Pop Rock Music
Songwriter Tom Springfield is the brother of pop singer Dusty Springfield (“I Only Want To Be With You,” “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.”) In the early 1960s they sang together in a group called The Springfields. After the group broke up, Dusty went on to international fame, while her brother Tom discovered Australian pop quartet The Seekers and became their writer-producer.
In 1965 his song “I’ll Never Find Another You,” recorded by The Seekers, reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the #1 U.K. single of 1965. The Seekers were the first Australian group to have major chart success in the U.S. and U.K.
In 1966 The Seekers performed Springfield’s title song in the Lynn Redgrave romantic comedy Georgy Girl and released it as a record. The song is heard at both the beginning and end of the film with different lyrics than heard on the record. “Georgy Girl” went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 in the U.K., and #1 in Australia. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2002 it was listed at #36 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Pop Songs of all time.”
As with many classic easy-listening tunes “Georgy Girl” is accessible for advertising as well as parody versions. The tune was used as a commercial jingle for White Rock Beverages in 1966, and for Barbie dolls in the early 1980s. “Georgy Girl” was parodied in The Simpsons episodes “Lisa The Beauty Queen” and “Half-Decent Proposal.”
The Seekers were: Judith Durham (vocals, piano); Athol Guy (bass, vocals); Keith Potger (guitar, banjo, vocals); and Bruce Woodley (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals.)
