{{Short description|Australian rock singer (born 1951)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{use Australian English|date=September 2013}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Alison MacCallum | image = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|4|7|df=y}} | birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | origin = | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} (death date 1st) --> | death_place = | genre = Rock, blues, soul | occupation = Singer | instrument = Vocals | years_active = 1967–1979 | label = RCA, Albert/EMI | past_member_of = Geoff Bull Jazz Band, Big Apple Union, Dr Kandy's Third Eye, This Hallelujah Chorus, Tully, Freshwater, Ray Brown's One Ton Gypsy, Hooter Sisters | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> }}
'''Alison MacCallum'''<!-- According to talkpage discussion this is the artist's preferred spelling. Form seen in some of the artist's contemporaneous releases and in some sources --> (born 7 April 1951), also written '''Alison McCallum'''<!-- According to talkpage discussion this spelling seen on much of the artist's contemporaneous releases and in some sources -->, is an Australian rock singer from the late 1960s and 1970s. Her two studio albums are ''Fresh Water'' (March 1972) and ''Excuse Me'' (October 1975). In March 1972 she issued her most successful charting single, "Superman", which peaked at No. 12 on ''Go-Set''{{'}}s National Top 40. In August that year MacCallum provided lead vocals for the Labor Party's campaign theme song, "It's Time", for the 1972 election. By the late 1970s, she had concentrated on session work and then "disappeared from public view". According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, MacCallum was "a soul/blues stylist of considerable flair and passion". In September 2014 Sony released a 2× CD compilation album, ''The Essential Alison MacCallum''.
==Early career==
Alison MacCallum was born on 7 April 1951 and raised in Maroubra, a Sydney suburb.<ref name="Purple">{{cite web | url = https://www.southernfm.com.au/show/purple-haze/the-purple-haze-archive-presents-alison-maccallum-australias-greatest-female-singer-of-the-1970s-on-podcast/ | title = ''The Purple Haze'' Archive presents Alison MacCallum: Australia's Greatest Female Singer of the 1970s on Podcast | last = Black | first = Nick | work = The Purple Haze | publisher = 88.3 Southern FM | accessdate = 17 January 2019 }}</ref> She began her music career in 1967, at the age of 16, as the singer in a succession of Sydney bands.<ref name="Purple"/><ref name="McFarlane"/> Her influences include Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Clara Ward and Marianne Williams.<ref name="McFarlane"/> She began with the Geoff Bull Jazz Band, and the York Gospel Singers.<ref name="Haesler"/> She soon joined the Big Apple Union, a soul band, which evolved into Dr Kandy's Third Eye,<ref name="McFarlane"/> in which she shared lead vocals with Gulliver Smith, (later of Company Caine).<ref name="NLA 3"/><ref name="McFarlaneCC"/> In June 1969, MacCallum joined a seven-piece blue-eyed soul band, This Hallelujah Chorus, sharing lead vocals with Ed Mayne. Also during that year she recorded a cover version of The Bee Gees track "To Love Somebody" with Tully for the ABC-TV show ''Fusions''.<ref name="McFarlane"/> However, it was not released commercially until 1979 on the various artists' compilation album, ''Alberts Archives'', selected by Glenn A. Baker.
At the end of 1970 MacCallum joined Freshwater, a soul-pop band, which had formed in New Zealand in 1968.<ref name="McFarlaneFw"/><ref name="Sergent"/> They had achieved notoriety for their controversial May 1970 single, "Satan" / "Satan's Woman" – about the Sharon Tate murders.<ref name="McFarlaneFw"/> Initially sharing lead vocals with Ian Johnson, by September 1971 she was sole lead vocalist alongside Tony Bolton on drums, Rod Coe on bass guitar, David Fookes on keyboards, and Murray Partridge on lead guitar and backing vocals.<ref name="McFarlaneFw"/> In November 1971 the band's final single, "I Ain't Got the Time", was issued – featuring MacCallum's first released appearance – which reached the top 20 in the local charts and peaked at No. 30 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.<ref name="McFarlaneFw"/><ref name="Kent"/> After the demise of Freshwater in that month,<ref name="McFarlaneFw"/> she briefly joined Ray Brown's band, One Ton Gypsy, before going solo in early 1972.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="McFarlaneRB"/>
==Solo career== In March 1972 Alison MacCallum issued her first solo single, "Superman", on RCA Records which was written by Harry Vanda and George Young (both ex-The Easybeats).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="APRA Superman"/><ref name="NLA 1"/> It reached No. 12 on ''Go-Set''{{'}}s National Top 40 and No. 8 on the Kent Music Report.<ref name="Kent"/><ref name="GoSet"/> The B-side was a Ted Mulry ({{aka}} Martin Mulry) composition "Take Me Back".<ref name="APRA Take"/> Also that month she released her debut solo album, ''Fresh Water'',<ref name="McFarlane"/> a reference to her former band. It was produced by United Kingdom producer Simon Napier-Bell, who had worked with The Yardbirds and T.Rex.<ref name="McFarlane"/> John Tait described Napier-Bell's work as re-invigorating Vanda & Young's songwriting career "Ted Albert assigned him the task of finding artists to record some of the songs Harry and George were sending over from London. The most notable of these demos was a rock tune called 'Superman' ... [he] matched the song up with the soaring voice of session singer Alison MacCallum, added some brass to the original arrangement and suddenly they had a hit on their hands".<ref name="Tait"/> Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted ''Fresh Water''{{'}}s "mix of rock, jazz and blues material proved to be a fine showcase for her expressive voice".<ref name="McFarlane"/> In March 1974 it was re-released as, ''Any Way You Want Me''.
In August 1972 MacCallum provided lead vocals for "It's Time", which was written and produced by Pat Aulton.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="NLA 2"/><ref name="APRA Its"/> The concept and words were by Paul Jones the Creative Director of the campaign. It was used as the theme on Australian Labor Party's TV and radio ads during Gough Whitlam's 1972 federal election campaign,<ref name="NLA 2"/><ref name="Solomon"/> making MacCallum a famous name through saturation radio and TV airplay, despite the single failing to chart.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Kent"/> According to James Cockington "even though Labor was not credited on the label nor mentioned in the lyrics, most radio stations were reluctant to play the song, sensing its party-political roots".<ref name="Cockington"/> MacCallum was joined in the TV ads with a variety of celebrities including Bert Newton, Col Joye, Judy Stone, John Dease, Hazel Phillips, Ted Hamilton, ''Bellbird'' cast members, and Bobby Limb.<ref name="Solomon"/><ref name="Cockington"/> Some of the celebrities suffered a negative backlash from appearing in the ads, Stone recalled "we didn't get paid for it, but we certainly lost a lot of work over it ... Some of us were black banned from clubs, and I had garbage thrown all over my lawn. And I wasn't the only one singled out".<ref name="Guerrera"/>
MacCallum released three more singles on RCA: "Ol' Rock'n' Roll Boogie Woogie Blues" (July 1972), "Would You Believe?",<ref name="McFarlane"/> and a cover of Rotary Connection's 1968 single, "Teach Me How to Fly" (1973), previously an Australian hit for local artist, Jeff St John and Copperwine in 1970.<ref name="McFarlaneJSJ"/><ref name="PopArchive Teach"/> In 1973 MacCallum travelled to Europe to perform, and she showcased "Superman" at the eighth Midem International Music Trade Fair in Cannes.<ref name="McFarlane"/> She returned to Australia and in October 1974 signed to Albert Productions. MacCallum collaborated with two fellow singers, Bobbi Marchini (ex-Freshwater) and Janice Slater as the Hooter Sisters, to release a cover of the Phil Spector-written single, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", originally performed by his band, The Teddy Bears.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="APRA To Know"/>
In October 1974 MacCallum released her next solo single, "Excuse Me", which peaked at No. 29 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart and spent 41 weeks in the top 100.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Kent"/> It was followed by her second solo album, ''Alison'' a.k.a. ''Excuse Me'', in July 1975 which spent two weeks on the Kent Music Report Top 100 Albums Chart.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Kent"/> It provided two more singles, "Her Kind of Guy (Hot Burrito)" (September 1975) and "Love Grows Cold" (February 1976).<ref name="McFarlane"/> During the late 1970s she appeared on the satirical comedy, ''The Naked Vicar Show'', both on radio (Series 2 Episodes 1 and 2, November 1976) and on TV (Series 1 Episodes 1 and 9, May and September 1977).<ref name="Tatchell"/>
==Post solo career==
In the late 1970s Alison MacCallum concentrated on session work, providing backing vocals on John Robinson's ''Pity for the Victim'' and for other artists: Billy Thorpe, Doug Parkinson and Mark Holden. In 1979 her 1972 single, "Superman", was re-released by RCA together with a compilation album of the same name to cash in on the then-popular 1978 ''Superman'' movie.<ref name="McFarlane"/>
According to McFarlane, MacCallum had "disappeared from public view", and that she was "a soul/blues stylist of considerable flair and passion".<ref name="McFarlane"/> After the advent of CDs, only two of her solo tracks, "Superman" and "Excuse Me", were released on various artists' CDs, until September 2014 when Sony Music Australia issued a 2× CD compilation album, ''The Essential Alison MacCallum''.<ref name="Purple"/> It was compiled and annotated by Glenn A. Baker.<ref name="Purple"/>
==Discography== ===Albums=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |+ List of albums, with selected chart positions. ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album details ! scope="col"| Peak chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br /><small>KMR</small><br /><ref name="Kent"/> |- ! scope="row" | ''Fresh Water'' | * Released: March 1972<ref name="McFarlane"/> * Label: RCA Victor <small>(SL-102036)</small> * Formats: LP * Note: Re-released in March 1974 as ''Any Way You Want Me'', RCA Camden <small>(VCL1-0009)</small> | 42 |- ! scope="row" | ''Excuse Me'' | * Released: July 1975<ref name="McFarlane"/> * Label: Albert Productions <small>(APLP-010)</small> * Formats: LP * Note: a.k.a. ''Alison'' | 96 |- ! scope="row" | ''Superman: The Best of the RCA Years'' | * Released: April 1979<ref name="McFarlane"/> * Label: RCA <small>(VPL1-0211)</small> * Formats: LP * Note: Compilation album | — |- ! scope="row" | ''The Essential Alison MacCallum'' | * Released: 29 September 2014<ref name="ARIA Report 1283">{{cite journal | date = 29 September 2014 | archiveurl = https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20131123130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20131124-0000/Issue%201238.pdf | title = Week Commencing ~ 29th September 2014 ~ Issue #1283 | last = Wallace | first = Ian | journal = The ARIA Report| publisher = Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) | issue = 1238 | page = 29 | url = http://www.aria.com.au/pages/documents/issue1283.pdf | archivedate = 23 November 2013 | accessdate = 17 January 2019 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> * Label: Sony Music Australia <small>(88875004502)</small> * Formats: 2× CD * Note: Compilation album | — |- | colspan="5" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |}
===Singles=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |+ List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name. ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br /><small>KMR</small><br /><ref name="Kent"/> ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br /><small>''Go-Set''</small><br /><ref name="GoSet"/> |- ! scope="row"| "Superman" / "Take Me Back" | rowspan="4"| 1972 | 8 || 12 | rowspan="1"|''Fresh Water'' |- ! scope="row"| "Ol' Rock 'n' Roll Boogie Woogie Blues" | 87 || — | rowspan="4"|Non-album singles |- ! scope="row"| "It's Time" | — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Would You Believe" | — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Fire" | 1973 | — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Excuse Me" | 1974 | 29 || — | rowspan="3"| ''Excuse Me'' |- ! scope="row"| "Her Kind of Guy (Hot Burrito)" | 1975 | — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Love Grows Cold" | 1976 | — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Superman" | 1979 | — || — | ''Superman: The Best of the RCA Years'' |- | colspan="5" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |}
===Other appearances=== * 1979 – ''Albert Archives – The Best Kept Secrets of Albert Productions 1965–76'' – "To Love Somebody" (Albert Productions, credited as Alison McCallum & Tully) * 1999 – ''Live, Loud and Sweaty: Australia's Live Music Scene of the Seventies'' – "Together Till the End of Time" (Canetoad, credited to Freshwater)
==Awards and nominations== ===Go-Set Pop Poll=== The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, ''Go-Set'' and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.<ref name="Top40TV">{{Cite web | url = http://users.ncable.net.au/~ronjeff/top40/oz_king.htm | title = Australian Music Awards | publisher = Ron Jeff | accessdate = 16 December 2010 | archive-date = 30 June 2012 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120630220831/http://users.ncable.net.au/~ronjeff/top40/oz_king.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref>
{{awards table}} |- | 1972 | herself | Female Artist | 4th |- {{end}}
==References== {{Refbegin}} ;General * {{Cite encyclopedia|last=McFarlane |first=Ian |author-link=Ian McFarlane |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop |title=Whammo Homepage |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405231007/http://www.whammo.com.au/index.asp |url=http://www.whammo.com.au/index.asp |archivedate=5 April 2004 |accessdate=4 September 2013 |year=1999 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=St Leonards, NSW |isbn=1-86508-072-1 |url-status=dead }} Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality. * Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock & Pop - Rigby Publishers - 1978 - {{ISBN|0-7270-1909-0}} * {{Cite book | title = The Who's Who of Australian Rock | last = Spencer | first = Chris |author2=Zbig Nowara |author3=Paul McHenry | orig-year = 1987 | year = 2002 | publisher = Five Mile Press | location = Noble Park, Vic | isbn = 1-86503-891-1 }} *An Australian Rock Discography 1960-1989 - Chris Spencer - Moonlight Publishers - 1990 - {{ISBN|0-7316-8343-9}} ;Specific {{Refend}} {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name="McFarlane">McFarlane, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040419004110/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=443 |date=19 April 2004 |title='Alison McCallum' entry }}. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=443 the original] on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name="Haesler">{{cite web | url = http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s1137531.htm | title = God, Church and All That Jazz | last = Haesler | first = Bill | publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation | accessdate = 4 September 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140823173119/http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s1137531.htm | archive-date = 23 August 2014 | url-status = dead}}</ref>
<ref name="NLA 3">{{cite news | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118182713 | title = Making Music Is His Way of Life | last = Foster | first = Michael | newspaper = The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) | date = 2 April 1987 | accessdate = 4 September 2013 | page = 8 Supplement: The Good Times: A Supplement to ''The Canberra Times'' | publisher = National Library of Australia | quote = Then there was a band with Gulliver Smith and Alison McCallum singing, and a time 'of being made very aware by jazz musicians' }}.</ref>
<ref name="McFarlaneCC">McFarlane, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040615071603/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=217 |date=15 June 2004 |title='Company Caine' entry }}. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=217 the original] on 15 June 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name="McFarlaneFw">McFarlane, {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040725114522/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=624 |date=25 July 2004 |title='Freshwater' entry }}. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=624 the original] on 25 July 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name="Sergent">{{cite web | url = http://www.sergent.com.au/music/freshwater.html | title = Freshwater | first = Bruce | last = Sergent | publisher = New Zealand Music of the 60's, 70's and a bit of 80's (Bruce Sergent) | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="Kent">{{Cite book | title = Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 | last1 = Kent | first1 = David | authorlink1 = David Kent (historian) | publisher = Australian Chart Book Ltd | location = St Ives, NSW | year = 1993 | isbn = 0-646-11917-6 }} Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.</ref>
<ref name="McFarlaneRB">McFarlane, {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040419004110/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=443 |date=19 April 2004 |title='Ray Brown and the Whispers' entry }}. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=443 the original] on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name="APRA Superman">{{cite web | publisher = Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | title = 'Superman' at APRA search engine | url = http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Superman | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="NLA 1">{{cite web | author1 = Vanda, Harry | authorlink1 = Harry Vanda | author2 = Young, George | authorlink2 = George Young (rock musician) | title = 'Superman' Score | publication-date = 1972 | publisher = J. Albert & Son. National Library of Australia | location= Sydney | url = http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/23869599 | accessdate = 4 September 2013 | quote = Recorded by Alison McCallum on R.C.A.}}</ref>
<ref name="GoSet">{{cite web | url = http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1972/19720610.html | work = Go-Set | title = National Top 40 | publisher = Waverley Press | date = 10 June 1972 | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }} Note: ''Go-Set'' published its national charts from October 1966 until August 1974. Artist name is given as 'Allison MacCallum'.</ref>
<ref name="APRA Take">{{cite web | publisher = Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | title = 'Take Me Back' at APRA search engine | url = http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Take%20Me%20Back | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="Tait">{{cite book | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=z6FrsPeJRQQC&pg=PA134 | title = Vanda and Young: Inside Australia's Hit Factory | last = Tait | first = John | chapter = Simon Napier-Bell in Australia | pages = 133–134 | publisher = UNSW Press | location = Sydney | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-1-74224-010-7 }}</ref>
<ref name="NLA 2">{{Citation | author1 = McCallum, Alison | title = 'It's Time' | publication-date = 1972 | url = http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/27236090 | publisher = National Library of Australia | accessdate = 4 September 2013 | quote = ALP 1972 election theme. Transferred from cassette to compact disc November 2006}}.</ref>
<ref name="APRA Its">{{cite web | publisher = Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | title = 'It's Time' at APRA search engine | url = http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Its%20Time | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="Solomon">{{cite news | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101999955 | title = ALP Shows its TV Talent Line-up | newspaper = The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) | date = 19 August 1972 | accessdate = 4 September 2013 | page = 1 | publisher = National Library of Australia }}</ref>
<ref name="Cockington">{{Cite book | last1 = Cockington | first1 = James |date=August 2001 | title = Long Way to the Top: Stories of Australian Rock & Roll | chapter = The Politics of Pop | publisher = ABC Books (Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)) | location = Sydney, NSW | isbn = 0-73330-750-7 | page = 158 }}</ref>
<ref name="Guerrera">{{cite news | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/03/1036308205397.html | title = TV Watershed Reminds Us How Times Have Changed | last = Guerrera | first = Orietta | work = The Age| date = 4 November 2002 | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="McFarlaneJSJ">McFarlane, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406122523/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=337 |date=6 April 2004 |title='Jeff St John' entry }}. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=337 the original] on 6 April 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name="PopArchive Teach">[http://www.poparchives.com.au/212/jeff-st-john-copperwine/teach-me-how-to-fly "Teach Me How to Fly"]. ''Where Did They Get That Song?''. PopArchives (Lyn Nuttall). Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>
<ref name="APRA To Know">{{cite web | publisher = Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | title = 'To Know Him Is to Love Him' at APRA search engine | url = http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=To%20Know%20Him%20Is%20to%20Love%20Him | accessdate = 4 September 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="Tatchell">{{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927061811/http://www.laughterlog.com/radio/rad-naked.HTM | url = http://www.laughterlog.com/radio/rad-naked.HTM | title = The Naked Vicar Show | last = Tatchell | first = Peter | work = Laugh Magazine | issue = 14 | archivedate = 27 September 2007 | year = 1996 | publisher = laughterlog.com | accessdate = 5 September 2013 }}</ref> }}
==External links== *{{MusicBrainz artist|id=177db101-4646-4828-8070-fc04456d6c51|name=Alison MacCallum}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCallum, Alison}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Singers from Sydney MacCallum, Alison