John Paul Young - Early Career

Early Career

Young was born in 1950 in Glasgow, Scotland and his family emigrated to Australia arriving in Sydney on Australia Day (26 January) 1962 at the age of 11. After finishing schooling, he started an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker. Initially performing as John Young, his first involvement in music began in late 1967 when he formed a band, Elm Tree, with schoolmates.

It was my friends who convinced me that I could be a singer. One weekend I rolled up and they were standing there with two bass guitars and an announcement; that we were going to form a band. I immediately poo-pooed the whole thing because I'd just started my apprenticeship in sheet metalwork and after paying off a car, no way was I going to be paying off equipment or anything like that so they said, 'You can be the singer because you're always singing and you don't need any equipment' - and I fell for it. —John Paul Young, The Drum Media, 30 July 2009

The other members included Robert (Slim) Barnett on bass guitar, Ollie Chojnacki on guitar, Phillip Edwards, Andy Imlah on co-lead vocals, Dave Kaentek, Ron Mazurkiewicz on keyboards and Geoff Watts on drums, George Taylor . Elm Tree gained a moderate following around Sydney, and after being spotted by producer Martin Erdman, they cut one single for his Du Monde label, a cover of UK band Marmalade's "Rainbow", which was released through Festival in November 1970, but did not peak into the top 50 Australian singles charts. In mid-1971 they entered the New South Wales heats of the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds and got as far as the Sydney finals, but they didn't make it through to the national final, and so never managed to break out of the Sydney suburban dance circuit. For Young, a major break occurred at an Elm Tree performance when visiting producer and manager, Simon Napier-Bell, heard them in a pub in Newcastle. He persuaded Young to sign as a solo artist to Albert Productions—the company that had produced Australia's top 1960s group The Easybeats. Napier-Bell then produced Young's first hit single, "Pasadena", at Armstrong Studios in Melbourne; it was co-written by George Young (no relation) and Harry Vanda of The Easybeats, together with British actor David Hemmings who was a partner in Napier-Bell's label, SNB Records. Vanda & Young also produced AC/DC and other Albert Productions artists. All he had to do was sing over the demo tape Vanda/Young had sent from London. The single was released under the name, John Young, later releases used his full name to avoid confusion with Johnny Young (no relation), the 1960s pop star and Young Talent Time (1971–1988 TV show) presenter. He performed the song on Happening 70 on Channel Ten."Pasadena" peaked at No. 16 in the Australian Singles charts in early 1972. It was followed by "You Drive Me Crazy" which was released in February 1973 but failed to chart. In addition to the above line up of Elmtree, George Taylor was the drummer directly before John (JPY) left to go into Jesus Christ Superstar then embark on his solo career. During this period, the band competed in the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds coming third in the Hornsby heat to Sherbet (1st) and Jeff St John & Copperwine (2nd). At the time, Elmtree played "Gipsy" and "Walking In Your Shadow", two Uriah Heep covers.

At this point, JPY got a manager Dal Miles who got him a role in the Melbourne production of The Jesus Christ Revolution. The show opened and closed in six weeks. However, it was being seen in this production, Young received a telegram from Jim Sharman who wanted him to audition as Annas for Harry M. Miller’s original Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The show premiered in Sydney on 4 May 1972, and, as well as established theatrical performers, the cast featured leading pop-rock artists: Trevor White, Robin Ramsay, Jon English, Doug Parkinson, Stevie Wright (ex-The Easybeats), Marcia Hines and Reg Livermore. Young remained with the production until it closed in February 1974, the production broke theatrical attendance records in its two year season, and whilst it provided him with a public profile, it left him at a loose end when it concluded.

"Pasadena" had been a hit nobody knew what I looked like. Everybody thought the song was American and basically that was that. It faded away and the ... Superstar - two and a half years of absolute gold - finished. —John Paul Young