The Twilights - Needle In A Haystack (1966)

(William "Mickey" Stevenson - Norman Whitfield)
 Australia
#7 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #3 Adelaide #1 Perth

Beatles-influenced Adelaide band The Twilights had several hits around the country 1966-68, from a repertoire that included band originals (If She Finds Out, Young Girl, Cathy Come Home) as well as cover versions (Larry Williams’s Bad Boy, The Velvelettes’ Needle In A Haystack).

Popular in Adelaide from 1964, The Twilights expanded their national audience when they relocated to Melbourne in 1965. As part of their prize in winning the national Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds in July 1966, The Twilights were produced by Beatles engineer Norman “Hurricane” Smith at Abbey Road: see What’s Wrong With The Way I Live.

Twilights vocalist Glenn Shorrock and guitarist Terry Britten have followed long and diverse careers: Shorrock was famously with Axiom and Little River Band, and Britten’s compositions have been widely recorded, including We Don’t Need Another Hero and What’s Love Got To Do With It? by Tina Turner (both co-wr. Graham Lyle from Gallagher & Lyle). Milesago’s Twilights page has post-Twilights news of drummer Laurie Pryor and rhythm guitarist Peter Brideoake but loses the trail of vocalist Paddy McCartney and original drummer John Bywaters.

References, further reading:  1. Milesago’s detailed Twilights history adds a 1982 memoir by Twilights singer Glenn Shorrock and a personal appreciation by Paul Culnane. 2. The Twilights at Howlspace [archived]. 3. Ian McFarlane, The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (1999), pp. 652-654.