Lynne Randell

Lynne Randell (born Lynne Randall, 14 December 1949 – 8 June 2007) was an English Australian pop singer.

Lynne Randell was born as Lynne Randall in Liverpool, England, in 1949 and had started primary school.

When five years old, her family migrated to Australia and settled in the Melbourne suburb of Murrumbeena.

She later attended Mordialloc High School.

She completed Form Three and won a talent quest at a school fete – the prize was a one-week engagement at Lorne on the Victorian surf coast.

At the age of 14, Randell started working for celebrity hairdresser Lillian Frank on a trial basis and promptly asked for annual holidays to fulfil her singing gig.

Frank required proof:

""Vell, if you're such a singer then sing for me and I will decide." The dryers were turned off ... I stood there and sang. At the end, everyone applauded and Lillian said, "That's very good dah-ling, you can have your holidays.""

At the Lorne Life Saving Club she sang with a band, The Spinning Wheels, and met a surfie-roadie and university student, Ian "Molly" Meldrum, with whom she formed a lifelong friendship.

Meldrum became a pop music commentator, writing for teen magazine, Go-Set, hosting television music series, Countdown, and providing opinions in various media.

Randell was 'discovered' whilst working as a 14-year-old apprentice hairdresser for Lilian and Antonio Frank.

One of Frank's regular customers was publicist, Carol West.

Garry Spry, the manager of Australian mod group The Flies, employed West to organise a publicity shoot for TV and press to display his band having their long hair done at a women's hair salon.

During the shoot, The Flies lead singer, Ronnie Burns sang with his guitar and Frank suggested her young apprentice should sing along.

Spry was so impressed by her voice he offered her a job at his discothèque, Pinocchios, and West became her manager.

For three years in the mid-1960s, she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in 1966, and "Ciao Baby" in 1967.

Randell was marketed as Australia's Miss Mod and became the most popular female performer in the mid-1960s.

For Randell's 15th birthday on 14 December 1964, West held a party in Malvern and invited local radio DJs including Stan Rofe.

The Spinning Wheels backed Randell as she sang "House of the Rising Sun" and John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".

She cut a demo in a dining room and Rofe played it on his radio show.

Randell left school and was signed to EMI in 1965, her first single "I'll Come Running Over" (cover of a Lulu song) was released in February on its HMV label and became a No. 11 hit in Melbourne.

She appeared on television to promote her single including Bandstand, Saturday Date and Sing Sing Sing.

The first single was followed by "A Love Like You" (No. 27 in Melbourne) and "Forever".

She had regular appearances on TV's The Go!! Show alongside contemporaries The Easybeats and Olivia Newton-John.

Randell also appeared on another TV series, Kommotion with fellow pop artists including Burns (now a solo artist) and also featured performers miming to overseas artists' hits: Meldrum, for example, mimed to "Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band.

Randell signed a new contract with CBS Records to release two further singles "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" which both became Top 20 hits in Melbourne.

Randell worked the dance scene and discothèques, usually backed by The Spinning Wheels, with her trendsetting clothes and mod style carefully orchestrated by manager, West.

"She just had a look ... I was told she had a good voice ... She's got a look that we try to make all the kids follow—whatever it happens to be: bell-bottom pants, backless dresses, striped tops—she's started quite a few fashion trends in Melbourne."

- Carol West

Teen magazine, Go-Set, had separate columns written by Meldrum and Rofe, it also ran a pop poll, with Randell voted 'Most Popular Female Vocal' in October 1966.

"Goin' Out of My Head" peaked at No. 16 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November.

On the back of her Australian success, Randell went to the United Kingdom and performed at Liverpool's Cavern Club.

In 1967, Randell toured the United States with The Monkees and performed on-stage with support act Jimi Hendrix.

She wrote for teen magazine, Go-Set, and television programme guide, TV Week.

While on the US tour, Randell became addicted to methamphetamine, an addiction which she battled for most of her life.

By 1967, she was in the United States, where she met The Monkees and had a brief relationship with Davy Jones.

She toured with them as part of a bill which also featured Jimi Hendrix and Ike & Tina Turner.

Randell wrote in Go-Set and television programme guide, TV Week, of her experiences while touring the US.

Her next single, "Ciao Baby" written by Larry Weiss and Scott English, was recorded in New York and released on CBS Records in Australia.

It reached No. 6 on Go-Set's Top 40 in June 1967.