John St Peeters

John St Peeters (born Johnny Lo Piccolo, 3 October 1956) is an Australian musician, TV presenter and songwriter. His top 40 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Deep Inside of Me" (July 1978) and "So Many Ways" (April 1979). St Peeters provided the lead vocals on "Wonder World!" the theme for a children's TV variety series, Simon Townsend's Wonder World, from 1979. He was the host of The John St Peeters Show on TV's Channel 0/28 from March to May 1984. In 2001 Jo Skott published his biography, The Squeeze Box Kid: The John St. Peeters Story.

John St Peeters
Birth nameJohnny Lo Piccolo
Born (1956-10-03) 3 October 1956
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres
  • Pop
  • disco
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • TV presenter
  • songwriter
Instruments
Years active1969–present
Labels
Associated acts
  • John St Peeters and the Sharells

Biography

John St Peeters was born in Melbourne, in 1956, to Italian-born parents, Pasqualino Lo Piccolo – a greengrocer – and Giovanna (née Basile).[1] He grew up in Richmond with a younger sister, Josephine "Jo".[2][3][4] Early in his career he performed as Johnny Lo Piccolo.[5] From the age of 11 he played piano accordion on TV talent quests, such as Brian and the Juniors, New Faces, variety shows, including In Melbourne Tonight, and at clubs in Melbourne.[5][6] He released singles on the W&G label, "Johnny LoPiccolo's Dance Party" (November 1970), "Johnny's Choice" (May 1972),[7] and "Crazy Polka" (1972).[8] He spent almost three years in Canada performing and recording: he was referred to as "the Squeeze Box Kid".[2][3]

John St Peeters and the Sharells were formed in 1974, as a vocal trio, with two female vocalists, Niki Nicholls and Kim Julin.[2][5] They performed "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" on the Ernie Sigley Show in May 1975.[9] They toured Australia, North America and South-East Asia before issuing a single, "Take Me if You Want Me", in October on the Astor label.[5] He resumed his solo career in 1976 with a disco-based single, "You Know that You're Sexy", in November of that year, which reached the top 60 on the Kent Music Report singles chart.[5][10][11]

Peeters signed with EMI Records, which issued his next three singles, "Shiny Side Up" (June 1977), "Fadin' Away" (October) and "Love the Way You Move" (December): none reached the top 100.[5][10] At the King of Pop Awards of 1977 St Peeters won Most Popular New Talent.[12] In the following year his contract was taken up by RCA Records. He released his next single, "Deep Inside of Me", co-written by Peeters and Aldo Lennard,[13] which peaked at No. 22.[5][10][11] Lennard was also his talent manager.[14] According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "By that stage, [the singer] had established himself as Australia's version of David Essex, with his good looks and sophisticated pop releases."[5] His next single, "High Class Woman" (November 1978), reached the top 50.[5][10][11]

He followed with his debut album, So Many Ways (1978), produced by Spencer Lee.[5] In 1979 he formed the John St Peeters Band and toured the Australia club circuit.[5] Its title track was issued as a single in April, which peaked at No. 13,[5][10][11] and was also co-written by Peeters and Lennard.[13] His second album, One Night Stand, and its associated singles did not reach the top 40.[5][10] He appeared on teen pop music TV show, Countdown, from 1976, he co-hosted an episode in June 1978. He later reflected "The biggest thrill of all, though, was making it on the biggest television music show that existed during those years — Countdown, hosted by Molly Meldrum. What a fantastic experience that was."[4] He premiered his single, "Wonder World", on the show in March 1980; it is the theme song for Simon Townsend's Wonder World, a children's variety TV series.[5] He was also the guest host on another pop music show, Sounds.[15]

In January 1981 St Peeters was touted as the host of a pilot episode of a pop music series for the Willard King Organisation.[14] He told Clay Adams of The Australian Women's Weekly, "I should hear shortly whether or not it will go ahead and if I'll be in the hot seat. Personally I hope the show does receive the okay as Australian television needs another pop music show at the moment."[14] From March to May 1984 and from February to April 1985 he was the host of The John St Peeters Show on TV's Channel 0/28.[15][16] The Canberra Times' Debbie Muir detailed that "As compere, he will be the focus of the program, introducing guests, performing and having the chance to air his classical piano training."[15] From the mid-1980s he focussed on his TV and club performances.[5]

In 2001, his sister, Jo Skott published his biography, The Squeeze Box Kid: The John St. Peeters Story.[3] In 2009 he worked with fellow local artists, Ray Burgess, Tommy Emmanuel, Marty Rhone and John "Swanee" Swan to release a single, "Legends of the Southern Land".[17] In April 2015 he supported the Alannah and Madeline Foundation charity at the Crown Palladium, by performing in front of Sophia Loren, including "Legends of the Southern Land" (with the group).[18][19] As of May 2015 St Peeters is married to Teresa Vee and lives in Melbourne with their two children.[4][20]

Discography

Albums
  • So Many Ways (1978) RCA (VPL10210)
  • One Night Stand (1980) RCA (VPL10293
  • I Got You Babe (by John St Peeters and Jane Scali) (1986) Hammard (HAM 133)

Singles
List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
AUS
KMR
[10][11]
"Johnny LoPiccolo's Dance Party" (by Johnny Lo Piccolo) 1970 — Non-album single
"Johnny's Choice" (by Johnny Lo Piccolo) 1972 —
"Crazy Polka" (by Johnny Lo Piccolo) —
"Take Me if You Want Me" (by John St Peeters and the Sharells) 1975 —
"You Know that You're Sexy" 1976 53
"Shiny Side Up" 1977 —
"Fadin' Away" —
"Love the Way You Move" —
"Deep Inside of Me" 1978 22 So Many Ways
"High Class Woman" 49
"So Many Ways" 1979 13
"You You're the One" 81 One Night Stand
"Wonder World" 1980 78
"Love Is all You Need" —
"Dangerous Hearts" 1981 — Non-album single
"Street Kids" 1983 —
"I Need that Someone to Love" (by John St Peeters and Jane Scali) 1985 — I Got You Babe
"Don't Make Love to Strangers" 1986 — Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
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References
  1. Giardina, Giovanni (24 October 2014). "Eolie&Personaggi - l'EolianAustraliano John St. Peeters" [Aries & Characters – Eolian Australian John St. Peeters]. Notizie dalle Eolie o Lipari (in Italian). Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  2. "The Squeeze Box Kid". John St Peeters Official Website. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  3. Skott, Jo (2001). The Squeeze Box Kid: The John St. Peeters Story. Muso's Publications. ISBN 978-187617-401-9.
  4. Kanidiadis, Vasili (30 June 2013). "In the Garden with Johnny Lo Piccolo". Complete Home. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  5. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'John St Peeters'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 23 August 2004.
  6. "1979: November 17-23: The Fall and Rise of Johnny Lo Piccolo". TV Times. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2017 – via Television.AU.
  7. De Looper, Michael (June 2012). "W & G Catalogue – WG–1955–1977" (PDF). Australian Record Labels. Big Three. pp. 62–63. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  8. Lo Piccolo, Johnny (1972). "'Crazy Polka'". Woomera Music. W&G Records. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  9. Visser, Peter de (1975). "'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling'". Retrieved 11 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia. Notes: Catalogue record generated as part of a batch load. Key: C. Part of the Geoff Harvey collection of music arranged for Australian television 1960-1998. Performed on Ernie Sigley Show by John St Peeters and the Sharells, 22 May 1975.
  10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  11. Ryan (bulion), Gary (11 May 2017). "Chart Positions Pre 1989 Part 4". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  12. "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. "'Deep Inside of Me' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 13 May 2017. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'
  14. Adams, Clay (14 January 1981). "St. Peeters for Pop Pilot". The Australian Women's Weekly, TV World. 48 (33). p. 16. Retrieved 13 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. Muir, Debbie (19 March 1984). "New variety show is all about promoting Australian talent". The Canberra Times. 58 (17, 704). p. 21. Retrieved 13 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. Morris, Joan (10 February 1985). "TimeStyle". The Canberra Times. 59 (18, 032). p. 12. Retrieved 13 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. Pascuzzi, Carmine. "'Legends of the Southern Land' – a new Australian anthem". MediaSearch. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  18. Demaio, Donna (18 March 2015). "Donna Demaio's gossip". News Talk. 3AW. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  19. Hewitt, Sue (15 April 2015). "Songs, Stars & Sophia Loren". The Weekly Review (78). Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  20. Hewitt, Sue (21 May 2015). "Mateship forged over music, Magpies in Keilor East". The Weekly Review. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
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