‘MY DAD THE ROCK STAR’
Johnny’s daughter, Vicky O’keefe will play her father’s hits at upcoming shows. FORTY YEARS AFTER HE DIED, JOHNNY O’KEEFE’S DAUGHTER REMEMBERS HER FAMOUS FATHER
J
ohnny O’keefe was the original “Wild One” and Australia’s first true rock star. But to Vicky O’keefe, he was – and will always be – simply her dad.
October 6 marks 40 years since Johnny passed away. He died of a heart attack following a drug overdose at just 43.
Reflecting on their time together, Vicky remembers her “fantastic” and “colourful” life with the legendary singer.
“I did have that knowledge of who he was, but he was always just our dad,” Vicky says. “We’d walk down the street or he’d pick us up from school and everyone recognised him.
“We thought it was great. We were so proud of him. And he was so loved.”
With his energetic stage persona, Johnny rose to fame in the late 1950s. Through sheer determination and hard work the singer became the country’s biggest star with a catalogue of chart-topping hits such as “Shout”, “Wild One” and “She’s My Baby”. He also hosted TV shows, Six O’clock Rock and The Johnny O’keefe Show.
“He was such a stepping stone and a navigator for the Australian music industry, in every way,” Vicky says. “He definitely had charisma. That presence he had on stage was captivating. I could see it and feel it as I watched everyone around me. And it was amazing.”
Vicky recalls “fun times” with her father in his Double Bay home, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Away from the spotlight, Johnny was much more mild than wild, but there was one occasion when things became a little dangerous.
“We used to love cracker night, and he would always want to throw them,” she says. “He loved that. I think it was the kid in him. One night, the curtains nearly caught fire because the box of crackers had gone off.” For her 13th birthday, Johnny threw a party at his home, complete with arcade games and pinball machines. Three years later, Johnny topped this party when he bought his daughter a new outfit and took her to a Sydney nightclub for her 16th birthday.
Of course, there were incredibly dark times in Johnny’s life, too. He battled depression, alcoholism and drug issues.
In 1960, Johnny was involved in a horrific car accident while on tour in Queensland. He suffered severe injuries and was lucky to survive.
“He had this onyx ring my grandmother gave him that he used to perform with,” she says. “When everyone arrived on scene, my mother remembered him crawling around on the grass trying to find the ring, which he found.”
But her father was never quite the same after his accident. “He had difficulty coping emotionally with the trauma of the accident,” Vicky says. “He had plastic surgery and went back to television six weeks later.”
A year later, Johnny pushed himself to the edge. After touring the US, he flew to London, but collapsed after consuming a cocktail of marijuana and prescription medicine. When he woke up, he was in a psychiatric hospital.
“He suffered manic depression,” Vicky says. “It was his own personal struggle. They didn’t diagnose things like PTSD in those days. And my dad suffered depression. I’m not saying it was brought on by that accident, but it may have been exacerbated by the accident.”
Vicky recalls the terrible day she learnt that her father had died. She was at school at the time, when she was called out of class. While she didn’t know what was wrong, her mother’s face said it all.
“The tears were just flowing down her face,” she says. “We weren’t able to talk to him at the hospital because he was already on life support.
“I didn’t stay very long because it was very traumatic.”
A singer-songwriter in her own right, Vicky will play a bunch of her father’s songs at her upcoming shows.
“I have a lot of good memories of my dad,” she says. “He is a big part of my life. I’d like to keep his name alive for as long as I can. If I don’t, who’s going to do it?”
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