Still Seeking the Seekers After All These Years

I started buying Seekers records in 1967. By now I have virtually bought everything they ever released. But who are or is the Seekers?
This biography is, mostly, based on the uncredited introduction my Seekers Gold songbook. A little update has been added by me.

Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley formed themselves into a group better known as The Seekers. They started their career by singing together on occasional dates, in the coffee lounges of Melbourne, Australia. This was treated purely as a hobby, working in their spare time after their day jobs. They enjoyed some moderate success and moved into the business of making records, the few that they recorded were also moderately successful without setting anything or anyone alight. Eventually their popularity increased via TV shows and they became so busy they gave up their jobs and began singing full time. Athol Guy negotiated with a shipping company and The Seekers did three trips as entertainers-two to Fiji and one to the Tokyo Olympics. Instead of payment, The Seekers requested a free trip to Great Britain and the shippers agreed.
It was on the 21 st May, 1964 that these four comparatively unknown young people landed in Britain for an intended ten week visit. Prior to leaving from 'down under', the group sent a letter, tapes and film of their TV show to the Grade organisation in the hope they would line up something for them.
They were in luck, for Eddie Jarrold of the Grade organisation immediately recognised their undoubted talent and after several TV shows, including a date on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' and some successful theatre engagements he convinced The Seekers to abandon their plans to return home, tear up their tickets and stay on in Britain for a few months.
During the next six months they were projected many times via the TV screens to a British public who had been saturated and were now growing tired of the long hair and loud noise of the great 'Beat' boom. The Seekers were almost a novelty, the boys with their short hair and the folk orientated music. The Seekers first single record release in Britain was a Tom Springfield composition I'll Never Find Another You. By February, 1965 it was No. 1 in the record charts and sold over 1,000,000 copies, earning for the group their first gold disc.
In March The Seekers, now nationally famous, made their cabaret debut at London's plush Savoy hotel. This won them more fans from amongst the hardened sophisticated West-End Cabaret-goers. For their second single release The Seekers returned to composer Tom Springfield, the result, another smash No. 1, A World of Our Own.

The Seekers then returned for a triumphal tour of their homeland, Australia just one year since their departure to Britain. Meanwhile, their record album entitled A World of Your Own was released in Britain and remained in the top twenty album charts for a full nine months.

Returning to Britain via the United States, they appeared on America's top-rated programme the 'Ed Sullivan Show'which proved to be yet another highlight in their career.

With the start of their own TV show 'A Date with The Seekers' the group had soon appeared on every major TV show in Britain plus TV appearances in many top continental countries.
Their third single record The Carnival is Over was released towards the end of 1965. Yet another Tom Springfield composition, yet another No. 1 ... and yet another smash million seller. The critical acclaim and the accolades were mounting up. The Seekers won many awards, including 'The Best New Group in 1965' from a leading music trade paper. To this they added a Carl Alan award presented by the Mecca group, and their record I'll Never Find Another You won an Ivor Novello award for composer Tom Springfield as the most played work of 1965.
Early in 1966 saw yet another great tour of Australia. A one hour TV spectacular produced during The Seekers visit was later featured to a wildly enthusiastic Australian TV audience, which incidentally, due to public demand had to be repeated three weeks later. The highlight of this tour however, was a concert at the huge Myer Music Bowl in The Seekers home town of Melbourne in front of an audience estimated at 110,000 people, then a world record and a long way from their coffee house beginnings. Returning to Britain and more sold out concerts to rapturous British audiences and of course yet more TV appearances. Cabaret was still playing a big part in The Seekers plans and when Vicki Carr was unable to appear one night at London's nationally famous nightspot 'The Talk of the Town', the group stepped in, and as a result were booked for a five week season as soon as their now heavily committed order book would allow.

They played 'The Talk of the Town' during August and September and the season established The Seekers once and for all as polished, first class all round entertainers, and was a complete triumph. For their manager Eddie Jarrold his faith in them as performers had paid off in none other than the country's number one nightspot. The Seekers great quality was their appeal to not only the adult cabaret audiences but also to the teenage disc buyers. More great single releases followed, such as Walk With Me, Someday, One Day.

The climax to 1966 was a smash hit Christmas record entitled Morningtown Ride which zoomed to the top of the British charts. The Seekers had arrived unknown and unheraided in Britain and within eighteen months had three massive number one hits behind them.

In 1967 they enjoyed yet more success with great compositions such as Georgy Girl, The Olive Tree, South Australia, Emerald City and We Shall Not Be Moved.

During their final tour of Australia and New .Zealand they were voted 'Australians of the Year' and were presented with their commemorative medals by the new Australian Prime Minister, Senator John Gorton. By this time any personal appearance by The Seekers at a concert immediately meant 'sold-out' signs being hoisted, even the vast Melbourne Music Bowl was a complete sell-out where 200,000 people turned out to cheer them.

Back to Britain in early 1968. The Seekers had already decided to disband their group while they were still at the peak of their popularity.

The final curtain was taken in the summer of the same year, The Seekers said their last goodbyes from the stage of London's'Talk of the Town' nightclub. In just four short years they had achieved just about everything the pop world had to offer.

And then it was not over after all. The Seekers had, unbeknown to most non-English-speaking fans continued to exist in various shapes and forms, until finally in the 1990s the four original members decided to reform the group which, amazingly, continues to record and perform together into the next millenium. And if they were ever to play anywhere near Denmark I might finally Stop Seeking the Seekers After All These Years ...