He was backed by Melbourne band The Phantoms on all these recordings. His last two singles were on the Astor label and he was backed on them by Grandma's Tonic, (ex-members of Tony Worsley's backing band 'The Fabulous Blue Jays'). May 1968 saw him join the vocal trio The Virgil Brothers, Australia's answer to The Walker Brothers. The Virgil Brothers released two singles in Australia in 1968, "Temptations 'Bout to Get Me" and "Here I Am". They then relocated to the UK where they recorded their third single, ''When You Walk Away'' with producer David McKay. He then quit the trio which broke up soon after. In 1970, not long after the Virgil Brothers had dissolved, he joined the second line-up of The New Seekers. This line-up was their most successful and enduring and during his time with them they had a string of international hits, such as Melanie Safka's "What Have They Done to My Song Ma", Delaney & Bonnie's "Never Ending Song of Love" and "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing".
In 1972, The New Seekers came second representing the UK, in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Beg, Steal or Borrow", on which he duetted with his then girlfriend Lyn Paul. As well as sharing vocals in The New Seekers he was a talented songwriter and contributed many songs to their albums which included ballads such as "I Can Say You're Beautiful" and "Lay Me Down" and more uptempo numbers like "Boom Town" and "Cincinnati". He quit The New Seekers, apparently disillusioned with lack of monetary rewards, in 1973 and resumed his solo career, as a singer-songwriter. In 1975 he was offered and declined the job as Little River Band's lead vocalist. Glen Wheatley asked Peter to join the Little River Band but at this stage, Peter wanted to make his way as a solo performer.
By 1976, with the backing of David Mackay, Peter had secured a recording with RCA and his first single, released on 13 August 1976 was an incredible version of the Easybeats' ''Friday on My Mind''. Inexplicably this failed to chart, as did his follow up single, ''Skin Deep''. His album, also entitled 'Skin Deep', released in 1977, included a variety of musical styles and six songs penned by Peter, but even this failed to give him the solo success he so greatly deserved. It was around this time that Peter met the love of his life, Jane Garner, who later became his wife.
He continued working in the UK until 1981 where he also recorded advertising jingles for Ribena and Sugar Puffs, provided the vocal for a children's single, "Jungle Ted and the Laceybuttonpoppers" and did backing vocals on Lyn Paul's UK Top 40 solo single, "It Oughta Sell A Million". Two singles were issued on the independent Limelight label in 1980: the first of these was a cover of Peter McCann's US hit "Do You Wanna Make Love". This song, ironically, had also been covered two years earlier by The New Seekers with Peter Doyle's replacement, Danny Finn, on lead vocal. Peter returned to Australia in 1981 to work with a band called Standing Room Only. In 1982, ex-Wings drummer, Steve Holly invited him to join the group Regis in the US, where he worked for the next five years.
Returning to Australia in 1987, Doyle regularly performed on the club circuit. From 1991 to 1993, he was a member of the Ram Band in Melbourne, providing vocals, played bass and keyboards. He appeared with The Ram Band on the "Living Legends Live Benefit Concert" filmed and recorded at The Palace Entertainment Complex St Kilda in May 1992. Four original songs written by John van Boxtel and recorded by Doyle on his 4-track tape deck at his home in 1991 are the last known original new song demos he performed. His musical career was curtailed when he suffered ill-health later in the 1990s. He died in Castlemaine, Victoria, of throat cancer, on 13 October 2001. He is buried at Muckleford Cemetery.
''Watcha Gonna Do About It (#61) / Do It "Zula Style" 1965 Sunshine
''Speechless (The Pickup) (#32) / Like I Love You'' 1965 Sunshine
''The Great Pretender (#36) / Everybody Loves A Lover'' 1966 Sunshine
''Something You Got Baby / Go Away'' 1966 Sunshine
'' Tweedlee Dee (#98) / Mr. Goodtime'' 1966 Sunshine
''Plastic Dreams And Toy Balloons (#56) / You're My Remedy'' 1967 Astor
'' If You Can Put That In A Bottle / I'm Not The Boy You're After'' 1967 Astor
'Peter Doyle' 1966 Sunshine
He continued working in the UK until 1981 where he also recorded advertising jingles for Ribena and Sugar Puffs, provided the vocal for a children's single, "Jungle Ted and the Laceybuttonpoppers" and did backing vocals on Lyn Paul's UK Top 40 solo single, "It Oughta Sell A Million". Two singles were issued on the independent Limelight label in 1980: the first of these was a cover of Peter McCann's US hit "Do You Wanna Make Love". This song, ironically, had also been covered two years earlier by The New Seekers with Peter Doyle's replacement, Danny Finn, on lead vocal. Peter returned to Australia in 1981 to work with a band called Standing Room Only. In 1982, ex-Wings drummer, Steve Holly invited him to join the group Regis in the US, where he worked for the next five years.
Returning to Australia in 1987, Doyle regularly performed on the club circuit. From 1991 to 1993, he was a member of the Ram Band in Melbourne, providing vocals, played bass and keyboards. He appeared with The Ram Band on the "Living Legends Live Benefit Concert" filmed and recorded at The Palace Entertainment Complex St Kilda in May 1992. Four original songs written by John van Boxtel and recorded by Doyle on his 4-track tape deck at his home in 1991 are the last known original new song demos he performed. His musical career was curtailed when he suffered ill-health later in the 1990s. He died in Castlemaine, Victoria, of throat cancer, on 13 October 2001. He is buried at Muckleford Cemetery.
SINGLES
''Stupidity (#34) / Heigh-Ho'' 1965 Sunshine''Watcha Gonna Do About It (#61) / Do It "Zula Style" 1965 Sunshine
''Speechless (The Pickup) (#32) / Like I Love You'' 1965 Sunshine
''The Great Pretender (#36) / Everybody Loves A Lover'' 1966 Sunshine
''Something You Got Baby / Go Away'' 1966 Sunshine
'' Tweedlee Dee (#98) / Mr. Goodtime'' 1966 Sunshine
''Plastic Dreams And Toy Balloons (#56) / You're My Remedy'' 1967 Astor
'' If You Can Put That In A Bottle / I'm Not The Boy You're After'' 1967 Astor
EPs
'Stupidity & Speechless' 1965 Sunshine'Peter Doyle' 1966 Sunshine
ALBUMS
'Peter's 1st Album' 1966 Sunshine'Skin Deep' 1977 RCA
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Doyle_%28singer%29
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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