Ross Hannaford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ross Hannaford, often referred to by his nickname "Hanna", is an Australian musician.
Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he is best known for his long collaboration with singer-songwriter Ross Wilson, which began as teenagers, and with whom he formed the seminal early '70s Australian rock band Daddy Cool.
Hannaford and Wilson first teamed up in the hometown of Melbourne in the mid-1960s in the R&B band The Pink Finks, which enjoyed moderate local success. This was followed by the more progressively-oriented The Party Machine, which broke up in 1969.
After a short stint in the UK, Wilson returned to Australia and reunited with Wilson ca. 1970 in the even more avant garde Sons of the Vegetal Mother, which embodied Wilson's enthusiam for the music of Frank Zappa.
This band eventually evolved into Daddy Cool, which had started out as an informal offshoot of the Vegetals but soon overtook. After the release of their hugely successful debut single "Eagle Rock" and their debut LP Daddy Who? Daddy Cool!, the band became one of the most popular and successful rock acts of the decade, breaking all previous sales records for an Australian act.
Hannaford's unique guitar stylings won wide praise from critics and his goofy stage presence, distinctive baritone voice and trademark 'helicopter' cap made him a favourite with fans. He also wrote several of the group's songs and co-designed the sleeve of their second album, Sex Drugs & Rock'n'Roll: Teenage Heaven.
After the first split of Daddy Cool at the end of 1972, Wilson and Hannaford formed the shortlived Mighty Kong with former members of Spectrum and Company Caine and they recorded one album, All I wanna do is rock, but they split just after the LP was released.
Dady Cool reformed in 1974 and continued until 1976, when they split again. Hannaford and Wilson's last collaboration in this period was on the soundtrack for the 1976 movie Oz.
Hannaford subsequently did a considerable amount of session work and played in many bands. His group and recording credits including The Black Sorrows, Paul Madigan & The Humans, Ian Moss, Steve Hoy, Mark Gillespie, Billy T and Goanna. In the 1990s he and his band Diana's Kiss had a long-standing residency at the famous Esplanande Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne.
In 2005 the original members of Daddy Cool reunited for a one-off performance at a Melbourne benefit concert in aid of the Asian Tsunami disaster, and this led to the 2006 reformation of the group and the recording of a new single and album.
