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Friday 6 September 2013

FRANK IFIELD



Francis Edward Ifield was born in 1937 in Coundon, Warwickshire, England, to Australian parents, Richard Joseph Ifield (1909–1982) and Hannah Muriel Ifield (1916–2012), as one of seven sons. His parents had travelled to England in 1936, where his father was an inventor and engineer who created the Ifield fuel pump, for Lucas Industries, which was used in jet aircraft. The Ifield family returned to Australia in January 1948 aboard the Orion. They lived near Dural, 50 km north-west of Sydney. It was a rural district and he listened to hillbilly music (later called country music) while milking the family's cow. He was given a guitar in 1949 by his grandmother and was self-taught; he also taught himself to yodel, by imitating country stars, including Hank Snow.

The family moved to Beecroft, a Sydney suburb. At the age of 13 he performed his version of Bill Showmet's "Did You See My Daddy Over There?", and appeared on local radio station, 2GB's talent quest, Amateur Hour. This track was issued as his first single, in 1953, by Regal Zonophone Records. By November of that year, he appeared regularly on Brisbane radio station, 4BK's Youth Parade, playing guitar and singing, where "All the artists in this programme are under 21 year of age." His third single was a cover version of "Abdul Abulbul Amir" (September 1954), which was backed by his own composition, "A Mother's Faith". In 1956 he hosted, Campfire Favourites, on local TV station, TCN-9, which "was the first weekly 'Western' programme by a local artist on Australian television." From that year to late 1957 he recorded six singles with a backing group, Dick Carr Buckaroos.

In 1957 he recorded a track, "Whiplash", which was used as the theme song for the British/Australian TV series of the same name from September 1960 to mid-1961. He toured the North Island of New Zealand in early 1959, where his single, "Guardian Angel", reached #1 on local radio charts. Ifield had two top 30 hits in that year on the Kent Music Report, with "True" (September, #26) and "Teenage Baby" (November, #5). He returned to the United Kingdom in November 1959.

Frank Ifield's first UK single, "Lucky Devil" (January 1960), reached # 22 in the UK Singles Chart. His next six singles had less commercial success, but he had his first UK number-one hit with a cover version of Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer 1941 composition, "I Remember You" (May 1962), which topped the charts for seven weeks. Known for Ifield's falsetto and a slight yodel, it was the second highest-selling single of that year in the UK and became the seventh million-selling single. It is Ifield's highest charting single on the United States Billboard Hot 100, reaching #5. It also reached #1 on the Australian Kent Music Report.

His next single was a double A-side: "Lovesick Blues" and "She Taught Me to Yodel" (October 1962). "Lovesick Blues" was originally sung by Hank Williams and was treated in an upbeat "Let's Twist Again" style. The other track is a virtuoso piece of yodeling with the final verse – entirely yodeling – at double-speed. It also peaked at #1 in the UK, #1 in Australia, and reached #44 in the US Billboard Hot 100. He had been told by his management not to yodel because it would brand him. Nevertheless, he sang "She Taught Me to Yodel" as an encore for a Royal Variety Performance (November 1962), at the specific request of the Queen Mother for a yodeling song. His next single, "Wayward Wind", made him the first UK-based artist to reach #1 three times in succession on the UK charts. The only previous artist to have done so was Elvis Presley. In Australia it peaked at #16.

His UK charting singles from 1963 were, "Nobody's Darling but Mine" (April 1963, #4), "I'm Confessin'" (June, #1), "Mule Train" (October, #22) and "Don't Blame Me" (December, #8). In 1963 he sang at the Grand Ole Opry, introduced by one of his heroes, Hank Snow. Many of his records were produced by Norrie Paramor. Ifield also was featured on 'Jolly What!, a 1964 compilation comprising eight of his tracks and four by the Beatles, which has been considered an attempt to cash in on Beatlemania. Despite changing trends Ifield continued to have further top 40 hits in that decade including, "Angry at the Big Oak Tree" (April 1964) "I Should Care" (July), "Paradise" (August 1965), "No One Will Ever Know" (June 1966), and "Call Her Your Sweetheart" (September). Ifield twice entered the UK heats for the Eurovision Song Contest. He came in second in the 1962 heat with "Alone Too Long" (losing to Ronnie Carroll). In the 1976 heat he tried with, "Ain't Gonna Take no for an Answer", finishing last of 12.

In 1991, Ifield returned to the UK chart when a dance remix of "She Taught Me to Yodel", renamed, "The Yodeling Song", was billed as Frank Ifield featuring the Backroom Boys, reached #40 in the UK Singles Chart. In more than 30 years, it became his 16th appearance on that list. The song was mentioned by Victor Meldrew in the One Foot in the Grave episode, "Love and Death".

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007 Ifield was inducted into their Hall of Fame alongside, Hoodoo Gurus, Marcia Hines, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, Brian Cadd, Radio Birdman and Nick Cave. He was presented with a Medal of the Order of Australia in June 2009 with a citation, "For service to the arts as an entertainer." On 10 June 2012 Ifield joined Paul Hazell on his World of Country show on the community radio station Uckfield FM. He discussed his life in music and forthcoming induction to the Coventry Music Wall of Fame. He made another appearance on Uckfield FM, talking with Tony Williams, on 16 May 2017.




SINGLES
True

5 SEP '59
#26

Teenage Baby 

21 NOV '59
#5

I Remember You

11 AUG '62#1
Lovesick Blues / She Taught Me How to Yodel

10 NOV '62#1
The Wayward Wind / I'm Smiling Now

23 FEB '63#16
Nobody's Darlin' But Mine

4 MAY '63#41
Waltzing Matilda / I'm Confessin' (That I Loved You)

13 JUL '63#24
Mule Train

23 NOV '63#95
Please / Half as Much

11 JAN '64#5
Say it Isn't So / Don't Blame Me

25 JAN '64#43
Angry at the Big Oak Tree

23 MAY '64#32
Summer is Over

17 OCT '64#40
Don't Make Me Laugh (Don't Make Me Cry)

23 JAN '65#96
Lonesome Number One

15 MAY '65#95
Paradise

18 SEP '65#88
Call Her Your Sweetheart

15 APR '67#79
Out of Nowhere

6 MAY '67#75
Up-Up and Away

12 AUG '67#81
Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast

24 JUL '72#68






References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Ifield

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


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