This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Easybeats" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(January 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
The Easybeats
The Easybeats in 1966. Clockwise from left: Dick Diamonde, Harry Vanda, Snowy Fleet, George Young and Stevie Wright.
Background information
Origin
Sydney, Australia
Genres
Rock
pop
Discography
The Easybeats discography
Years active
1964–1969
1986
Labels
Albert
Parlophone
United Artists
Polydor
Spinoffs
Vanda & Young
Marcus Hook Roll Band
Past members
Dick Diamonde
Snowy Fleet
Harry Vanda
Stevie Wright
George Young
Tony Cahill
The Easybeats were an Australian rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success; Rolling Stone described it as "the first international victory for Oz rock".[1] One of the most popular and successful bands in the country, they were one of the few Australian bands of their time to foreground their original material; their first album Easy (1965) was one of the earliest Australian rock albums featuring all original songs.
The five founding members, all migrants from Europe, met at the Villawood Migrant Hostel in Sydney in 1964. They rose to national prominence in 1965 with the song "She's So Fine", which reached number three in Australia. Their concerts and public appearances were marked by an intense fanaticism frequently compared to Beatlemania; this phenomenon was subsequently dubbed "Easyfever". They relocated to the UK in 1966, where they recorded "Friday On My Mind". Following its success, the band struggled to maintain international recognition. Compounded by financial and contractual issues, drug use and the increasing independence of guitarists and songwriters Harry Vanda and George Young, they returned to Australia in 1969 amid declining popularity back home and subsequently disbanded.
Lead singer Stevie Wright started a solo career and had a number one Australian hit with "Evie" in 1974; he died in 2015 after lengthy battles with drugs and alcohol and years of poor health. Guitarists Vanda and Young continued as a songwriting and producing duo and produced several albums by AC/DC; Young died in 2017. During their six-year run, they scored 15 top 40 hits in Australia, including "She's So Fine" and "Women (Make You Feel Alright)", with number-one hits including "Friday on My Mind" and "Sorry". They reunited for a tour in 1986. In 2005, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
^Fricke, David (11 September 1986). "The Easybeats: Where Are They Now?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
TheEasybeats were an Australian rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which...
Flavourofnz.co.nz. "Easybeats songs and albums | full Official Chart history". Official Charts. Retrieved 21 June 2017. "TheEasybeats Chart History". Billboard...
best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band theEasybeats who with fellow member George Young formed the 1970s and 1980s songwriting and...
Australian rock group TheEasybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching No.16 on the Billboard Hot...
Australian drummer. Born Gordon Fleet, he formed TheEasybeats at the Villawood Migrant Hostel as the drummer. The group consisted of Gordon (now performing...
is best known for being the lead singer of theEasybeats, who are widely regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s. Born in Leeds, Wright...
guitarist. He was a founding mainstay member of theEasybeats. Diamonde, with the group, was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005. Dingeman Adriaan...
Debbie Kruger. At the 2001 APRA Awards ceremony You Am I performed the No. 1 listed song "Friday on My Mind" with Harry Vanda of TheEasybeats guesting on guitar...
again in the closing credits of Lost Boys: The Thirst. "Good Times" by Jimmy Barnes and INXS – 3:49 (TheEasybeats) "Lost in the Shadows (The Lost Boys)"...
The Best of TheEasybeats Volume 2 is the second compilation album by the Australian rock group TheEasybeats. The album was first released on October...
as Anything, The Triffids and I'm Talking. To promote the tour, INXS recorded two songs with Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel: TheEasybeats cover "Good Times"...
Harry Vanda and George Young (both ex-theEasybeats) as a session band to record their songwriting efforts. The group had two versions from London and...
"Beds Are Burning" was voted No. 3 behind TheEasybeats' "Friday on My Mind" and Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock". At the 2001 APRA Awards ceremony "Beds are Burning"...
this period. TheEasybeats, featuring vocalist Stevie Wright and guitarist George Young, the older brother of Angus and Malcolm Young of the later hard...
Thorpe and the Aztecs was the first act to sign to the Alberts label.[citation needed] Ted Albert was introduced to members of TheEasybeats by mutual...
Global Information
