Frankie Davidson

Francis Joseph Davidson OAM (born 12 January 1934) is an Australian entertainer who had several hit records in the 1960s, appeared on many TV variety shows, and acted in several Australian TV police dramas.

Career

Davidson was born in Black Rock, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria.

While undergoing compulsory National Service training, he sang to entertain fellow recruits,[1] and was an early adopter of the rock'n'roll idiom. In 1959 he signed to W&G Records, and in 1960 found success with his single I Care for You.[2]

His next success was a comedy song "Yabba Dabba Doo" (referencing the Flintstones catchphrase) in 1961, followed by "Have You Ever Been to See Kings Cross" in 1962, a humorous ditty sung at breakneck speed in Australian vernacular, which became a best-seller. Other comic songs followed: "Hector the Trash Collector", a spoof on John Farnham's hit "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)", and "50 Million Blowflies Can't Be Wrong". In 1963 he won first prize in Export Talent an Australia's Got Talent-type contest, which sent him to England, giving him valuable overseas exposure and experience. He returned to Australia in 1965, but over the next five years he spent much time performing in Europe and America, where he appeared on The Dick Clark Show. In 1970 he made two further comic songs in a country and western vein: "Gimme Dat Ding" and "Ball Bearing Bird". He also acted in several Australian TV series, the best-known being Homicide and Matlock Police.[2]

In 1975 he changed labels, to M7 Records (a project of the Macquarie Broadcasting Service, Herald and Weekly Times and ATN-7),[3] for whom he recorded around a dozen singles, including "I Love a Sunburnt Football" in two versions: Australian rules and rugby league, and "I Hope Your Chooks Turn into Emus (and Kick Your Dunny Down)". They also released his album, A Generation of Children's Hits,[2] which included covers of "The Candy Man", "Rubber Duckie", "Three Little Fishies", "Puff, the Magic Dragon", "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", "Any Dream Will Do", "The Ugly Duckling" also "Little White Bull" and "What a Mouth", two Tommy Steele classics.

In 1981 he released on Powderworks Big Aussie BBQ, an album of familiar Australian songs including Slim Dusty favourite "Duncan", the traditional "Wild Colonial Boy" and "The Man from Snowy River", Peter Allen's "I Still Call Australia Home" and Joe Dolce's irreverent "Shaddap You Face".

References
  1. "Listen Here". The Australian Women's Weekly. 13 July 1960.
  2. Noel McGrath (1978). Australian Encyclopedia of Rock. Outback Press. ISBN 086888216X. Retrieved 21 May 2019. A "zac" was a six penny piece, worth about a dollar in today's money.
  3. Michael De Looper. "M7, 7 Records and Powderworks 1970–1987" (PDF). Retrieved 23 May 2019.
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