Friday on My Mind: The Life of George Young by Apter Jeff

Friday on My Mind: The Life of George Young by Apter Jeff

Author:Apter, Jeff [Apter, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Music
ISBN: 9781760874940
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2020-08-03T14:00:00+00:00


10

The House of Hits

‘Yesterday’s Hero’ was the most autobiographical song George had ever written. It was a snapshot of his helter-skelter days with The Easybeats and the strange after-effect of feeling washed up when he had barely reached his twenties. When John Paul Young sang ‘Take a look at me, I’m yesterday’s hero’, the words could have come directly from George’s mouth. It was also a really strong pop song with a very catchy chorus.

While recording the song, George thought that it needed a spoken-word passage, delivered in a newsreader style (a technique repeated several years later in John Farnham’s ‘You’re the Voice’).

‘Do you know anyone who might be good for the part?’ George asked Young.

He certainly did. He brought in two actors he’d met during his run on Jesus Christ Superstar. One was named Joe Dicker, who’d played King Herod. The other was budding thespian Michael Caton, formerly of Biloela in Queensland, who’d go on to enjoy a lengthy TV and film career, most notably playing the role of Uncle Harry in Channel 9’s The Sullivans and Darryl Kerrigan in the iconic Aussie flick The Castle. Alberts’ Chris Gilbey read the opening line, ‘Here is the news.’

Caton nailed his part, and another Aussie pop classic was born. Ted Albert confirmed this when George played him the end result—he immediately sat up in his seat, a telltale sign that the song was a winner. The connection between Albert, George and Harry was deepening with each new track recorded in the studio downstairs. ‘With George, Harry and Ted,’ said Alberts’ insider Fifa Riccobono, ‘[they] could almost hear each other thinking … [they] just understood each other so well.’

The film clip for ‘Yesterday’s Hero’ became another early Australian classic. A forlorn Young, his hands sunk deep into his pockets, was filmed walking the streets of Melbourne, with various members of the public shooting him ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere?’ glances as he drifted by. It was intercut with studio footage of a very earnest and baby-faced Young performing the song, his hair perfect, wearing a shirt so vivid it would have made William Shakespeare blush. Some additional scenes of Young being mobbed by eager fans were shot in the ABC car park at Ripponlea in suburban Melbourne, where Countdown was produced.

‘Yesterday’s Hero’ hit the national Top 10 in June 1975, keeping company on the charts with local hits such as Richard Clapton’s ‘Girls on the Avenue’ and William Shakespeare’s ‘My Little Angel’, which was still holding tight to the Top 40. In Melbourne, the song stayed at number 1 for six weeks.

Young was invited onto Countdown’s set to perform ‘Yesterday’s Hero’ as it rose in the charts. He’d barely started to sing when the frantic (female) audience swallowed him up, stripping the shirt from his back and leaving him bewildered and bruised. A dazed Young swore blind that he’d had no idea he was going to get mobbed—it was an ambush—while Countdown’s host, Molly Meldrum, insisted that he had nothing to do with the crowd’s reaction, despite whispers that he’d stage-managed the entire scenario.



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