PAKKTEL
|
Category: Australian indepependent
label
Date: ca. 1965
Location: Sydney NSW?
Ownership: unknown
|
History
The mysterious Pakktel label dates to 1965 and appears to have been set
up to promote an obscure Nine Network TV series called Boomeride. The program, reportedly made for Nine at the Channel 0 studios in
Melbourne, was a musical variety show that showcased young
Australian talent, and its main claim to fame these days is that one of the young performers featured was the then teenaged Olivia
Newtown-John.
Fragments of the program have survived and a
short clip of Olivia performing Marawood's "Papa, Oh Papa"
(excerpted for a Nine TV special) can be viewed on YouTube.
Pakktel released a soundtrack album and two singles
featuring music from the series. The tracks were variously
performed by singer Tony Cole (a
former schoolteacher who was
discovered on Bandstand in
1964), Gabrielle Hartley (a Melbourne model who branched to became
a folk singer and actor), Doug Kennedy, Lane & Logan
and Annette Klooger. Instrumental
backing was by the Graeme Hall Quartet (Graeme Hall, piano; Barry
Buckley, bass; Dale Kohry, guitar); John Frank, drums) with
vocal backing on the Tony
Cole track by The
Crestaires.
Tony Cole continued his music career for some time. He recorded one single
on
the Leedon label in 1967 and moved to the UK
in the early 1970s, where he recorded two LPs on the Interfusion label
(produced by the great David
Mackay) and Tony's single "The Hook" was a minor Australian
hit during 1973.
Doug Kennedy was originally from Perth. He was an all-round vocalist-entertainer who served his
musical apprenticeship on the Perth folk scene, and
his repertoire (like Lionel Long)
ranged over folksong, C&W, and theatrical songs. He tried his
luck in the eastern states in the mid-Sixties and after a successful series of appearances
at the Off-Stage in South Yarra and on Boomeride,
he was urged to move to London, where he appeared on BBC TV and at
the London Palladium, and recorded a single for EMI's Columbia
label. ("Julie", Columbia UK 7707-9619)
Gabrielle Hartley was originally a fashion model; she briefly became a folksinger in the mid-Sixties (appearing on Boomeride and Bandstand)
before moving into acting. Her first major dramatic credit is
also probably her best remembered role; she played
Maggie Emerson, wife of local landowner Col. Jim Emerson (Carl
Bleazby) in ABC-TV's Bellbird, and she reprised it in the movie version of the series, Country Town (1971). Her other TV credits include Hunter (1968), Delta (1969), Ryan (1973), Division 4, Matlock Police, Bobby Dazzler and several appearances in Prisoner; she also appeared in the movie Dawn! (1979).
Almost all the songs performed in Boomeride were original tunes by
Australian composer Charles Marawood, who was evidently a prolific songwriter. His other major
Aussie pop-rock credit was the A-side of the 1968 Columbia
single "Mon
Pere" by Bev Harrell,
and two of his other songs -- "Boomerang
Baby" (originally recorded by Tony Cole) and the anti-war ballad
"White Grass" (originally recorded by Doug Kennedy) --
were performed by Marlene Dietrich, and can be heard on the
DVD of her 1973 British TV special I Wish You Love.
"White Grass" is a powerful anti-war ballad, depicting a soldier who
returns from
the war to find his wife dead and his house empty ("The war
is over.
Seems we won. Hooray"). Dietrich often sang it in concert during the
last years of her performing career, although curiously she never recorded it. New
Zealand singer Jennifer Ward-Lealand revived the song for her 2007
Deitrich tribute show Falling in Love Again,
and is reportedly the first singer to record a version. As noted in a
review of her show, it's a mark of Ward-Lealand's commitment
that she tracked down Marawood's widow for the rights in order to
include it on the CD of the show.
Marawood's other credits include two songs featured in an episode of Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo
-- in Ep. 23 ("They're Singing Me Back") Moona, a runaway Aboriginal
girl (played by Candy Devine) sings two of Marawood's songs, "Walk You
High" and "I Must Go". Marawood also composed the
soundtrack for the children's TV series The Elephant Boy (1973) and the movies Weekend of Shadows
(1973) and The Irishman (1978). In 1979 his poignant song "Magdelena" -- originally the A-side of Gabrielle
Hartley's Pakktel single -- was performed by the character Nora (played by Sonja
Tallis) during a prison talent quest sequence in Episode 582 of Grundy's Prisoner, which aired in in 1979.
Movie producer Matt Carroll, who worked
with Marawood on Weekend
of Shadows, recently recalled:
"He was a real eccentric. He lived close to me in Paddington at
the time ... he wore way-out clothes, capes and things like that, and his
house was crammed full of amazing stuff. The movie wasn't that good, but his music
was great. He was very talented, but I don't think he ever got the
recognition he deserved."
Discography
Singles
| Cat. # |
Date |
Artist |
Title |
| PKTSP-65001 |
1965 |
Tony Cole with The Crestaires |
"Boomerang Baby" (Charles Marawood) / ""It Must Have
Been A Dream" (Tony Cole-Graeme Hall) |
| PKTSP-65002 |
1965 |
Gabrielle Hartley
|
"Magdelena" (Charles Marawood) / "Aussie" (Charles
Marawood) |
Albums
| Cat. # |
Date |
Artist |
Title |
| PKTLP-65001 |
1965 |
various artists |
Boomeride: Songs from the TV series |
References / Links
Ross Laird / Screensound
The Sixties: Australian Rock & Pop
Recordings 1964-1969
Vernon Joyson
Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares: Australia (Borderline
Books, 1999)
Australian Television Memoribilia
http://www.tvmem.com/OZST/tv/A-Z/B/BOOMERID/BOOMERRI.html
Internet Movie Database
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0544961/
Malcolm J. Turnbull
The History of the Australian Folk Revival
http://warrenfahey.com/revival_perth_3.htm
http://warrenfahey.com/revival_melbourne_2_e.htm
Classic Australian TV
http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/SkippyEp1.htm
Prisoner UK fan site
http://www.wwwentworth.co.uk/week581.htm
Laurie Atkinson
"A Marlene Better Than The Real One"
http://www.stratacreative.co.nz/FILA-reviews.html