Ross Wilson (musician)
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Ross Wilson (born November 18, 1947) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer who is best known for fronting the groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, and for his production of albums by the Australian band Skyhooks.
Wilson began his career as a teenager in Melbourne in the mid-1960s, when he formed his first band, The Pink Finks with longtime musical partner Ross Hannaford. This was followed by the more progressively oriented The Party Machine (1967-69) and Sons Of The Vegetal Mother (1969-70).
In 1970 this group evolved into Daddy Cool, which had originally begun as an occasional offshoot of the main band. The core members were Wilson and Hannaford (vocals and guitars), Gary Young (drums, vocals) and Wayne Duncan (bass, vocals), with several other additional members coming and going during the group's lifetime, including saxophonist Jeremy Noone and guitarist Ian "Willie" Winter.
Known for their "good time" image, the group's reportiore mixed covers of '50s R&B and doo-wop classics with Wilson' s original compositions, which were strongly influenced by the work of Frank Zappa. The band signed to an independent label, Sparmac label, which was co-owned by producer and former child prodigy guitarist Robie Porter (aka Rob E.G.). Daddy Cool became hugely popular in Australia and their records also gained a cult following in the USA and Canada in the early 1970s. They scored a nationwide #1 hit in Australia in mid-1970 with the single "Eagle Rock" and their debut LP set the record as the biggest selling Australian album ever released up to that time.
Daddy Cool broke up in late 1972 and Wilson and Hannaford then formed the shortlived Mighty Kong which included former Spectrum drummer Ray Arnott and Company Caine guitarist Russell Smith. They recorded only one LP but the band had already broken by the time the LP was released.
Daddy Cool made a surprise reformation for the 1974 Sunbury rock festival and remained together until late 1975. During this period Wilson discovered Melbourne band Skyhooks, signing their main songwriter Greg Mcainsh to his publishing company and recommending the band to label owner Michael Gudinski, who subsequently signed them to Mushroom Records. In late 1974 Wilson produced the band's breakthrough LP Living In The Seventies, which overtook Daddy Cool's debut LP to become the biggest-selling Australian LP ever released up to that time. He went on to produce their next two albums, Ego Is Not A Dirty Word (1975), and Straight In A Gay, Gay World (1976), both of which were huge successes in Australia.
In 1976, he scored "Eagle Rock"'s music video director Chris Löfvén's 1976 film, Oz, a film inspired by The Wizard of Oz and set in Australia. Wilson performed most of the songs himself, along with Gary Young, and producing the soundtrack that also featured star Joy Dunstan and Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons.
Contractual problems with Porter's Wizard label, to whom Wilson was signed at the time, forced him to wait out the end of his recording contract but he re-emerged in 1976 with a new band, Mondo Rock. The group went through several incarnations but the best known lineup included bassist Paul Christie (who went on to found The Party Boys), and guitarist and songwriter Eric McCusker, a former member of the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band. McCusker's presence proved valuable for Wilson in the early 1980s when his own songwriting dried up, and McCusker penned several of the group's biggest hits, including "State Of The Heart", which was a major hit in Australia and was also covered by Rick Springfield.
In 1983, he wrote a single, "Bop Girl" for his then wife Pat. This song, which featured Ross on backing vocals, became an Australian hit and even gained recognition internationally. It also had an unusual video which featured not only Ross, but the actual film debut of Nicole Kidman.
Unbeknowst to many, Wilson wrote the John Farnham hit, Touch of Paradise.
Wilson returned to performing in the late 1990s and he has released two albums of new material plus a two-CD retrospective covering his entire career, including many rare tracks. He has also collaborated with children's group The Wiggles, singing on their re-recording of "Eagle Rock" and playing the part of "King Mondo" in the video "Space Dancing".
Wilson was approached in early 2006 by St Kilda Football Club president Rod Butterss to do a re-write of the St Kilda theme song When The Saints Go Marching In
