Noeleen Batley

{{Short description|Australian singer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Noeleen Batley | image =  | alt =  | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|25 December 1944}} | birth_place = Sydney, Australia | death_date =  | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Singer | years_active = 1960-1972 | known_for = | notable_works = ''Barefoot Boy'', 1960 }}

'''Noeleen Batley''' (born 25 December 1944)<ref name="Milesago" /> was an Australian pop star in the 1960s and early 1970s. She was known as "Australia's Little Miss Sweetheart".<ref name=MM>{{Cite web|title = NOELEEN BATLEY {{!}} Biography {{!}} MusicMinder, the Premier Entertainers Directory|url = http://www.musicminder.com/scripts/entertainers/displayentertainer.asp?ID=006218|website = www.musicminder.com|access-date = 2016-01-17}}</ref>

==Early life== Batley was born in Sydney on Christmas Day, 1944, and began singing at the age of five with her mother's encouragement. As a child, she sang on radio shows such as 2UE's ''Youth Parade'', 2UW's ''Amateur Hour'' and the ABC's ''Rockville Junction''.<ref name="MM"/> She entered numerous talent competitions, and eventually won her first recording contract, with Festival Records, in 1960 as a prize in a singing competition.<ref name="Milesago">{{Cite web|title = MILESAGO - Groups & Solo Artists - Noeleen Batley|url = http://www.milesago.com/artists/batley.htm|website = www.milesago.com|access-date = 2016-01-17}}</ref>

==Career== Batley's first record "Starry Eyed" was released in February 1960, but was not a success.<ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald - 29 March 1964 - Smiling on to Success">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19640329&id=3PpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OOYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6222,8826690&hl=en|title=Smiling on to Success|last=Veitch|first=Jock|date=29 March 1964|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=17 January 2016}}</ref> However her next record, released in October of the same year, reached the Top 5 in all Australian mainland capital cities.<ref name="Milesago"/> It was a recording of ''Barefoot Boy'', a song written by the then 16-year-old Helene Grover.<ref name=MM /><ref name="Australian Broadcasting Corporation - 22 February 2015 - RareCollections - Helene Grover">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rarecollections/helene-grover/6139308|title=RareCollections - Helene Grover|date=22 February 2015|work=ABC Radio National|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=17 January 2016}}</ref> It remained in the charts for sixteen weeks.<ref name="MM"/> With its success, Batley became the first Australian female pop singer to have a national hit song, and began to appear on TV shows such as ''Youth Show'', ''Bandstand'' and ''Six O'Clock Rock''.<ref name="Milesago"/>

In 1961, Batley was voted Australia's Top Female Singer.<ref name="MM"/> Her mother became her manager and together they completed a two-week tour of New Zealand (henceforth called a holiday)in 1964.<ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald - 29 March 1964 - Smiling on to Success"/> She continued to record for Festival until 1969, when she went on a tour of Europe and England. She eventually settled in England, in 1970, and continued to perform there.<ref name="MM"/> Her last recording, ''Seabird'', was released in 1972.<ref name=MM />

==Later life== Batley married in 1975 and had a child in 1976. The family lived first in Essex, England, and then in Miami, Florida.<ref name="Milesago"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batley, Noeleen}} Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Sydney Category:Australian pop singers Category:1944 births Category:Australian women pop singers