ROSS D WYLLIE

Ross D. Wyllie was born in 1948 and raised in Brisbane. In 1964, he joined a pop band, The Kodiaks, as lead singer. He and his band supported Screaming Lord Sutch's tour in 1964. By 1967, as a solo artist, he signed with the Sunshine label and released a debut single, "Short Skirts / Paper Bunnies". He was backed by label-mates, The Escorts. His next single, "A Bit of Love / Last Day In Town" followed, using only studio musicians. Wyllie relocated to Melbourne and, on 28 October, became the host of a new pop music television show, Uptight for local Channel 0. He signed with Festival Records, and released single, "Smile'' in April 1968.

Uptight was a weekly four-hour series that ran until 1969 with Wyllie as its host. Molly Meldrum was a regular member of the on-air team. A Calendar LP (R66-522) was issued in about 1969 named 'Uptight Party Time' – Ross D. Wyllie and the Uptight Party Team. The album contained two side long medleys of then current songs such as "Midnight Hour", "You Are My Sunshine" and "Day Tripper". Wyllie had a #17 hit on Go-Set's National Top 40 in July 1969, with his cover of Ray Stevens' song, "Funny Man". 

His biggest success and national #1 hit, "The Star" written by Johnny Young, followed in November. This track was released in Germany, NZ, Norway, UK and the USA. This track was later covered by United Kingdom act, Herman's Hermits, as "Here Comes the Star".  In 1970, Uptight was replaced on Channel 0 by a one-hour pop music series, Happening '70, with Wyllie retained as host. In April, he released a double-A-sided single, "My Little Girl / Free Born Man'', but its sales were affected by the radio ban, during which commercial stations refused to play recordings by Festival Records (among others) from May to October. Wyllie left Happening '70 to return to Brisbane in late 1970.

In 1971, Wyllie signed with the Fable Label and released "He Gives Us All His Love / Life" in April. He followed with "It Takes Time / Child's Dream" in August and "Sweet White Dove / Going Home" in May 1972. He then turned to the pub and club circuit. Eventually he formed a production company with fellow pop artist Ronnie Burns, and artist manager Jeff Joseph. With Tony Healy, he also created a public relations company. In the late 1970s he presented a late-night movie show on Melbourne's Channel 0–10. In May 1988, Festival Records released 'Smile: The Festival Files Volume Ten', a compilation album of Wyllie's singles, as a part of their Festival File series. In a review of the collection for The Canberra Times, Stuart Coupe said: "Star of Uptight, Wyllie's run of hits ended in the early '70s. This is probably the least interesting of the albums in this series, but at worst is a curio item". In August 2003, Wyllie performed an Uptight themed variety show at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne reuniting with other 1960s performers.

Aztec Records released another compilation, 'Ross D. Wyllie: the Complete Collection', in August 2014. Paul Cashmere of Noise11 described it as "the first definitive career overview of 60s pop star." Toorak Times' Gary Turner observed, "it features all the classic hits including 'Funny Man', 'The Star', 'My Little Girl', 'Smile', 'Uptight Party Medley', 'Short Skirts' and many more tracks including tracks live from Festival Hall Melbourne in 1994." Wyllie and Eileen were still living in Melbourne as from September 2014. During November 2016 Wyllie used a crowd funding site to attempt to raise money for a motorised wheelchair.

SINGLES

''Short Skirts (#96) / Paper Bunnies'' [with The Escorts] 1967 Sunshine
''A Bit Of Love / Last Day In Town'' 1967 Sunshine
''Smile (#91) / Faces'' 1968 Festival
''Funny Man (#15) / Smile'' 1969 Festival
''The Star (#1) / Do The Uptight'' 1969 Festival
''My Little Girl (#65) / Free Born Man'' 1970 Festival
''He Gives Us All His Love (#42) / Life'' 1971 Fable
''It Takes Time (#78) / Child's Dream'' 1971 Fable
''Sweet White Dove (#99) / Going Home'' 1972 Fable

EPs

'Funny Man' 1969 Festival
'The Star / My Little Girl' 1970 Festival

ALBUMS

'Up Tight Party Time' 1967 Calendar

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_D._Wyllie

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