ROLF HARRIS

Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) was an entertainer whose career had encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. Harris was widely known for his musical compositions "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", a Top 10 hit in Australia, the UK, and the United States, and "Jake the Peg"; his recording of "Two Little Boys" reached #1 in the UK. He often used unusual instruments in his performances: he played the didgeridoo; is credited with the invention of the wobble board; and is associated with the Stylophone. During the 1960s and 1970s, Harris became a popular television personality in the UK, later presenting shows such as Rolf's Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital. In 2005, he painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. He lived in Bray, Berkshire, England, for more than six decades.

Harris released 30 studio albums, two live albums and 48 singles. In 1960 his single "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" reached #1 in Australia, and in 1969 "Two Little Boys" reached #1 on both the Irish and UK charts. His 1992 'Rolf Rules OK?' album was nominated for the ARIA Music Award for Best Comedy. Harris is credited with inventing a simple homemade instrument called the wobble board. As well as his beatboxing, similar to eefing, Harris went on to use an array of unusual instruments in his music, including the didgeridoo (the sound of which was imitated on "Sun Arise" by four double basses), the Jew's harp and, later, the stylophone (for which he also lent his name and likeness for advertising). A sample of Harris saying "You've just heard one of the most remarkable applications in modern electronics", recorded from a Stylophone instruction disc, appears at the end of the 1991 Pulp song "Countdown".

His version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", featuring didgeridoo and wobble board, reached the UK top ten in 1993. Harris also recorded a version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and performed the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself", accompanied only by his wobble board, for "Denton's Musical Challenge" on MMM radio's Breakfast Show (the recording was released on the first Musical Challenge compilation album in 2000). Harris also recorded an Australian Christmas song called "Six White Boomers", about a joey kangaroo trying to find his mother during the Christmas period. The song describes how Santa Claus used six large male kangaroos ("boomers"), instead of reindeer. In October 2008 Harris announced he would re-record his popular 1969 song "Two Little Boys", backed by North Wales' Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir, to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I. Proceeds from the release were donated to the Poppy Appeal. Harris was inspired to make the recording after participating in My Family at War, a short series of programs that aired during the BBC's "Remembrance" season, broadcast in November 2008. He discovered that the experiences of his father and uncle during the Great War mirrored the lyrics of the song.

In July 2014, at the age of 84, Harris was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison on twelve counts of indecent assault on four female victims during the 1970s and 1980s. He was released on licence in 2017 after serving nearly three years. Following his conviction, he was stripped of many of the honours that he had been awarded during his career, including the AO and CBE. One count, that Harris indecently assaulted an eight-year-old girl in Portsmouth, was overturned as unsafe in 2017. Harris applied for permission to appeal against his convictions concerning the three remaining girls, but permission was refused. Harris died of cancer in 2023.

SINGLES
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'Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (#1) / Nick Teen And Al. K. Hall'' 1960 Columbia
''Sun-Arise (#61) / Tie Me Kangaroo Down Cha Cha'' 1960 Columbia
''Lost Little Boy / The Big Black Hat'' (#42) 1960 Columbia
''Six White Boomers (Part 1) (#12) / Six White Boomers (Part 2)'' (#12) 1960 Columbia
''In The Wet / Didgeridoo'' 1961 Columbia
''Tame Eagle (Teen Angel) / The Master From The Bush'' 1961 Columbia
''My Winkles Have Been Pinched / The Ground-Hog Song'' 1962 Columbia
''Sun, Arise (#98) / Someone's Pinched My Winkles'' 1962 Columbia
''I Know A Man / Living It Up'' 1963 Columbia
''Johnny Day / In The Wet'' 1963 Columbia
''Click Go The Shears / Botany Bay'' 1964 Columbia
''The Court Of King Caractacus (#32) / Two Buffalos'' 1964 Columbia
''Ringo For President (#85) / Head Hunter'' 1964 Columbia
''The Five Young Apprentices / The Farmer Went Out For Some Beer'' 1965 Columbia
''Sydney Town (#53) / Iko Iko'' 1965 Columbia
''Wild Colonial Boy / The Thing'' 1965 Columbia
''Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy? (#88) / Animals Pop Party'' 1966 Columbia
''Big Dog / Jake The Peg'' (#23) 1966 Columbia
''Borroloola / If I Were A Rich Man'' 1967 Columbia
''I've Never Seen Anything Like It / Willy, Willy'' 1967 Columbia
''Pukka Chicken / Here Come The Bees (Love Has Gone)'' 1967 Columbia
''Have A Beer / The Bloke Who Invented Beer'' 1968 Columbia
''Hurry Home (#58) / Paris With You'' 1968 Columbia
''Bluer Than Blue / The Monster'' 1969 Columbia
''Two Little Boys (#7) / I Love My Love'' 1969 Festival
''Ned Kelly / Tennessee Bird Walk'' 1970 Festival
''Mary Of The Quiet Eyes / Mary's Boy Child'' 1970 Festival
''A Ram Sam Sam / Go Back Home'' 1971 Interfusion
''Salvation Army Citadel (#67) / Take Back The Things That We Said'' 1971 Festival
''Jimmy, My Boy / Far, Far Away'' 1972 Interfusion
''So Earlye In The Evenin' / Watch Your Step'' 1972 Interfusion
''Down Under In The Outback / Bunyip'' 1972 Interfusion
''She'll Be Right / Jindabyne'' 1972 Interfusion
Come To The Sydney Opera House / Back Home Along The Old Swan River'' 1973 Interfusion
''Papillon / Relax With Rolf'' 1974 Interfusion
''Two Little Boys / Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport'' 1978 Interfusion
''Back To W.A. (#66) / Old Man Emu'' 1978 Interfusion
'' What's A Pommie [with his Dad - Crom Harris With The W.A.Symphony Orchestra] / Intro / The Gendarmes Duet'' 1979 Interfusion
''Stuck To The Ice [ with the Children Of St.Cyril's Roman Catholic Primary School, Liverpool, England] / Best Foot Forward'' 1979 Interfusion
''It's Hard To Be Humble / Side Up A Tree'' 1980 Interfusion
''Hey Jimmy Johnson [with the Children From The Lindfield Demonstration School, Sydney] / Ginger Tom'' 1981 Interfusion
''G'Day L.A. (Pavlova) / Jumbuck'' 1984 Wizard
''Kangaroos Are Dangaroos / The Rest Of The Day's Your Own'' 1984 Wizard
''Tommy (From 88 Pine) / The Rest Of The Day's Your Own'' 1985 Wizard
''Take It If You Can (The Fremantle Doctor) / Take It If You Can (The Fremantle Doctor) (Extended Version)'' 1986 Wizard

''Stairway To Heaven'' (#73) 1993 Phonogram

EPs

'All Together Now' 1965 Columbia
'The Kangaroo' 1966 Columbia
'Jake The Peg' 1966 Columbia
'Rolf Harris Sings For "Survival" 1966 Columbia
'Six White Boomers' 1967 Columbia
'Rolf Harris And Shamus O'Sean The Leprechaun' 1967 Columbia
'Fijian Girl' 1968 Columbia
'Hurry Home' 1969 Columbia
'Two Little Boys' 1970 Festival
'My Electric Finger' 1972 Interfusion

ALBUMS
'Relax With Rolf' 1961 Columbia
'Rolf Harris At The Arctic Club' 1962 Columbia
'Sun Arise' 1963 Columbia
'All Together Now' 1965 Columbia
'The Man With The Microphone' 1966 Columbia
'The Rolf Harris Show' 1967 Columbia
'This Is Rolf Harris' 1968 Columbia
'Rolf harris Live At The Talk Of The Town' 1969 Columbia
'Mary's Boy Child' 1970 Festival
'R.H. Positive' 1972 Axis
'Two Little Boys' 1972 Interfusion
'Instant Music' 1972 Interfusion
'The Australian Album' 1972 Interfusion
'Live At The Sydney Opera House' 1973
'The Rolf Harris Album' 1973 Summit
'American Revolution Bicentennial 1776-1976' 1976 Interfusion
'Mirrored Image' 1976 Festival
'The Boy From Bassendean' 1979 Interfusion
'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport' 1979 Rainbow
'Rolf On Saturday OK?' 1981 BBC
'All The Best' 1984 Wizard
'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport' 1984 Axis
'There's A Party On With Rolf Harris' 1987 EMI
'A Party's On Again With Rolf Harris' 1987 EMI
'All Time Cartoon Favourites' 1987 Virgin
'A Young Persons Guide To The Orchestra' 1990 ABC

References

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

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