14 May 2009

The weirdest video in history? The Seekers in Canberra

| johnboy
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[First filed: May 13, 2009 @ 10:29]

The mayhem of YouTube has thrown up this unforgettable gem posted by “vbvbvb088”.

It’s 1966 and Australia’s 50 million record selling Seekers are touring Canberra perched on the back seat of a big convertible car while “A world of our own” plays in the background.

I’m still bug-eyed.

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old canberran6:23 pm 14 May 09

wishuwell said :

old canberran I once was lucky enough to do a service on the Bentley at the Kingston workshops in the 70’s.

I imagine it would have been a dream to work on. Great piece of machinery. I seem to rmember that Lord Casey preferred the Bently to a Rolls cos it was cheaper.

Sound Curator5:00 pm 14 May 09

This footage is a segment from “The Seekers Down Under” made in 1966 – in colour for the overseas market. As well as the Canberra segment the film shows The Seekers in various “colourful” locations including the Gold Coast, the Barossa Valley and taking part in the Moomba parade in Melbourne.

You’ll be pleased to know it is preserved in your National Film & Sound Archive – you can look it up in NFSA’s online catalogue under its title number 19527

This is a gold mine of all things Canberra. I found a pic of the Park Royal too: http://www.library.act.gov.au/reflectionscd/REFLECT/data/h200/185.htm

Clown Killer10:58 am 14 May 09

It must have been a standard thing for cars to leak oil back then.

There were probably a lot more British built cars on the roads back then that used cork seals. I only start to worry when my Land Rover STOPS dripping oil – means it’s time to lift the bonnet and top up the levels.

It appears that the second house shown towards the end of the clip is 81 Mugga Way. Using street view the house is still very original and the carport at the top of the block still stands. The house next door has changed significantly though.

It’s interesting to note the thick black oil stains along the road outside the legislative assembly building. It must have been a standard thing for cars to leak oil back then.

Clown Killer10:01 am 14 May 09

Everyone seems to have been behaving themselves on the roads back then – Canberra’s bad drivers had obviously not moved here from Melbourne and Sydney yet.

That VW though, unless there were a lot of cream ones on the road back then, looks like it might have been following them.

Steady Eddie9:51 am 14 May 09

Don’t bother trying to get this on DVD. The pic shakes so much as to be unwatchable.

old canberran I once was lucky enough to do a service on the Bentley at the Kingston workshops in the 70’s.

If the sound track for Canberra 1966 was ‘A world of our own’ then the 2009 sound track could only be ‘The carnival is over’.

old canberran3:23 am 14 May 09

Ah! Those were the good old days when you could leave your car unlocked at the Watson shops while you had a haircut or visited the doctor.
The bus in the final frames is one of Quodlings Queanbeyan buses and it was perfectly legal to park where the VW is in those days.
The Bently at Parliament House is the Governor General’s car and yes, I think that is Holt standing on the steps. He was PM in 66.
I reckon the street in the tail end is definitely in Red Hill somewhere as there is a big house with a flag. Possibly La Perouse Street or Golden Grove. Just guessing here.

Great video JB, good find.

Love this – apart from the Seekers. That looks like Monaro Cres in Red Hill. The car is a 1965 Pontiac Parrisienne. I used to see it regularly in the (then) outer-north i.e. Downer/Watson around that time – and I recall it doing wedding duty at the ‘church’ at the Rosary School in Watson one weekend. My dad worked in South Building a few years after this was shot, as did I more recently. On that theme, my mum and her dad both worked in the old Jolimont building, in Mum’s case in Civic, and in Grandad’s case at Jolimont in Melbourne – they moved the thing here in the mid-sixties and it went from being a Vic Rail building to the Civic Police Station, and later the Super Board building. Old Canberran will recall the thing catching light one day – corresponding with the visit of the Queen/Pope/LBJ – I can’t recall exactly who.

OOps, a bit off subject

sexynotsmart8:34 pm 13 May 09

Just fabulous, darling!

I swear the same VW Beetle was illegally parked outside the Legislative Assembly today.

And it’s been a while since I’ve seen a WEST German flag.

Also, I didn’t think Ms Durham was such a hussy. I saw BOTH her knees in the gratuitous shot as she made herself VERY comfortable on the backseat. I mean these days, that’s what Canberra is famous for. Until now I never realised that “The Seekers” started the Canberra pornography industry.

I can confirm that that film clip is greatly enhanced on grass.

What a boring looking city!

Where did you say it was again?

Hercsie said :

Was that Harlold Holt on the steps of (old) Parliament House?

Has to be. They obviously met him as that was the PM’s car leaving.

Well spotted.

Was that Harlold Holt on the steps of (old) Parliament House?

johnboy said :

Saccharine and reliant on foreign writers for hits?

Saccharine? I would argue that they were more light 1960’s folk music but your second point is possibly very true. Given that a majority of Australian artists from the 60’s relied heavily on immigration (or at least was developed from immigrants).

Max Merritt, Mike Rudd, Dinah Lee, Ray Columbus, Bruno Lawrence – NZ

Billy Thorpe (& Tony Barber an original Aztec), Olivia Newton-John, the Twilights (Glenn Shorrock & Terry Britten, Mike Sykes and Clem “Paddy” McCartney), John(ny) Farnham, The Easybeats (Stevie Wright, Snowy Fleet, George Young) – UK

Easybeats (Harry Vanda, Dick Diamonde) and Johnny Young – NETHERLANDS,

Gary Young from Daddy Cool was from the USA

and it goes on….

BUT it was a GREAT clip.

Come to think of it, I actually hate them more after seeing that…

Sadly I can’t hate them. When I want to feel sad and sentimental about happpier times with my parents, I call on the Seekers. Pathetic isn’t it?

GardeningGirl2:47 pm 13 May 09

That was fantastic! I saw The Seekers with Louisa Wisseling at the Canberra Theatre in the 70’s and with Judith Durham at the convention centre theatre in the 90’s.

Hercsie said :

I remember driving past the old parkroyal at night as a little tacker in the back of dads xp falcon and marvelling at the mutilple fountains in front of the hotel – they were all lit by different colour lights.

I remember the trip home from the Starlight Drive-in, and insisting on being woken so I wouldn’t miss the Parkroyal fountains 🙂

hmm, that didn’t work too well 🙁

– type in ACT legislative assembly for location.

at risk of double posting as my first effort seems to have flown in to the ether, that’s civic square outside the civic theatre, on London Circuit, legislative assembly building to the left? Ainlsie ave behind, now lpedestrian plaza going down to city walk and merry go round. Baileys arcade top left. Filmed from steps of old canberra theatre

Awesome. A canberra version of the “It’s a Long Way to the Top” film clip – well almost. Can anyone confirm the street/suburb at the end?

Cameraman owned the Volks?

This thread has brought on a weird flashback…

1973, I’m five years old and travelling to Australia from England on the Fairstar. The kids all had to go to school on the ship and at one point we had to put on a show for teh other passengers. The music was all The Seekers. Wow! I though I’d supressed all that. Back to counselling (or alcohol)….

That is absolutely hilarious.

And yet, I still hate the Seekers with an undying and undiminished passion.

LOL.

How cute were the guys? Opening the car door for Judith, letting her get in first, helping her out at the end. Very sweet. (and well dressed!)

Loved the fact that there was a VW out the front of the German embassy, then realised that there was one in almost every other scene as well….

George said :

I agree an absolute “gem”. I watched the Seekers at the Royal Theatre in Canberra on their reunion tour. They symbolise what is special about Australia.

Saccharine and reliant on foreign writers for hits?

I agree an absolute “gem”. I watched the Seekers at the Royal Theatre in Canberra on their reunion tour. They symbolise what is special about Australia.

LOL. Great find JB!

Ah, 1966, the year my wife was born. A simpler time when riding in a car meant you cold sit on the top the back seat of a moving car without fear of falling out.

I particularly love the last shot where the cop is standing in the middle of the road (just on the lef of the screen). It does raise the question though that with all four seekers seen exiting the car alone and after all are seen sitting on top of the back seat, who was actually driving? I offer the theory that young Ms Judy (AKA Judith Cock) was driving using her feet. This could also explain her later car accident that killed a person.

Warning: Never drive with your feet!

oh that’s hilarious isn’t it? I stumbled across that somewhere years ago and there’s really nothing you can do but laugh and marvel at a different world.

johnboy,

fantastic mate!

I remember driving past the old parkroyal at night as a little tacker in the back of dads xp falcon and marvelling at the mutilple fountains in front of the hotel – they were all lit by different colour lights.

Thanks – that brought back a lot of memories.

The suburb they are driving through just before the end looks like red hill?

cheers

Hercsie

mirage3 said :

Perhaps the weirdest thing is being able to drive up to the door of the US embassy and no one seems to care. It was a different world back then.

Yes, that was but one of the many marvels which struck me watching it.

Perhaps the weirdest thing is being able to drive up to the door of the US embassy and no one seems to care. It was a different world back then.

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