OL' 55
 Formed
in Sydney, Australia, in 1975, OL'55 enjoyed enormous popularity
with a retro-fifties style that bordered on parody. The band took
its name from the Tom Waits song (as
covered by The Eagles).
Under the direction of astute manager Glenn A Baker, 'the
Fives' managed to combine novelty retro kitsch and clever
theatrics with a keen sense of pop dynamics and an acute
understanding of rock 'n' roll.
Former chartered accountant Peter Bryan became larger-than-life
motor mouth front man Frankie J Holden.
The band dressed in authentic 1950s rocker gear and mixed
vintage material with excellent originals (mostly penned by
bassist, Jimmy Manzie). By September 1975 the band had released
it's first single (Paul Anka's Diana)
on the Mushroom label. The single was a minor hit in Sydney, but
it was the follow up track, On The Prowl which launched
OL'55 into the national Top 20.
At the same time, their debut album Take It Greasy
peaked at Number 2 nationally, eventually attaining double
platinum status and staying in the charts for a massive 39 weeks.
 With
two more hit singles, Looking For An Echo and (I Want A)
Rockin' Christmas, OL'55 took its place alongside Sherbet,
Skyhooks and John
Paul Young as mid-1970 Australian pop superstars.
Geoff Plummer left OL'55 in January 1977 to be replaced by
Geoff "Spud" Peterkin. One month later the band's 5th
single C'mon Let's Do It reached Number 18.
F.J. Holden also released his debut solo single, My Right Of
Way b/w Chartered Accountant Blues in April. Written by
Manzie, the A side of the single was the theme to the Australian
movie The FJ Holden. Frankie left the band in May 1977,
followed one month later by Wilbur Wilde who joined Jo
Jo Zep and The Falcons. OL'55 unveiled its re-vamped line-up
in August with new singer Mike Raffone (real name Paul Stephens,
ex-Silver Studs).
The band's second album Fiveslivejive (featuring the
original line-up) failed to chart despite containing some
interesting treatments of old and new favourites recorded
pseudo-live (it was recorded in a studio with invited friends and
guests as the audience).
 The
new line-up released their 'debut' single Stay (While The Night
Is Young) which made it to number 11 in November 1977.
Bruce 'Tangles' Allen joined on sax at the end of 77 but by the
following February, Mike Raffone had left again. Continuing as a
five piece with Rockpile Jones, Pat Drummond and Jimmy Manzie
sharing lead vocals, the band released Feels Like A Summer's
Night which featured a more contemporary powerpop
sound and charted at Number 23 in May 1978.
The next single, Time To Rock 'N' Roll, failed to chart
and the third album Crusin' for a Brusin' was not
successful either (despite containing some quality original pop
songs and being a personal fave of mine). Ruby returned
OL'55 to the national Top 40 in February 1979 followed by Living
For Your Smile. Unfortunately a split in the band's ranks was
widening.
For some time Jim Manzie had been steering the band in a more
power-pop oriented direction which caused friction with Rockpile
Jones and Patrick Drummond who wanted to continue in the retro
Rock & Roll vein. The two guitarists left the band in June
1979 amid much acrimony, taking with them the rights to the name
OL'55.
Drummond and Jones recruited original drummer Geoff Plummer,
Rob Drummond (bass) and Bob Tawney (guitar) in a new line-up and
started from scratch. By the end of the year they had signed a
deal with RCA and Terry Bellew had replaced Rob Drummond on bass.
The band released the unsuccessful Comic Book World
followed by their eighth hit, a version of Lou Christie's Two
Faces Have I which reached number 15 nationally. Another album
(The Vault) was released but the band folded shortly
thereafter.
 Meanwhile,
Manzie and Peterkin had formed a superb contemporary powerpop
band called The Breakers.
They were described as 'Heavy metal pop that combined Beach
Boys style vocals with Ramones
guitar riffs and Buggles synthesizers'.
This exceptional band broke up after a year and Manzie
concentrated on his production duties.
In 1982, Holden, Manzie, Wilde, Jones, Plummer and newcomer
Gunther Gorman (ex-Sherbet) reconvened
as The Fives to appear at the Mushroom Evolution concert to
celebrate the labels 10th anniversary. Three tracks from the band
appeared on the live triple album of the event. Since then, there
have been many re-formations under the monikers of OL'55, Frankie
J Holden and the Fives and in the mid 1990's, OL' Skydaddys.
Frank Holden has pursued an acting career and was the host of
the Australian TV Tonight show IMT (In Melbourne Tonight).
Wilbur was a regular part of the Hey Hey It's Saturday band
from the mid 80s until the shows demise. Jim Manzie produces in
the USA (mainly horror movie soundtracks), whilst Pat, Geoff and
Rockpile still live in Sydney.
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