Colleen Hewett

Colleen Hewett (born 16 April 1950) is an Australian singer and actress.

Colleen Hewett was born on 16 April 1950 in Bendigo.

She has a sister, Glenys Hewett, who was a pop vocalist from the early sixties to mid-seventies.

From 1964 to 1966 she regularly performed with the Esquires and, in 1967, joined a vocal trio, the Creations, with her sister Glenys and Michelle Kennedy.

That group also backed various solo singers including Billy Adams and then Buddy England and toured Australia.

By April that year, with Kennedy, she joined a soul-based group, Dice, which were renamed the Laurie Allen Revue.

Other members were Laurie Allen (ex-Bobby & Laurie) on lead vocals, lead guitar and organ; Harry Henri on guitar (soon replaced by Phil Manning); Barry Rodgers on bass guitar (soon replaced by Wayne Duncan); and Gary Young on drums.

In April 1967, Allen had told Go-Set: "I realized just a three piece group couldn't give me the sound I wanted, so I added two girl vocalists, [Hewett] and [Kennedy], they are an act in themselves and combined to give us a distinctive sound which can't be done by any Australian group."

As a member of the Laurie Allen Revue, Hewett recorded on three singles; "Beautiful Brown Eyes" (August 1967), "Any Little Bit" (April 1968) and "As Long as I Got You" (June 1968).

By mid-1968, Hewett had joined Ian Saxon and the Sound, with Saxon on lead vocals; Geoff Oakes on saxophone; Graeme Trottman on drums.

In 1969, Hewett left the group and was replaced on vocals by Marlene Richards (ex-Ivan Dayman Band) before the group recorded their debut single, "Home Cookin'" (1970).

Hewett started her solo music career in 1970, appearing regularly on TV pop music series, Bandstand.

Her popularity with viewers resulted in her winning Best Newcomer Female Singer at the Bandstand Awards in December.

Hewett's top 40 singles on the Kent Music Report include "Super Star", "Day by Day" (both 1971), "Carry That Weight" (1972), "Dreaming My Dreams with You" (1980) and "Gigolo" (1981).

Her version of "Day by Day" peaked at No. 1 on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles Chart and was certified as a gold record.

She signed with Festival Records and her debut single, which was a cover version of Delaney and Bonnie's track, "Super Star" was released in June 1971.

It reached No. 30 on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles chart.

From 15 November 1971 to 22 July 1972 Hewett acted in the Australian musical theatre version of Godspell, at the Playbox Theatre, Melbourne.

She recorded two versions of the show's tune, "Day by Day".

The second version was produced by Ian "Molly" Meldrum and was issued as her second single, in November 1971.

It peaked at No. 1 on the Go-Set charts and was certified as a gold record with shipment of over 50,000 copies.

At the TV Week King of Pop Awards she was voted Queen of Pop in both 1972 and 1973.

Apart from being a staple in theatre roles, she is probably best known for her brief tenure as guest character Sheila Brady in the international hit TV series Prisoner, known internationally as Prisoner: Cell Block H.

The first on Godspell – Original Australian Cast had Johnny Young producing the cast album, which appeared in March 1972.

In April 1972 Hewett was the featured artist on a half-hour TV special performing "Day by Day", "By My Side", "Hey Jude" and "Jesus Christ Superstar".

After leaving Godspell, Hewett toured Australia performing in clubs and during TV appearances.

Her debut self-titled album appeared in October 1972 and provided her next single, "Carry That Weight" – a cover of The Beatles track – which reached No. 29.

She toured the United States and United Kingdom at the end of the year.

At the TV Week King of Pop Awards she was voted Queen of Pop in both 1972 and 1973.

Glenys did release one single in 1973 on the RCA label, "C’est La Vie", with B-side "Captain Como".

Hewett began her music career at the age of 12 when she sang with the Esquires at the Bendigo YMCA.

At about 13 years old she appeared on the TV pop music series The Go!! Show.

In January 1974, it was announced that Hewett had been signed to Atlantic Records.

She released her second studio album M'Lady in June 1974.

She travelled to the USA in 1975, after her contract with Pippin expired.

In the US Colleen found it difficult to make progress and eventually returned to Australia in May 1977.

In September 1977, Colleen was chosen for a lead role in a new ABC-TV series called The Truckies

In late 1979 she issued "Dreaming My Dreams with You" – originally by Waylon Jennings – which reached No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.

It was produced by Roger Savage and Robie G. Porter for Wizard Records.

Fifty years later she recalled "I wasn't of an age at that stage where I could go out on tour with anybody ... I came down from Bendigo with a band I was working with there ... then I came down again around my 14th birthday and did a solo spot on it ... they were just cover versions. I was just a little singer from Bendigo who came down on the train with the boys and did this amazing show that everybody watched."