The Seekers were a group of Australian folk-influenced popular musicians that was formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were a highly popular band during the 1960s.

Their best-known configuration was:

They had nine hits in Britain and Australia in the 1960s: "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own", "The Carnival Is Over" (which The Seekers have sung at various closing ceremonies in Australia, including Expo '88 and the Paralympics and still stands as the 30th Best Selling Song in the United Kingdom), "Someday One Day", "Walk With Me", "Morningtown Ride", "Georgy Girl" (the title song of the film of the same name), "When Will the Good Apples Fall" and "Emerald City".

Bruce Woodley's and Dobe Newton's song "I Am Australian", which has been recorded by The Seekers, and by singer Judith Durham with Russell Hitchcock and Mandawuy Yunupingu, has become an unofficial Australian anthem. To date The Seekers have sold over 50 million records.

The Song "I'll Never Find Another You" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011.

An Australian band

Discovery in the UK

The group decided to remain in the UK and after filling in on a bill headlined by Dusty Springfield, they met her brother, songwriter-producer Tom Springfield, who had experience with folk-pop material with his earlier group The Springfields. He penned a song for them called "I'll Never Find Another You", which they recorded in November 1964. It was released by EMI Records (on the Columbia label) in December 1964 and was championed by the offshore radio station Radio Caroline. Despite the fact that the group had not signed a contract with EMI, the single reached the UK Top 40 and began selling well. In February 1965, it reached #1 in the UK and Australia, and #4 in the U.S. where it was released on EMI's Capitol label.

The distinctive soprano voice of lead singer Judith Durham, the group's harmonies, and memorable songs encouraged the BBC to give them exposure, allowing them to appeal to a broad cross-section of the pop audience.

String of hits

In 1966, they recorded Paul Simon’s "Someday One Day", which reached No.4 in Australia and No.11 in the UK. During this time, Art Garfunkel had returned to school and Paul Simon was pursuing a solo career in the UK following the failure of the duo's first released LP, ''Wednesday Morning, 3 am''. The Seekers' version of "Someday One Day" was Simon's first UK success as a writer, and his first major hit as a composer outside of his work with Art Garfunkel. Bruce Woodley co-wrote several songs with Simon at this time, including "Red Rubber Ball" which became a US No.1 single (on the Cashbox chart) for The Cyrkle and was subsequently covered by The Seekers for their 1966 LP 'Come the Day' (released as 'Georgy Girl' in the US).

After returning to Australia in early 1966, The Seekers filmed their first television special, ''At Home With The Seekers''. The band performed at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl before a crowd of 150,000. The Seekers were named Best New Artists at the 1966 New Musical Express Poll Winners Awards and they appeared at the celebratory Wembley Arena concert, on a bill that included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and The Animals.

The same year, the group appeared at a Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium, before Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

Malvina Reynolds' "Morningtown Ride" was the Seekers' sixth major hit, reaching No.2 on the British Charts in December 1966. The single had been recorded earlier on the 1964 album ''Hide and Seekers'' and the 1965 American debut, ''The New Seekers'' but, for copyright reasons, the song was re-recorded for The Seekers' Christmas 1966 single.

Their biggest US hit is "Georgy Girl" (No.1 in Feb '67; No.3 in the UK), for which The Seekers were awarded a gold record for one million copies sold in the United States. Jim Dale and Tom Springfield were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1967, but lost out to the title song from "Born Free". The recording sold 3.5 million copies.

Return to Australia

In January 1968, in recognition of their many achievements, the group was named Australians of the Year for 1967 and accepted their award during their Australian tour. During their 1968 visit, the group also filmed another television spectacular, ''The World of The Seekers'', which was screened in cinemas, before being screened nationally on the Nine Network to high ratings.

In late 1968, Judith Durham announced that she was leaving The Seekers to pursue a solo career and the group disbanded. Their final performance in July 1968 was screened live by the BBC as a special called ''Farewell The Seekers'', with an audience of more than 10 million viewers. . The special had been preceded by a week-long season at London's Talk Of The Town nightclub, and a live recording of one of their shows was released as the LP record, ''The Seekers Say Goodbye Live From The Talk Of The Town''. It reached #2 on the UK charts. Also in July 1968, the compilation album ''The Seekers' Greatest Hits'' was released and spent 17 weeks at #1 in Australia. It was titled "The Best of the Seekers" in the UK and spent one week at #1 in February 1969, managing to knock ''The Beatles (White Album)'' off the top of the charts and preventing The Rolling Stones' ''Beggars Banquet'' from reaching the top spot. The album spent 125 weeks in the charts in the UK.

Following the split, the solo careers of the artists struggled. Durham released a Christmas album ''For Christmas With Love'' (recorded in Hollywood, California) and later signed with A&M; Records, releasing two albums, ''A Gift of Song'' and ''Climb Ev'ry Mountain''. Athol Guy hosted his own television show in Australia titled "A Guy Called Athol." Keith Potger formed the successful group The New Seekers in the UK. Bruce Woodley would release several solo albums and focus on songwriting, including in the unofficial national anthem "I Am Australian". Eventually Potger re-joined Woodley and Guy in reforming The Seekers in 1975 with Louisa Wisseling, then Julie Anthony in the 1980s, and then Karen Knowles, but the unique timbre of Durham's voice was missing from their sound. Durham later rejoined the group in 1992. Woodley himself left for a time in the 1970s and was replaced with Buddy England, before rejoining in the 1980s.

The Seekers in the 1990s and 2000s

In 1995, they were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall Of Fame, and were the subjects of a special issue of Australian postage stamps.

After much speculation, including a parody of the coming event by ABC TV's Olympics satire ''The Games'', The Seekers reunited again for the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games on 29 October 2000, with a performance of "The Carnival Is Over". Durham had suffered a broken hip and performed at the Paralympics in a wheelchair.On 1 September 2006, The Seekers were presented with the Key to the City by Melbourne's Lord Mayor, John So.

Their most recent performance has been touring various Australian cities in concert with violinist André Rieu and his symphony orchestra, throughout May 2011 after not performing for 7 years.

Million sellers

Discography

Albums

See also

Footnotes

References

External links

Category:Musical groups established in 1962 Category:Australian pop music groups Category:Australian folk music groups Category:Victoria (Australia) musical groups Category:ARIA Award winners Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Australian of the Year Award winners

''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' are published by Times Newspapers Limited, since 1981 a subsidiary of News International. News International is entirely owned by the News Corporation group, headed by Rupert Murdoch. Though traditionally a moderately centre-right newspaper and a supporter of the Conservatives, it supported the Labour Party in the 2001 and 2005 general elections. In 2004, according to MORI, the voting intentions of its readership were 40% for the Conservative Party, 29% for the Liberal Democrats, 26% for Labour.

''The Times'' is the original "Times" newspaper, lending its name to many other papers around the world, such as ''The New York Times'', ''The Los Angeles Times'', ''The Seattle Times'', ''The Daily Times (Malawi)'', Jimma Times (Ethiopia), ''The Times of India'', ''The Straits Times'', ''Polska The Times'' ''The Times of Malta'' and ''The Irish Times''. For distinguishing purposes it is therefore sometimes referred to, particularly in North America, as the 'London Times' or 'The Times of London'. The paper is also the originator of the ubiquitous Times Roman typeface, originally developed by Stanley Morison of ''The Times'' in collaboration with the Monotype Corporation for its legibility in low-tech printing.

The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, but switched to compact size in 2004 partly in an attempt to appeal to younger readers and partly to appeal to commuters using public transport. An American edition has been published since 6 June 2006.

Today

History

''The Times'' used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its early life, the profits of ''The Times'' were very large and the competition minimal, so it could pay far better than its rivals for information or writers.

In 1809, John Stoddart was appointed general editor, replaced in 1817 with Thomas Barnes. Under Barnes and his successor in 1841, John Thadeus Delane, the influence of ''The Times'' rose to great heights, especially in politics and amongst the City of London. Peter Fraser and Edward Sterling were two noted journalists, and gained for ''The Times'' the pompous/satirical nickname 'The Thunderer' (from "We thundered out the other day an article on social and political reform.").The increased circulation and influence of the paper was based in part to its early adoption of the steam driven rotary printing press. Distribution via steam trains to rapidly growing concentrations of urban populations helped ensure the profitability of the paper and its growing influence.

''The Times'' was the first newspaper to send war correspondents to cover particular conflicts. W. H. Russell, the paper's correspondent with the army in the Crimean War, was immensely influential with his dispatches back to England. In other events of the nineteenth century, ''The Times'' opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws until the number of demonstrations convinced the editorial board otherwise, and only reluctantly supported aid to victims of the Irish Potato Famine. It enthusiastically supported the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which reduced corruption and increased the electorate from 400 000 people to 800 000 people (still a small minority of the population). During the American Civil War, ''The Times'' represented the view of the wealthy classes, favouring the secessionists, but it was not a supporter of slavery.

The third John Walter (the founder's grandson) succeeded his father in 1847. The paper continued as more or less independent. From the 1850s, however, ''The Times'' was beginning to suffer from the rise in competition from the penny press, notably ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Morning Post''.

During the 19th century, it was not infrequent for the Foreign Office to approach ''The Times'' and ask for continental intelligence, which was often superior to that conveyed by official sources.

''The Times'' faced financial extinction in 1890 under Arthur Fraser Walter, but it was rescued by an energetic editor, Charles Frederic Moberly Bell. During his tenure (1890–1911), ''The Times'' became associated with selling the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' using aggressive American marketing methods introduced by Horace Everett Hooper and his advertising executive, Henry Haxton. However, due to legal fights between the ''Britannica's'' two owners, Hooper and Walter Montgomery Jackson, ''The Times'' severed its connection in 1908 and was bought by pioneering newspaper magnate, Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe.

In editorials published on 29 and 31 July 1914 Wickham Steed, the ''Times'''s Chief Editor argued that the British Empire should enter World War I. On 8 May 1920, under the editorship of Wickham Steed, the ''Times'' in an editorial endorsed the anti-Semitic forgery ''The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'' as a genuine document, and called Jews the world's greatest danger. In the leader entitled "The Jewish Peril, a Disturbing Pamphlet: Call for Inquiry", Steed wrote about ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'':

What are these 'Protocols'? Are they authentic? If so, what malevolent assembly concocted these plans and gloated over their exposition? Are they forgery? If so, whence comes the uncanny note of prophecy, prophecy in part fulfilled, in part so far gone in the way of fulfillment?".

In 1922, John Jacob Astor, a son of the 1st Viscount Astor, bought ''The Times'' from the Northcliffe estate. The paper gained a measure of notoriety in the 1930s with its advocacy of German appeasement; then-editor Geoffrey Dawson was closely allied with those in the government who practised appeasement, most notably Neville Chamberlain.

Kim Philby, a Soviet double agent, served as a correspondent for the newspaper in Spain during the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s. Philby was admired for his courage in obtaining high-quality reporting from the front lines of the bloody conflict. He later joined MI6 during World War II, was promoted into senior positions after the war ended, then eventually defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.

Between 1941 and 1946, the left-wing British historian E.H. Carr was Assistant Editor. Carr was well known for the strongly pro-Soviet tone of his editorials. In December 1944, when fighting broke out in Athens between the Greek Communist ELAS and the British Army, Carr in a ''Times'' editorial sided with the Communists, leading Winston Churchill to condemn him and that leader in a speech to the House of Commons. As a result of Carr's editorial, the ''Times'' became popularly known during World War II as the threepenny ''Daily Worker'' (the price of the ''Daily Worker'' was one penny)

In 1967, members of the Astor family sold the paper to Canadian publishing magnate Roy Thomson, and on 3 May 1966 it started printing news on the front page for the first time. (Previously, the paper's front page featured small advertisements, usually of interest to the moneyed classes in British society.) The Thomson Corporation merged it with ''The Sunday Times'' to form Times Newspapers Limited.

An industrial dispute prompted the management to shut the paper for nearly a year (1 December 1978 – 12 November 1979).

The Thomson Corporation management were struggling to run the business due to the 1979 Energy Crisis and union demands. Management were left with no choice but to save both titles by finding a buyer who was in a position to guarantee the survival of both titles, and also one who had the resources and was committed to funding the introduction of modern printing methods.

Several suitors appeared, including Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland and Lord Rothermere; however, only one buyer was in a position to meet the full Thomson remit. That buyer was the Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch soon began making his mark on the paper, replacing its editor, William Rees-Mogg, with Harold Evans in 1981. One of his most important changes was the introduction of new technology and efficiency measures. In March–May 1982, following agreement with print unions, the hot-metal Linotype printing process used to print ''The Times'' since the 19th century was phased out and replaced by computer input and photo-composition. This allowed print room staff at ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' to be reduced by half. However, direct input of text by journalists ("single stroke" input) was still not achieved, and this was to remain an interim measure until the Wapping dispute of 1986, when ''The Times'' moved from New Printing House Square in Gray's Inn Road (near Fleet Street) to new offices in Wapping.

In June 1990, ''The Times'' ceased its policy of using courtesy titles ("Mr", "Mrs", or "Miss" prefixes for living persons) before full names on first reference, but it continues to use them before surnames on subsequent references. The more formal style is now confined to the "Court and Social" page, though "Ms" is now acceptable in that section, as well as before surnames in news sections.

In November 2003, News International began producing the newspaper in both broadsheet and tabloid sizes. On 13 September 2004, the weekday broadsheet was withdrawn from sale in Northern Ireland. Since 1 November 2004, the paper has been printed solely in tabloid format.

The Conservative Party announced plans to launch litigation against ''The Times'' over an incident in which the newspaper claimed that Conservative election strategist Lynton Crosby had admitted that his party would not win the 2005 General Election. ''The Times'' later published a clarification, and the litigation was dropped.

On 6 June 2005, ''The Times'' redesigned its Letters page, dropping the practice of printing correspondents' full postal addresses. Published letters were long regarded as one of the paper's key constituents. Author/solicitor David Green of Castle Morris Pembrokeshire has had more letters published on the main letters page than any known contributor – 158 by 31 January 2008. According to its leading article, "From Our Own Correspondents", removal of full postal addresses was in order to fit more letters onto the page.

In a 2007 meeting with the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which was investigating media ownership and the news, Murdoch stated that the law and the independent board prevented him from exercising editorial control.

In May 2008 printing of ''The Times'' switched from Wapping to new plants at Broxbourne on the outskirts of London, and Merseyside and Glasgow, enabling the paper to be produced with full colour on every page for the first time.

Controversy and image

Some allege that ''The Times''' partisan opinion pieces also damage its status as 'paper of record,' particularly when attacking interests that go against those of its parent company – News International. In 2010 it published an opinion piece attacking the BBC for being 'one of a group of' signatories to a letter criticising BSkyB share options in October 2010.

Readership profile and image

The latest figures from the national readership survey show ''The Times'' to have the highest number of ABC1 25–44 readers and the largest numbers of readers in London of any of the "quality" papers. The certified average circulation figures for November 2005 show that The Times sold 692,581 copies per day. This was the highest achieved under the last editor, Robert Thomson, and ensured that the newspaper remained ahead of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in terms of full-rate sales, although the ''Telegraph'' remains the market leader for broadsheets, with a circulation of 905,955 copies. Tabloid newspapers, such as ''The Sun'' and middle-market newspapers such as the ''Daily Mail'', at present outsell both papers with a circulation of around 3,005,308 and 2,082,352 respectively. By March 2010 the paper's circulation had fallen to 502,436 copies daily and the ''Telegraph's'' to 686,679, according to ABC figures.

Format and supplements

''Literary Supplement''

''Science Reviews''

''The Times'' started another new (but free) monthly science magazine, ''Eureka'', in October 2009.

''Times2''

Judith Durham, OAM (born Judith Mavis Cock, 3 July 1943, Essendon, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian jazz singer and musician who became the lead vocalist for the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963. She left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career. In 1993 Durham began to make sporadic recordings and performances with The Seekers, continuing into the 2000s.

Early life

Durham at first planned to be a pianist, and she gained the qualification of Associate In Music, Australia (AMusA), in classical piano at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium. She had some professional engagements playing piano. She also had classical vocal training and performed blues, gospel, and jazz pieces. Her singing career began at the age of 18 when she asked Nicholas Ribush, leader of the Melbourne University Jazz Band, one night at the Memphis Jazz Club in Malvern, whether she could sing with the band. In 1963 she began performing at the same club with Frank Traynor's Jazz Preachers, using her mother's maiden name of Durham. In that year she also recorded her first EP—"Judy Durham with Frank Traynor's Jazz Preachers"—for W&G; Records.

Durham was working as a secretary at the J Walter Thompson advertising agency where she met account executive Athol Guy. Guy was in a folk group called the Seekers which sang on Monday nights at the Treble Clef, a coffee lounge on Toorak Road in Melbourne.

The Seekers

The Seekers consisted of Durham, Athol Guy, Bruce Woodley, and Keith Potger, the last being an ABC radio producer. It was through Keith Potger's position that the three were able to make a demo tape in their spare time. This was given to W&G; Records, which wanted another sample of Durham's voice before agreeing to record a Jazz Preachers album. Instead W&G; signed The Seekers for an album, ''Introducing the Seekers'', in 1963. (Keith Potger does not appear on the album cover because he was not allowed to have a second job.) Durham, however, recorded two other songs with the Jazz Preachers, "Muddy Water" (which appeared on their album ''Jazz From the Pulpit'') and "Trombone Frankie" (an adapted version of Bessie Smith's "Trombie Cholly").

In early 1964 the Seekers sailed to the United Kingdom on the S.S. ''Fairsky'' on which the group provided the musical entertainment. Originally they had planned to return after 10 weeks, but they received a steady stream of bookings through the Grade Agency because they had sent the agency a copy of their first album. In November 1964 the Seekers released "I'll Never Find Another You" composed by Tom Springfield. In February 1965 the record reached number one in the UK and Australia.

Solo career

In 1994, Durham began recording albums again, including ''Mona Lisas'' in 1996 under the direction of producer Gus Dudgeon. This was re-released as ''Always There'' in 1998 with the addition of Durham's solo recording of fellow Seeker Bruce Woodley's "I am Australian" (with Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply and Mandawuy Yunupingu of Yothu Yindi) and the Smith Family theme song of the title. Her recording of "Always There" was first released on the 1997 double CD ''Anthems'', which also featured Bruce Woodley's "Common Ground" and the Seekers' "Advance Australia Fair" arrangement.

In 2000, Durham's album ''Let Me Find Love'' was re-released as ''Hold on To Your Dream'', with the addition of "Australia Land of Today" (which she had written). In 2001, she did another Australian tour, and in 2003 she toured the UK to celebrate her 60th birthday. Her birthday concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London was filmed and released on DVD in late 2004.

In 2006, The Seekers were awarded the Key To The City of Melbourne by the Lord Mayor John So. As part of the ceremony, Judith Durham sang part of her song "Seldom Melbourne Leaves My Mind" and was later invited by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund to record the song, as a fund-raiser, with Orchestra Victoria. The decision was then made to record Durham's entire ''Australian Cities Suite'' with all proceeds from the sale of the CD to go to the charitable sector. The album was released in October 2008. The project is to benefit charities like the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Australia (Judith is national patron) and Orchestra Victoria, in addition to other charities which benefit from the Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund or its national affiliated network United Way.

By 2009, Durham's rendition of "A Perfect Day" by Carrie Jacobs-Bond achieved more hits on YouTube than even the version by Paul Robeson but was withdrawn from availability because of questions involving access to intellectual property.

The ''Australian Cities Suite'' features songs for all the capital cities including :"Sydney Girl Of My Dreams" :"Happy Years I Spent In Hobart" (with Judith's heartfelt memories of her childhood in Tasmania) :"Australia Land Of Today" (her emotional love song for the nation)

On 13 February 2009, Durham made a surprise return to the Myer Music Bowl when she performed the closing number at the "RocKwiz Salutes the Bowl – Sidney Myer Music Bowl 50th Anniversary" with "The Carnival is Over".

On 23 May 2009, Durham performed a one hour 'a cappella' concert in Melbourne as a launch for her album ''Up Close & Personal Vol 1''.

Personal life

In 1990 Durham, Edgeworth, and their tour manager Peter Summers were involved in a car accident on the Calder Freeway. The driver of the other car died at the scene, and Durham sustained a fractured wrist and leg. The response from her fans made Durham consider getting back together with the other Seekers for the silver jubilee show. This reunion, however, was brief when Edgeworth was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. He died on 10 December 1994 with Durham by his side.

In the late 1990s Durham was stalked by her former personal assistant, a woman who sent her dozens of doormats through the post. The woman was subsequently prosecuted.

Solo releases

With the exception of the Jazz EP and the 1970s albums ''Gift of Song'' and ''Climb Every Mountain'', all of Durham's solo records have been re-released on CD.

Durham has also contributed to various compilations, including the CD single ''Yil Lull'', ''Slowly Gently'' for the Motor Neurone Disease fund-raiser, ''One Man's Journey'', and most recently an ethnic version of ''The Carnival is Over'' with Melbourne group Inka Marka for the Melbourne Immigration Museum's compilation CD ''This is the Place For a Song''. In 2007 Durham also made a cameo appearance on ''English Garden'', a bonus track featured only on the digital download version of the new Silverchair album ''Young Modern''.

References

Literature

External links