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The SeekersThe Seekers were a group of Australian folk-influenced popular musicians which was formed in Melbourne in 1963. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve significant chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. After a brief career in Australia, the group travelled to the UK in early 1964, where they were discovered by songwriter-producer Tom Springfield, the brother of pop star Dusty Springfield. He produced all of their most successful records and wrote or co-wrote many of their hits. The distinctive soprano voice of lead singer Judith Durham, their sweet harmonies, memorable songs, and non-threatening image (encouraging the BBC to give them exposure) made them appealing to a broad cross-section of the pop audience, and they enjoyed a remarkable string of Top Ten albums and singles in Britain, America and Australia between 1964 and 1968. After signing with Lew Grade's Grade Agency and EMI's Columbia Records imprint, they released their version of Springfields I'll Never Find Another You in November 1964. It shot to #1 in Australia and the UK, and #4 in the USA and went on to sell 1.75 million copies worldwide, making them the first Australian pop group to have a Top 5 hit in all three countries simultaneously, and the first to sell over a million copies of a single. In 1965 they recorded a cover of Paul Simons Someday, Oneday, which reached #4 in Australia and #11 in the UK. This was Simon's first UK success as a writer, and his first hit as a composer outside of his work with Simon & Garfunkel. Bruce Woodley also co-wrote the song Red Rubber Ball with Simon. Their chart success peaked with the movie theme song Georgy Girl, written by Jim Dale, which reached #1 on the US and Australian charts and #3 on the UK charts in 1967, and sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. In recognition of their achievements, the group was named Australians of the Year for 1967 and in March that year they returned to Australia for a triumphant homecoming tour, which included a record-breaking concert at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne which was attended by over 200,000 people. This is believed to be the largest audience ever assembled for an Australian concert event. The scale of their poularity in Australia can be judged from fact that the legendary Woodstock Festival in the United States in 1969 drew about 500,000 people, and that at the time of the Seekers' Melbourne concert, Australia's population was only around 12 million people. As they and their older, conservative fans proceeded largely oblivious to the Swinging Sixties happening around them, they continued to tour and release albums for years afterwards. After the break-up of the original Seekers in 1968, one of its members, Keith Potger, created The New Seekers, a British group which bore little resemblance to the original. They were very successful and lasted until 1975, at which point Potger got together again with Athol Guy and Bruce Woodley as the Seekers. Various lineups, some featuring Durham, continue to tour as a nostalgia act in Australia and overseas. Seekers, The
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