Still rocking, forever cool
ROSS WILSON REFLECTS ON HOW EAGLE ROCK CHANGED THE AUSSIE MUSIC SCENE 50 YEARS AGO
As Ross Wilson hits the road for the Eagle Rock 50th anniversary tour, he remains bemused by a recurring question about the record-breaking classic’s video.
“People seem to not be aware of how movies are made. I’ve had the question quite a few times, ‘How did they get the eagle to dance in time?’” Wilson says, chuckling about the avian co-star in the clip. “Like we had a big stereo there waiting for the eagle to get into the groove.
“The guy who helped us make the video just went to the Melbourne Zoo and shot through the wire around the aviary.”
That video, directed by filmmaker Chris Lofven, has more than five million YouTube views as Eagle Rock continues to resonate with fans in the digital era, with the song played more than 50 million times on streaming services. It remains one of the most influential songs in Aussie rock history.
Back in 1971 when it was released, local artists played second fiddle to international acts with most forced to do covers of US and UK hits to get on the radio.
Daddy Cool shattered the status quo with their funky, driving rock song which stayed on top of the charts for a record 10 weeks and became the highest selling single of the year.
Coupled with the equally enduring single Come Back Again, Eagle Rock would spearhead their debut long-player Daddy Who? Daddy Cool to the summit of the album charts to become the first Australian record to sell more than 100,000 copies.
Wilson recalls the band, whose original line-up also included Ross Hannaford, Wayne Duncan and Gary Young, enjoyed overnight success in their home base of Melbourne but it wasn’t until they booked their first gigs in Sydney that Eagle Rock became a national hit. In that era, each state had its own top 40 chart.
But the band’s success proved to be a double-edged sword.
As Eagle Rock’s radio triumph in their hometown rippled out across the country, Daddy Cool were booked as the opening act for visiting British rockers The Kinks. And by this stage, Daddy Cool were a formidable live outfit.
“I remember as we were driving from the airport to the hotel, we heard the song played on Sydney radio for the first time. Because we were in town with The Kinks, they couldn’t ignore us any more; it was our big breakthrough,” he says.
“I love The Kinks, they were one of my biggest influences. After we played with them in Sydney, we went to Adelaide and we went down too well, so they kicked us off the tour.”
Wilson jokingly refers to that first wave of success courtesy of the Daddy Who? album as the “good Daddy Cool”.
The follow-up Sex, Dope, Rock’n’Roll: Teenage Heaven, was “evil Daddy Cool” with songs including Love in an FJ scandalising the moral arbiters of the times. It was banned from department store shelves.
“The Catholic Mothers association complained,” Wilson says with some pride. “Someone sent me a photo of their copy of the record recently and in the groove where Love in an FJ is, which is all about having sex at the drive-in, there’s these big scratches across that track. Some father had taken it upon themselves to censor the track. I think that’s a good indication of the waves we made.”
Eagle Rock would have a profound influence on other rock contemporaries.
During his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concerts in Australia throughout late 2019 and early 2020, Elton John cited it as inspiration for his eternal partystarter Crocodile Rock.
The cover of John’s 1973 album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano
Player, which featured Crocodile Rock, has a photo of Bernie Taupin wearing a Daddy Who? badge.
“We were coming back home from our first trip to the US and stopped in NZ to do some shows … and the promoter was telling us every time Elton went to a radio station in Australia he made them play Daddy Cool,” Wilson says.
Daddy Cool’s tours to the US didn’t break the band on to the American pop charts, but it found plenty of fans among the country’s future rock stars.
Tom Petty and his bandmates bonded over the Daddy Who? record and decided to form a group because of their shared musical influences. “When satellite radio started in the US and Tom Petty had his own show, he would play us on that all the time.”
Wilson kicks off his 50th anniversary this week.
Every time Elton John went to a radio station in Australia he made them play Daddy Cool