Jade Hurley

John Anthony Patrick Hurley OAM (born 17 June 1943), who performs as Jade Hurley, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and pianist. Hurley's hit singles are "How I Lied" (1965), "Down in the Riverina" (1974) and "Another Saturday Night" (1982). He was a regular performer on TV including on The Mike Walsh Show in the 1970s to early 1980s. In June 1998 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal, "for service to the entertainment industry and to the community, particularly in the area of fund raising for groups including the arthritis foundation of NSW, the Australian Cancer Foundation for medical research and Camp Quality."

Jade Hurley
OAM
Birth nameJohn Anthony Patrick Hurley
Born (1943-06-17) 17 June 1943
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
OriginSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
  • Rock and roll
  • country rock
  • country pop
Occupation(s)Musician
Instruments
Years active1957–present
LabelsFestival
Websitejadehurley.net

Biography

Jade Hurley was born on 17 June 1943 in Sydney as John Anthony Patrick Hurley.[1][2][3] The performance name, Jade, was provided by Australian rock and roller, Johnny O'Keefe, in the 1960s because of gloves that Hurley wore.[4][5][6] Leon Isackson of Ray Hoff and the Offbeats recalled auditioning the pianist in October 1959, "[Hurley] figured that he needed a gimmick to cover up for his rude piano playing so he wore bright jade green gloves with the fingers cut out. They didn't help much. We sacked him two weeks later."[6]

Hurley had started his music career at the age of 14 with his first band, the Rockin' Rebels, in Sydney.[7] He went solo, with the help of O'Keefe, appearing on the latter's TV show – including his debut in 1960 – on Six O'Clock Rock.[4] Hurley was dubbed "Australia's King of Country Rock" by O'Keefe and was a support act on O'Keefe's live performances.[7][8] He also appeared on Australia's version of Bandstand.[9]

Hurley's early singles were mostly his own written material, including "How I Lied" (1965), which peaked in the top 30 in Brisbane.[1][10] His country-pop vocals were combined with the melodic and rhythmic feel of the current beat era.[10] With the exception of his cover version of "Gold and Silver" (1966),[10] his charting singles were his own compositions: "My Baby Judy" (1965), "I'm Ashamed of You" (1966) and "Down in the Riverina" (1974).[10][11] Later Hurley changed over to country music although his live shows also included rock and roll favourites.

Hurley worked on The Mike Walsh Show from the 1970s to early 1980s, with his "Golden Oldens" music segment, where he performed cover versions of songs from the 1950s and 1960s.[9][12] Due to the show he was, "identified with MOR performers rather than as a rocker" and by 1981 he was described as a "grannies' heart-throb" but he explained, "When I do live shows, the audience is usually made up of housewives who have seen me on the Walsh show. They bring their husbands along to the club."[9]

He regularly toured Australia in a motor home, "playing in tours up and down the country and doing the RSL and club circuit in NSW."[7][13][14] In 2008 he broke attendance records at the Tamworth Country Music Festival when 1550 people turned up to his show.[10] In March 2009 a thief stole jewellery and other items from his motor home: in the following month most of it had been recovered by police.[14][15] On 23 March 2019 Hurley appeared on the podcast, Wayne's Wonder World.[16]

Awards and honours

Hurley was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his contribution to the entertainment industry encouraging and nurturing young talent, and for his work with charitable organisations including Arthritis Foundation (NSW), Camp Quality and Australian Cancer Research Foundation.[17] Hurley also served as an alderman on the Deniliquin Council and campaigned for Al Grassby in the 1972 Australian federal election.[18]

gollark: `root`
gollark: What?
gollark: I hope I'm not doing anything horribly insecure with my stuff...
gollark: Who wants AN SSH KEY?!
gollark: Wn.

References
  1. "'Beautiful Sunday' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Retrieved 6 March 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  2. Schluter, Kevin (26 May 1982). "You Wanted to Know". The Australian Women's Weekly. p. 152. Retrieved 6 March 2020 – via Trove (National Library of Australia).
  3. Hurley, Jade (2003). Jade: The Jade Hurley Story. Jade Hurley Star Communications. ISBN 0646424629.
  4. Nichols, David (2016). Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music, 1960-85. Portland, OR: Verse Chorus Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-891241-61-1.
  5. Rogers, Bob (26 September 1965). "Bobbin Around". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 81. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  6. Hayton, Jon; Isackson, Leon (2010). Behind the Rock and Beyond: the Diary of a Rock Band 1956–1980. Sid Harta Publications. p. 1944. ISBN 978-1-921642-28-9.
  7. Spencer, Chris. Ed Nimmervoll (ed.). "Come Back Again... Jade Hurley: The Jade Hurley Story". HowlSpace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006. Retrieved 7 March 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Jade Hurley – 'Battle of New Orleans'". 23 November 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2016 – via YouTube.
  9. Adams, Clay (2 December 1981). "The Golden Touch of Jade". The Australian Women's Weekly. p. 144. Retrieved 6 March 2020 – via Trove (National Library of Australia).
  10. Nuttall, Lyn. "'Gold and Silver' – Jade Hurley (1966)". Where did they get that song?. PopArchives – Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s (Lyn Nuttall). Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  11. "Billboard Book – Google Books". Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  12. "Jade Hurley: Australia's rock-n-roll survivor". Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  13. Hickey, Phil (31 October 2015). "Country Rock Star Jade Hurley Robbed of Merchandise While on Tour in Perth". Perth Now. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  14. Ironside, Robyn (25 March 2009). "Jade Hurley's Bling Stolen from Motorhome". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  15. Barbeler, David (21 April 2009). "Singer's $110k rings flogged for $150". news.com.au. Australian Associated Press (AAP). Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  16. "'Australia's King of Country Rock' Jade Hurley OAM". Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  17. "Award Extract – Name: Mr Jade Hurley". Department of the Prime Minister and Government. 8 June 1998. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  18. "Mike Walsh Show, The". Retrieved 17 July 2016.
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