Collection Stories
Relive the life and music of the Wild One - Australia's king of rock'n'roll, Johnny O'Keefe.
Collection
Relive the life and music of the Wild One - Australia's king of rock'n'roll, Johnny O'Keefe.
Watch rare television footage, listen to music clips and oral history interviews, and browse two immense...
Article
We're sharing a rare clip of Johnny O'Keefe, Dusty Springfield, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Gene Pitney, and Brian Poole and The Tremeloes performing together on Australian TV.
Article
Tens of thousands of items are collected by the NFSA each year. What did we collect in 2014? Part 1 includes elephant heads, fake moustaches and the wild one.
Article
Curator Tamara Osicka on the secrets contained in the scrapbooks created by Johnny O'Keefe's mother Thelma.
Document
The first of two scrapbooks compiled by Johnny’s mother, Thelma O’Keefe, covers 1954-1961. This scrapbook documents his early years in the industry and contains a dizzying array of items, including...
Document
The second scrapbook compiled by Johnny’s mother, Thelma covers 1962-1965. While this was a period of great achievement for Johnny, there was also plenty of drama with well-publicised breakdowns,...
Audio
In this excerpt from an oral history interview with Max Merritt, he talks about being discovered by Harry M Miller in New Zealand after he stole the show as opening act for Johnny O'Keefe.
Nick Weare...
Audio
Johnny O’Keefe first visited America in November 1959, convinced he could make it in the birthplace of rock 'n’ roll. Almost by chance, he managed to arrange a meeting at Liberty Records where he...
Audio
This 1959 recording of ‘She’s My Baby’ by Johnny O’Keefe was recorded in Los Angeles, as part of an attempt to crack the US market. Produced by Ernie Freeman, the record features Scotty Turner on...
