BRYAN DAVIES

Bryan Davies was born in Manchester in 1944. At the age of four his family migrated to Sydney. His father, Norman R Davies, was an analytical chemistry lecturer at the University of New South Wales, his mother was a former dancer. His first TV appearance was on teen music show, Teen Time, on 27 September 1960, while he was a student at Canterbury Boys' High School. He left in the following year and was signed by the HMV label.

Davies first hit single, a cover version of Mark Wynter's "Dream Girl", reached #2 in Sydney, #6 in Brisbane, #4 in Melbourne, #1 in Adelaide and #2 in Hobart in June 1961. This was a phenomenal effort for his first ever release. Davies appeared on 1960s TV pop shows, Sing! Sing! Sing! and Bandstand (from 1961). His second hit was "Five Foot Two Eyes of Blue" (October 1961), which reached # 5 in Sydney and went top 20 in most other capital cities. It was originally performed by the California Ramblers in 1925 as "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?". His other popular singles were, "Twist-N-Twirlin' / Slicin' Sand Twist'' and "Ten Pin Bowling". He supported Jimmie Rodgers on his tour of Australia in 1961.

At age 17 Davies became the youngest person in Australia to host their own TV show, The Bryan Davies Show, from March 1962. Regular guests were Neil Williams, Judy Cannon and the Don Burrows Sextet. It was broadcast for 75 episodes on ABC TV, directed by Lloyd Brydon and finished in December of the following year. Resident female singer, Coral Kelly, later became a scriptwriter.

From December 1963 to January 1964 Davies appeared in Once upon a Surfie, a youth oriented musical, at the Palace Theatre, Sydney with his then-girlfriend, Jackie Weaver, as well as the Delltones, Dig Richards, Lucky Starr, Rob E G, and Jay Justin. It was written by Bill Watson, and centred on the antics of Gadget, portrayed by Weaver, "a snooty surfing girl whom the rest of the cast are intent on bringing down a peg or two." It was a parody of the then-popular Sandra Dee Gidget films. Jay Justin was a song writer who provided Davies with material.

In 1963 Davies met Norrie Paramour, a British composer, producer and conductor, who was impressed with the singer's work and was encouraged to return to England in February 1964. In May that year he recorded with Paramour producing. Davies returned to Australia in October and "adopted a more Beatles-influenced style and appearance." In February 1967 he re-entered the Sydney charts top 20 with "Alberta", his last hit recording. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "by the late 1960s Davies had moved into cabaret and television work." 

Davies took up acting and hosting roles for TV shows and was a cast member on The Mavis Bramston Show (1964–68), and featured in 7 Network's Anything Goes with Nancy Hayes, Reg Livermore and Johnny Lockwood. In July 1979 he took the role of Sebastian in Your Own Thing at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne. He had a guest role in Matlock Police episode, "What's in It for Me" (1973). In 1981 Davies was the presenter of a short-lived Candid Camera-styled game show, Catch Us If You Can.

Davies worked in The Johnny O’Keefe Memorial Show, alongside other singers from that era including Alan Dale, Vicki Forrest, Barry Stanton and Johnny Devlin. He later performed with Roland Storm and Lucky Starr in the Golden Boys of Aussie Rock 'n' Roll show. In 1994 Davies had a minor role, as the Barman, in the biographical feature film, Sirens.

SINGLES

''Dream Girl (#5) / Then I'll Know'' 1961 HMV
''Five Foot-Two (#16) / Ladder Of Love'' 1961 HMV
''Tenpin Bowling (#40) / You're Gonna Fall'' 1962 HMV
''Twist-N-Twirlin' / Slicin' Sand Twist'' (#40) 1962 HMV
''Without A Shoulder To Cry On (#88) / Don't Ever, No Never'' 1962 HMV
''Sad Sixteen (#80) / Don't Love'' 1962 Columbia
''Rich Boy / Biggity Big'' 1963 HMV
''In Your Shoes / Raincoat In The River'' 1964 Columbia
'' I Don't Like To Be Alone (#43) / Love And Money'' 1964 HMV
''Tell The Other Guy (#35) / My Dream Of You'' 1964 Columbia
''Watch What You Say / I'm Gonna Make You Cry'' 1965 HMV
''I Should Have Stayed In Bed / Skinny Minnie'' 1965 HMV
''The Girl I Love / I Need Help (Help! Help!)'' 1965 HMV
''Do You Mind / Ginny Come Lately'' 1966 HMV
''Why / My Name Is Mud'' 1966 HMV
''With Love From Jenny [with Little Pattie] (#88) / It's All Over Now'' 1966 HMV
''Alberta (#38) / I Only Dream Of You'' 1967 HMV
''Night And Day / Together By Myself'' 1967 HMV
''You Won't Be The Last / The End Of Another Day'' 1968 Columbia
''I Do Adore Her / Written On The Wind'' 1969 Columbia

EPs

'Bryan Davies' 1965 HMV

ALBUMS

'On My Way' 1962 HMV

'Together By Myself' 1967 Columbia

'Dream Lover' 

 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Davies_(singer)

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/