JADE HURLEY

Jade Hurley was born on 17 June 1943 in Sydney as John Anthony Patrick Hurley. The performance name, Jade, was provided by Australian rock and roller, Johnny O'Keefe, in the 1960s because of gloves that Hurley wore. Leon Isackson of Ray Hoff and the Offbeats recalled auditioning the pianist in October 1959, "Hurley figured that he needed a gimmick to cover up for his rude piano playing so he wore bright jade green gloves with the fingers cut out. They didn't help much. We sacked him two weeks later."

Hurley had started his music career at the age of 14 with his first band, the Rockin' Rebels, in Sydney. He went solo, with the help of O'Keefe, appearing on the latter's TV show – including his debut in 1960 on Six O'Clock Rock. Hurley was dubbed "Australia's King of Country Rock" by O'Keefe and was a support act on O'Keefe's live performances. He also appeared on Australia's version of Bandstand.

Hurley's early singles were mostly his own written material, including "How I Lied" (1965), which peaked in the top 30 in Brisbane. His country-pop vocals were combined with the melodic and rhythmic feel of the current beat era. With the exception of his cover version of "Gold and Silver" (1966), his charting singles were his own compositions: "My Baby Judy" (1965), "I'm Ashamed of You" (1966) and "Down in the Riverina" (1974). Hurley recorded over eight albums along with his dozen or so singles. Later Hurley changed over to country music although his live shows also included rock and roll favourites.

Hurley worked on The Mike Walsh Show from the 1970s to early 1980s, with his "Golden Oldens" music segment, where he performed cover versions of songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Due to the show, he was, "identified with MOR performers rather than as a rocker" and by 1981 he was described as a "grannies' heart-throb" but he explained, "When I do live shows, the audience is usually made up of housewives who have seen me on the Walsh show. They bring their husbands along to the club." He regularly toured Australia in a motor home, "playing in tours up and down the country and doing the RSL and club circuit in NSW." In 2008 he broke attendance records at the Tamworth Country Music Festival when 1550 people turned up to his show. In March 2009 a thief stole jewelry and other items from his motor home: in the following month most of it had been recovered by police. On 23 March 2019 Hurley appeared on the podcast, Wayne's Wonder World. Jade is still out there pulling crowds and singing up a storm!

SINGLES

''How To Love Me / How I Lied'' (#22) 1965 HMV
''My Baby Judy (#76) / I Got A Kitten'' 1965 HMV
''Little By Little / I Could Conquer The World'' 1966 HMV
''I'm Ashamed Of You / Gold And Silver'' (#71) 1966 HMV
''True Love Begins / It's Too Cold'' 1967 HMV
''Down In The Riverina (#52) / Ever Livin' Love'' 1974 Festival
''War And Bombs / Thinkin' Memories Of The Past'' 1976 Festival
''Why Do They Doubt Our Love / Sweetness And Innocence'' 1976 Festival
''Hold Me / I Wonder How Lucky We Are'' 1977 Festival
''For The Last Time ( I'll Be Waiting For You) / Paradise'' 1980 Festival
''I'm A Sucker For That Old Rock 'N Roll / Help A Child'' 1981 Festival
''Another Saturday Night / I'm Goin' Back Where I Belong'' 1982 Festival
''Nineteen On The Richter Scale / Sad Songs'' 1990 Festival
''Driftaway / Rhythm Of The Night'' 1991 Festival

ALBUMS

'King of Country Rock' (#76) 1975 Festival

'Jade Hurley's 20 Golden Oldens' 1979 Festival
'Solid Gold' (#70) 1980 Festival
'Jade Hurley' 1980 Festival
'More Golden Oldens' 1981 Festival
'Jade Hurley's Rock N Roll Party' 1982 Festival
'Rockin On' (#75) 1983 K-Tel
'Great Balls Of Fire (24 Rock 'N Roll Greats)' (#64) 1984 J&B
'No Stopping' 1990 Festival
'Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids' 1997 New Market

References

Jade Hurley - Wikipedia

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