FRANKIE DAVIDSON

Francis Joseph Davidson OAM was born in Black Rock, a suburb of Melbourne in 1934.While undergoing compulsory National Service training, he sang to entertain fellow recruits, and was an early adopter of the rock'n'roll idiom. He was first heard on record cutting two EPs with the backing of  Max Bostock and his band in 1956. In 1959 he signed to W&G Records, and in 1960 found success with his sixth single ''I Care for You'' which also sold 55,000 copies in the USA. He teamed up with Heather Horwood in their own series on ABV2 called Two's Company.

His next success was a comedy song "Yabba Dabba Doo" (referencing the Flintstones catchphrase) in 1961, followed by "Have You Ever Been to See Kings Cross" in 1962, a humorous ditty sung at breakneck speed in Australian vernacular, which became a best-seller. Other comic songs followed: "Hector the Trash Collector", a spoof on John Farnham's hit "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)", and "50 Million Blowflies Can't Be Wrong". In 1963 he won first prize in Export Talent, an Australia's Got Talent-type contest, which sent him to England, giving him valuable overseas exposure and experience. He returned to Australia in 1965, but over the next five years he spent much time performing in Europe and America. In 1970 he made two further comic songs in a country and western vein: "Gimme Dat Ding" and "Ball Bearing Bird". He also acted in several Australian TV series, the best-known being Homicide and Matlock Police.

In 1975 he changed labels, to M7 Records (a project of the Macquarie Broadcasting Service, Herald and Weekly Times and ATN-7), for whom he recorded around a dozen singles, including "I Love a Sunburnt Football" in two versions: Australian rules and rugby league, and "I Hope Your Chooks Turn into Emus (and Kick Your Dunny Down)". They also released his album, 'A Generation of Children's Hits', which included covers of "The Candy Man", "Rubber Duckie", "Three Little Fishies", "Puff, the Magic Dragon", "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", "Any Dream Will Do", "The Ugly Duckling" also "Little White Bull" and "What a Mouth", two Tommy Steele classics. 

In 1976 he won the Mo award for Most Versatile Act of the Year. In 1981 he released on Powderworks 'Big Aussie BBQ', an album of familiar Australian songs including a Slim Dusty favourite "Duncan", the traditional "Wild Colonial Boy" and "The Man from Snowy River", Bruce Woodley's "I Still Call Australia Home" and Joe Dolce's irreverent "Shaddap You Face". Frankie Davidson died in 2022.

SINGLES

''Dream Lover / The Chick'' 1959 W&G
''I'll Be Satisfied / My Heart Is An Open Book'' 1959 W&G
''You Are My Sunshine / Living Doll'' 1959 W&G
''The Golden Rocket / Why''
''Just For Today (#56) / Pretty Baby'' [with The Sapphires And The Planetones] 1960 W&G
''I Care For You (#56) / You're Driving Me Crazy'' 1960 W&G
''Yabba Dabba Doo (#42) / I Told Them All About You'' [with The Sapphires] 1961
''Have You Ever Been To See King's Cross (#4) / I Can't Do The Twist'' [with The Sapphires] 1962
''(I Wanna Stay In) My Home Town / I've Been In Love Before'' [with The Sapphires] 1962
'' Muldoon The Glutton / I Want A Snorkersorus For Christmas'' [with The Sapphires] 1962
''Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer / The Lawrence Rock-A-Cha Cha'' W&G 1963
''True Love (Will Find A Way) / Jimmy Crack Corn'' 1963 W&G
''Sally Was A Good Old Girl / Nothin' To Do (And All Day To Do It In)'' 1963 W&G
''Have You Ever Been To See London Town? / Broken Wings'' (#83) 1964 W&G
''Don't You Just Know It / So Little Time'' 1966 Sunshine
''Clap Your Hands / Leave A Little Love'' 1966 Sunshine
''The Dollar Auctioneer / Just For Today'' 1966 Sunshine
''Hector The Trash Collector (#70) / Somebody Come And Take My Wife'' 1968 Festival
''Guitcha Guiroff / What A Wonderful Day To Fall In Love'' (#86) 1968 Festival
''Mrs. Lawrence Will You Look After It / It's In The Book'' 1969 Festival
''Gimme Dat Ding / Witchety Willie's Worldwide Walkabout Walla Walla Wookazoo Band'' 1970 Fable
''Thank You Very Much / I've Gotta Get Back To Cindy'' 1971 Fable
''The Ball-Bearing Bird (#55) / I've Gotta Get Back To Cindy'' 1971 Fable
''Everyday Family Man / Australian Born'' 1972 Fable
''50,000,000 Blow Flies Can't Be Wrong / Cookies'' 1972 M7
''I Love A Sunburnt Football (#79) / Australian Born, Australian Bred'' 1973 M7
''I Love You Now / The Man From Snowy River'' 1974 M7
'' True Love Comes And Grows / Hope Your Chooks Turn Into Emus!'' 1975 M7
''I Love A Sunburnt Football / Australian Born, Australian Bred'' 1975 M7
''I Want A Snorkersauras For Christmas / Oh! Bullfrog'' 1976 M7
''Music / Happy Anniversary'' 1976 Living Sound
''Wedding Vows / Da Do Da Dum Dum Dum'' 1977 Living Sounds
''Jeff The Smiling Policeman'' 1978 Merlin
''Summertime Fun / Surf Cookies'' 1979 Summertime
''Let's Take The Long Way Around The World / Do The Waka Waka With Me'' 1980 Summertime
''The Aussie Barbecue Song / The Man From Snowy River'' 1980 Summertime
''The Aussie Barbecue Song (#53) / The Man From Snowy River'' 1981 7 Records
'' The Man From Wollongong / Mulga Jack'' 1981 Brook
''Uncommon Man / Fat Girls'' 1982 Brook
''Aussie Music (You've Come A Long Way) Part One / Aussie Music (You've Come A Long Way) Part Two'' 1982 Powderworks
'' I Made A 100 In The Backyard At Mums / A Real Fair Dinkum Aussie'' 1986 Summertime
''A Single Rose / The Wedding Vow'' 1986 Summertime
''Toss Another Shrimp On The Barbie / Vegomite'' 1986 Summertime
''Not Bloody Golf Again / Ya Wouldn't Be Australian'' 1989 Larrikin
''Australian Born Australian Bred / The Rooty Hill Rose'' 1989 Larrikin

EPs

'Rock n Roll' [with Max Bostock And His Rockets] 1956 Danceland

'Hector The Trash Collector' 1968 Festival

'True Love Comes And Grows' 1973 Rhubarb

ALBUMS

'Have You Ever Been To See King's Cross' 1962 W&G
'And His Big 16' 1962 W&G
'The Entertainer In Action' 1971 Fable
'Australian Born, Australian Bred' 1973 M7
'Music' 1977 Living Sound
'Come On Aussies 23 Beer Swilling Favourites' 1978 J&B
'Big Aussie BBQ' 1981 Brook
'A Real Fair Dinkum Aussie'1986 Summertime

'I've Been Everywhere' 1993 Larrikin
'One Dozen Roses' 1996 Summertime
'The Spirit Of Australia' 1998 Summertime
'I've Been Everywhere' 2009 Lifestyle

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Davidson

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