GRAHAM SIMPSON & CHRISTOPHER PATRICK With foreword by
This is the world s first Enseeklopedia - a treasure trove of stories, music analysis and rare memorabilia. Moreover, it is a long overdue salute to Australia s Fab Four and their enduring recording catalogue. From the big hits like Georgy Girl, The Carnival is Over and Morningtown Ride through to the more obscure recordings by Australia s first supergroup, here is a book that offers an extraordinary analysis of every song The Seekers have ever recorded. Coupled with fascinating insights about those recordings, along with much rare, never-before-seen Seekers memorabilia from the four corners of the globe and some priceless trivia. In tracing contemporary Australian music, history will recall the four young Melbourne musicians who started the ball rolling internationally for every big name Australian artist who would follow in their footsteps. Folk and gospel group The Seekers - featuring the golden voice of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley - set sail for the UK in 1964 on a working holiday, totally unaware of the global fame and fortune that lay ahead. Chart-topping hits, gold and platinum record awards, sold-out tours and record-breaking crowds in the 60s, and again in the reunion years since 1993. In this publishing first, renowned Australian authors Christopher Patrick (ABBA: Let The Music Speak) and Graham Simpson (The Judith Durham Story Colours Of My Life) have joined forces to produce the firstever Seekers coffee table book an in-depth and highly informative look at the recording history of Australia s first supergroup. Their forensic analysis of every song The Seekers recorded in the 50 years between 1963 and 2013 sits comfortably with peeks behind the scenes, never-before-revealed facts, fascinating trivia, and a kaleidoscope of photos and memorabilia much of it never seen before. With a good tour guide, you see so much more when you know what it is you re looking at; Chris has approached The Seekers song list from a musician s perspective, undressing every song the group ever recorded to r eveal the vocal and instrumental craft at play. Graham has brought to the coffee table his penchant for fascinating Seekers minutiae, and an archive of memorabilia gathered from all over the world over five decades. The Seekers were the very first group to put Australia on the international music map, and they will be forever known for knocking The Kinks, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones off the top of the UK charts, and The Monkees from the Number One spot on the American charts with their global phenomenon, the Academy Award-nominated song Georgy Girl. Graham Simpson knows more about The Seekers than we know about ourselves Arguably Australia s leading music historian and journalist he owns the world s best Seekers memorabilia collection. Bruce Woodley AO I m always amazed at the depth of knowledge that Chris Patrick can bring to any music project. I first realised this when I read his detailed examination of ABBA s body of work. Now he has created this wonderfully lucid account of The Seekers recordings from their earliest days. Bravo Chris. Keith Potger AO
GRAHAM SIMPSON Journalist, author and music historian Graham Simpson spent seven years as editor of Australia s longest-running weekly music publication, Juke, and several years as a radio commentator. He has worked as Australian correspondent for the Hong Kong Standard and for London s World Entertainment News Network, was editor of both The Video Age and National Tattler, and has been a metropolitan daily newspaper columnist. Graham spent 19 years as a writer and interviewer with Australia s leading radio syndication company MCM. Graham has worked with The Seekers since 1993 over which time he has designed and authored souvenir programmes for all of The Seekers tours, and sleeve notes for Seekers albums since 1995. The group s CD box set Treasure Chest, featuring Graham s interview with The Seekers, was certified gold. In 1994, Graham s best-selling authorised biography The Judith Durham Story Colours Of My Life - was published for the first time. It has been republished five times since. He later edited From The Word Go Forty Years Of Network Ten Melbourne, by Mal Walden. CHRISTOPHER PATRICK In 2008, Brisbane-based author Christopher Patrick published his first book, the critically acclaimed ABBA: Let The Music Speak. Four years in the making, it is a 400-page world-first, an armchair guide to the song writing and recording genius of the Swedish super-group. Christopher provided valuable insights into ABBA s musical legacy for the 2013 Swedish-produced documentary ABBA - Dancing Queen, which examined the creation of ABBA s most popular song. A music graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium, Christopher s professional career has included thirty years as cellist with the Queensland Pops Orchestra, numerous Australian pop and classical recordings and live performances with artists such as Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and the Electric Light Orchestra. In 2013, Christopher was invited to write the sleeve notes for Judith Durham s 70th birthday CD, The Platinum Album. The Seekers - The 50 year recorded history is Christopher s second literary work and his first collaboration with pop historian Graham Simpson. For general enquiries, please contact publisher@melbournebooks.com.au or call call 03 9662 2051. For media enquiries about this book, please contact Anya Trybala at publicity@melbournebooks.com.au.