NOELEEN BATLEY
Noeleen Batley, was one of the pioneering female
stars of Australian Sixties pop. Nicknamed "Australia's Little Miss
Sweetheart", her pleasing voice and demure girl-next-door image
endeared
her to teenagers and parents alike, and she is fondly remembered as a
leading member
of TV's "Bandstand Family" during the early Sixties. Compared to many other Australian acts, Noeleen enjoyed a very
prolific recording
career, with around 20 singles, at least eight EPs and three LPs to her credit,
most of them
recorded during the peak period of her career between 1960 and 1965.
Noeleen's catalogue
exemplifies Festival Records' mainstream pop output in the period
preceding the
cataclysmic changes of the "Beat Boom". She recorded mainly 'middle of the-road'
material, including many standards and show tunes and even the odd
novelty song; the
rockiest' number is probably her cover of The Crystals' "Then He Kissed
Me". As
singer Dave Miller observed (when speaking of Dinah Lee's early career
in New Zealand)
the repertoire choices for female singers in that period were very
limited, and it's doubtful
that Noeleen herself was ever given much say in what she
recorded. Nevertheless Noeleen remains a significant
figure
in
Australian pop
history -- she was our first modern female pop
star, the
first Australian female singer to
have a national hit and most remarkable of all, Noeleen was the first
Australian performer to have a
hit record and tour in Japan.
Noeleen's recordings are also of interest to Bee Gees aficionados --
she was friends with the group in the early 1960s and was one of the
first artists to cover Barry Gibb's work, recording four of his songs
in 1964-65.
Noeleen was born in Sydney on Christmas Day 1944.
Encouraged
by her mother, she
began singing when she was just five and she performed wherever she
could. In 1960
aged 15, she entered a talent contest at Ling Nam's Chinese Restaurant
in Sydney, which
Festival's A&R manager Ken Taylor had helped to establish.
Noeleen won first prize,
a contract with Festival.
Her debut "Starry Eyes" / "Soldier Soldier Won't You Marry Me"
was released in
February 1960 on Festival's 'try-out' label Rex,
but it was not a success. The
breakthrough came with her winsome version of "Barefoot Boy "
(b/w
"When My Blue Moon
Turns to Gold Again") on which she was backed by Festival's 'house'
band, The R'Jays, and written by 16-year-old Helene Grover, who had won
a talent contest a year earlier with her own performance of the song.
Noeleen's version was released in October and it made the Top 5 in all
mainland capitals in
November 1960, thereby
making Noeleen (de facto) the first Australian
female
pop singer to score a national
hit (there was no national chart until 1966).
"Barefoot Boy" established Noeleen's popularity and she soon
became a regular on
TV shows including Six O'Clock Rock and Bandstand.
She also recorded a commercial for Kellogg's breakfast
cereals. She recorded two more moderately successful singles
on
Rex --
"Rendezvous" / "Fickle Fingers" (February 1961, #30) and "Tammy" /
"Little Sir Echo" (August 1961, #35), followed by her first LP Rendezvous. This
success led to her being signed directly to
Festival. Her first
Festival single was "Ice Cream Man" / "Over in that Happy Land"
(September 1961), the A-side of which was another Helene
Grover composition.
During this period Noeleen toured regularly with Johnny O'Keefe, Col
Joye and the Joy
Boys, Johnny Chester, Lucky Starr and The Allen Brothers and she was
named Australia's
Top Female Vocalist of 1961.
Through 1963-64 Noeleen recorded four more singles -- "Steady
Johnny" / "Letter Full of Tears" (March 1962), "Don't Play No. 9" /
"Crying Fool" (June), "Ten Lonely Weekends" / "My Boy" (March 1963).
Her next single "Forgive Me" (February 1964) was one of the earliest
Australian covers of a Bacharach-David song, and it was backed
with a very early Barry Gib tune called "Surfer Boy".
Right: Noleeen
with Robin and Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees. The man on the far left could
be John Laws.
In August 1964 Noeleen entered the most remarkable phase of
her career. She recorded a song
called "My Little Treasure From Japan", an English-language version of
a
million-selling 1963 Japanese hit. It charted well in Australia, making
the Top 40 in Sydney and Brisbane and reaching #16 in Melbourne in
October
1964. It was also released in Japan, where it sold an incredible
60,000 copies -- an extraordinary success for those days.
In the 1970s, the Australian Record Industry Association awarded
a Gold Record for sales in excess of 25,000 and Platinum for sales of
over 50,000 units. Although it's not known whether Noeleen
was ever given any
sales awards for this particular single, she
would undoubtedly have been eligible for at least a Platinum Record
award by the standards of the time.
Noeleen's single came out during the period of the 1964 Tokyo
Olympic Games
and it's likely that its release was part of the broad program of
cultural and economic exchange
that was taking place between Japan and Australia at the time. It is
remarkable, given that only twenty years earlier the two nations had
been implacable wartime enemies, but by this time relations had
become far closer than ever before and Japan soon became Australia's
major trading partner. This opening up of ties between the two
countries also led to local events like the hugely successful
screening of the Japanese historical adventure series The Samurai,
which was the first Japanese television show
ever screened in this country. It rapidly became the most popular shows
yet shown in Australia and sparked a craze among kids for all things
ninja, and this even led to the star of the show visting Australia in
late 1965 for a performance tour.
Late in the year Festival released Noeleen's second LP You
Made Me
Love You, and over the '64/'65 Christmas season she made her
theatrical
debut in a pantomime version of The Wizard of Oz,
which Festival marked with an
EP of songs from the show, released early in 1965.
Her first single for 1965 was another Barry Gibb song "Baby I'm Losing You",
and this was followed by a successful sequel to her earlier Japanese
hit. Sung this time entirely in Japanese, the song "Owakare No Namida
(Tears Of Farewell)" also did very well in Japan, again selling in
excess of
60,000 copies, and it enhanced her popularity there. To promote it
Noeleen made a
groundbreaking and well-received Japanese tour in March 1965 which
included several
TV appearances.
Her third LP, a Christmas album, came out at the end
of 1965, and her recording career continued with five more Singles over
the next three
years. But by the mid-Sixties a new generation of female performers
such as
"Dynamic" Dinah Lee and Lynne Randell were making their mark, and the
limelight had shifted decisively to the rock groups. Programs like Bandstand
kept her
the public eye, but Noeleen never recaptured her earlier popularity.
During the late
'60s, like most of her Bandstand colleagues, she
gradually moved into variety and
the cabaret-club circuit. Her last release for Festival was the
perennial "You Made Me
Love You" in 1968.
But she worked solidly through closing years of the
decade, touring the UK and Europe and in 1969 representing Australia at
the Brazil
Popular Song Festival in Rio De Janeiro. Around 1970 she moved
permanently to
England, where she made solo appearances as well as providing vocal
backing for
artists like Cliff Richard. Her last single, "Seabird", was released by
Interfusion in
1972.
In 1975, she married Stephen Stewart-Topper and settled in
Essex. The couple had
their first child in 1976 and although Noeleen continued to work in
entertainment for some
time she eventually gave up performing. At last report she had moved to
the USA and was
living in Miami, Florida.
On record, Noeleen's fans have been well-served
over the years -- besides her original singles and albums, Festival
released an excellent
1988 career overview Little Treasure From Japan: The Festival
File Volume One,
which was later issued on CD. In 2000 Noeleen's complete catalogue was
compiled on
the definitive 67-track, 2CD set Australia's Little Miss
Sweetheart. "Barefoot Boy" (which was re-recorded in
an inferior
orchestrated version) has featured on several compilations including Bandstand,
Living Legends Of Six O'Clock Rock, Rock
And Roll
Australia and Spinning Around, Volume 1.
"Over In That Happy Land" appeared
on Everything's Swinging.
Discography
Singles
Feb. 1960
"Starry Eyed" / "Soldier Soldier Won't You Marry Me" (Rex RS-017)
Oct. 1960
"Barefoot Boy" / "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" (Rex RS-026)
(#4 Sydney, #5 Melbourne, #3
Brisbane, #2 Adelaide, #4 Perth)
Feb. 1961
"Rendezvous" / "Fickle Fingers (Rex RS-046)
#30
Aug. 1961
"Tammy" / "Little Sir Echo"" (Festival FK-097)
#35
Sep. 1961
"Ice Cream Man" / "Over in that Happy Land" (Festival FK-126)
Mar. 1962
"Steady, Johnny" / "Letter Full of Tears" (Festival FK-202)
Jun. 1962
"Crying Fool" /
"Don't Play No. 9" (Festival FK-236)
Mar. 1963
"Ten Lonely Weekends" / "My Boy" (Festival FK-335)
Feb. 1964
"Forgive Me" /
"Surfer Boy" (B. Gibb) (Festival FK-488)
#31, Sydney
Aug. 1964
"Little Treasure From Japan" / "Kon Nichi-Wa Akachan" (Festival FK-694)
#35 Sydney #16 Melbourne #29 Brisbane
1965
"Baby I'm Losing You" (B.Gibb) / "His Lips Get In The Way" (Festival FK 890)
1965
"Owakare No Namida" ('Tears of Farewell') / "Shima No Ankosan" ('Girl
Of The Beautiful Isle') (Festival FK-970)
1965
"Padre / Watching The Hours Go By" (B.Gibb) (Festival FK-1143)
1966
"Heartaches And Kisses / "Running Around In Circles" (Festival FK-1365)
1967
"Wishing Song" / "How Far Is Somewhere" (Festival FK-1963)
1967
"To Be Myself" (Jackie De Shannon) / "All Over The World" (Festival FK-1641)
1967
""How Far is Somewhere" / The Wishing Song" (B.Gibb) (Festival FK-1963)
1968
"You Made Me Love You / Trolley Song" (Festival FK 2536)
1972
"Seabird" / "Let It Stay This Way" (Interfusion ITFK 4650)
EP's
1961
Starry Eyed (Rex
RE-1016)
"Starry Eyed" / "Soldier Soldier Won't
You Marry Me" // "Barefoot Boy" / "When My Blue Moon Turns to
Gold Again"
Reissued as Festival FX-10063
1961
A Merry Christmas With Noleen Batley (Festival FX-10340)
"The First Noel" / "Silent Night" // "Away in a Manger" / "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
1961
Noleeen Batley's Big Four (Festival FX-10361)
"Barefoot Boy" / "Rendezvous" // "Tammy" / "Ice Cream Man"
1962
Noleeen Batley Sings For You (Festival FX-10501)
"Steady, Johnny" / "Letter Full of Tears" // "Crying Fool" /
"Don't Play No. 9"
1963
Ten Lonely Weekends (Festival FX-10707)
"Ten Lonely Weekends" / "My Boy" // "If You Love Me" / "Into Each Life A Little Rain Must Fall"
1963
Forgive Me (Festival
FX 10799)
"Forgive Me" / Surfer Boy" / "Between Two Trees" / "My Cathedral"
1964
Little
Treasure From Japan (Festival FX 10934)
"Little Treasure from Japan" / "Then He Kissed Me" / Don't say goodnight and mean goodbye" / "She's A Fool"
1964
The Wizard Of Oz
(Festival FX 10964)
"We're Off To See The Wizard" / "Ding
Dong The Witch Is Dead" // "Over The Rainbow" / "Evening Star"
Albums
1961
Rendezvous with Noeleen Batley
(Rex RL-30010)
(no tracklisting available)
1964
You Made Me Love You
(Festival FL-31455)
(no tracklisting available)
1965
Christmas Album
(Festival)
(Reissued as Calendar R 656-497)
(no tracklisting available)
1988
Little
Treasure From Japan: The Festival File Volume 1
(Festival L 31455)
(no tracklisting available)
2000
Australia's Little Miss
Sweetheart (Festival D46113) 2-CD
"Barefoot Boy" (original version)
When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold"
"Starry Eyed"
"Soldier Won't You Marry Me"
"Rendezvous"
"Fickle Fingers"
"Tammy"
"Ice Cream Man"
"Steady Johnny"
"A Letter Full Of Tears"
"Cryin' Fool"
"Don't Play Number 9"
"Ten Lonely Weekends"
"My Boy"
"September In The Rain"
"My Cathedral"
"Over In That Happy Land"
"Hillside In Scotland"
"Little Sir Echo"
"If You Love Me"
"Between Two Trees"
"My Task"
"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall"
"Surfer Boy"
"Forgive Me"
Baby I'm Losing You"
"His Lips Get In The Way"
"Hi Lili Hi Lo"
"Don't Say Goodnight And Mean Goodbye"
"The First Noel"
"Little Treasure From Japan"
"Owakare No Namida (Tears Of Farewell)"
"Shima No Ankosan (Girl Of The Beautiful Isle)"
"She's A Fool"
"Then He Kissed Me"
"We're Off To See The Wizard"
"Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead"
"The Merry Old Land Of Oz"
"Over The Rainbow"
"Evening Star"
"Padre"
"Watching The Hours Go By"
"Heartaches And Kisses"
"Running Around In Circles"
"To Be Myself"
"All Over The World"
"How Far Is Somewhere"
"The Wishing Song"
"You Made Me Love You"
"Sunny Side Of The Street"
"Chicago"
"When You Wore A Tulip"
"Who?"
"San Francisco (Open Up Your Golden Gate)
"The Trolly Song"
"Easter Parade"
"Liza"
"Swannee"
"For Me And My Gal"
"Meet Me In St Louis"
"Seabird"
"Let It Stay This Way"
"Watching The World"
"2,4,6,8"
"Jimmie's Back"
"Barefoot Boy" (alternate version)
"Noeleen sings just for Kellogg's"
References/Links
poparchives.com.au
Noeleen Batley - "Barefoot Boy"
http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=902
Ian
McFarlane
Encylopedia
of Australian Rock & Pop (Allen
& Unwin, 1999)
Noel
McGrath
Australian
Encyclopedia of Rock (Outback Press, 1978)
Chris
Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry
Who's
Who of Australian Rock (Five Mile Press, 2002)
Ross Laird
The First Wave: Australian Rock & Pop Recordings 1955-63 (Screensound)
Vernon
Joyson
Dreams,
Fantasies & Nightmares: Australia
(Borderline Books, 1999)