Growling vocal delivery with excellent guitar and saxophone breaks.
1941 - 2011
Born on 26th August 1941 in
Paisley, Scotland. Betty’s family moved to Brisbane Australia in 1949. During
her school years there was virtually no music scene in Brisbane so she
regularly travelled to Sydney to enter talent quests. When she left school she
took an office job in a manufacturing company. Wanting to pursue a singing and
recording career she relocated to Melbourne in 1960. Her arrival couldn't have
been planned any better as top local group The Thunderbirds were looking for a
replacement vocalist for Judy Cannon who had recently quit to pursue a singing
career in Sydney.
Betty's
vocal style impressed the group and she began working with them on the local
dance circuit. By mid-1961 her popularity had grown to the point where Astor
Records signed her to a recording contract. Her debut single, a cover of
American John D. Loudermilk's song ‘Midnight Bus’, was released and spent twelve weeks in the local
charts, peaking at number six in December. This led to regular appearances on a
number of television pop shows. She cut two unsuccessful singles for the Astor
label prior to joining another popular local group, The Premiers.
Betty
continued to perform at local dances and became one of the first artists to
appear regularly on Channel O's television pop show The Go!! Show. After her fourth
single for Astor also failed to chart she moved to the ‘GO!!’ Label in
September 1965. Her only two singles for ‘GO!!’ were re-releases of her first
two singles for Astor and sold only moderately. In 1967 she released her last
single on the W&G label before moving back to Brisbane and calling it quits
in 1968. An EP was released in 1981 and during the mid-Eighties she performed
on a series of rock 'n' roll revival concerts staged in Melbourne.
Betty passed away on 26th December 2011 after a long illness.
Betty passed away on 26th December 2011 after a long illness.
Thanks to http://first-decade-of-rock.com/ for the above information.
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