In 1972 Simon Napier Bell was looking for a singer to record a song he thought worthy of air play: The song was "Pasadena" and the singer chosen from a suburban Sydney band, Elm Tree, was John Young. The result was John's first top 10 single, peaking at No. 8 on the Australian chart.
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Soon after, John was cast in the role of "Annas" for the highly acclaimed stage musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". The production broke all existing theatrical records in its 2 year season and toward its end John Paul Young was about to embark on his own record breaking career.
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In 1975 the single "Yesterday's Hero" shot to No.1 on the Australian charts prompting an eight-month Australian and New Zealand tour.
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John's first album, "Hero" was released in 1975 and quickly went PLATINUM, and the single, "The Love Game" went to No.3 on the Australian charts.
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In 1976, "I Hate The Music" reached the No.2 position in Australia and achieved GOLD status.
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John's second album, "JPY" went PLATINUM as fast as Hero did, and the single, "Keep On Smilin'" was No.9 nationally.
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The single "I Wanna Do It With You", reached the No.5 chart position in 1977 and John's third album, "Green", was followed by a marathon tour of Australia. The album's single, "Standing In The Rain" went top 5 in Australia, and when released in Europe, hit the No.4 position on the Euro-charts and remained in the top 40, for 40 weeks!
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" Where The Action Is" was John's ninth single in Australia, and during its charting success here, John and The Allstar Band were touring South Africa as a result of four No.1 hits - " I Hate The Music", " Keep On Smilin'", " Yesterday's Hero" and " The Painting".
| Along the way John picked up a swag of awards including; King of Pop - “Most popular new talent”, Logie Award - “Best Australian Teenage Personality” & “Most Popular TV Teenage Personality”, 3XY Special Chart Award & 3MP Golden Gull Award, for - “Outstanding Success & Contribution to Music in Australia and Overseas” and in 1978 the coveted “King of Pop” award. At the time the highest music award in the land. |
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In 1984 the album "One Foot In Front" was released spawning the singles, "War Games" and "Soldier Of Fortune". This album was a break-away from JPY's. former producers Vanda & Young. Recorded in Germany, the album had a heavy European influence and on release was receiving close attention both in Australia and Europe until the untimely demise of the record company. This spelt disaster for any success the album would have had & it faded into obscurity.
- John reacted in the only way he knew how, he and the band hit the road to do what they do best, “play it live”. For ten months of the year between late ‘84 and early ‘88 they lapped Australia & New Zealand on a circuit that had them performing in every type of venue, from Pubs & Clubs to Festivals & Showgrounds.
- In January 1988 John performed in the "Royal Command, New South Wales Bicentennial Concert" in front of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Televised across Australia, the event was viewed by over 10 million people and prompted an invitation for John and the band to appear at "World Expo '88" in Brisbane.
- Later that year John and his family moved to Lake Macquarie near Newcastle. This proved a timely move as Newcastle's first FM radio station was preparing to open in 1989 and John was asked to head their All-Australian programme, "Oz Made Mondays". The programme was a HIT and John moved through the ranks of the station to “Morning Announcer” garnering 4 No. 1 rating spots for his “Breakfast” and “Drive Time” programmes along the way.
- In July ‘92 a reworked version of “Love Is In The Air” was released as the signature tune for the smash hit movie “Strictly Ballroom” and John was thrust back into the lime light. The single went GOLD in 5 months.
- John was also featuring in the national press for another reason during this period. The “One Foot In Front” album, which was later called “Soldier Of Fortune” was rushed out under another title “The War Years” which coincide with the profile John was receiving from the movie. John took legal action on the unauthorised release and in April ‘93 an undisclosed out of court settlement was reached.
- June ’93 John travelled to Spain for the release of “Strictly Ballroom” and to perform in Ibiza.
- August ‘93 and John had another reworked version of an earlier hit, “Standing In The Rain” released off the movie sound-track, and although not a chart topping success, kept him prominent in the public eye.
- 1994, John left NewFM and joined 2CH’s new format which survived for 6 months. On Nov. 4th he became a naturalised Australian receiving his papers from Prime Minister, Paul Keating at a ceremony in Sydney.
- 1997 John made two trips to Germany following invitations to perform on a host of national & European TV Specials as a preview to his tour the following year.
- 1998 John returned to Germany with his players “The Allstar band” for a month long tour through both East & West Germany. On returning to Australia John joined the stage production of “Leader of the Pack” playing the role of Gus Sharkey (aka Phil Spector).
- 2000 and John is invited to perform at the Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony. A 9 minute version of John’s Classic Hit - Love Is In The Air – is commissioned and John takes centre stage surrounded by a cast of thousands broadcast to the world. To close out the year John & The Allstar Band are requested to perform at the prestigious “Sydney Lord Mayor’s Masked New Years Eve Party” a Nationally televised event to bring in the year 2001.
- 2001 and “Love Is In The Air” is doing it all over again, this time in Europe. German Dance-Mix duo Milk & Sugar release a version on the dance charts and the song has a third rebirth.
John travelled to Majorca to shoot a new video for the radio release version with the M&S Boys
- 2002 starts with an IRS Vs JPY version of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” pushing into the top 10 UK dance charts. The version has since been added to a various compilations in Europe .
John is nominated for a “MO” Award in the “Classic Rock Artist” category.
The highly successful ABC television programme “Long Way To The Top” is brought to the arena stage and John and his players
The Allstar Band feature prominently in the spectacular history of Australian music,.
- 2003 John is invited to compete in the Mini Celebrity Challenge at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix and finishes a credible 13th after starting from 26 th position on a very wet & greasy track. In June he revisited the roll of Gus Sharkey in the Ellie Greenwich Musical – Leader of the Pack, which opened to rave reviews and ran for a 3 month season at the Star City Showroom.
John features heavily in the follow-on TV series to Long Way to the Top – “Love Is In The Air”
which focuses on Australia ’s POP music exports to the world.
In December John & Musical Director Warren Morgan boarded the Indian-Pacific Outback Christmas rail journey performing 9 whistlestop concerts between Sydney & Perth – including a trackside, Nullarbor concert for the children of the Oak Valley Aboriginal Community.
- 2004 and John was invited to serve as a special judge in the return of the Popstars TV series for the preliminary selections and the final 10. His first hand knowledge of what it’s like to experience pop stardom proved to be illuminating to the hopefuls contesting the title.
John & The Allstar Band perform ‘Love Is In The Air” at the APRA awards to celebrate the songs award for
“Most Played Australian Song Overseas in 2004” – the second time this track has received this award since its first release in 1978.
John returns to the studio with long time friend & songwriter Harry Vanda to record for a new album.
all copyright teamwork productions 2004
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