Maureen started her professional career in the late 1960s with female vocal trio The Chiffons, with Sue Brady and Judy Condon. They sang back-up for John Farnham, and toured Vietnam around 1969 with The Gallery, entertaining the Australian troops stationed there. Maureen's experiences in Vietnam are included in Siobhan McHugh's book Minefields and Miniskirts (Doubleday, 1993). Also in 1969, Maureen contributed to a landmark Australian single that is probably the other recording she is best-known for (at least by OzRock nerds). Alongside former Wild Cherries vocalist Danny Robinson, Maureen provided backing vocals for the Russell Morris classic "The Real Thing", and her voice can be heard prominently throughout the song, especially the wailing high notes in the closing bars of the song, just before the final explosion. The Chiffons recorded one single for Astor, "Secret Love / It Hurts Like 16" (April 1970), before Maureen quit, to be replaced by Sue Brady's sister Pauline.
In the early 70's Maureen branched out into acting and musical theatre. One of her first TV credits was a small role in the famous "sex and sin' soapie Number 96 in 1972 and she was a cast member of the original Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar and in 1974 she played the featured role of Columbia in the original Sydney production of The Rocky Horror Show with Reg Livermore. She appears on the original Australian cast soundtrack LPs of both these shows.In 1974, Maureen signed to Festival's Infinity label. She recorded two Suzi Quatro-style rock Singles for them, "Dynamite / Barley Rye" and a cover of The Troggs' "Wild Thing / Sweet Morning", but neither made any impression on the charts.
In 1975 she signed to M7 Records (which was also Bob Hudson's label) and she recorded five singles for them including "Rak Off Normie", which was a big hit in Sydney, reaching #5 in June. It was followed by four more singles and two albums, 'Maureen Elkner' (1976) and 'Love Tracks' (1978), which featured a young Tommy Emmanuel on guitar. As well as working regularly in cabaret and on the club circuit Maureen continued to appear in occasional TV roles. In 1977 she featured in an episode of Crawford's police drama Chopper Squad and in the early '80s she guested in the hit series A Country Practice. In 2000 Maureen guested in an episode of the police drama Water Rats, and in May that year she performed at the Showtune Showdown at the Kirk Gallery in Sydney.
SINGLES
Rak Off, Normie!
| 16 JUN '75 | #11 |
References
http://www.milesago.com/artists/elkner.htm
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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