MARCIE JONES

Marcie Jones was born 26th July 1945 in Moreland Victoria. From a very early age Marcie developed a love for music largely due to being exposed to the music played by her mother on piano and by her relatives using instruments such as accordion, fiddle and the banjo. Marcie was gifted genetically with a strong voice and her early performances were on the home dining-room table. Her early music influences included singers Connie Francis and Brenda Lee.

As a teen Marcie and her girlfriends would attend local dances and she was particularly taken by the then top Melbourne group, The Thunderbirds. At the age of fifteen, while attending such a dance at the Canterbury Ballroom, she asked if she could sing with them and of course was told no. However, she was told the Thunderbirds were looking for a singer and invited her back the following week to audition. Given her music influences it came as no surprise when Marcie went along and sang three songs, ''Stupid Cupid'', ''Lipstick On Your Collar'' and ''Robot Man'' and, the rest became history!. Marcie was working as a hairdresser but at around the age of 19, circa 1964, she was chosen to sing on the main teen program of the day, The Go Show which was to make her a household name throughout Australia. Marcie appeared on every national TV variety show in Australia over four decades. She recorded 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. Marcie & The Cookies were in the mould of such U.S. acts as The Supremes and The Crystals. 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 Music and put them with his all-powerful entertainment agency A.M.B.O. Within 12 months they had become widely known for Jones'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 The Go!! Show. They toured Australia as support act for overseas artists such as The Monkees on their Australian September 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 singles. They were in demand for session work such as on the Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays track, "Something's Got a Hold on Me". During 1969 the group toured South East Asia for three months performing in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and the Philippines. The tour included performances to Vietnam War servicemen at American bases.

After more than two years overseas Jones decided to return home to Australia, leaving the Cook sisters to continue on as backing singers. With Peter Williams, they went on to form a new group called Spirit of Progress who recorded a couple of singles on the Philips label and were the support act also for Cliff Richard on tour. On returning to Australia, 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 single "Baby I Need Your Loving" from 1975 was produced by Del Shannon.

Jones continued to perform both solo and with The Cookies (under the name of Marcie Jones and The Cookies), in stage shows, clubs, concerts and tours supporting major overseas artists. In their 40-year career they toured with The Monkees, Gene Pitney, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Roy Orbison, Tom Jones, Del Shannon, Ray Stevens and other performers. They performed a mixture of sixties and soul, ballads and rock.

In 1998, Marcie released a four track CD titled 'Pure Heart'. One of the tracks from this CD, her own composition "George Jones" written about her father, won her a nomination at the 1999 Victorian Country Music Awards for Best Female Singer. She had won further nominations in the same category for both the 2000 and 2001 awards singing her own songs "Butterfly of Love" and "Long Boots".

In mid-2008, Jones became a presenter on 100.7 Highlands FM, a community radio station based in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, Australia, where she co-hosted a weekly show entitled "Blonde and Blonder". In December 2008, Network Creative Services published her 400-page autobiography Runs in the Blood. The book deals with Jones's entertainment career, the Australian franchise of Koala Blue, the break-up with Australian 'King of Pop' Normie Rowe, arriving at hospital to give birth with Gerry Marsden (of Merseybeat fame), having her second child born premature, and performing for the Pope. Marcie Jones died in 2025 of leukemia.

SINGLES

''I Just Can't Imagine / When A Girl Falls In Love'' 1965 Sunshine
''I Wanna Know / Quiet'' (#63) 1965 Sunshine
''Danny Boy / That Hurts'' 1966 Sunshine
''You Can't Bypass Love / (He's Gonna Be) Fine, Fine, Fine'' 1967 Sunshine
''That's The Way It Is (#99) / Big Lovers Come In Small Packages'' 1967 Sunshine
''Armed And Extremely Dangerous (#71) / Over The Rainbow'' 1973 Atlantic
''Gonna Get Married (#37) / I Found My Freedom'' 1973 Atlantic
''I Only Have Eyes For You / Gonna Make It'' 1974 Atlantic
''Space Captain / These Things Will Keep Me Loving You'' 1974 Atlantic
''Baby, I Need Your Lovin' / It Hurts So Good'' 1975 Atlantic
''Back Here In Your Arms Again / I Like Your Music'' 1976 Atlantic

''The Vow / Good For The Goose'' 2002 Pure Heart

EPs

'Pure Heart' 1998 Pure Heart

ALBUMS

'That Girl Jones' 1974 Atlantic

'Good Rockin' Tonight' [with The Allstars]

'Here I Am' 2005

References

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