For approximately three years in the late 1960’s, a five-man, one-woman rock group from Sydney, Australia became one of that country’s most popular groups – almost as popular as their contemporaries, the Seekers or the Easybeats.
Let me introduce you to The Executives, led by the married couple of Brian King and Carol King. They broke through quickly, taking this cover of a UK top 40 hit, “Wander Boy,” onto the Sydney radio stations.
Australian pop music often consisted of two variables – most bands would record covers of songs that were already popular in the United Kingdom or in the United States; but there were a few – the Easybeats, for example – whose catalog contained just their own music. Now the Executives did record several cover songs for their first album, but it was their own composition, with Carol King on vocals – a song called “My Aim Is To Please You” – that soared up the pop charts and became the group’s first national Top 10 hit.
If Carol King’s going to be the face of your band, the next time you appear on an Australian variety show, it might be a good idea to put her front and center on the stage. Which is exactly what they did with their next big hit, a cover of the Buffalo Springfield / Mojo Men track “Sit Down, I Think I Love You.”
Their third national hit was a track from the Brill Building songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, “It’s A Happening World.”
By 1968, the Executives had totally embraced their mixture of sunshine pop and six-part harmony, with their follow-up track “Windy Day,” which in itself was a cover of the US chart hit by the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
Their final Australian national chart hit was another soaring hit that could have landed in the catalog of the Cowsills or the Partridge Family had their producers caught a touch of it, “Summerhill Road.”
And although “Summerhill Road” is a really sweet track, you need to flip that 45 over and check out the Executives’ step into psychedelia, a track called “Christopher Robin.”
What could have been the Executives’ big break came when some of their songs were used in the 1970 motion picture Rabbit, Run – a film based on the 1960 John Updike novel. But Rabbit, Run flopped in the movie theaters, and all we have for the effort are these killer tracks, “Hey Man” being what would have been their first worldwide single …
And this track, which takes the Executives into early 1970’s funk and hard rock, a song called “You’re Gonna Love Me.”
After a three-year hiatus, the Executives reunited and returned to the performing stage and to the recording studio. Here’s a clip of their comeback single, “On The Road Back,” as performed on the Paul Hogan variety show. Yes, that Paul Hogan. Yes, “Crocodile Dundee” Paul Hogan.
Because there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of sunshine pop / middle of the road / early 70’s wah-wah funk from Sydney, Australia. And you know I’m right.
That’s why you listen to K-Chuck Radio. ๐
Chuck The Writer 