TONY WORSLEY

Tony was born Anthony Asheen Worsley in England in 1942 and emigrated with his family from his hometown of Hastings to the sunnier climes of Brisbane when he was 15. Tony had already set his sights on a show biz career. As a lad he won several amateur talent quests in England including one judged by Lonnie Donegan and Tommy Steele, which carried first prize of a Decca recording contract. Needless to say, his parents' decision to leave for Australia right at this point didn't go down too well with the ambitious young singer -- "I didn't get on with my parents too much on the ship for the first few weeks!" -- but he was determined to fulfill that dream in his adopted country. By day he worked as an apprentice rigger in the Brisbane dockyards, but at night he patrolled the dance halls, waiting for his chance to get up on stage.

Tony quickly developed into a consummate performer, gigging around Brisbane's dance circuit with a variety of pick-up bands. His outrageously long collar-length hair, wild stage presence and repertoire of Merseybeat tunes (copped from imported records sent by his friends in England) which earned him his early nickname "Brisbane's Beatle".

As early as 1961, Tony had come to the attention of Ivan Dayman, a pop entrepreneur, and a budding 'svengali' figure in the mould of Lee Gordon. Dayman who would soon also steer Normie Rowe and Mike Furber to national success was on the lookout for a suitable backing band for his young discovery and he believed he had found it when he made a new addition to the Sunshine roster, the popular Melbourne dance band The Blue Jays. Dayman's offer of AU£35 per week to sing with The Blue Jays was simply too good for the young singer to refuse. It was a huge salary for the times, ten times what Tony was being paid as a sailmaker and as late as 1966, even the members of The Small Faces, then one of Britain's top bands, were being paid just UK£20 per week each! The teaming of Tony with this tight, professional outfit in early 1964 proved to be an inspired choice.

Dayman teamed The Blue Jays with Tony Worsley at the start of 1964, and with their name enhanced by the suitably glamorous prefix Fabulous the group immediately set about creating a dynamic stage show, centred on Tony's gritty tenor voice, good looks and dynamic showmanship. Tony's 'take-no-prisoners' attitude was backed up by one of the tightest and most competent bands in the country and the Blue Jays trademark 'fat' sound blended sax and guitar in a potent lead instrumental assault, giving them a powerful attack comparable to earlier rock'n'roll groups like Johnny O'Keefe's Dee Jays. From his recently acquired Brisbane HQ at the legendary Cloudland Ballroom (a landmark Queensland venue, sadly demolished in the 1980s) Dayman promoted the group in package extravaganzas up and down the coast, including appearances at his popular Bowl venues, and they soon earned a reputation for upstaging the main acts.

In 1964 as the beat boom hotted up and the band's frantic touring schedule took its toll, but by the end of the year the Blue Jays had settled into the first 'classic' lineup, each of whom earned their own nickname: Ray 'Screamy' Eames (lead guitar), Mal 'Beaky' Clarke (rhythm guitar), Paul 'Bingo' Shannon (sax and keyboards), and Royce 'Baby' Nicholls (bass), completed by the return of founding Blue Jays drummer Bobby 'Spider' Johnson. In mid-1964 Dayman took over the Saturday night lease on Melbourne's largest indoor venue, Festival Hall, renaming it Mersey City. On 2 May 1964 he opened with Tony and the Fabulous Blue Jays. Over 4500 teenagers attended: "That was 500 more than saw the Beatles" according to Tony. Dayman also used them to open several other Queensland venues as his Sunshine empire expanded to Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Inala and Surfers Paradise.

In late 1964, Dayman formed the Sunshine record label (distributed by Festival) with partners Nat Kipner and Pat Aulton. The first single, released in October, was an original instrumental by The Blue Jays called "Jay Walker". The next (November) was the debut single by Tony Worsley & The Fabulous Blue Jays, and it was a killer combination: the A-side was a scorching version of "Sure Know A Lot About Love", backed by a terrific acoustic-driven original, "Me You Gotta Teach", composed by what soon developed into the bands resident writing partnership of Beaky Clarke and Baby Nicholls.

1965 was without doubt the peak of their meteoric career. February saw the release of the second Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays single and perhaps their best recording, a raucous, syncopated cover of Rosco Gordon's "Just A Little Bit", which broke through onto the national airwaves in early '65 and became a significant hit, charting particularly well in Melbourne and Brisbane. Tony and the Blue Jays had picked up on the song from a version by English band The Undertakers, but coincidentally it was also recorded at that time by The Animals (under the title "Don't Want Much"). The Animals' version was recorded during the sessions for their second LP 'Animal Tracks' but it didn't make the final cut and remained unreleased until 'The Complete Animals' 2CD set was issued in 1990. Worsley and The Blue Jays supported The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks and Manfred Mann on their tours to Australian in 1965.

Sunshine issued the band's self-titled debut album, with one side dedicated to Worsley's songs and the flip to The Fabulous Blue Jays (sans Worsley). Of the album's 16 tracks, ten had already been issued as A and B-sides of singles. Eames left the band around that time and would join Melbourne band Jigsaw and was replaced by Jimmy Cerezo (ex-Pleazers). The Fabulous Blue Jays backed Worsley on his third single, Chuck Berry's ''Talkin' About You'' (June 1965), although their name was dropped from the label credit. Dayman began pushing Worsley as a solo artist, so his next three singles on Sunshine appeared credited to Tony Worsley.

They were ''Velvet Waters / Rock-a-Billy'' (September 1965), ''Missing You / Lonely City'' (January 1966) and ''Something's Got a Hold on Me / Something'' (March). Although the bulk of Worsley's material was rocky and uptempo, the ballad ''Velvet Waters'' provided him with the biggest hit of his career. It reached #5 in Sydney and #14 in Melbourne during October. A second ballad, `'Missing You'', failed to replicate that success (#28 in Sydney). Sunshine issued Worsley's second album, 'Velvet Waters and Other Great Songs', in late 1965. ''Something's Got a Hold on Me'' returned Worsley to more upbeat material, but it too failed to chart. Not long after the single's release, Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays parted company. The last Worsley record to feature The Fabulous Blue Jays on a couple of tracks was the album 'My Time of Day' (November 1966). Worsley formed a new, short-lived version of The Fabulous Blue Jays with Phil Manning (lead guitar), Brian Patterson (rhythm guitar), Brian Saunders (bass) and Jimmy Thompson (drums)

Tony spent most of the '70s getting his life and health back in order, working variously as a water ski instructor, a waiter, and occasionally performing on the club circuit before he took up an enviable existence singing at major resorts in the South Pacific, Hawaii, and America. Heading down to Sydney, he put together a new band called Tony Worsley & The Decades in the late '80s, and he has recorded sporadically over the years, releasing singles on the Enrec imprint in the early 90s. Plans were afoot for a fresh spate of recording in 2000, this time in the currently in-vogue Latin style.

Tony has lost none of the magic or charisma he exhibited in his youth; he has performed regularly in club shows whenever he was not busy as "mine host" and number one entertainer at his own in Caloundra (Sunshine Coast) restaurant called -- of course -- "Velvet Waters", and decked out, appropriately, with rock memorabilia. Tony continued to run the restaurant very successfully until late 2007, when it was purchased by another company. Tony was also one of the many luminaries who attended George Crotty's now-legendary Sixties Reunion Party in Sydney in 2001.

SINGLES

''I Sure Know A Lot About Love (#88) / Me You Gotta Teach'' [with The Fabulous Blue Jays] 1964 Sunshine
''Just A Little Bit (#41) / If I'' [with The Fabulous Blue Jays] 1965 Sunshine
''Talking About You / I Dream Of You'' 1965 Sunshine
''Velvet Waters (#6) / Rock-A-Billy'' 1965 Sunshine
''Missing You (#27) / Lonely City'' 1965 Sunshine
''Something's Got A Hold On Me (#51) / Something'' 1966 Sunshine
'' No Worries (#87) / Humpy Dumpy'' 1966 Sunshine
''Knocking On Wood / Raining In My Heart'' (#90) 1966
''Reaching Out / Do You Mind'' 1967 Sunshine
''Heartache For You / Rainy Night In Georgia'' 1990 Enrec
''Hey Hey Little Girl / High On Love'' 1991 Enrec

EPs

'I Sure Know A Lot About Love' [with The Fabulous Blue Jays] 1965 Sunshine
'If I' [with The Fabulous Blue Jays] 1965 Sunshine
'Velvet Waters' 1965 Sunshine
'Missing You' 1966 Sunshine
'Something's Got A Hold On Me' 1966 Sunshine
'Raining In My Heart' 1966 Sunshine

ALBUMS

'Tony Worsley And The Fabulous Blue Jays' 1965 Sunshine

'Velvet Waters (And Other Great Songs)' 1965 Sunshine

'My Time Of Day' 1966 Sunshine

References

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