Background and career
John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is an Australian pop singer who is best known for having a worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air" in 1978. His career was boosted by regular appearances as a performer and guest host on Countdown, a 1974–1987 TV series for Australia's national broadcaster ABC. Besides "Love Is in the Air", Young had top ten chart success in Germany and the Netherlands with "Standing in the Rain", released in 1977, and four other top ten hits in South Africa, including No. 1 hits "Yesterday's Hero" in 1975, and "I Hate the Music" in 1976. On 27 August 2009, Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.
Young was born John Inglis Young in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland to James and Agnes (nee Inglis) Young. Together with his parents, two sisters and a brother, Young emigrated to Australia on board the SS Canberra, arriving in Sydney on Australia Day (26 January) 1962 when he was aged 11. His family lived at East Hills Hostel before moving to Liverpool. He attended school at Hammondville Public School, Liverpool Boys High School and Westfields Sports High School. After finishing school, he started an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker. Initially performing as John Young, his first involvement in music began in late 1967 when he formed a band, Elm Tree, with schoolmates.
It was my friends who convinced me that I could be a singer. One weekend I rolled up and they were standing there with two bass guitars and an announcement; that we were going to form a band. I immediately poo-pooed the whole thing because I'd just started my apprenticeship in sheet metalwork and after paying off a car, no way was I going to be paying off equipment or anything like that so they said, 'You can be the singer because you're always singing and you don't need any equipment' – and I fell for it. The other members included Robert (Slim) Barnett on bass guitar, Ollie Chojnacki on guitar, Philip Edwards (drums 1968–1971, 1972–1976), Andy Imlah on co-lead vocals, Dave Kaentek, Ron Mazurkiewicz on keyboards and Geoff Watts on drums. Elm Tree gained a moderate following around Sydney, and after being spotted by producer Martin Erdman, they cut one single for his Du Monde label, a cover of UK band Marmalade's "Rainbow", which was released through Festival in November 1970, but did not enter the top 50 Australian singles charts. In mid-1971 they entered the New South Wales heats of Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds and got as far as the Sydney finals, but they didn't make it through to the national final, and so never managed to break out of the Sydney suburban dance circuit. At this point, Young's manager Dal Myles got him a role in the Melbourne production of The Jesus Christ Revolution. The show opened and closed in six weeks. However, due to being seen in this production, Young received a telegram from Jim Sharman who wanted him to audition as Annas for Harry M. Miller's original Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The show premiered in Sydney on 4 May 1972, and, as well as established theatrical performers, the cast featured leading pop-rock artists: Trevor White, Robin Ramsay, Jon English, Doug Parkinson, Stevie Wright (ex-The Easybeats), Marcia Hines and Reg Livermore. Young remained with the production until it closed in February 1974; the production broke theatrical attendance records in its two-year season, and whilst it provided him with a public profile, it left him at a loose end when it concluded. For Young, a major break occurred at an Elm Tree performance when visiting producer and manager, Simon Napier-Bell, heard them in a pub in Newcastle in 1971. He persuaded Young to sign as a solo artist to Albert Productions—the company that had produced Australia's top 1960s group The Easybeats. Napier-Bell then produced Young's first hit single, "Pasadena", at Armstrong Studios in Melbourne; it was co-written by George Young (also Scottish-born, but no relation) and Harry Vanda of The Easybeats, together with British actor David Hemmings who was a partner in Napier-Bell's label, SNB Records. Vanda & Young also produced AC/DC and other Albert Productions artists. All he had to do was sing over the demo tape Vanda/Young had sent from London. The single was released under the name, John Young, later releases used "John Paul Young" (Paul was his Catholic confirmation name) to avoid confusion with Johnny Young (no relation), the 1960s pop star and Young Talent Time (1971–1988 TV show) presenter. He performed the song on Happening 70 on Channel Ten. "Pasadena" peaked at No. 16 in the Australian Singles charts in early 1972. It was followed by "You Drive Me Crazy" which was released in February 1973 but failed to chart.
"Pasadena" had been a hit [but] nobody knew what I looked like. Everybody thought the song was American and basically that was that. It faded away and the ... Superstar – two and a half years of absolute gold – finished. Young renewed his association with Albert Productions, signing with them as a solo artist. Vanda & Young had returned to Australia from UK in 1973. After his stint in Superstar, they took over as his producers and resumed writing songs for him. Young's third single "It's Only Love" was released in March 1974, but failed to chart in the top 50. The B side was a track called "Bad Trip". Young said "no one liked it. It was a disappointment. It was about suicide but they must've thought it was about drugs because of the title. It wasn't banned or anything, they just didn't play it." Young considered a part in the musical Godspell but decided against it, preferring to go back to sheet metal work. He left the job after a day and a half due to being hassled by the boss.
In February 1975, Young released "Yesterday's Hero", a song about the fleeting nature of pop stardom which drew on Vanda & Young's own experiences as former teen idols. The single shot into the national charts in April and gave Young his first top ten hit, reaching No. 8 on the Australian singles chart. The single sold strongly in the United States, where it reached No. 44 on the Cash Box Top 100 in February 1976. One of the key factors in the Australian success of "Yesterday's Hero" was the film clip made to promote it, which enabled the song to be given heavy exposure on Countdown, which had just switched to its new one-hour Sunday evening format, following the official start of colour TV broadcasting on 1 March 1975. Young's debut performance on Countdown had him miming "Yesterday's Hero" while dressed in a sailor's suit surrounded on an island stage with a studio audience of screaming teen girls. He was dragged off the stage three times by audience members and the microphone cord was ripped out but the song continued uninterrupted. ABC TV producer, Michael Shrimpton believes his show, Countdown, played a big part in making "Yesterday's Hero" and Young a teen pop success.
John Paul Young was the first male singer that the show chose to make a megastar. It was an experiment. Could we actually take someone who was basically unknown and in a matter of two months turn him into a number one hit? By mid-1975, Countdown's talent co-ordinator, Ian "Molly" Meldrum, had started appearing on-screen with a weekly rock report. Young, as guest host, introduced Meldrum's second report, "Here's boring old Molly with boring old humdrum".—"Molly" Meldrum's Humdrum and Countdown continued until 1987, with Young often featured as a performer or guest host named "Squeak" or "JPY" by Meldrum. For touring purposes Young fronted John Paul Young and The All Stars, with members who had worked with Vanda and Young's former bandmate Stevie Wright. The All Stars included, Warren Morgan (ex-Chain, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) on piano and vocals, who co-wrote songs with Young. Other early members were, Kevin Borich (La De Da's) on guitar, Johnny Dick (Max Merritt & the Meteors, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) on drums, Ronnie Peel (aka "Rockwell T James", Missing Links, La De Da's) on bass guitar and Ian Winter (Carson, Daddy Cool) on guitar. Billy Thorpe reportedly said they were the best rock band in Australia. Throughout 1975, Young toured with Stevie Wright, Sherbet and Stylus, with the latter also being his backing band. Young headlined his first concert tour over the Christmas period of 1975–6, preferring to use local bands as their support acts. Young's debut studio album, Hero was released in October 1975 and peaked at No. 9 on the Australian Album charts. A string of top 10 hits, written and produced by Vanda & Young, followed in Australia including "The Love Game" (peaked at No. 4 in September 1975), "I Hate the Music" (No. 2, April 1976) and "I Wanna Do It with You" (No. 7, May 1977). Young's second studio album, J.P.Y. was released in August 1976 and also peaked at No. 9. In addition to his Australian success, Young achieved top 20 hit singles in Sweden, with "Yesterday's Hero" and "I Hate the Music", and in South Africa where "I Hate the Music" and "Yesterday's Hero" were No. 1 hits, and "Keep on Smilin'" and "I Wanna Do It with You" were top ten hits. In May 1977, Young released his third studio album, Green, which peaked at No. 19. In a 1976 Rolling Stone interview, Young gives an insight into working with the Vanda/Young team:
