Peter Doyle (singer)

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For other persons with this name see the Peter Doyle (disambiguation) page.


Peter Doyle (born Peter John Doyle in Melbourne, Australia on 28 July 1949 - died 13 October 2001) was an Australian pop singer who had success with a number of Top 40 hits in Australia in the 1960s, then success internationally as a member of the New Seekers in the early 1970s, before resuming a solo career in 1973.

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[edit] Early career

He started his career at the age of 9 appearing on a children's television talent show called Swallow's Juniors and appeared as a regular on that show for the next five years. At the age 10 he made his first recording on a 78rpm acetate, Lucky Devil/If Irish Eyes Were Shining. He was performing in Sunday afternoon pop shows at Melbourne's Festival Hall at the age of 14 and at 16 he was signed to a record contract with Ivan Dayman's Sunshine label (whose roster included top singers such as Normie Rowe and Tony Worsley). This led to regular appearances on Melbourne’s teen TV show, "The GO Show".

[edit] Australian pop star

From 1965 to 1967 he released ten 45 records in Australia, of which seven made the Top 40, the most successful of which were a cover of Conway Twitty's Speechless (The Pick Up), and a rousing version of Solomon Burke's Stupidity. He was backed by Melbourne band The Phantoms on all these recordings. He then recorded two singles with the band Grandmas Tonic as lead vocalist. His last two singles, once again under his own name, were for the Astor label although he was still backed on them by Grandma's Tonic,{ex-members of Tony Worsley's backing band The Fabulous Blue Jays).

May 1968 saw him join the vocal trio The Virgil Brothers, Australia's answer to The Walker Brothers. The Virgil Brothers released two singles in Australia in 1968, The Temptations 'Bout to Get Me (a Top 5 hit) and Here I Am. They then relocated to the UK where they recorded their third single, When You Walk Away with producer David McKay. He then quit the trio which broke up soon after.

[edit] With The New Seekers

In 1970, not long after the Virgil Bros had dissolved, he joined the second lineup of The New Seekers. This line-up was their most successful and enduring and during his time with them they had a string of international hits, such as Melanie Safka’s What Have They Done To My Song Ma, Delaney & Bonnie's Never Ending Song of Love and I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.

In 1972 The New Seekers came 2nd representing the UK, in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Beg, Steal or Borrow,on which he co-vocalled with Lyn Paul. As well as sharing vocals in The New Seekers he was a talented songwriter and contributed many songs to their albums which included ballads such as I Can Say You're Beautiful and Lay Me Down and more uptempo numbers like Boom Town and Cincinnati.

[edit] Later career and life

He quit The New Seekers, apparently disillusioned with lack of monetary rewards, in 1973 and resumed his solo career, as a singer/songwriter. He continued working in the UK until 1981, during which period he issued five solo singles, including a cover of The Easybeats Friday On My Mind, and one album, Skin Deep. During this time in the UK he also recorded advertising jingles for Ribena and Sugar Puffs, provided the vocal for a children's single, Jungle Ted and the Laceybuttonpoppers and did backing vocals Lyn Paul solo single It Oughta Sell A Million. In 1975 he was offered and declined the job as Little River Band's lead vocalist.

He returned to Australia in 1981 to work with a band called Standing Room Only. In 1982, ex-Wings drummer, Steve Holly invited him to join to join the group Regis in the USA, where he worked for the next five years.

Returning to Australia in 1987, he regularly performed on the club circuit. This was curtailed when he suffered ill-health in the 1990s. He died in Castlemaine, Victoria on 13 October 2001. In 2004 a CD by him was released of all-new recordings.

[edit] Discography and chart positions

[edit] Singles (45rpm)

[edit] Peter Doyle - solo- 1965 to 1966

  • Stupidity/Heigh Ho 1965 (#6 Melbourne)
  • Speechless (The Pick Up) /Like I Love You 1965 (#8 Melbourne)
  • Watcha Gonna Do About It/Do It Zula Style 1965 (#27 Melbourne)
  • The Great Pretender/Everybody Loves A Lover 1966 (#11 Melbourne, #28 Brisbane)
  • Something You Got Baby/Go Away 1966
  • Mr Good Time/Tweedle Dee 1966

[edit] Grandma's Tonic - Peter Doyle (lead vocalist)

  • Hi Hi Hazel/Johnny The Hummer 1967 (#36 Brisbane)
  • Lost Girl/ I Know 1967 (#38 Brisbane)

[edit] Peter Doyle - Solo - 1967 to 1968

  • If You Can Put That In A Bottle/I'm Not The Boy You're After 1967
  • Plastic Dreams Toy Balloons 1967-68 (#23 Melbourne)

[edit] The Virgil Brothers - 1968

  • Temptation “Bout To Get Me/I See Her Face -1968 (#6 Brisbane, #13 Melbourne)
  • Here I Am/Shake Me Wake Me – 1968
  • Temptation “Bout To Get Me/Look Away - 1969
  • When You Walk Away/Good Love - 1969

[edit] The New Seekers

See The New Seekers page

[edit] Peter Doyle - Solo - 1973 - 1980

  • Rusty Hands of Time /And So In Life 1973
  • Friday On My Mind/We Believe in Lovin' 1976
  • Skin Deep/We Believe In Lovin' 1977
  • Do You Wanna Make Love/Wake Up With Me 1980
  • This and That/It's All Over 1980

[edit] Jungle Ted - Peter Doyle on lead vocal

Jungle Ted & The Laceybuttonpoppers 1974

[edit] Extended play (EP's)

  • Stupidity & Speechless – 1965 – Heigh-Ho/ Stupidity/ Like I Love You/ Speechless
  • The Great Pretender -1966 – The Great Pretender/ Something About You/ Everybody Loves A Lover/ Is This The Dream ?
  • The Virgil Brothers - Temptation 'Bout To Get Me/Look Away/When You Walk Away/Good Love

[edit] Albums (33rpm)

  • Peter's First Album - 1966
  • Skin Deep 1977
  • Festival Files: Speechless Vol.16 - 1989

[edit] Album (CD)

  • Rarities 2004

[edit] Compilation albums (33rpm)

  • The Bowl Show (Various Artists) - 1965-66 - includes two tracks - Heigh Ho/Stupidity
  • The Big Four - 1965-66 - includes four tracks - Speechless/ Stupidity/Like I Love/Heigh-Ho (Shared with Normie Rowe, Tony Worsley, Ray Brown)
  • Sunshine All Star Spectacular (Various artists) - 1967 - includes two tracks - High Time Baby/Lovey Dovey
  • Festivals 10 Years of Hits (Various Artists) - 1968 - one track only - The Great Pretender
  • The Big Parade 1967 (Various Artists) - one track only - Stupidity
  • Ugly Things Vol.2 (Various Artists) - 1983 - Grandmas Tonic - Lost Girl

[edit] Compilation albums (CD)

  • Sixties Downunder Vol.3 (Various Artists) - 1998 - one track only - Stupidity
  • Hot Generation (Various Artists) - 2002 - one track only - High Time Baby
  • Devil's Children Vol.3 (Various Artists) - one track only - Tweedlee Dee

[edit] References

  • The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop - Ian McFarlane - Allen & Unwin, Sydney - 1999 - ISBN 1 86508 072 1 - ISBN 1 86449 768 2
  • Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock & Pop - Rigby Publishers - 1978 - ISBN 0 7270 1909 0
  • The Who's Who of Australian Rock - Chris Spencer - Moonlight Publishing - ISBN 0 86788 668 4
  • An Australian Rock Discography 1960-1989 - Chris Spencer - Moonlight Publishers - 1990 - ISBN 0 7316 8343 9
  • The Various Artists in Australia - Chris Spencer - Moonlight Publishing - 1990 - ISBN 0 7315 8348 X
  • Gavin Ryan's Chart Books

[edit] External links