Daddy Cool

Ross Wilson is continuing the legacy of Daddy Who by hitting the road with his all star band The Peaceniks to celebrate over 50 Years of Hits including all the Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock favourites you’d expect along with the latest offering from an almost 6 decade career, tracks from his latest EP on Bloodlines Records She’s Stuck On Facebook All The Time, and everything in between.
From Daddy Cool to Mondo Rock and as a solo artist with no less than 26 ARIA Top 40 hits to his credit as a singer, songwriter and producer, Ross Wilson is one of Australia’s most awarded, respected and well-known artists! From the legendary band Daddy Cool whose number one anthem Eagle Rock and debut album "Daddy Who?" smashed all previous sales records in Australia an astounding 50 years ago in 1971, to the 1977 formation of Mondo Rock, delivering 80’s hits ‘Cool World’, ‘State of The Heart’, ‘Chemistry’, ‘No Time’, and ‘Come Said The Boy’ and into the 21st century as a solo performer, Wilson has never been out of the limelight.
DADDY COOL --- WHAT HAPPENED WAS::::::In late 1970 Daddy Cool burst onto the scene in Melbourne, Australia, delivering a vibrant upbeat mix of blues, doo wop & crazy mixed up retro rock, via underground rock music events at the T F Much Ballroom (Cathedral Hall) & by summer's end were primed for sellout shows at the Melbourne Town Hall. Witnessing the happy mayhem firsthand producer Robie Porter signed them to his Sparmac indie label, cut an album in 2.5 days & took it back to his hometown Los Angeles for mixing. The first single 'Eagle Rock' b/w 'Bom Bom' was a sensation spending 11 straight weeks at No.1 on the national Top 40 singles chart with both tracks getting massive airplay. Their album 'Daddy Who? Daddy Cool' also hit No.1 & became the highest selling Australian artist rock album to that time (60,000 copies) in an era when Gold = 10,000. DC's success led to ARIA rewriting the rules & now it takes 35,000 sales in Oz to achieve Gold Album status. By Sept 1971 Daddy Cool had played in LA, scored an international deal with Warner-Reprise Records, & at year's end was on the road touring the US with labelmates Fleetwood Mac & Deep Purple

Back in Oz they continued to have hits with 'Come Back Again' & the 'Lollipop' EP. The 2nd album 'Sex, Dope & Rock&Roll:Teenage Heaven' in early 1972 spawned controversy & yet another classic single 'Hi Honey Ho'. A 3rd US tour in support of the renamed 'Teenage Heaven' on Reprise found them grooving with Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, REO Speedwagon, Linda Rondstat, Ten Years After & Earth-Wind-&-Fire and consolidating new audiences in LA & the mid-west. Then suddenly it was all over. Tour pressure, lack of empathy with US management, tall poppy syndrome in Oz, whatever...Wilson pulled the plug & in August 1972 the band played a final concert at their birthplace Cathedral Hall. Recorded & released in 1973 as the magnificent double album 'The Last Drive-In Movie Show' its arguably the best OzRock live album ever (with the worst cover!).

Desiring to put a less retro combo together Wilson & Hannaford formed Mighty Kong who recorded one highly regarded album then promptly disbanded. By this time Wilson had begun mentoring & championing the group who was to become the NextBigThing, smashing DC's sales records & taking Aussie music to a new level. We're talking about Skyhooks, whose Ross Wilson produced debut album 'Living In The 70s', was released in late 1974 & went on to sell 250,000 within 12 months - a phenomenal figure for that time.

DC were lured back on stage at the 3rd Sunbury Rock Festival in 1974 & stuck around for another year enduring lineup changes & infighting with their record company & releasing a mere 2 new singles before calling it quits again. Wilson went on to produce 2 more mega successful Skyhooks albums, Hannaford began a long love affair with his Reggae muse, while Young & Duncan hit a rockabilly groove with Hot Dog & later the Rocking Emus. Gary Young filled the drum chair with Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons in the late 70s & early 80s as Wilson fronted the equally popular Mondo Rock. In other words they were BUSY pretty much til the end of the 80s & fended off the many requests for a DC reformation until around 1993 when Shirl & Greg from Skyhooks approached DC about a double bill arena tour. It sounded pretty good & both bands entered the studio & started cutting tracks for albums to go with the tour. A double single was released but didn't get much action causing the tour promoters to downgrade the tour to smaller venues which didn't please either of the acts & so the dream bill evaporated & the 7 completed DC tracks were shelved

Fast forward to Boxing Day 2004 & the Sth E Asian Tsunami disaster. Alan Howe, editor of the Sunday Herald-Sun newspaper, called DC about headlining a benefit concert at the Myer Music Bowl. Playing to over 10,000 peeps suddenly Daddy Cool was back with great reviews & footage which lead to a 5hr 'history of' DVD 'The Complete Daddy Cool' (Aztec International) released in Nov 2005. There was also a new recording 'The Christmas Bug' cut for charity & boppin' & funny & swingin' as hard as ever. Had it really been over 30 years since their last album? OK you wanted em back...now here they are with a brand new album & a couple of big festival performances to their credit. "Daddy's Back & that's cool, extra cool" Get down to your store or click online for "The New Cool", the best Daddy Cool album of the 21st Century - 16 studio tracks plus 3 'live' - that's 19 trax of perfectly Cool sounds to fill YourSpace.