Bobby & Laurie

Bobby & Laurie

Bobby & Laurie were a popular Australian singing duo of the 1960s, featuring Laurie Allen (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Bobby Bright (vocals, guitar). Their regular backing band were The Rondells. The pair formed one of the leading acts in the first wave of the Australian 'beat pop' era between 1964 and 1967, alongside contemporaries such as Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Ray Brown & The Whispers, The Easybeats and Normie Rowe. They became one of the most popular and successful acts of their day.

Allen's first amateur group was in Melbourne the late 1950s and called The Three Jays. This was followed by The Lories (c.1958) and The Roulettes (1958–59), a long-running Melbourne revue band. From 1959 to 1961 he was lead guitarist for Malcolm Arthur & The Knights and in 1962 was lead singer/organist of a previously instrumental group The Blue Jays. At about the end of 1963, The Blue Jays became The Fabulous Blue Jays, the backing band for singer Tony Worsley. Laurie then rejoined The Roulettes.

Bright had previously worked mainly as a solo artist, starting his singing in Adelaide. He later moved to Melbourne and released two solo singles on the W&G Records label in 1963.