THROWN OUT OF THE HOUSE……TO BECOME A STAR

On the official John Rowles website, the singer tells the tale of how it all started for him. He was thrown out of the family home in New Zealand for what his dad said was making too much noise with his guitar.

John left for Australia, aged seventeen and four years later had made the British Top 20 with his major hit If I Only Had Time. It was also a big seller in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and across Europe.

John's dad was a famous man - an All Black. Eddie Rowles had been a winger in the 1938 New Zealand rugby team.

John's first public performance had been when he was ten years old, winning a talent contest with a cover of the Elvis classic All Shook Up. He left school five years later to earn money to help his family, planting trees in a forest and then becoming a pipe fitter.

During this time, he joined a rock and roll band called The Shadows, named after the original group. John modeled himself on Hank Marvin.

That led to bigger things. He earned a nine month stint singing at The Riverside Inn in Melbourne in Australia. After that ended, John went to Sydney where he joined the Dingdongers, later to become the Sundowners. His new promoter decided to change his image, buying him new clothes, ordering a hair cut and giving him some tips on his stage act.

He was advertised as "The Secret" and managed to get a slot in the TV show Bandstand. Following that, offers of work began to come in. But John's promoter kept those offers in suspense, until a second starring role in the tv show. After that he released his first two singles - The End and Please Help Me I'm Falling. Both made the Australian charts.

Cliff Richard's manager Peter Gormley spotted John in Australia and got him to come to Britain.

Six months later, a French song was chosen for John to record. If I Only Had Time climbed the charts as it was released. John was celebrating his twenty first birthday as it became a hit across the world.

The follow up - Hush Not A Word To Mary - was also a worldwide hit.

He returned to New Zealand a national hero, and was presented with gold dsiscs for sales of If I Only Had Time.

He went on to become one of the country's top performers, and came back to London to record an album in the famous EMI Abbey Road recording studios - Tat Loving Feeling.

In 1980 he was awarded the OBE for his contribution to popular music and for his promotion of his country overseas.

In all, John Rowles has recorded 20 albums.

For more details, go to www.johnrowles.com