The Seekers

The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were popular during the 1960s with their best-known configuration as: Judith Durham on vocals, piano and tambourine; Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals.

The group had Top 10 hits in the 1960s with "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own", "Morningtown Ride", "Someday, One Day" (written by Paul Simon), "Georgy Girl" (the title song of the film of the same name), and "The Carnival Is Over" by Tom Springfield, the last being an adaptation of the Russian folk song "Stenka Razin". The Seekers have sung it at various closing ceremonies in Australia, including World Expo 88 and the Paralympics. It is still one of the top 50 best-selling singles in the UK. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described their style as "concentrated on a bright, uptempo sound, although they were too pop to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock."

Seekers

The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were a British Protestant dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all organised churches of their day corrupt and preferred to wait for God's revelation. Many of them subsequently joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

Origins

Long before the English Civil War there already existed what Hill calls a "lower-class heretical culture" in England. The cornerstones of this culture were anti-clericalism and a strong emphasis on Biblical study, but specific doctrines that had "an uncanny persistence"; rejection of Predestination, Millenarianism, mortalism, anti-Trinitarianism and Hermeticism. Such ideas became "commonplace to seventeenth century Baptists, Seekers, early Quakers and other radical groupings which took part in the free-for-all discussions of the English Revolution."

Beliefs and practices

Judith Durham

Judith Mavis Durham AO (born Judith Mavis Cock; 3 July 1943) is an Australian singer and musician who became the lead vocalist for the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963. The group subsequently became the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States, and as of 2004 had sold over 50 million records. Durham left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career. In 1993, Durham began to make sporadic recordings and performances with The Seekers, though she remains primarily a solo performer. On 1 July 2015, she was named Victorian of the Year for her services to music and a range of charities.

Early life

Durham was born in Essendon, Victoria, to William Alexander Cock DFC, a navigator and World War II pathfinder, and his wife, Hazel (née Durham). From her birth until 1949, Durham spent summer holidays at her family's weatherboard house on the west side of Durham Place in Rosebud, which has been demolished. A myth has circulated that "Morningtown Ride" was prompted by these holidays and the nearby town of Mornington. However, Durham has stated that the song was written by American songwriter Malvina Reynolds and that the lyrics refer to sweet dreams rather than the Mornington Peninsula. Durham lived in Hobart, Tasmania, where she attended the Fahan School before moving back to Melbourne in 1956. In Melbourne, she was educated at Ruyton Girls' School and then enrolled at RMIT.

Golden jubilee

A golden jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.

In Thailand

The golden jubilee is a royal ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the accession of the king. The Thai word is kanchanaphisek (กาญจนาภิเษก). The first Golden Jubilee of Thailand was the celebration of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The celebration

King Rama IX celebrated his golden jubilee on 9 June 1996, having acceded to the throne in 1946 which makes him Thailand's longest-reigning monarch and the longest-living monarch today.

The largest faceted diamond in the world, known as the Golden Jubilee Diamond, was purchased as a gift for the King on the 50th anniversary of his coronation by Thai businessmen. Currently, the diamond is located in the Royal Thai Palace as part of the crown jewels.

In 1996, Banharn Silpa-archa, the Prime Minister, and the Thai people celebrated the King with a large celebration, lasting several days.

The symbol of the golden jubilee

The symbol of the golden jubilee of King Bhumibol Adulyadej was designed by Wiyada Charoensuk, who won the contest for the design.

Greatest hits album

A greatest hits album, sometimes called a "best of" album or a catalog album, is a compilation of songs by a particular artist or band. Most often the track list contains previously released recordings with a high degree of notability. However, to increase the appeal, especially to people who already own the original release, it is common to include remixes and/or alternate takes of popular songs; even new material (previously unreleased). At times a greatest hits compilation is the original release for songs that have themselves been released as a single and charted successfully.

Notable compilations

Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a solo artist; all of the songs on it are presented in different versions than the original hit versions. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a group and also one of the ten best selling albums in history. Greatest hits albums are typically produced after an artist has had enough successful songs to fill out an album release. Some artists, such as Mariah Carey, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Kenny Rogers, Aerosmith, Kiss, U2, Dolly Parton, Journey, Los Tigres del Norte, Queen, Kylie Minogue and Billy Joel, have released multiple greatest hits albums through their long careers. Some greatest hits albums are released only at the end of the artist or group's career. For example, My Chemical Romance released a greatest hits album after they disbanded. Other artists, like Eminem have released hits albums in the center of their success. He released Curtain Call: The Hits in 2005 and then Shady XV as a compilation album in 2014.