(Bruce Woodley - Hans Poulsen)
New Zealand (recorded in UK)
#7 NZ
Recorded at Abbey Road studios, London. Single on Columbia (New Zealand), charted 25 July, 1969. The
Fourmyula were in the UK after winning New Zealand’s National Battle of the Sounds.
The Fourmyula were a popular and original New Zealand band. They had eleven charting singles in New
Zealand 1969-1971 including Come With Me (#2 1968), Alice Is There (#4 1968),
I’ll Sing You A Song (#3 1969) and Nature (#1 1969).
Much of the band’s material was written by Fourmyula guitarist, keyboardist and founding band member Wayne Mason with bassist Ali Richardson. The lead singer, who joined when the band was signed to HMV, was now Carl Evenson, formerly of The Kal-Q-lated Risk. Also in the band at this time were guitarist Martin Hope and drummer Chris Parry.
See also Mr Whippy, a Fourmyula original also recorded by Johnny Farnham.
References: History of The Fourmyula at Bruce Sergent’s NZ Music site;
Dean Scapolo’s NZ Music Charts.
Further reading: Website of Wayne Mason, still an active singer &
songwriter; Wikipedia articles on The Fourmyula and Wayne
Mason; Wayne Mason and the Song ‘Nature’ at NZ History Online.
(Bruce Woodley - Hans Poulsen)
Australia
Original version
#5 Melbourne
Single on Philips, charted 17 May 1969.
The writers are Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and Melbourne singer-songwriter Hans Poulsen, also of Eighteenth Century Quartet. Monty And Me by The Zoot (1969), is another Woodley-Poulsen composition, and Hans Poulsen wrote Johnny Farnham's hits Jamie (1968) and Rose Coloured Glasses (1968).
For more on Hans Poulsen, see Boom Sha La La Lo, his Australian single that was covered in New Zealand by The Inbetweens.
The Strangers: Melbourne band, formed in 1961, started out playing instrumentals after the fashion of The Shadows but went through several stylistic and personnel changes until breaking up in the mid-70s.
Thanks to Geoff Jermy & Peter Robinson.
More details: see, for example, The Strangers – Happy
Without You (1968) at this site.
See also: Cry Of The Wild
Goose (1963, an early instrumental), If You Gotta Make A Fool Of
Somebody (1965), Western Union (1967), Melanie Makes Me Smile (1970), Looking Through The Eyes Of A Beautiful Girl (1970) and Mr President (1970).
Further reading: Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia of Australian Rock &
Pop.
Pop Archives
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2024. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…