Doug Parkinson In Focus
| Doug Parkinson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Douglas John Parkinson |
| Born |
30 October 1946 Waratah, New South Wales, Australia |
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Pop, rock, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, entertainer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | dougparkinson |
Douglas John "Doug" Parkinson (born 30 October 1946, Waratah, New South Wales) is an Australian pop and rock singer. He led the band, Doug Parkinson in Focus, from 1968 to 1971. Their cover version of the Beatles' track, "Dear Prudence" (May 1969), peaked at No. 5 on the Go-Set National Top 40. The follow up single, "Without You" / "Hair" (October), also reached No. 5. Between 1966 and 1997 he had six hit singles. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described how Parkinson "conveyed considerable charisma with his imposing presence, 'Lucifer' beard and gruff, raspy voice. He also surrounded himself with mature, seasoned musicians who added to his appeal."
Douglas John Parkinson was born in Waratah, New South Wales, on 30 October 1946. His father was a commercial artist in print advertising. Parkinson recalled how "my father one day made the huge mistake of buying a two-track reel-to-reel tape recorder. I have no idea why he bought it but it was there, and one night I snuck out and turned it on and sang into it. And I thought 'Who is that person coming back on that tape?'. It intrigued me. Then I asked for a guitar for Christmas and that was the end of me." He left secondary school at 15 and worked briefly as a labourer before starting a journalism cadetship.
In his teens Doug was an avid surfer but that almost the death of him when Doug was hit by a surfboard, knocked unconscious and almost drowned. He was dragged from the water and resuscitated and saved by a couple of mates an taken to Mona vale Hospital. It took Doug the next six months of rehabilitation bed-ridden to recover from his injuries.
Parkinson formed Strings and Things in 1965. At the end of that year they comprised Parkinson on lead vocals, Helen Barnes on bass guitar, her brother Syd Barnes on drums and David Lee on guitar – they changed their name to the A Sound, an amateur folk music group. The Barnes siblings were children of Australian cricketer, Sid Barnes. That band issued "Talk About That" (1966), which was a "pleasant folk single (in the Seekers vein)." He quit his cadetship in that year as "I was impatient, I was earning more with the band two nights a week than I was at the paper, but I was always having to swap shifts with other cadets and then I finally bit the bullet and left."
In 1966 Parkinson joined a professional outfit, the Questions, alongside Bill Flemming on drums (ex- Midnighters, Roland Storm and the Statesmen, Max Merritt and the Meteors), Billy Green on guitar, Duncan McGuire on bass guitar (ex-The Phantoms, Roland Storm and the Statesmen) and Rory Thomas on piano, organ, woodwind and brass. They had already released an album, What Is a Question? (November 1966) – recorded before Parkinson had joined. The group held a residency at the Canopus Room, colloquially known as "The Can", at The Manly Pacific Hotel in Manly, a Sydney suburb.
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Wikipedia