Marcie and The Cookies

Marcie & The Cookies were an Australian musical ensemble, made up of Marcie Jones and the three Cook sisters. The all girl, vocal only group, were a rarity in Australia’s “mod” music scene of the 1960s, dominated as it was by all male rock bands and solo artists.

Personnel

• Marcie Jones (vocals)
• Beverley Cook (vocals)
• Margaret Cook (vocals)
• Wendy Cook (vocals)

History

Marcie Jones started as a teenager with The Thunderbirds at Canterbury Ballroom and Preston Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia, in the early '60s. She then went on to perform with Normie Rowe's band The Playboys and appeared on the "Go-Show". She issued five singles from 1965 to 1967 on the Sunshine label with some minor chart success.

In 1967, on the suggestion of Normie Rowe, she teamed up with the Cook sisters (who were already performing as "The Cookies" ) in Brisbane. Marcie & The Cookies were in the mould of such U.S acts as The Supremes and The Crystals. In early 1968 they came to the attention of "The Twilights" and "The Groove's" Manager Garry Spry, who was so impressed by them he became their manager. Spry got them a recording contract with E.M.I. and put them with his all powerful entertainment agency A.M.B.O. Within 12 months they had become widely known for Marcie's powerful voice and the Cookies superb vocal harmonies and their synchronised stage movements as a result of their appearances on national TV shows, particularly on the pop music 'The Go!! Show'. They toured Australia as support act for overseas artists such as The Monkees on their Australian December 1968 tour. That same year Marcie & The Cookies were presented the "Best Female Act for 1968" award by national pop magazine Go-Set and were awarded the "Critics Award" for the top Australian vocal act.

As a group they released only two Columbia singles, however both these singles had regional success mainly in Melbourne & Brisbane. They were in demand for session work such as on the Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays track, Something's Got A Hold On Me. Particularly they should be recognised for their contribution along with musicians: Brian Cadd, piano; Don Mudie, bass and electric guitar solo; Richard Wright - drums (all three from The Groop); Roger Hicks (of Zoot), acoustic guitar intro/rhythm guitar; and The Chiffons' Judy Condon, Maureen Elkner, Pauline Brady on the recording of Russell Morris's ground breaking psychedelic single "The Real Thing" in early 1969.

During 1969 they toured South East Asia for three months performing in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Bangkok and the Philippines. The tour included performances to Vietnam war servicemen at American bases. They then performed around Europe and the U.K for two years and were support act and back-up vocalists for Cliff Richard during that time on his UK tours.

After more than two years overseas Marcie decided to return home to Australia, leaving the Cook sisters to continue on as Cliff's backing singers and joining lead singer Peter Williams (formerly of The Groove) in a new group called Spirit of Progress who recorded a couple of singles on the Decca label and was the support act also for Cliff Richard on tour, as well as performing on the UK Cabaret circuit.

On returning to Australia, Marcie Jones then resumed her solo career with a new manager and record label, Atlantic. She released an album and five singles between 1973 and 1976, the second of which, "Gonna Get Married", was her best chart success in 1974.

Marcie has continued to perform both solo and with The Cookies (under the name of Marcie Jones and The Cookies), in stage shows, clubs, concerts and tours supporting major overseas artists until the present day. In their 40 year career they have toured with The Monkees, Gene Pitney, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Roy Orbison, Tom Jones, Del Shannon, Ray Stevens and other performers. They perform a mixture of sixties and soul, ballads and rock.

More recently Marcie has embraced the country genre putting out a country CD in 1999.

In mid-2008, Marcie became a presenter on 100.7 Highlands FM, a community radio station based in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria, Australia, where she co-hosts a weekly show entitled "Blonde and Blonder".

In December 2008, Network Creative Services published the 400 page Marcie Jones autobiography 'Runs In The Blood' (ISBN 978-0-9580162-9-2). The book deals with Marcie’s entertainment career, the Australian franchise of Koala Blue, the breakup with Australian ‘King Of Pop’ Normie Rowe, arriving at hospital to give birth with Gerry Marsden (of Merseybeat fame), having her second child born premature, and performing for the Pope! Marcie Jones is an unsung Australian music legend. Her story will give you an intimate insight into the psyche of a true survivor.

Discography

Marcie & The Cookies

Singles

• "All Or Nothing" / "I Would If I Could" - 1968 (#2 Brisbane, #28 Melbourne)
• "White Christmas" / "You On My Mind" - 1968 (#23 Brisbane0

Marcie Jones

Singles

• "Quiet" / "I Wanna Know" - 1965 (#29 Melbourne)
• "Imagine" / "When A Girl Falls In Love" - 1965
• "Danny Boy" / "That Hurts" - 1966
• "That's The Way It Is" / "Big Lovers Come In Small Packages" - 1967 {#34 Brisbane}
• "You Can't Bypass Love" / "He's Gonna Be Fine Fine Fine" - 1967
• "Armed And Extremely Dangerous" / "Over The Rainbow" - 1973 (#17 Brisbane, #22 Adelaide}
• "Gonna Get Married" / "I Found My Freedom" - 1974 (#10 Melbourne, #3 Adelaide)
• "I Only Have Eyes For You" / "Gonna Make It" - 1974 (#11 Adelaide)
• "Baby I Need Your Loving" / "Hurts So Good" - 1975
• "Back In Your Arms Again" / "I Like Your Music" - 1976

Albums

• That Girl Jones - 1973

Compilation album

• The Bowl Show - 1965-66 - Included two tracks; "I Wanna Know" and "Quiet"

(Shared with The Blue Jays, Peter Doyle, Toni McCann, The Playboys, Ricky & Tammy, Normie Rowe, Tony Worsley)

References

• Go-Set 19/3/69 - Article on the recording session for Russell Morris single The Real Thing
• Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock & Pop - 1978
• Mondo Weirdo - Australia in the Sixties - James Cockington (Photo - john Hearder) - 1992
• The Various Artist in Australia - Chris Spencer - 1990 - Moonlight Publishing
• An Australian Rock Discography - Chris Spencer -1990 - Moonlight Publishing
• The Who's Who of Australian Rock - Chris Spencer - Moonlight Publishing
• Gavin Ryan's Chart Books

External links

• Marcie Jones Autobiography: Runs In The Blood
• Marcie Jones and The Cookies Web Site
• Marcie Jones Web Site
• Marcie Jones page at EntertainOz
• Pop Archives - All or Nothing Feature
• Pop Archives - I Would If I Could Feature
• Gavin Ryan's Chart Books
• Milesago - Reference to backing Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays on single Somethings Got A Hold On Me (Etta James Song)
• Reference to Marcie & The Cookies
• Legends of Sixties Rock