Somebody's Image were an Australian pop and R&B band formed in 1966, which included

Russell Morris Russell Norman Morris (born 31 July 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) reco ...

on lead vocals. Their highest charting single is a cover version of Joe South's "

Hush Hush may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi *''Hush!'', a 2002 film dir ...

", which peaked at number 14 on the ''

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 ...

'' National Top 40. Morris left in 1968 to start his solo career and the group disbanded in the following year.

History

Somebody's Image formed in Melbourne in 1966 as a pop and R&B band by Les Allan Les Gough on bass guitar, Eric Cairns on drums,

on lead vocals, Phillip Raphael on lead guitar and Kevin Thomas on rhythm guitar. The fledgling band were hanging around gigs by

the Groop The Groop were an Australian Folk music, folk, R&B and rock band formed in 1964 in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and had their greatest chart success with their second line-up of Max Ross on bass, Richard Wright on drums and vocals ...

, who were a favourite of Melbourne pop fans during that year. They played their first live gig supporting the Groop with keyboardist

Brian Cadd Brian George Cadd AM (born 29 November 1946) is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and th ...

and lead singer Ronnie Charles. Somebody's Image developed a following at Melbourne's venues and were noticed by ''

'' staff writer

Ian "Molly" Meldrum Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum Order of Australia, AM (born 29 January 1943) is an Australian music critic, journalist, record producer and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent coordinator, on-air interviewer, and music news presenter on the ...

, who had championed the Groop relentlessly in his columns. Meldrum took over as their talent manager. Charles would occasionally provide vocals for the new group. Somebody's Image began their recording career with the single "

Heat Wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

" (September 1967) a cover version of Martha and the Vandellas' song, but it failed to chart. Their second single was their rendition of Joe South's "

" which peaked at No. 14 on ''Go-Set'' National Top 40. Both these singles were produced by Meldrum for W&G Records' label In Records. With Meldrum's support they secured a recording deal with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

. The band issued their third single, "Hide and Seek" in April 1968, which peaked at number No. 32. Australian musicologist

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

declared "despite its moderate chart placing, it was the band's best release." In September 1968 Morris left the band to pursue a solo career with Meldrum as his manager. The rest of the group recruited new singer, guitarist Brian Holloway (ex-the Dream), but Somebody's Image disbanded in 1969.

Members

* Les Allan Les Gough – bass guitar * Eric Cairns – drums *

– lead vocals * Phillip Raphael – guitar * Kevin Thomas – guitar * Ronnie Charles – occasional vocals * Brian Holloway – lead vocals, guitar

Discography

Singles

* "

" (1967) * "

" (1967) AUS ''

'': No. 14 * "Hide and Seek" (1968) Australia No. 32

Awards and nominations

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. , - , 1968 , themselves , Best Australian Group , 4th , -

References

{{Russell Morris Musical groups from Melbourne Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups disestablished in 1969 Australian pop rock groups