Sir John Edward Rowles (born 26 March 1947) is a New Zealand singer. He was most popular in the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, and he is best known in New Zealand for his song from 1970, "Cheryl Moana Marie", which he wrote about his younger sister.

Early years

Rowles was born in Whakatane, New Zealand, and is part Māori. His father, Eddie Hohapata Rowles, played for the 1938

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing ...

. His mother was European. He was brought up in Kawerau in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

of New Zealand, and spent much of his early childhood in Te Atatū South in West Auckland. Rowles'

birth name A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

was simply John Rowles; he added the

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may b ...

"Edward" after his brother of that name died at a young age.

Career

Rowles is best known in New Zealand and Australia, though he has also performed in the United States, particularly

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, Nevada and Hawaii, where he was managed by Kimo Wilder McVay. In the United Kingdom he was best known for the hit, " If I Only Had Time", which reached number 3 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in spring 1968, and stayed in the chart for eighteen weeks. This was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of the French song "Je n'aurai pas le temps" with which the French singer Michel Fugain had a hit in 1967; he co-wrote the song with

Pierre Delanoë Pierre Delanoë (16 December 1918 – 27 December 2006), born Pierre Charles Marcel Napoléon Leroyer in Paris, France, was a French lyricist who wrote thousands of songs for dozens of singers, including Dalida, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Pe ...

. The song also charted in the Netherlands, reaching number 2, after which the

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Orchestra had a minor hit with an instrumental version of the song, bearing the original French song title. In Germany, Schlager singer Peter Rubin charted with the German translation "Hätt ich nur einmal mehr Zeit". In the USA, Nick DeCaro and his orchestra charted with his instrumental version, released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of the single "Caroline, No" in late 1968, peaking at number 71 in the '' Cash Box'' Top 100 in early 1969. Rowles had another

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

hit in the UK with "Hush . . . Not a Word to Mary", also in 1968. This song also charted in the Netherlands. In the US, "Cheryl Moana Marie" got noticed in the summer of 1970 by some West Coast radio stations, but it took until the end of 1970 for the song to chart nationally, peaking at number 64 in the

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and number 78 in the

Cash Box Top 100 The Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles (also known as the Cash Box Top 100) was a record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Cash Box'' magazine, which began publication in 1942. As a close competitor to ''Billboard A bill ...

respectively, in early 1971. He was the feature of a 2008 documentary entitled ''The Secret Life of John Rowles''. Rowles had a cameo role in the 2008 New Zealand film, '' Second Hand Wedding''. He appeared in the 2009 New Zealand version of ''

Dancing With the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

''. He was partnered with Krystal Stewart. Under doctor's orders, he had to retire from the competition but has since recovered.

Honours and awards

In 1974, Rowles received the Benny Award from the

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Inc, the highest honour available to a New Zealand variety entertainer. Rowles was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

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, for services to entertainment and New Zealand interests in the United States. He was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to entertainment, in the

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Awards

Aotearoa Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as ''New Zealand Music Awards'' (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965. ! , - , 1978 , , John Rowles , , Male Artist of the Year , , , , , -

Family

His older brother Wally Rowles was a solo singer with his own career, and for a while went under the name of Frankie Price. He later changed his name again to Frankie Rowles due to an artist "Price" who was working in Australia. Under Frankie Price he recorded three singles "Pancho Lopez" b/w "Walk Like A Man, "Another Tear Falls" b/w "I Could Have Loved You So Well" and "Sweet Mary" b/w "Take A Little Time". All of which were released on the Polydor label. Under the name Frankie Rowles, he recorded a single "Ma Vie C'est Toi" b/w "Live A Little Longer" which was released on the Gemini label. He died at age 59 on 24 March 2004. His sister Tania Rowles was a recording artist and had the single " Don't Turn Around" which was released on the

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

label in 1986. She was the New Zealand Music Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year winner in 1986.

Autobiography

Rowles released his autobiography, ''If I Only Had Time'', in October 2012.

Discography

References

External links

Official siteAudioCulture profileA ''New Zealand Herald'' article on Rowles: October 2006Promoter of John Rowles concerts worldwideDocumentary The Secret Life of John Rowles, NZOnScreen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowles, John 1947 births APRA Award winners Living people New Zealand pop singers New Zealand Māori male singers New Zealand songwriters Male songwriters New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Whakatāne Singers awarded knighthoods 20th-century New Zealand male singers