Normie Rowe - It’s Not Easy (1966)

(Barry Mann - Cynthia Weil)
 Australia (recorded in UK)
Original version
#5 Sydney #3 Melbourne #2 Brisbane #6 Adelaide #8 Perth #21 NZ

Recorded in London at Polydor, produced by John Carter and Terry Kennedy, Australian single on International Sunshine. See also Ooh La La and Going Home.

Double-sided hit in Perth with Mary Mary.

The song was registered with the US Copyright Office in February 1967, current registration #RE-704-733.

Melbourne singer Normie Rowe became Australia’s top teen idol of the late 60s and the star of Ivan Dayman’s Sunshine label. He had a string of hits in Australia from 1965, recorded four singles in London, toured Britain and America, and even inspired a tribute song, Norman-Normie. After he was conscripted to serve in Vietnam he never regained his earlier ‘King of Pop‘ status, but he re-established himself as a respected performer, especially on stage, starring in such productions as Les Miserables and Annie.

Normie Rowe on the recording of It’s Not Easy (response to David Walker (“Norman”), posted to Spectropop March 2003):

It’s Not Easy was picked from a series of demos played to me by a song plugger from Screen Gems-Columbia music in London in 1966. It had been written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for the Righteous Brothers just before their 1966 break-up. I must’ve been the next person to hear it. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the song originally. …The orchestra on the recording was 36 piece which included John-Paul Jones and Jimmy Page, both of whom went on to form Led Zeppelin, the Ted Heath Band brass section, and a vocal group made up of singers from The Breakaways, and The Ivy League. Phil Dennys wrote the score. The production team of John Carter and Terry Kennedy were more than up to the task of producing a really fine recording.

Reference: Spectropop Group Digest #824, 16 Mar 2003, Message #23 It’s Not Easy by Normie Rowe, From: Norman

Further reading: 1. Normie Rowe biography at Milesago. 2. Official site at NormieRowe.com.

Thank you to David Walker.