1964–1970: Previous bands Ross Hannaford (guitar, bass, vocals) and
Ross Wilson (guitar, vocals, harmonica) formed pop / R&B Melbourne-based group
The Pink Finks in 1964 while they were still attending high school in the south eastern
Melbourne suburb of
Beaumaris, Victoria; they later attended the senior campus of
Sandringham College. They recorded a version of
Richard Berry's "
Louie Louie" in 1965 which led to a
recording contract and three more singles. They released a single "You've All Gotta Go" in 1969; their printed songbooks were confiscated and burned by the Victorian Vice Squad for being obscene and seditious. Wilson disbanded The Party Machine in 1969 after receiving an invitation to travel to London to join expatriate Australian band
Procession. One of these was The Rondells, who were also the backing band for
Bobby & Laurie a popular singing duo (with number-one hit single "Hitch Hiker" in 1966).
1970–1972: Original line-up Four of Sons of the Vegetal Mother's members (Duncan, Hannaford, Wilson and Young) formed Daddy Cool in 1970. performed in 1957 by US
doo-wop band
the Rays as the B-side to their single "Silhouettes", however Ross Wilson has stated that the band was named before he had heard the song. Daddy Cool became a popular live fixture in
Melbourne. The single "
Eagle Rock" was released before the end of May and quickly went to number 1 on the Australian charts, where it stayed for a then-record ten weeks. The track written by Wilson, Drummond (aka
Mississippi), "Eagle Rock" was named the second-best Australian song of all time at the 2001
APRA Awards with the best being "
Friday on My Mind" by 1960s group
the Easybeats. Daddy Cool's debut album,
Daddy Who? Daddy Cool, sold an unprecedented 60,000 copies within a month of its release in July 1971, and became the first Australian album to sell more than 100,000 copies. The band toured Australia with
Spectrum (led by former bandmate
Mike Rudd) on the Aquarius Tour. The documentary includes interviews with, and performances by, the Duncan, Hannaford, Noone, Wilson and Young line-up. In 1977, he rejoined Wilson in
Mondo Rock. Hannaford and Wilson, who were constrained by the Daddy Cool image, formed
Mighty Kong in May 1973 to play more serious music, In June / July, Wilson took time off from Daddy Cool to produce the recording of Skyhooks' debut album
Living in the Seventies for
Mushroom Records. Besides compilations, Daddy Cool provided three new singles: "All I Wanna Do Is Rock (part 1)", "The Boogie Man" and "You Never Can Tell" released in 1974 on Wizard Records. Since 2006 he has been a regular judge on
Seven Network's celebrity singing TV series
It Takes Two. His solo 1989 song "Bed of Nails" was used as the theme for ABC-TV six-part series
Bed of Roses starring
Kerry Armstrong and broadcast from 10 May 2008. Hannaford played in other bands and was a session guitarist including work for: Ross Hannaford Trio,
The Black Sorrows,
Ian Moss and
Goanna. A new Daddy Cool recording, "The Christmas Bug", was released for charity. In 2006 Aztec Music released
The Complete Daddy Cool, a double DVD collection, featuring the complete video of the 2005 Tsunami Benefit performance and a 90-minute documentary on the band. The set also features
Bob Weis' 1972 documentary, a "Making Of ..." feature on Weis' film, a 13-minute feature "Hanna on Lead", and nearly 50 minutes of film clips and TV appearances. A new Daddy Cool album,
The New Cool was released in 2006 on
Liberation Records. This was their first album of new material since 1972; it also included the songs recorded in 1994 as part of the ill-fated DC / Skyhooks dual tour. and supporting the 2007 Australian tour by
Mike Love's
Beach Boys and
Christopher Cross. Daddy Cool also played a one-off performance in
Geelong on 31 October 2007, sharing the stage with former touring partners,
Spectrum for the first time in over thirty years. On 19 November 2014, the original band reformed for what became the final time with Daddy Cool inducted into the
Music Victoria Awards Hall of Fame. The band performed a greatest hits setlist, including "
Cherry Pie", 'Come Back Again', 'Eagle Rock' and 'Hi Honey Ho' amongst others at the sold-out awards night show. Wilson stated that this was the first time in over 30 years they had played those early hits. Ross Wilson said of the award: "Daddy Cool first met, played, recorded and worked together in Melbourne and since those early days we’ve been inducted into the industry hall of fame in Australia. As "hometown heroes", The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame means that little bit more because it's a cultural award, not a commercial one". Guitarist Ross Hannaford died on 8 March 2016 aged 65 from cancer; he had been diagnosed with the condition a year earlier. Bassist Wayne Duncan died on 4 December 2016, following a stroke. ==Band members==