Inveterate pub-goers, Oz music lovers, and entertainment names are all united in disbelief and grief at the new of the passing of a true Titan on the Australian music industry. Billy Thorpe died this morning in Sydney, after suffering a heart attack, robbing us of another link with our musical heritage.
He was born in Manchester, England, and emigrated to Brisbane as a youngster. A local celebrity by the age of eleven, he performed with Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny O'Keefe as a pre-pubescent prodigy, and kicked around with similarly-aged contemporaries like the brothers Gibb (who would find fame of their own as the Bee Gees), and Barry Lyde, who gained fame and infamy in equal portions as Lobby Lloyde.
A teen idol, who out-Beatled the Beatles at one point in 1964, and rode the pop revolution in the fading hey-day of the King's Cross clubs, he understood the concept of reinvention as a path to a sustained career, spending time as the compere of his own pop variety show, "It's All Happening" in the mid-sixties.
The global cultural revolution saw Billy embrace the emerging drug culture and stand himself as a local figurehead, submitting himself to recorded and medically-supervised LSD experimentation... ultimately finding his long-haired, manic "Forpie" identity for which he remains best-remembered today.
The re-birthed Thorpie and a new iteration of the Aztecs started down a path that culminated in the birth of the Pub Rock phenomenon, a musical genre that virtually smothered the local art-rock scene in a maelstrom of Marshall amps, Gibson guitars, empty VB cans, wild-eyed fans, and set the scene for the emergence of acts like Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, AC/DC and The Angels in the 70's.
The eye-of-the storm experience whirled through Melbourne, defined several Sunbury Festivals, cracked the foundations of one famous venue, and killed all the fish in the wall-to-floor tank at the Bondi Livesaver with a physically-assaulting volume, which Thorpie maintained throughout the days of the Aztecs, their reformation in the 90's, and his subsequent solo tours of Australia.
The late-70's saw him set up as part of the LA furniture Stateside, carving out a healthy AOR career, and an emerging presence as a producer and songwriter, which saw him work as a member of Mick Fleetwood's high-profile side-project, the Zoo, until he returned triumpantly to Australia to introduce a new generation of pub rockers to his brand of 120dB rock and roll.
A publically brash character - most people he knew thought he was crazy, after all - his work-hard-play-hard ethic, innate curiosity, a shart intelligence above the folks he met on his journey, gained him innumerable friends, a legion of fans across several generations, enough material for several best-selling and entertaining books, and critical acclaim.
He cast a shadow much larger than his stocky frame would have ever suggested. Billy Thorpe, wherever you may now be - be it somewhere over the rainbow or no - rock in peace, Digger... and thanks for the memories.
To his family and friends, the deepest condolences of a real fan.
He was born in Manchester, England, and emigrated to Brisbane as a youngster. A local celebrity by the age of eleven, he performed with Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny O'Keefe as a pre-pubescent prodigy, and kicked around with similarly-aged contemporaries like the brothers Gibb (who would find fame of their own as the Bee Gees), and Barry Lyde, who gained fame and infamy in equal portions as Lobby Lloyde.
A teen idol, who out-Beatled the Beatles at one point in 1964, and rode the pop revolution in the fading hey-day of the King's Cross clubs, he understood the concept of reinvention as a path to a sustained career, spending time as the compere of his own pop variety show, "It's All Happening" in the mid-sixties.
The global cultural revolution saw Billy embrace the emerging drug culture and stand himself as a local figurehead, submitting himself to recorded and medically-supervised LSD experimentation... ultimately finding his long-haired, manic "Forpie" identity for which he remains best-remembered today.
The re-birthed Thorpie and a new iteration of the Aztecs started down a path that culminated in the birth of the Pub Rock phenomenon, a musical genre that virtually smothered the local art-rock scene in a maelstrom of Marshall amps, Gibson guitars, empty VB cans, wild-eyed fans, and set the scene for the emergence of acts like Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, AC/DC and The Angels in the 70's.
The eye-of-the storm experience whirled through Melbourne, defined several Sunbury Festivals, cracked the foundations of one famous venue, and killed all the fish in the wall-to-floor tank at the Bondi Livesaver with a physically-assaulting volume, which Thorpie maintained throughout the days of the Aztecs, their reformation in the 90's, and his subsequent solo tours of Australia.
The late-70's saw him set up as part of the LA furniture Stateside, carving out a healthy AOR career, and an emerging presence as a producer and songwriter, which saw him work as a member of Mick Fleetwood's high-profile side-project, the Zoo, until he returned triumpantly to Australia to introduce a new generation of pub rockers to his brand of 120dB rock and roll.
A publically brash character - most people he knew thought he was crazy, after all - his work-hard-play-hard ethic, innate curiosity, a shart intelligence above the folks he met on his journey, gained him innumerable friends, a legion of fans across several generations, enough material for several best-selling and entertaining books, and critical acclaim.
He cast a shadow much larger than his stocky frame would have ever suggested. Billy Thorpe, wherever you may now be - be it somewhere over the rainbow or no - rock in peace, Digger... and thanks for the memories.
To his family and friends, the deepest condolences of a real fan.
