These pages provide details of some of the printed publications - books, theatre programmes, newspapers and magazines - that have featured Lyn Paul during her long career.
The Bee Gees: Tales of The Brothers Gibb
Melinda Bilyeu, Hector Cook and Andrew Môn Hughes
with assistance from Joseph Brennan and Mark Crohan
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 0-7119-7917-0
ISBN 13: 978-0-7119-7917-8
Publication date: 2001
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 1-84449-057-2 (revised edition)
ISBN 13: 978-1-84449-057-8
Publication date: 1st
January 2004
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 1-78038-740-7 (second edition)
ISBN 13: 978-1-78038-740-6
Publication date: 10th
September 2012
Chapter 5, Big Chance, mentions the song Follow The Wind, which was influenced by The Seekers and later recorded by the New Seekers:
"Follow The Wind, also written by Barry, had quite a folk sound to it. A song quite obviously influenced by Australian band The Seekers, who had just achieved the first of many successes in the UK, it remains one of the most underrated songs of the period. Ironically, the New Seekers would go on to record this song in 1970." (page 71)
The book also mentions the Bee Gees' collaborations with Ossie Byrne, who in 1969 produced the single Mister, Mister for Paul Layton of the New Seekers: Byrne first met the Bee Gees in 1966, offering them free recording time at his studios in the Sydney suburb of Hurtsville. When the brothers set sail for England aboard the SS Fairsky on 3rd January 1967 Byrne accompanied them. He produced their début album in the UK, Bee Gees 1st, which included the hit singles New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Polydor 56 161) and To Love Somebody (Polydor 56 178). The Bee Gees dedicated their 1987 album E.S.P. to Byrne, following his death from cancer three years earlier.
The Judith Durham Story: Colours Of My Life
Graham Simpson
Publisher: Random House Australia Ltd.
ISBN: 0-09-182976-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-09-182976-6
Publication date: 1994
Publisher: Virgin Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1-85227-038-1 (hardback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-85227-038-4
Publication date: 26th June 2003
Publisher: Virgin Books Ltd.
ISBN: 0-7535-0883-4 (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-0-7535-0883-1
Publication date: 10th June 2004
A biography of Seekers' star Judith Durham - a "must read" for fans of Judith Durham and The Seekers but also worth a glance for New Seekers' fans.
Graham Simpson describes how the New Seekers cast a shadow over Judith Durham's early solo career. Not only was Judith mistaken for Eve Graham, she was even asked to sing I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing.
There are also obvious parallels between Judith Durham's experiences as a member of The Seekers and Lyn Paul's and Eve Graham's subsequent experiences with the New Seekers.
A Murder Of
Passion
(paperback edition).
A Murder Of Passion
Georgie Ellis with Rod Taylor
Publisher: Blake Publishing
ISBN: 1-85782-501-2
ISBN 13: 978-1-85782-501-5 (paperback)
Publication date: 14th March 2003
The story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman in England to be hanged, as told by her daughter, Georgie Ellis, who revealed the parallels between her mother's life and her own. In Chapter 2, Driving Ambition, she recalled the discos and nightspots of Manchester in the early 1960s, including Tiffany's on Oxford Street, where The Nocturnes were the resident group:
"The Nocturnes were three guys and two girls. The girls, Lyn Paul and Eve Graham, later enjoyed international fame with the New Seekers... The drummer with the Nocturnes was Ross Mitchell, the lead guitarist Kenny Taylor, but I only had eyes for the singer and bass player, Nicky Walker." (page 17)
Paper Paradise
Paper Paradise: Confessions Of A Rock 'n' Roll Survivor
Glenn Wheatley
Glenn Wheatley became the New Seekers' tour manager in 1972, having previously been a member of the Australian bands Bay City Union and The Masters Apprentices. In his autobiography he recalled how his own experience as the member of these bands helped him with his new job for the New Seekers:
"Very early in my management life I realised the lesson to learn was to do for the artists what I would have liked to have done for me. It was that simple." (page 69)
Wheatley described life on the road as a mixed blessing: on the downside it took him away from London and his wife Alison, but on the other hand it gave him a good grounding in the business that was to become his livelihood:
"It was all part of my learning process... We often toured Europe where the New Seekers had a huge following. It was exciting working with an act at that level..." (page 69)
When the New Seekers' management company, the Gem-Toby Organisation, established an office in Los Angeles, Glenn Wheatley moved to the States to run it. Highlights of his time here included being asked to organise the entertainment for President Nixon's inauguration, at which the New Seekers sang I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, and a trip to Las Vegas. Unlike Lyn Paul and Peter Doyle, who managed to miss the show, Glenn got to see Elvis.
"The New Seekers spent a lot of time performing in Las Vegas. They did Caesars Palace for a month and it just about drove me crazy. The heat during the day was so oppressive, we had to stay inside the hotel the entire time. The good news was that I got to see Elvis perform at the Hilton. He was fat, but it didn't matter. He was the King!" (page 71)
The Sanest Guy
In The Room
(hardback edition).
The Sanest Guy In The Room: A Life In Lyrics
Don Black
Publisher: Constable
ISBN 13: 978-1-47213-293-2 (hardback)
Publication date: 23rd July 2020
The Sanest Guy In The Room is the autobiography of songwriter Don Black, whose greatest hits as a lyricist are his film themes (among them the theme songs to the James Bond films Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever and The Man With The Golden Gun) and stage musicals (including several successful collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tell Me On A Sunday, Aspects Of Love and Sunset Boulevard).
The chapter on Movie Songs contains a paragraph about the film The Dove and its theme song Sail The Summer Winds (page 211), which was recorded by Lyn Paul. Sadly, it offers no new insight into the song or the recording session and, even worse, it contains a mistake: Lyn Paul, it claims, "used to be part of The Seekers."
The chapter More Musicals In No Particular Order offers some insight into the staging of 1983 musical Dear Anyone... but there is no mention of ex-New Seeker Peter Oliver or of the song Sleeping Like A Baby Now, which Peter had recorded for the Studio Cast recording in 1978.
The
Singer's Singer:
The Life And Music Of
Matt Monro
The Singer's Singer: The Life And Music Of Matt Monro
Michele Monro
Publisher: Titan Books
ISBN 13: 978-1-84856-618-7 (hardback)
Publication date: January 2010
There is only the most fleeting of references to the New Seekers in this biography of Matt Monro:
"A week after his stint at the Talk of the North, Matt went on a series of engagements for Harold Landey, who had handled the New Seekers' British tour." (quoted from the chapter Have Suitcase Will Travel, page 439)
In a later chapter (That Inch Makes All The Difference) the biography mentions Matt Monro's 1978 Christmas Eve show at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, a prestigious hotel at which Lyn Paul also appeared.
So Here It Is
So Here It Is
Dave Hill
Publisher: Ynbound
ISBN 13: 978-1-78352-420-4 (Hardback)
Publication date: 16th November 2017
Publisher: Unbound
ISBN 13: 978-1-78352-579-9 (Paperback)
Publication date: 4th October 2018
In his autobiography So Here It IsSlade's lead guitarist Dave Hill recalled the band's first appearance on Top Of The Pops on 15th July 1971: "On Top Of The Pops we were the show with the New Seekers, Labi Siffre, Curved Air, the Dave Clark Five and Middle of the Road. There was nothing like us. Nothing. That was the start of the real breakthrough for us." (Chapter 9, Top Of The Pops, Here We Come, page 105)
Straight
(hardback edition).
Straight
Boy George with Paul Gorman
Publisher: Century
ISBN: 1-84413-390-7 (hardback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-84413-390-1
Publication date: 3rd March 2005
Publisher: Arrow
ISBN: 0-09-946493-4
ISBN 13: 978-0-09-946493-8 (paperback)
Publication date: 4th January 2007
Straight or twisted? Ten years after Take It Like A Man,Boy George delivered the second installment of his life story.
Lyn Paul is listed with the other women - Gemma Craven, Mari Wilson and Jackie Clunes - who played the part of Josie in Boy George's musical Taboo (page 179) - "a great set of actresses" according to Boy George, but "some of them became very twisted when they played that role." There is also a small photo of Lyn with the cast and crew of Taboo.
Take It Like A Man: the autobiography of Boy George
Boy George and Spencer Bright
Publisher: Sidgwick & J.
ISBN: 0-283-99217-4 (hardback)
ISBN 13: 978-0-283-99217-9
Publication date: 19th April 1995
Publisher: Pan Books
ISBN: 0-330-32362-8 (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-0-330-32362-8
Publication date: 1995
In his autobiography Take It Like A Man,Boy George describes his childhood holidays on a Wiltshire farm. He recalls: "The couple that looked after us were hippie types. The husband had a beard, played guitar and wore corduroy trousers, she looked like one of the New Seekers" (Take It Like A Man, Chapter 3, page 31).
Boy George published a second volume of autobiography, titled Straight, in 2005.
Page 31 of Boy George's autobiography Take It Like A Man, (paperback edition)
autographed by Boy George and Lyn Paul.
Under The Rainbow: The Real Liza Minnelli
George Mair
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 1-55972-312-2 (hardback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-55972-312-1 (hardback)
Publication date: 1st December 1998
Depending upon the review you read, this is either "nice at best" or "a great read if you're interested in Liza Minnelli". If you're interested in Lyn Paul or the New Seekers, the biography includes a half-page photo of Liza with the New Seekers during their 1973 tour of the USA.
When The Gloves
Came Off
(paperback edition).
When The Gloves Came Off
Billy Walker with Robin McGibbon
Publisher: Robson Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1-86105-970-1 (hardback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-86105-970-3 (hardback)
Publication date: June 2007
Publisher: Robson Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1-905798-27-X (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-905798-27-8 (paperback)
Publication date: September 2008
The autobiography of British boxer Billy Walker. In Chapter 21 he recalled a day when Lyn Paul and her husband Alan came over to his home.
"Just when I thought I couldn't be shocked any more, I got a call from a friend, Lyn Paul, who'd sung with the seventies pop group the New Seekers... Lyn and her husband lived nearby and when she heard Jackie and I had split up, she rang, inviting me out to dinner with them.
They arrived at my house for a drink before going to the restaurant and Lyn seemed a little tense. After explaining the reasons why Jackie and I had broken up, I learned why..." (paperback edition, page 223)
The Woman
I Was Born To Be:
My Story
The Woman I Was Born To Be: My Story
Susan Boyle
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0-593-06694-4 (hardback)
ISBN 13: 978-0-593-06694-2 (hardback)
Publication date: 29th September 22010
Publisher: Corgi
ISBN: 0-552-16367-8 (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-0-552-16367-5 (paperback)
Publication date: 3rd March 2011
On 21st January 2009 an unknown singer called Susan Boyle attended an audition for Britain's Got Talent. The show was broadcast on 11th April, after which Susan Boyle became a YouTube sensation. Her audition piece, I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables, was watched by millions around the world. A star was born.
In Chapter 11 of her autobiography she recalled what it was like growing up in the 1970s - spending pocket money on Popswop and Fab 208, watching Donny Osmond on Top Of The Pops, singing in front of the dressing-table mirror with a hairbrush as a pretend microphone.
"One moment I would be the New Seekers teaching the world to sing, the next I'd be Michael Jackson with one of my favourite-ever songs, 'Ben'." (hardback edition, page 79)
