- Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin (born 24 May 1950) is a
New Zealand -bornAustralia n former pop singer.Durbin started recording at the age of 14 and issued a number of single records on independent labels. She started building a following in New Zealand and started performing in Australia in 1966.
Durbin's first single with
HMV , "I Have Loved Me A Man", was a number 1 hit in New Zealand and also a hit in Australia. The song won her the 1968 "Loxene Golden Disc Award" at theNew Zealand Music Awards and she was New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1969. [ [http://www.sergent.com.au/allisondurbin.html New Zealand Music Allison Durbin] ] For three years running (1969, 1970 and 1971), she won Australia’s "Queen Of Pop" award for Best Female Artist. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/fall-of-a-pop-royal/2006/02/04/1138958944861.html "Melbourne Age" "Fall of a pop royal" February 5, 2006] ]In 1971 she recorded an album with
John Farnham , who had been voted Australia's "King Of Pop" during the same years Durbin received her awards. It was called "Together" [ [http://www.sergent.com.au/allisondurbin.html New Zealand music Allison Durbin] ]Her other records include:
* "Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man"
* "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me" (included in the 2001 compilation albumThe Very Best of Kiwi Country )
* "Amerikan Music" (included inKiwi Classics Volume 6 )
* "Don't Come Any Closer" (included inGive It A Whirl (soundtrack) ).In 1985 she publicly acknowledged her battle with
heroin . She kicked the habit after treatment at Odyssey House, a drug rehabilitation centre. A car accident just after her release from the centre left her with serious injuries, including a broken jaw. After she recovered, she worked as a country music singer in the late 1980s. [Selma Milovanovic, "Former Queen of Pop on drug traffic charges", The Age, 13 March 2004] On 1 June 2007, under her married named Allison Giles, she was sentenced to 12 months' jail forcannabis trafficking. One of her co-accused, the man she allegedly supplied with marijuana, was the convicted drug dealer Giuseppe "Joe" Barbaro. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200706/s1939669.htm ABC News Australia Pop queen Durbin jailed for cannabis trafficking] ]References
* Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock & Pop - Rigby Publishers - 1978
* The Who's Who of Australian Rock - Chris Spencer - Moonlight PublishingExternal links
* [http://www.sergent.com.au/allisondurbin.html New Zealand Music Allison Durbin]
* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/fall-of-a-pop-royal/2006/02/04/1138958944861.html "Melbourne Age" "Fall of a pop royal" February 5, 2006]
* [http://www.sergent.com.au/allisondurbin.html New Zealand music Allison Durbin]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200706/s1939669.htm ABC News Australia Pop queen Durbin jailed for cannabis trafficking]
* [http://www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/14384/allison_durbin.html;jsessionid=62C8C4C7159529949CBBC04185223A22?full=1 Amplifier NZ Music]
* [http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=1044 Pop Archives Feature – Don’t Come any Closer]
* [http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=298 Pop Archives Feature – Put Your Hand in the Hand]
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