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'''Norman John Rowe''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 1 February 1947)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2153}}</ref> is an Australian singer and songwriter. He rose to national prominence in the mid-1960s as a pop star and teen idol, backed by The Playboys. His 1965 double A-side "[[Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)|Que Sera Sera]]"/"[[Shakin' All Over]]" was one of the most successful Australian singles of the decade.
Born in Melbourne, Rowe was inspired by [[rock and roll]] as a teenager and began performing while still in high school, leaving his job to become a professional entertainer. He was signed by local label [[Sunshine Records (Australia)|Sunshine]], where he released his biggest hits. He was credited for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, and was named "[[Australian pop music awards|King Of Pop]]" by ''[[Go-Set]]'' in 1967 and 1968. Many of his most successful recordings were produced by [[Nat Kipner]] and later by [[Pat Aulton]], house producers for the Sunshine label. Rowe's string of consecutive top ten singles in the mid-1960s made him the most popular solo performer of the era, although attempts to break into the [[United Kingdom]] were unsuccessful.
Rowe was drafted for [[Conscription in Australia|National Service]] in late 1967. His subsequent [[Vietnam war|tour of duty in Vietnam]], which lasted from 1968 to 1970, effectively ended his pop career, and his reputation was affected by the anti-war movement and stigma around returning soldiers. Unable to recapture the musical success he enjoyed at his peak in the 1960s, he pursued a career in theatre and television, including a role on [[Seven Network]] soap opera [[Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)|''Sons and Daughters'']]. In 1991, he was involved in a physical fight on live television with [[Ron Casey (Sydney broadcaster)|Ron Casey]] after the latter made remarks about Rowe's service in Vietnam. Sadly, in October 1979 his first child, Adam, died in a tragic accident, and his daughter, Erin, died just before Christmas in December 2022.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
==Biography==
===Early life: 1947–1964===
Rowe was born and raised in Northcote in [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria, Australia]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He was drawn to music early in life
{{blockquote|When I was just aspiring to be a singer, only nine years of age, Col Joye was my idol. He was the boy next door that I could identify with, not the wild [[Johnny O'Keefe]]. In fact it was as my first concert, at the Lou Toppano Music School end of the year concert in 1959 or '60, that I sang Col's "[[Rock 'n' Rollin' Clementine]]". I still have the trophy I received for that show. It reads: "The Best Performance of the Night".|Norman Rowe}}
By luck, the show was compered by top Melbourne radio DJ [[Stan Rofe]]. Rofe was impressed by Rowe's talent and arranged for him to work with local dance promoter Kevin McClellan. He began performing regularly at Melbourne dances and discos, backed by instrumental groups like The Thunderbirds, The Impostors and, finally, The Playboys, who became his permanent band until 1967.
After leaving high school at the end of 1962, Rowe had joined the [[Postmaster-General's Department]] (PMG) on 14 January 1963. He worked as a trainee technician
==Music career==
===Sixties stardom===
Rowe's first single, released in April 1965, was a brooding "beat" arrangement of [[George Gershwin]]'s "[[It Ain't Necessarily So]]" (from ''[[Porgy & Bess]]'') a choice suggested by Stan Rofe. It was a [[Number 1 hit]] in Melbourne and a Top Ten hit in most other capitals cities (No. 6 in Sydney, No. 5 in Adelaide, No. 3 in Brisbane),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=183 |title=Normie Rowe - It
Rowe's first LP was released in July 1965. His second single
Although Rowe's third single, "I Confess" / "Everything's Alright", was apparently withdrawn before or soon after release, the next single became the biggest hit of his career. The A-side was a cover of "[[Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)|Que Sera Sera]]" (best known from the Doris Day original), which was given a "[[Merseybeat]]" treatment,
An oft-repeated story that the whistle used in the arrangement was an innovation by the record's producer appears to be unfounded, because very similar arrangements, complete with whistle, had been recorded on earlier versions by [[Earl Royce & The Olympics]] (UK, 1964) and by [[The High Keys]] (USA, 1963).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=200 |title=
Rowe's success continued through late 1965 and into the first half of 1966, during which time he scored another three consecutive Top Ten singles. "Tell Him I'm Not Home" (Nov. 1965) – a cover of a song originally recorded by [[Chuck Jackson]] in 1963—was a Top 5 hit in most mainland capitals, reaching #4 in Sydney, #2 in Melbourne, #2 in Adelaide and #1 in Melbourne<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=198|title=Tell Him I'm Not Home – NORMIE ROWE (1965) – Pop Archives – Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s|website=Poparchives.com.au|access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref> It was followed by his version of [[Burt Bacharach]] and [[Hal David]]'s "The Breaking Point" (b/w "Ya Ya", Feb. '66) which became his second double-sided hit, a number #1 in Brisbane and making the Top Ten in all mainland capitals, peaking at #9 in Adelaide, #8 in Sydney, #2 in Melbourne and Perth, #1 in Brisbane<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=205|title=The Breaking Point – NORMIE ROWE (1966) – Pop Archives – Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s|website=Poparchives.com.au|access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref>
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===United Kingdom: 1966–1968===
Rowe was by this time the most popular solo performer in Australia
Arriving in London ahead of his band, Rowe engaged
Up to this time there was no national pop chart in Australia, with most pop radio stations and newspapers in state capitals and major cities publishing their own competing charts. However, on 5 October 1966 ''[[Go-Set]]'' magazine, which had been launched in February, began publishing its first weekly national Top 40, compiled by [[Ed Nimmervoll]]. "Ooh La La" / "Mary, Mary" debuted at #6 on the new ''Go-Set'' chart on 7 December 1966,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1966/19661207.html|title=Go-Set Australian charts – 7 December 1966|website=Poparchives.com.au|access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref> and reached #1 in the 21 December chart,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1966/19661221.html|title=Go-Set Australian charts – 21 December 1966|website=Poparchives.com.au|access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref> hence becoming Rowe's first official national #1 hit. It stayed at #1 for two weeks before being briefly supplanted by The Easybeats' "[[Friday on My Mind]]" on 4 January, but returned to the top for the next two weeks.
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Meanwhile, The Playboys secured a one-off single deal with [[Andrew Loog Oldham]]'s [[Immediate Records]] label, releasing the single "Sad" / "Black Sheep RIP" in August. Written by Brian Peacock, "Sad" is now considered a 'freakbeat' classic and has been widely anthologised, appearing on the British collection ''Chocolate Soup For Diabetics Vol III'', Raven Records' ''Kicks'' and Rhino's ''Nuggets II''. In June, Normie Rowe & The Playboys travelled to North America, supporting [[Roy Orbison]] on a US tour, and along with [[The Seekers]] he represented Australia in performance at [[Expo '67]] in Montreal. He returned to Australia in July, where he appeared as a special guest at the national finals of the 1967 [[Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds]].
Rowe had more national chart success in late 1967 with the [[Graham Gouldman]] song "Going Home" (b/w "I Don't Care")
===National Service: 1968–1970===
[[File:Normie Rowe in a M113 APC during 1969.jpg|thumb|Normie Rowe in an [[M113 armoured personnel carriers in Australian service|M113 armoured personnel]] carrier in South Vietnam]]
Rowe was inducted into the army in February 1968, although he continued to perform part-time until leaving for Vietnam in January 1969. He continued to make television appearances; on 19 October 1968, he appeared on ATV-0's ''[[Uptight (TV show)|Uptight]]'' with a cropped haircut. He also began working with a new backing band, Nature's Own, who also regularly backed [[Johnny Farnham]] and other members of the Sunshine roster. His only charting record during this period was the ballad "Penelope", written by former Playboys member Brian Peacock.▼
▲Rowe was inducted into the army in February 1968, although he continued to perform part-time until leaving for Vietnam in January 1969. He
Rowe's basic training at [[Puckapunyal]] was extensively covered by the Australian media. In Vietnam, Rowe rose to Corporal and was Crew Commander of an [[armoured personnel carrier]]. He was discharged from the army in February 1970. Rowe's final minor hit was "Hello", written by [[Johnny Young]] and released in May 1970; he subsequently released an album with the same name. Rowe was later revealed to have inspired the song "Smiley", written by Johnny Young and recorded by [[Ronnie Burns (singer)|Ronnie Burns]], whose version was a major hit in Australia in 1969 and 1970. The ''Hello'' album marked the end of his Sunshine contract, although the label had been taken over by Festival several years earlier after it got into financial problems. Normie signed to Festival in 1971, for whom he cut three singles. "Que Sera Sera" was re-released in January 1971 and on 6 March he married his girlfriend Sue Powlesland.▼
▲Rowe's basic training at [[Puckapunyal]] was extensively covered by the Australian media. In Vietnam, Rowe rose to
His time in Vietnam effectively ended
===Variety===
Although his pop career was now effectively over, Rowe was able to fall back on the training from his dance hall days, and
==Theatre and television==
In the 1980s, Rowe began to expand his career into acting and musical theatre. He studied at the Sydney's famous [[Ensemble Theatre]] and took roles on stage and TV, including an extended role in the TV soapie ''[[Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)|Sons & Daughters]]''. In 1987 he won great acclaim in his central role of Jean Valjean in [[Cameron Mackintosh|Cameron Mackintosh's]] Sydney production of the musical [[Les Miserables (musical)|Les Misérables]].
Among other musical roles in the 1980s and 1990s, Rowe played the lead role on the recording, and in the world premiere concerts of a new Australian musical, ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', which he helped develop, played Daddy Warbucks in ''[[Annie (musical)|Annie]]'', Freddie Trumper (the American) in ''[[Chess (musical)|Chess]]'', and Juan Perón in ''[[Evita (musical)|Evita]]''. One of the highlights of his career was his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Vietnam veterans, the entertainment industry and the community.<ref>{{cite web |title=Norman John Rowe |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872934 |website=Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=2020-10-12}}</ref> Normie has had a long association with many charity and community groups, with his major concern being the welfare of children. He is a long-serving member of Variety Clubs of Australia, for which he is now a National Ambassador, and he has won several awards for his work with them, including 1996's 'Heart and Soul of Variety' award.
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In 2011 (2 April) Rowe was a guest on episode 115 of SBS show [[RocKwiz]] where he performed [[Shakin' All Over]] and a duet with [[Georgia Fields]] of [[The Beatles]] song [[All I've Got to Do]].
In January 2012,
In 2015, he told Noise11.com
In June 2017,
played the titular Harold Holt for the third time. Filming took place
==Charity==
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