He's not only one of Australia's most talented, famous and successful exports, has world-wide #1 hits to his credit, and is still receiving awards today but for many of the latter years he has been discovering, fostering, and mentoring some of Australia's finest young talent and tirelessly promoting Australian country music wherever he can.
This is the story of Frank Ifield in his own words...

The Frank Ifield Story - in his own words

Then for Christmas 1949, my beloved Gran bought me a proper guitar and now there was no stopping me. This thirteen year-old, soon conned his way to convincing Dick Fair into having me appear on radio 2GB’s Australia’s Amateur Hour, which eventually led to a recording contract with EMI Regal Zonophone. Before long I was appearing on the Tim McNamara Show and touring the country with Big Chief Little Wolf. With nothing holding me back after leaving school, I appeared on many top-line radio shows and found myself headlining many Country venues throughout the environs of Sydney - Then in 1957, National Service put an abrupt halt to my progress. After being demobbed, I thought it would be very difficult to pick up again, but luckily TV was about to offer the break I needed, An unexpected call from producer Alec Kellaway set me as a trailblazer with my own TV show which was the first musical show on TCN Channel 9, called ‘Campfire Favourites’. Before long I was being featured on every TV channel in Sydney and what’s more, A&R man Ron Wills of EMI promoted me to the more prestigious Columbia Label.

My sights were set high now and I was determined to try my luck overseas with the London Palladium Theatre as my goal. Enter Peter Gormely: He expressed his desire to manage me with the proviso I would go to England. So with both our eyes set in the same direction he became my manager. In November 1959, after many farewell TV shows, I embarked on the inaugural “Comet” flight from Sydney to London.

Before the year was out, I appeared on BBCTV with comedian Ted Ray on “Ray’s A Laugh” which paved the way for more TV shows - the exposure needed for the long climb to the top.

The achievement of gaining a two-year contract with Norrie Paramor, A&R man for Columbia EMI, UK took me to the next step. My first single “Lucky Devil” made the nether regions of the top thirty pop charts and with it came my first major booking - a summer season in the Isle of Jersey with comedians Mike & Bernie Winters. Meanwhile my manager was setting a cracking pace by taking on “The Shadows” who swiftly rose to #1 with “Apache” - then by the time I returned, Cliff Richard too had joined our stable. Things were looking up and I took on my first Pantomime in the role of Dick Whittington with the Shadows playing the part of the brokers men, toping the bill. Although my records were not faring so well, I was doing what I loved best by being on stage. And was now touring the UK with the likes of Duane Eddy, Bruce Channel and The Everly Brothers. My contract with Columbia was about to elapse when in the nick of time came the winning format in “I Remember You”. This mind-boggling record-breaking smash hit, which was acclaimed as the first single to sell one million copies in Britain alone, proved to be the catalyst needed to fulfill my goal of playing the Palladium. Yet this too was more than I dreamed of, for it was a Royal Command Performance and it paved the way for my regularly headlining shows from the stage of this Mecca of Show-business doing Pantomimes; Summer Seasons; Variety Shows; Specials and TV productions.

Time brought about other accolades. The following two singles put me firmly in the Guinness Book Of Records as the first artist in Britain to have three number ones in a row. The third #1 single ‘Wayward Wind’ did battle with a new band that I had just given a break to as support act at Peterborough Theatre during my one-night-stand touring show - The band was the Beatles who, up to then had only worked in Liverpool.

Meanwhile the USA had discovered my name and my first release on Vee-Jay Records reached #5 in the Billboard Pop Chart and #1 in the Country and MOR Charts, earning the position as the first Australian artist to have conquered the USA radio charts in the various genres of Pop, Country, and Adult Contemporary Music. With two major hit singles plus a chart toping LP on the American market, I was called upon once more to assist the Beatles – this time with a compilation, coupling us on an album called “Jolly What” which was angled as the oncoming British Invasion. Unfortunately, Vee-Jay became defunct and I found myself searching for a new US label.