Colin Ifield Pages
ARTICLES from the past
WILL he be Colin Ifield-living under the shadow of big brother Frank - or will he be just Colin Jeffrey?...
by Malcolm Forsyth
WILL he be Col Ifield-living under the shadow of big brother Frank - or will he be just Colin Jeffrey?
This is the decision facing 19-year-old Geoffrey Colin Ifield as he begins to carve a career in the world of ballad music. And what a decision it is.
Whichever choice he makes, people are bound to compare him to Frank and, although Col has a rich, smooth singing style he feels is his own, he looks like his brother and to many ears (except the Ifield ones) sings like him.
TV WEEK spoke to Colin Ifield in the huge living-room of the sprawling Ifield home in the Sydney suburb of Beecroft. It was a home filled with the warmth and devotion of what is obviously one of the happiest families in this city.
While Mrs. Ifield served tea and home-made cakes, Ifields came from every direction, and soon five out of the original seven sons were eating mum's cakes with abandon. Mr. Ifield was there, too - and Gran' Livesey - the boys' maternal grandmother.
Col, who has already made a TV appearance on ATN7's Sing, Sing Sing, said: "I suppose I sing something like Frank, but I try not to".
"I was thinking of changing my name - but I don't know, I think I can make a name for myself, in spite of being Frank's young brother".
"Whenever and whatever I sing, I am automatically compared with Frank, particularly by the family who are more critical than you can imagine".
"Frank had to go through this family approval thing - and I must admit I was one of his most severe critics''
Fair-haired Bob cut in: "I like him doing I Listen To My Heart - but that's another one of Frank's. Some say he's better than Frank sometimes".
Col went on: "I've been singing at home for ages, but it wasn't until you-know-who went away that I began singing in public".
The Ifields (at our request) played a disc on the family radiogram. A disc that never went any farther, simply because John (the eldest Ifield) got himself married. It was made at EMI by Col, John and Bob, and it was called Anna-Marie, with a beat that would sell. It got the boys a contract, but that was the end. John got married...
"But we are thinking of forming a new group as a solution to this shadow of the Ifield name. We might call it The Wagga Wonders - how revolting!
"It would be Bob and David and me. David plays the piano rather well, and Bob plays bass - and sings bass or high register, whichever he feels like.
"But before we do anything about the new group, we've got to be perfect. We're a family of perfectionists.
"No, none of us," said Bob, "have any romantic attachments, except for John, of course. We're a close-knit family, and until we find the right girls - we're going to stay strictly bachelor.
"Mrs. Ifield came in with some more cakes - and it was about time, I thought, I asked her how she managed to survive with seven sons all under 30. Didn't she wish she had some daughters?"
"No, sons are so easy to cope with - goodness knows how I would react if I had girls hovering around with their problerns," smiled Mrs. Ifield.
For the record, of the seven sons, six are still living. All except John are single, and all are extremely good-looking.
In order, there's Jim 28 (fair), John 26 (dark), Frank 25 (fair), Bob 21 (fair), Colin 19 (dark) and David 17 (dark).
Phillip would have been 15 now, but he was killed in a car accident six years ago.
- MALCOLM FORSYTH.
O'Keefe's New
Stars
The Johnny
O'Keefe Show
Has extended to
Melbourne and
Has new stars
An array of big names in Australian entertainment will appear next Friday night.
The list includes Tony Brady, who will sing his new number, "Penny For Your Thoughts"; Lana Cantrell, appearing for the first time, to sing "Midnight In Moscow," a currently popular song; Dig Richards and the Bradley Sisters.
Other guest stars will be Dave Bridge, "Little Sammy,"' the Crescents and Colin Ifield.
The hour-long Johnny O'Keefe Show, which started in Sydney last October, will have its Melbourne premiere on March 4 on GTV9, the fourth station to broadcast this popular show.
The other two stations are QTQ9 Brisbane and NWS9 Adelaide.
A highlight will be a group of Fijians in national costume flown to Sydney specially for Johnny O'Keefe's first show for 1962.
No Qualms
Former teenage idol, rock 'n' roll singer Johnny O'Keefe has no qualms about the success of his show on Melbourne television. "I have made dozens of personal appearances and my last recording, a ballad, 'I'm Counting on You,' was number one in the top ten recently and stayed there ten weeks, "I have scored ten top recordings in that city." O'Keefe believes his show has universal appeal - and be laughed when asked if he. thought he might suffer the same fate as Melbourne television personality Graham Kennedy, who "flopped" in Sydney. "Melbourne has always been lucky for me. "As a tribute to the: people who live there I called my second child - now 13 months old - Victoria." But Johnny O'Keefe's success was really assured after the first performance of his Sydney television show released on October 13. He believes before the year is out his program will be extended to Perth and Hobart.
Brothers of ballad singer Frank Ifield will attempt to crash Sydney television as a vocal group.
This follows an unexpected, but hit appearance in Brian Henderson's "Bandstand" in late October.
The brothers, John, Robert and Colin teamed with Ifield for his last "Bandstand" appearance before leaving for England.
After the show the TCN9 switch- board was jammed with congratulatory calls and Henderson urged them to form into a vocal group.
Twenty-three-year-old John is a research engineer. Robert, 18, is completing a mechanical engineering course at the University and Colin, 16, is a student.
The boys' mother said that they had decided to form into a group after repeated requests from viewers. " Their 'Bandstand' appearance was only a last minute affair," Mrs. Ifield said.
As Frank was leaving for the studio he asked the boys to come along. Half an hour before the show went on camera he got the idea of taking them on with him.
