Patricia Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949), known professionally as Little Pattie, is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording surf pop, with her backing group The Statesmen. She subsequently went on to record

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, sou ...

.McFarlane, (1999), Billed as ''Little Pattie'', she released her debut single in November 1963, "He's My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy" which peaked at No. 19 on the national

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

and entered No. 2 in Sydney. Note: Australia had no contemporaneous national charts until ''

Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...

'' published their Australian National Charts from 5 October 1966. Chart positions for 1940–1969 were back calculated by David Kent in 2005. She appeared regularly on television variety programs, including ''

Bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

'', and toured as a support act for

Col Joye Colin Frederick Jacobsen (13 April 1937) better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian pioneer rock singer-songwriter, musician and entrepreneur with a career spanning almost sixty-seven years, starting from the late 50s. Joye was ...

and the Joy Boys. Little Pattie was entertaining troops during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Nui Dat Nui Dat (Núi Đất) is the former military base of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) now part of Ba Ria city in Ba Ria–Vung Tau province, Vietnam. It is not the name of an official ward, it just means "land hill" or "soil hill" (:wikt:nú ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, as an Australia Forces Sweetheart (in the vein of

Lorrae Desmond Lorrae Desmond (born Beryl Hunt; 2 October 1929 – 23 May 2021) was an Australian Gold Logie-award-winning singer, recording artist, radio and television presenter, character actor, and playwright, with a career that spanned over 55 years bot ...

, Dinah Lee and others), when the nearby

Battle of Long Tan A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

began on 18 August 1966. In 1994 she received the

Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal The Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal was issued to recognise the service of Australian support personnel during the Vietnam War. Qualification requirements The qualifying criteria for the medal include: * Service of one day or more as a member ...

"in recognition of her services in support of the

Australian Armed Forces The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Fo ...

in operations in Vietnam."

Beginnings

Patricia Thelma Amphlett was born in March 1949 in

Paddington, New South Wales Paddington is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two Local government in Australia, local government areas. The portion south of Oxford St ...

, and has an older brother, Joe. She is the first cousin of the late Chrissy Amphlett, former frontwoman of Australian band

Divinyls Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school un ...

. She was educated at King Street Primary School and

Sydney Girls High School Sydney Girls High School (abbreviated as SGHS or Sydney Girls) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondar ...

. She was nicknamed "Little Pattie" at school as she had two taller friends also named Patricia. At eight years old, she commenced piano lessons with Gwen Parsons, and then singing lessons when 11 years old. Parsons also taught Noeleen Batley, a popular singer called "Australia's Little Miss Sweetheart". Both persuaded her to audition for the Nine Network TV teen variety show '' Saturday Date'', where she was a hit. She first appeared on TV, singing on the ''Opportunity Knocks'' series, when she was 13. While a third-year high school student, at the age of 14, she performed weekly at the Bronte Surf Club as lead singer of the Statesmen with Nev Jade, Peter Maxworthy, Duncan McGuire (on bass guitar), Mark Rigby and Peter Walker. Singer-songwriter Jay Justin was impressed with her vocals and recommended her for a recording contract with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Teenage singing star

Little Pattie's debut single was the double A-sided "He's My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy" / "Stompin' at Maroubra", both co-written by Jay Justin and record producer Joe Halford, which used the

surf music Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

style and a dance style craze that was known as 'The Stomp'. It was released by

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

in November 1963 when she was aged 14, and reached No. 2 on the Sydney music charts (#1 was

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles recor ...

"), No. 6 in Brisbane, and peaked at No. 19 on the national

. Little Pattie left school in early 1964, and released her debut album, ''The Many Moods of Little Pattie'' on EMI/

. She had further hits on the Sydney charts with "We're Gonna Have a Party Tonight" (#18 in March), "Pushin' a Good Thing Too Far" (#28 in March 1965) and "Dance Puppet Dance" (#9 in October). Her popularity saw her voted as Australian Female Singer of the Year in 1965. She appeared frequently on television variety programs, including ''Bandstand'', ''Saturday Date'', '' An Evening With'' and ''Sing, Sing, Sing''. Little Pattie regularly toured supporting

& the Joy Boys, with Judy Stone, Cathy Wayne and international star

Sandie Shaw Sandra Ann Goodrich (born 26 February 1947), known by her stage name Sandie Shaw, is a retired English pop singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Some ...

. The Joy Boys included Joye's brothers

Kevin Jacobsen Kevin George Jacobsen OAM (born 29 July, 1939) in Sydney) is an Australian entertainment entrepreneur and former musician who is the head of the ''Jacobson Entertainment Group'' Along with brothers Col Joye and Keith, he was a member of the ...

on piano and Keith Jacobsen on bass guitar. On 16 August 1966, 17 years old and tall, Little Pattie became the youngest and shortest person to entertain troops during the

. Along with Col Joye & the Joy Boys she performed three concerts each day in Nui Dat. She was singing onstage backed by the Joy Boys when the

started on 18 August less than away. Although organisers had promised her safety, she was evacuated from the area before the completion of her scheduled performances. In the days after the battle, Joye and Little Pattie visited injured soldiers in hospital to comfort and sing to them. In 1994 she received the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal ''in recognition of her services in support of the

in operations in Vietnam''. From 1966, Little Pattie was performing solo in cabarets and clubs, she continued releasing singles and albums with EMI until 1970, and then signed with Joye's ATA recording label and management group. She subsequently appeared on several TV shows in America, including ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

''.

Later career

As Little Pattie entered her twenties, she continued her career moving into adult contemporary music. During the

1972 Australian Federal election The 1972 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, as well as a single Senate seat in Queensland. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition governme ...

campaign she sang with other entertainers including Joye and Judy Stone in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

's " It's Time" TV commercial, which featured future Prime Minister,

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

. Styled as Pattie Amphlett from 1972, she released singles and albums on ATA /

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

and by 1977 had moved into

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. In 1973, she married Keith Jacobsen (Joy Boys' bass guitarist, ATA record producer and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

) and continued to perform on television and in clubs. Amphlett parted from Keith in 1984 and married Lawrie Thompson (a drummer) in 1986. Her repertoire included swing tunes from Gershwin,

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's ...

, and

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

. In 1990, she toured China as vocalist for veteran jazz musician Graeme Bell and his Allstars. As Patricia Thompson, she became an active unionist in the entertainment industry, and a vocal teacher, later coaching Nikki Webster before her performance at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. She has taught at a number of Sydney high schools: Burwood Girls High School, St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, Mercy College, Chatswood and

Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys located in Riverview, New South Wales, Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove Rive ...

. In 2001 EMI re-released a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, ''20 Stompy Wompy Hits'', which featured her early songs. The ABC-TV series '' Long Way to the Top'' was broadcast in August 2001. Little Pattie featured on Episode 1, "Bed of a Thousand Struggles 1956–1964", where she discussed her early surf music and 'The Stomp' dance craze. NOTE: The website quotes her as Little Patti /nowiki>''sic''">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>''sic">/nowiki>''sic''/nowiki>. The TV series inspired the Long Way to the Top national concert tour during August–September 2002, which featured a host of the best Australian acts of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s including Little Pattie and Col Joye and the Joy Boys. In 2004, General Peter Cosgrove invited her to be patron of FACE (Forces Advisory Council on Entertainment) and she was invited to go to Iraq to perform for Christmas 2005 and New Year 2006. She performed at the "Salute to Vietnam Veterans" held at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

on 19 August 2006. In addition to her music career, Little Pattie was a member of the Council for the Australian War Memorial from 1995 until 1998, and received an

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

in 2003 for her services (as national President) to the

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries. Its Musicians section consists of the SOMA (Symphony Orchestra Musi ...

and (as vice-president) to

Actors' Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

. She has been on the Federal Executive of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...

(ACTU). In 2000 ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' included her on a list of the 'century's most loved faces', and she was included in a 1998 issue of Australian stamps featuring pop and rock acts. On 27 August 2009, Little Pattie was inducted into the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA)

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes,

Mental As Anything Mental As Anything was an Australian new wave and pop rock band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of its charting singles and albums) was Martin Plaza (birth name Martin ...

and

John Paul Young John Inglis Young, Order of Australia, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is an Australian pop singer who is best known for having a worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air (song), Love Is in the Air" in 1978. His ...

. She was inducted by her cousin, Christina Amphlett of

, with former ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...

'' star,

Lisa Mitchell Lisa Helen Mitchell (born 22 March 1990) is an Australian musician, singer and songwriter who grew up in Albury, New South Wales. Mitchell currently lives in Melbourne and is working on her fourth studio album. Mitchell finished sixth in the 20 ...

performing "He's My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy". She is currently a singing teacher at various high schools in Sydney, including St Joseph's College and Burwood Girls High School. As from October 2023 Little Pattie was performing on the nostalgia circuit as the Good Old Days of Rock'n'roll, with fellow veterans, Digger Revell, Dinah Lee and Lucky Starr.

Personal life

In 1973, Little Pattie married Joy Boys' bass guitarist and ATA record producer and manager Keith Jacobsen, brother of Colin (

) and

. Keith and Little Pattie parted in 1984 and she subsequently married Lawrie Thompson in 1986.

National honours

Little Pattie received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

on 9 June 2003 for her services to the

(as National President) and to

Actors Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

(as vice-president). On 27 August 2009, Little Pattie was inducted into the

(ARIA)

alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes,

and

Discography

Releases by Little Pattie unless otherwise indicated:

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Charity singles

Film

Television (as self)

Notes

:A."He's My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy" / "Stompin' at Marourbra" was originally released as a double A-sided single by Little Pattie & the Statesmen in November 1963. Both tracks appeared on the EP, ''He's My Blonde Headed Real Gone Stompie Wompie Surfer Boy'' in December and subsequently appeared on the album, ''The Many Moods of Little Pattie'' in 1964.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. Little Pattie was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. , - ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, herself ,

ARIA Hall of Fame Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...

Australian Women in Music Awards

The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the

Australian Music Industry The Australian music industry refers to the collection of individuals, organisations, businesses and activities that are involved in the creation, production, distribution and promotion of music in Australia. The music industry encompasses a wide r ...

who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018. , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Patricia Amphlett , Lifetime Achievement Awards , , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Patricia Amphlett , AWMA Honour Roll ,

Go-Set Pop Poll

The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, ''

'' and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. , - , 1966 , herself , Female Vocal , 4th , - , 1967 , herself , Female Vocal , 5th , - , 1968 , herself , Female Vocal , 4th , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were last awarded in 2016. ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Little Pattie won one award in that time. (wins only) , - , 2009 , Little Pattie , John Campbell Fellowship Award , , -

Honours and awards

Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal ribbon

(OAM)

References

;General * * * * * *

External links

Little Pattie
ATA Allstar Artist profile

''Long Way to the Top'', ABC
Reach For The Stars
Performing Arts Website *

archive: copyright photographs of Pattie preparing for, and performing in, Vietnam (August 1966)

* Other copyright photos
PopArchives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Pattie 1949 births ARIA Award winners ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Living people Logie Award winners Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Singers from Sydney Surf musicians Australian women pop singers People educated at Sydney Girls High School