatles manager Brian Epstein introducing top British group The Zombies. The series, produced by Jack Good, has a strong influence on Australian pop shows The Go!! Show and Kommotion. 16 The car ferry Empress Of Australia begins operating between Sydney and Hobart 21 The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison arrive for their tour of Australia; in Melbourne they are supported by The Flies. 22-23 The Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison play at the Sydney Showground. The original support band was to have been Sydney's legendary The Missing Links, but during a soundcheck on the night before the first show, promoter Harry M. Miller turns up. According to Links' guitarist Dave Boyne, Miller exclaimed: "There's no way these long-haired animals are going to play tomorrow!" and he sacks them on the spot. The Easybeats are reportedly also auditioned and rejected, suggesting that Miller was anxious not to allow The Stones to be upstaged. 24 Former British PM Sir Winston Churchill dies. 25-26 The Rolling Stones perform in Brisbane 27 Queensland police are given the power to arrest without warrant and ban anyone aiding the Mt Isa Mines strikers. Union leader Pat Mackie is banned from the site.
28 The Rolling Stones arrive in Melbourne and perform two shows at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda, supported by Ray Columbus & The Invaders, and The Flies. 29 The filming of "The Rolling Stones Special" for ATVO - Channel 10 (broadcast on 12 February), followed by 3 more shows at the Palais Theatre 30 The Rolling Stones are interviewed for radio 3KZ by Neville Wragg and Stan Rofe, and later record New Zealand TV ads and radio plugs for the New Zealand-shows. 31 The Rolling Stones begin the New Zealand leg of their tour. |
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20 Miles / Devoted To You House Without Windows / And I'll Be Happy I Sure Know A Lot About Love / Me You Gotta
Teach |
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6th
Under The Boardwalk 13th
Under The Boardwalk 20th
Ferry 'Cross The Mersey 27th
20 Miles |
1 Margaret Smith (later Court) wins the Australian women's singles title for the sixth consecutive year
5 Cigarette advertising is banned from commercial television in the UK. 10 The Rolling Stones return to Australia for a press conference and 2 more shows at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne 11 US President Lyndon Johnson orders the first sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnamese forces
12 The Rolling Stones perform two shows at Centennial Hall, Adelaide 13 The Rolling Stones conclude their Australian tour with 3 shows ar the Capitol Theatre, Perth. 15 Renowned pianist, composer, singer and TV star Nat "King" Cole dies in Los Angeles from lung cancer, aged 46. Cole started out in jazz, achieving widespread popularity with the song Sweet Lorraine in 1940. The King Cole Trio signed with the fledgling Capitol label in the early 1940s and Cole stayed with the company throughout his career. By the 1950s, his popularity was so great that the famous circular Capitol Records tower on Hollywood and Vine was sometimes referred to as "The House that Nat Built". Virtually unique at the time, Cole crossed over to mainstream audiences with the #1 hit Mona Lisa in 1950, beginning a new phase in his career as a pop balladeer, although he never totally ignored his roots in jazz. As well as his great musical talent, Cole was a crucially important figure in American entertainment. In the 1940s he was the first African-American to have his own radio program, and he repeated that success in the late 1950s with the first national television show starring and hosted by an African-American. In 1948 Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California. The local property owners' association confronted Cole and told him that they didn't want any undesirables moving in, to which he brilliantly replied: "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain." (Wikipedia) 18 Esso-BHP strikes gas, and later oil, at the Barracouta well in Bass Strait 20 Freedom Ride members including Charles Perkins are ejected from Moree's municipal swimming baths after protesting against its policy of not admitting Aborigines.
22 Prince Philip opens the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra 23 Bus driver Ernie Albrecht is flown to Grafton to replace original driver Bill Packenham, who has quit the Freedom Ride on the grounds that it is too dangerous. - Beloved screen comedian Stan Laurel dies. 26 Talbot Duckmanton succeeds Sir Charles Moses as chairman of The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) 27 The Seekers' single I'll Never Find Another You reaches #1 in the UK charts. It becomes the first Australian record to sell more than 1 million copies and eventually sells more than 1.75 million |
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Watch What You Say / I'm Going To Make
You Cry
I'll Come Running Over/ Hold Me Just A Little Bit / If I
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6th
20 Miles 13th
I'll Never Find Another You 20th
I'll Never Find Another You 27th
I'll Never Find Another You |
1 The Australian Amateur Swimming Union stuns the nation with its decision that Olympic champion and 1964 Australian of the Year Dawn Fraser is to be banned from all amateur competition for ten years. The decision follows an inquiry into Fraser's alleged misbehaviour during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. 6 Labor wins power in South Australian for the first time in 32 years. Labour leader Frank Walsh becomes Premier, replacing Liberal leader Sir Thomas Playford, Australia's longest-serving premier, who had held office for 26 years, 4 months. - The US Defence Department announces that 3500 marines will be sent to Vietnam. 10 The first drawing of the national service birthday lottery. 17 The Queensland government introduces legislation banning picketing and restricting pamphlets and banners at the Mt Isa mine. The strikers workers return to work later in the month. 21 The children's series THE MAGIC BOOMERANG premieres on the ABC 28 After protests are banned, Martin Luther King leads 25,000 civil rights protesters in Montgomery, Alabama. 30 George Johnston wins the Miles Franklin Award for his novel My Brother Jack. |
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Baby I'm losing you / His lips get in the
way Every day I have to cry / You wouldn't
know I Belong With You / Trouble In Mind Little Miss Rhythm and Blues/Here I Am We 2 Should Live / Untrue |
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3rd Rock And Roll Music / Honey Don't 10th Rock And Roll Music / Honey Don't 17th Rock And Roll Music / Honey Don't 24th Rock And Roll Music / Honey Don't |
5 The ABC premieres a new two-part children's sci-fi drama, THE STRANGER, starring Ron Haddrick and Ben Gabriel 6 Julie Andrews wins an Oscar for her role in the film Mary Poppins. 21 The second season of the New York World's Fair opens at Flushing Meadow, Queens, New York [21/10/65 -->] 22 The 2SM Sound Spectacular is held at the Sydney Stadium. The first prize in this "battle of the bands" comprises £100 pounds cash, a support spot on the upcoming Dave Clark Five tour, a record contract and a (possible) deal with Brian Epstein's NEMS organisation. Almost 60 local bands compete in the show, attended by 9000 fans. The Missing Links perform as special guests during the judging, and the eventual winners are The Showmen. 27 Police raid Melbourne's Austral Bookshop and seize copies of The Trial of Lady Chatterley, an account of the British legal proceedings that exonerated author of Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence, of charges of obscenity. 29 PM Robert Menzies announces that an Australian combat force will be sent to Vietnam in response to a request for military aid from the South Vietnamese government. |
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Pride / Say It Again I Should Have Stayed In Bed / Skinny Minnie It Ain't Necessarily So / Gonna Leave This
Town Talking About You / I Dream Of You |
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1st
Ticket To Ride 8th Ticket
To Ride 15th
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter 22nd
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter 29th
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter |
1 The ALP is defeated in the NSW state election after 24 years in government and the Liberal Party, led by Robin (later Sir Robert) Askin takes power. 7 The White Nationalist Party wins the Rhodesian elections. Within weeks a state of emergency is declared. 26 Kenn Brodziak's "The Big Show" tour starring top British beat group The Dave Clark Five kicks off in Perth. The ten-concert tour also features UK singer Tommy Quickly, returning local heroes The Seekers, Bobby & Laurie and various other local groups supporting in each capital city. 27 The 1st Battalion Royal Australian regiment leaves for Vietnam on the HMAS Sydney. 29 The Captain Cook Bridge spanning the Cook's River, opens in Sydney's southern suburbs. |
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A Love Like You / Summertime
Louie Louie / Got Love If You Want It
I Told The Brook / Funny Face
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5th
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter 12th
Pride / Say It Again 19th
Crying In The Chapel 26th
Crying In The Chapel |
3 Ed White becomes the first American to walk in space. 11 Athlete Betty Cuthbert is awarded an MBE. - In Melbourne students demonstrate against the all-white South African Springbok Rugby team's visit to Australia - Poets Of The World/Poets Of Our Time is held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Now regarded as the 'official' start of the UK psychedelic/underground scene, the star-studded poetry reading brings together 18 leading poets including Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso. The audience are handed flowers as they arrive and many are reportedly 'high' on LSD. 12 The Queen awards MBEs to The Beatles, prompting many people to return their own medals in protest 14 Variety show In Melbourne Tonight celebrates its 2000th performance. Since its premiere in 1957 the show has earned the Nine Network over £4 million in advertising revenue and has attracted more viewers per capita than any other television show in the world. Nine is rumoured to be paying host Graham Kennedy more than £20,000 per year. 17 Dame Joan Sutherland returns to Australia for a season of grand opera after 14 years overseas. 21 The Charlatans (who later change their name to The Grateful Dead) play at the Red Dog Saloon, Virginia City, California. The event is a landmark in the West Coast music scene and the promotional poster for the event, "The Seed", is the first in a legendary series of West Coast psychedelic poster art. 30 At a speech to the Australian Club in London, PM Sir Robert Menzies declares that Australia is in a state of war in Vietnam. |
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Someone / You Are Gone Fool, Fool, Fool / Go To Him Doin' The Mod / Ain't That Just Like Me I wanna tell the world / Everybody's talkin' |
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3rd
I Told The Brook 10th
I Told The Brook 17th
She's So Fine 24th
She's So Fine 31st
Fool, Fool, Fool |
2 Victorian secondary school teachers go on strike, marking the first such industrial action by teachers in Australia since 1920. 7 The "Gala Night Of Stars" at the Sydney Stadium, starring Bobby and Laurie (from Melbourne), Johnny O'Keefe, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Col Joye & The Joye Boys, The De Kroo Brothers, Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays, Judy Stone, Little Pattie, The Showmen, Jay Justin, Pam Oakley, Johnny Devlin & The Devils, The Rajahs, The Bee Gees, Johnny Rebb, Max Merritt, The Easybeats, Marlene Atcheson, Brian Witting, Tony Brady and Sharon Black. 10 The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction reaches #1 in the US charts 21 The US government dramatically increases its troop commitment to the conflict in Vietnam, doubling the number of troops in the region to 50,000 in less than a week. This action sets the stage for full-scale military involvement. 25 Bob Dylan creates rock history when he plays plays at the Newtport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band including organist Al Kooper, guitarist Mike Bloomfield and two members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Dylan's electric debut outrages festival-goers and organisers (including Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger) and he is booed by many of the audience, although many were not offended by the electric set, but rather by the brevity of Dylan's three-song, 15-minute set -- which was all they had rehearsed. 28 Former external affairs minister Lord Casey, 74, is named as the new Governor General of Australia 29 The Beatles' second film Help! premieres in London . |
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Who's Been Writing On The Wall Again /
Chubby
Zip A Dee Doo Dah / I've Been Trying Forever / Be Sure
Twilight Time / My Girl Josephine
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7th
Fool, Fool, Fool 14th
A Walk In The Black Forest 21st
A Walk In The Black Forest 28th
A Walk In The Black Forest |
2 The ALP finally deletes the racist "White Australia" platform from its immigration policy 11-15 Major race riots break out in Los Angeles' predominantly black Watts district. 34 people are killed during five days of violence and the damage bill exceeds US$200 million. 13 Marty Balin opens the new San Francisco venue, The Matrix, and Jefferson Airplane play their first gig there. 15 The Beatles play to 55,000 in the Shea Stadium, New York 18 British celebrity photographer David Bailey marries French actress Catherine Deneuve, with Mick Jagger as best man 21 The ABC premieres a TV adaptation of George Johnston's award-winning book My Brother Jack 22 Lord Casey is appointed Governor General 30 Bob Dylan's groundbreaking LP Bringin' It All Back Home is released in the US. |
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You're Driving Me Insane / Something Else Que Sera Sera / Shakin' All Over |
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4th
Help! 11th
Help! 18th
Help! 25th
Il Silenzio |
7 The Sydney Symphony Orchestra performs to sell-out audiences in Tokyo 23 Pioneering lawyer Roma Mitchell is appointed to the Supreme Court of South Australia, becoming Australia's first woman judge. In later years she is made a Dame of the British Empire and becomes Australia's first woman state governor (of South Australia). 25 The Missing Links perform on the program Ten On The Town, hosted by Mike Walsh, on Channel 10, Sydney. 30 The Communist Party attempts to seize power in Indonesia. The abortive coup leads to a brutal crackdown on left-wing and dissident groups; tens of thousands are rounded up by security forces and detained without trial, and countless thousands are tortured and killed in the ensuing months. A right-wing faction of the the army led by General Suharto takes control in the wake of the coup, deposing President Sukarno and taking control of the government and military. The ABC's Jakarta correspondent Philip Koch is trapped in the Presidential palace overnight during the communist attack and his experiences in the attempted coup later become the inspiration for his brother Christopher's novel "The Year Of Living Dangerously". |
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Wine and women / Follow the wind Judy Green / Mojo Queen Can't You Feel? / I'll Pass On By Wild About You / Nervous Breakdown Hallelujah I Love Her So / Baby Hold Me
Close Velvet Waters / Rock A Billy |
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2nd
Il Silenzio 9th
Que Sera Sera 16th
Que Sera Sera 23rd
Que Sera Sera 30th
Que Sera Sera |
1 The Australian Ballet takes 49 curtain calls after its international debut in London 6 The report of a Victorian enquiry into the Church of Scientology, headed by Mr Kevin Anderson QC, declares that Scientology is "an evil practice with evil techniques" - Manchester police break one of the most shocking cases in British history when Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, the so-called "Moors Murderers", are arrested at Brady's house in Manchester and charged with the axe murder of local teenager Edward Evans, 17. The pair had been betrayed by Hindley's brother-in-law David Smith, whom they were grooming to become a third member of their murder "club" but Smith had panicked when, on the night of October 6, he arrived at Brady's house to find him in the proccess of killing Evans with an axe. The arrests end Brady and Hindley's terrifying two-year killing spree, during which they kidnapped, tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered at least four other Manchester children. The bodies of two victims, Lesley Ann Downey, 10 and John Kilbride, 12 are later recovered from graves on Saddleworth Moor, but although police suspect Brady and Hindley of also killing missing children Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett,12, they have no bodies and no other evidence. The pair go on trial on 27 April 1966 and both received life sentences. Reade's body was not recovered until July 1987, by which time Hindley had abandoned her 20-year-long pretence of innocence, confessing to the killings and guiding police to Reade's grave in hopes of gaining her release. John Kilbride's body has never been found. Hindley died in prison in 7 Sir Robert Menzies is awarded the honorific English title Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 16 The first Family Dog acid rock dance is held in San Francisco 17 The second season of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair [<-- 22/4/64] closes. The Fair's two year run is a moderate public relations success but a financial flop. It is predicted that the fair will attract 70 million people over its two seasons, but at the end of the first season, attendance is 25% below projections and the budget is US$10 million in the red. After the fair's bland and dull fun zone fails to attract patrons, better entertainment is added, but it does little to help. Fortunately a surge of attendance, 7 million people during the final three weeks, boosts attendance to 51 million -- a new record for international expositions. The Fair, however, did not generate enough money to pay back creditors and to finish Flushing Meadow Park in the ambitious style that Robert Moses hoped. 26 The Beatles go to Buckingham Palace to recieve their MBE. The Queen asks them how long they had been together, and Ringo replies "40 years". A persistent myth claims that the group blew a joint in the palace toilets before the ceremony, but the band have always denied this. 28 Pope Paul VI proclaims "Nostra Aetate" (The Declaration On The Relation Of The Church To Non-Christian Religions) which finally exonerates the Jews for their alleged role in the death of Jesus. The racist doctrine of the historical guilt of the Jews was the basis for two millennia of persecution against Jews all over the world. |
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Padre / Watching the hours go by In The Midnight Hour/Now Is The Time Bad girl / They say H'tuom Tuhs Part 1 / H'tuom Tuhs Part 2 Poison Ivy / Blue Day (re-release) |
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6th
Que Sera Sera 13th
Que Sera Sera 20th
Que Sera Sera 27th
Que Sera Sera |
2 Distinguished politician and jurist Dr Herbert Vere Evatt dies - Light Fingers wins the Melbourne Cup 7 An underground fire kills four miners at the Bulli colliery near Wollongong 8 The Murder Bill (the abolition of the death penalty) and the Race Relations Bill pass into UK Law 11 Rhodesia announces UDI -- the Unilateral Declaration of Independence 13 Warrant
Officers Kevin A. "Dasher" Wheatley and Ronald J. Swanton are
killed in action at Tra Bong in Vietnam. At approximately 1pm that day, a Vietnamese
Civil Irregular Defence Group company commence a search and destroy operation in
the Tra Bong valley, 15 kilometres east of Tra Bong Special Forces camp in Quang
Ngai Province. Accompanying the force are Captain F. Fazekas, senior Australian
adviser, with the centre platoon, and Wheatley and Swanton with the right-hand
platoon. At about 13:40, Wheatley reports contact with Viet Cong forces
and
resistance increases until Wheatley calls for assistance. Captain Fazekas immediately organizes the centre platoon to help and personally leads the
troops,
fighting his way towards the action. While moving towards the area he receives a second
radio message from Wheatley to say that Swanton has been hit in the chest; Wheatley
requests an air strike and an aircraft for the evacuation of casualties. At about
this time the right platoon breaks in the face of heavy Vietcong fire and begins to
scatter.
Although told by the medical assistant that Swanton is dying, Wheatley refuses to abandon him. He discards his radio to
allow him to
half drag, half carry Swanton, under heavy machine-gun and
automatic rifle fire, out of the open rice paddies into the comparative safety
of a wooded area, some 200 metres away. He is assisted by a Civil Irregular Defense Group member, Private Dinh Do, but when the Viet Cong are only some
ten metres away, Dinh urges Wheatley to leave his dying comrade. Again he refuses,
and he is last seen pulling the pins from two grenades and calmly awaiting the
approaching VietCong,
holding one grenade in each hand. Shortly afterwards, two grenade explosions are
heard, followed by several bursts of small arms fire. Warrant Officer Wheatley
displayed exemplary courage in the face of an overwhelming Viet Cong force that
was later estimated at more than a company. He had the clear choice of abandoning
a wounded comrade and saving himself by escaping through the dense timber or of
staying with Warrant Officer Swanton and thereby facing certain death.
He deliberately chose the latter course.
Captain Fazekas led the search party
that found the bodies next morning. From their final position it was judged
that Wheatley was dragging and carrying Swanton from the open area to
the thicket and stayed there with him trying to help him and defend him,
without a weapon, after the CIDG abandoned
them. Wheatley was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, and in addition to
memorials in Australia, his citation and
photograph are also displayed in the Hall of Heroes, John F. Kennedy Center for
Military Assistance at Fort Bragg, NC. The United States government also awarded
him the Silver Star.
16 Australia imposes economic sanctions on Rhodesia in the wake of its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain. 27 The first Acid Test is held by Ken Kesey in Santa Cruz, California. 28 In Britain, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are formally charged with the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of several Manchester children in the so-called Moors Murders case. At the committal hearing, police are forced to use decoy tactics to sneak the pair past the hostile crowd outside the court.
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The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry
Gibb Songs I was a lover, a leader of men / And the
children laughing Love Letters / Dancing In The Street |
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4th
Que Sera Sera 11th
Que Sera Sera 18th
Que Sera Sera 25th
The Carnival Is Over |
3 The Beatles release their groundbreaking fifth LP Rubber Soul. 4 The second Acid Test is held in San Jose after invitations saying "Can You Pass The Acid Test" are distributed at a Rolling Stones concert. An estimated 400 people turn up to the San Jose house, where The Grateful Dead perform. 8 Martin Sharp's first exhibition of paintings opens at the Clune Galleries in Potts Point, Sydney. Sharp is the main illustrator and co-editor of Oz magazine. One of the paintings from this exhibition also featured in Albie Thoms' satirical short Blunderball, completed in March 1966. 15 Harry Chan becomes the first elected president of the Northern Territory Legislative Council. 18 The Missing Links perform on the roof of the newly-opened Roselands Shopping Centre in Sydney, followed by their second performance on the Channel 10 Sydney variety show Ten On The Town. |
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Crazy Country Hop / It Ain't Fair You do your loving with me / In my book You Deserve What You Got / I Want So MuchTo
Know You The Missing Links (LP) Missing You / Lonely City |
Chart information courtesy Oz Net Music Chart © 1997