MARCIE AND THE COOKIES

Marcie Jones started as a teenager with The Thunderbirds at Canterbury Ballroom and Preston Town Hall in Melbourne in the early '60s. She then went on to perform with Normie Rowe's band The Playboys and appeared on the Go!! Show. She issued five singles from 1965 to 1967 on the Sunshine label with some minor chart success. In 1967, on the suggestion of Normie Rowe, she teamed up with the Cook sisters (who were already performing as The Cookies) in Brisbane. The Cook sisters Margaret, Beverly and Wendy used to sing in the family car on drives and their father finally encouraged them to sing harmonies. They then won a talent quest, and this brought them a lot of work at dances, discos, ballrooms and TV shows. 

In early 1968 they came to the attention of The Twilights and The Groove's manager Garry Spry, who was so impressed by them he became their manager. Spry got them a recording contract with EMI and put them with his all-powerful entertainment agency AMBO. Within 12 months they had become widely known for Marcie's powerful voice and the Cookies superb vocal harmonies and their synchronised stage movements as a result of their appearances on national TV shows, particularly on the pop music show The Go!! Show. They toured Australia as support act for overseas artists such as The Monkees on their Australian December 1968 tour.

That same year Marcie & The Cookies were presented the "Best Female Act for 1968" award by national pop magazine Go-Set and were awarded the "Critics Award" for the top Australian vocal act. As a group they released only two Columbia singles, '' I Would If I Could / All Or Nothing'' (which was also released in NZ) and ''White Christmas / You On My Mind'' however both these singles had regional success mainly in Melbourne & Brisbane. They were in demand for session work such as on the Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays track, ''Something's Got A Hold on Me''. Particularly they should be recognised for their contribution along with musicians: Brian Cadd, piano; Don Mudie, bass and electric guitar solo; Richard Wright – drums (all three from The Groop); Roger Hicks (of Zoot), acoustic guitar intro/rhythm guitar; and The Chiffons' Judy Condon, Maureen Elkner, Pauline Brady on the recording of Russell Morris's groundbreaking psychedelic single "The Real Thing" in early 1969.

During 1969 they toured Southeast Asia for three months performing in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Bangkok and the Philippines. A single was released in the Phillipines ''I Would If I Could / You On My Mind'' to coincide with the tour. The tour included performances to Vietnam war servicemen at American bases. They then performed around Europe and the U.K for two years and were support act and back-up vocalists for Cliff Richard during that time on his UK tours. After more than two years overseas Marcie decided to return home to Australia, leaving the Cook sisters to continue on as Cliff's backing singers and joining lead singer Peter Williams (formerly of The Groove) in a new group called Spirit of Progress who recorded a couple of singles on the Decca label and was the support act also for Cliff Richard on tour, as well as performing on the UK Cabaret circuit. 

On returning to Australia, Marcie Jones then resumed her solo career with a new manager and record label, Atlantic. She released an album and five singles between 1973 and 1976, the second of which, "Gonna Get Married", was her best chart success in 1974. The Cook sisters became in demand backing vocalists and can be heard on Russell Morris's ''Wings Of An Eagle'', Linda George's ''Neither One Of Us'', Robin Jolley's ''Do You Wanna Boogie'' and Madder Lakes ''12lb Toothbrush''. In 1976 they got back together and supported Gene Pitney's tour of Australia. 

SINGLES

''I Would If I Could (#47) / All Or Nothing'' 1968 Columbia
''White Christmas / You On My Mind'' 1968 Columbia

References

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

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