THE DADDY COOL STORY…Daddy Cool are: Ross Wilson – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Harmonica; Wayne Duncan – Bass Guitar; Gary Young – Drums, Vocals; Ross Hannaford – Lead Guitar, Artwork, Bass Vocals.
SO, WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED WAS……Daddy Cool burst onto the scene in Melbourne, Australia in late 1970, delivering a vibrant upbeat mix of blues, doo wop & crazy mixed up retro rock via underground rock music events at the T F Much Ballroom Cathedral Hall & by Summer s end were primed for sellout shows at the Melbourne Town Hall. Witnessing this happy mayhem was producer Robie Porter who after signing them to his independent Sparmac record label, cut an album in 2.5 days & took it back to his hometown Los Angeles for mixing.
Their first single Eagle Rock was an instant sensation and spent 11 straight weeks at No.1 on the national Top 40 singles chart with massive airplay. Their album Daddy Who? Daddy Cool also hit No.1 & became the highest selling Australian artist rock album at that time selling 60,000 copies. This was an era when a Gold Record was awarded for sales of 10,000 discs. Daddy Cool s success led to ARIA rewriting the rules & now it takes 35,000 sales to achieve Gold Album status in Australia. By September 1971, Daddy Cool had played in LA, scored an international deal with Warner-Reprise Records and by the end of the year was on the road touring the US with labelmates Fleetwood Mac & Deep Purple.
A third US tour in 1972 in support of the renamed Teenage Heaven album on Reprise saw the band touring with Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, REO Speedwagon, Linda Rondstat, Ten Years After & Earth, Wind & Fire. Daddy Cool were drawing new audiences in LA & the mid-west and their fan base was on the rise…and then suddenly, it was all over.
Tour pressure, lack of empathy with US management, tall poppy syndrome in Oz, whatever…Ross Wilson pulled the plug & in August 1972. Daddy Cool s swansong was a final concert at their birthplace, Cathedral Hall.Daddy Cool briefly reformed during 1974
