Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool is one of those bands that were only around for a very short time yet their music is still played today, around fifty years later.
After forming in 1970, they had almost immediate success with their debut single “Eagle Rock” going number 1. By August of 1972, less than 18 months after “Eagle Rock”, they had disbanded for the first time.
It is testament to the quality of their music and their individual musical talents that they are still well known and loved four decades later.
Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford had played together since they were teenagers in the Pink Finks and then Party Machine. Likewise Gary Young and Wayne Duncan had been working together since the early 60s, mostly backing solo acts such Bobbie and Laurie. All four were working together at the time Daddy Cool started in The Sons Of The Vegetal Mother. By the time Daddy Cool hit its straps these guys were very comfortable playing and working together and it showed.
They recorded their first album which spawned the hits “Come Back Again” and “Eagle Rock” in a marathon two day session and the rest, as they say, is history.
All members enjoyed active and notable music careers after Daddy Cool, most notably Ross Wilson with Mondo Rock and Solo hits.
Update:
- Ross Hannaford passed away on the 8th of March 2016 aged 65
- Wayne Duncan passed away on the 4th of December 2016 aged 72
Members
- Ross Wilson – Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica – 1970–1972, 1974–1975, 2005–2016
- Ross Hannaford – Guitar, Bass, Vocals – 1970–1972, 1974–1975, 2005–2016
- Wayne Duncan – Bass, Vocals – 1970–1972, 1974–1975, 2005–2016
- Gary Young – Drums, Vocals – 1970–1972, 1974–1975, 2005–2016
- Jeremy Noone – Saxophone, Keyboards – 1971-72
- Ian “Willy” Winter – Guitar – 1972
- (Ian) Gunther Gorman – Guitar – 1975
- Wayne Burt – Guitar, Vocals – 1975
Video
Recordings
Albums
- Daddy Who? Daddy Cool – Sparmac (July 1971)
- Sex, Dope, Rock’n’Roll: Teenage Heaven – Sparmac (January 1972) #15 aka Teenage Heaven (US release)
- Daddy Cool Live! The Last Drive-In Movie Show – Wizard (September 1973)
- The New Cool – Liberation (October 2007)
Singles
- “Eagle Rock” / “Bom Bom” – Sparmac (May 1971) #14
- “Come Back Again” / “Just As Long As We’re Together” – Sparmac (September 1971) #34
- “Hi Honey Ho” / “Don’t Ever Leave Me” (December 1971) #164
- “Teenage Blues” / “At the Rockhouse” – Sparmac (1972) #834
- “I’ll Never Smile Again” / “Daddy Rocks Off” – Sparmac (July 1972) #164
- “Rock’n’Roll Lady” / “Cadallacin’” – Sparmac (September 1972)
- “One Night” / “Cadallacin’”(live) – Wizard (July 1973)
- “Boy, You’re Paranoid” (live) / “One Night” (live) – Wizard (July 1973)
- “Flash in My Head” / “Little Darlin’” / “Boy You’re Paranoid” – Wizard (August 1973)
- “Duke of Earl” / “Jambalaya” – Wizard (September 1973)
- “All I Wanna Do is Rock (part 1)” / “All I Wanna Do is Rock (part 2)” – Wizard (1974)
- “The Boogie Man” / “I Was a Teenage Creature” – Wizard (1974)
- “You Never Can Tell” / “All I Wanna Do is Rock” – Wizard (1974)
- “Eagle Rock” / “Cadillacin’” (live) – Wizard (January 1981) #174
- “Eagle Rock” / “Daddy Rocks Off” 12″ – Wizard (June 1982)
- “Come Back Again” (short vers.) / “Come Back Again” (long vers.) – Wizard (September 1982)
- “Hi Honey Ho” (long vers.) / “Come Back Again” (long vers.) 12″ – Wizard (November 1982)
- “Eagle Rock” / “Come Back Again” – Wizard (October 1989)
- “Ballad of Oz” / “Happy Hippy Hut” (by Skyhooks) – Mushroom (1994) #36
- “The Christmas Bug” (2005)
Known Gigs
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 30/01/71 | Myponga, SA | Myponga Music Festival |
| 31/01/71 | Myponga, SA | Myponga Music Festival |
| 07/05/71 | Melbourne, Vic | Melbourne Town Hall |
| 27/01/74 | Sunbury, VIC | Sunbury Pop Festival 1974 |
| 17/03/74 | Prahran, VIC | Ormond Hall |
| + Skyhooks | ||
| 25/04/74 | Moore Park, NSW | Hordern Pavilion |
| Support Bands: Home, La De Das & Stevie Wright Band | ||
| 09/05/74 | Adelaide, SA | Festival Theatre |
| + Skyhooks | ||
Hi I am sure you was at the City hall in Hobart with Brian cadd early 70’s as I was there but its not listed above I am I correct I remember the cap with the propellor .
It was the good years so miss them.
Why Daddy Cool is great…!!!
1 – I saw their first Sydney concert @ The Paddington Town Hall, nobody in Sydney had seen them, we’d hardly heard them, just Eagle Rock, but D.C. had the whole place jumping as soon as they started. So what you say. Well, when was the last time a relatively unknown Band comes on stage and gets that kind of response from the get go.?.. I’ve only seen it twice, the other being Hound Dog Taylor.
Remember hardly anyone knew the songs, Australia pretty well missed the whole Doo-Wop era, and how many kids at that gig knew Cherrie Pie, Duke Of Earl or Zoom Zoom Zoom. Zero I reckon and with that, they still killed it. It was one hell of a night, they were great. Ray Columbus and the Invaders were the other Band..!!!
2 – Wayne Duncan swings like a palm tree in a hurricane. The bass trax on all of the D.C. songs are perfect like no one else could do. Listen to Hi Honey Ho… this is not the playing of a 50’s fan bass player, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing and listen to Roll With Me Henry on the live album, those short, muted notes make that song swing like crazy and 1 more.. the beginning of the choruses in Eagle Rock, short notes.. the song just takes off, Wayne knew exactly what to do to make a song jump… put that with a Gary Young, Mr Shuffle himself… oh man…!!!
3 – The recordings of the D.C. songs are great as well. Both the albums were recorded and mixed dry and neat, they sound good on little speakers and big speakers, not easy to do.
4 – Two factors account for the fact that Daddy Cool were more than a 50’s revival act like Sha Na Na, who would less than convincingly cover 50’s songs, record 50’s songs, but without the great character of those 50’s songs… how can you improve on “Chantilly Lace”?
But with D.C, they had the extraordinary guitar work of Ross Hannaford, a cross between Chuck Berry and Jeff Beck. In the 5 piece D.C. you could always tell when it was one of the OTHER guitarists doing a feature, if it sounded “usual” or “familiar” it wasn’t Ross H. He had a different but totally suitable approach to all D.C. songs and it worked as well in the 50’s songs as it did on Ross Wilson’s Frank Zappa influenced songs.
How did he do that..??. how many guitarists are there in the world..?. and yet Ross always sound that little bit different and that’s why D.C. just didn’t sound like a revival Band, they had way more to say.
5 – Ross Wilson had more to say as well. It’s reasonable easy to try and do a rehash of 50’s style song, Ol’55 did it pretty successfully (full disclosure, I was in Ol’55 in the 80’s for 3 ½ years), but when you hear “Long After Schooldays Are Through”, that’s a 50’s song for sure, with cute 50’s references, but it’s a GREAT song.. great verses, great chorus’s and a fabulous vocal performance.. it’s not just a 50’s rehash, it’s a great musical creation and performance. Same goes for “Donna Forgive Me”.. those chords. Ah, I’m melting as I type.
Sha Na Na would never be able to create anything like that, God bless their cotton socks
6 – The Album covers. How good are they? There are a few Bands around that take covers seriously and back in the day, covers were a treat to view, ponder, read, re-read, I loved doing that and the point is that you do stuff or you can ½ do stuff, all the D.C. product was first class thanks to the that talented team.. again, as with a lot of D.C. stuff, it just worked..
7 – It’s hard to believe that D.C. put out 2 albums and an EP, all of the highest quality in less than 2 years.. with all that touring and U.S. trips x 3, that’s a big work load, so we have to give the lads thanks for their hard work for us to enjoy.. Jeff Cripps