Sixties stardom Rowe's first single, released in April 1965, was a brooding "beat" arrangement of
George Gershwin's "
It Ain't Necessarily So" (from
Porgy & Bess) a choice suggested by Stan Rofe. It was a
Number 1 hit in Melbourne and a Top Ten hit in most other capitals cities (No. 6 in Sydney, No. 5 in Adelaide, No. 3 in Brisbane), even though Sydney pop station
2SM, then owned by the
Catholic Church, banned it because of its supposedly
sacrilegious lyrics. The inspiration for Rowe's version was apparently a 1963 version by the United Kingdom band
Ian and the Zodiacs. Some references cite the source as a version by
The Merseybeats, but that band never recorded "It Ain't Necessarily So". The name of the Ian and the Zodiacs' album,
This Is Merseybeat, has apparently been confused with the name of the band The Merseybeats. Rowe's first LP was released in July 1965. His second single, apparently discovered while trawling through Rofe's vast record collection, released in August, was a cover of
Ben E. King's "
I (Who Have Nothing)". It became his second Top 10 hit (No. 10 in Sydney, No. 6 in Adelaide, No. 4 in Melbourne) (and a Number 23 in Brisbane). Although Rowe's third single, "I Confess" / "Everything's Alright", was apparently withdrawn before or soon after release, the next single became the biggest hit of his career. The A-side was a cover of "
Que Sera Sera" (best known from the Doris Day original), which was given a "
Merseybeat" treatment, in the manner of
The Beatles' "
Twist & Shout". Paired with a powerful version of the
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates classic "
Shakin' All Over", the single became a double-sided No. 1 hit in most capitals (#1 Sydney, #1 Melbourne, #1 Brisbane, #1 Adelaide) in September, charting for 28 weeks and selling in unprecedented numbers—rock historian Ian McFarlane reports sales of 80,000 copies while 1970s encyclopedist Noel McGrath claimed sales of 100,000, and it is reputed to be the biggest-selling Australian single of the 1960s. Rowe scored another first in October by having three hit singles in the Melbourne Top 40 simultaneously. An oft-repeated story that the whistle used in the arrangement was an innovation by the record's producer appears to be unfounded, because very similar arrangements, complete with whistle, had been recorded on earlier versions by
Earl Royce & The Olympics (UK, 1964) and by
The High Keys (USA, 1963). Rowe's success continued through late 1965 and into the first half of 1966, during which time he scored another three consecutive Top Ten singles. "Tell Him I'm Not Home" (Nov. 1965), a cover of a song originally recorded by
Chuck Jackson in 1963, was a Top 5 hit in most mainland capitals, reaching #4 in Sydney, #2 in Melbourne, #2 in Adelaide and #1 in Melbourne It was followed by his version of
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David's "The Breaking Point" (b/w "Ya Ya", Feb. 1966) which became his second double-sided hit, a number #1 in Brisbane and making the Top Ten in all mainland capitals, peaking at #9 in Adelaide, #8 in Sydney, #2 in Melbourne and Perth, #1 in Brisbane. "Pride & Joy" (June 1966) was also Top Ten in most state capitals. That single is also notable for its B-side, a cover of "The Stones That I Throw", written by
Robbie Robertson, originally recorded in 1965 by
Levon & the Hawks, later known as
The Band. He appeared in the 1966 musical comedy film
Don't Let It Get You. In the mid-year, he joined
The Easybeats,
Bobby & Laurie and
MPD Ltd on "The Big Four" national tour that played to huge crowds around the country.
United Kingdom: 1966–1968 Rowe was by this time the most popular solo performer in Australia so, in August 1966, he left to try his luck in the UK. In preparation, he revamped the line-up of his backing band, the Playboys. Several members opted to stay in Australia for family reasons, so Rowe replaced them with bassist Brian Peacock and guitarist Rod Stone, both from the ex-New Zealand band
The Librettos, which had recently split. Arriving in London ahead of his band, Rowe engaged
Ritchie Yorke as his London agent and began to record with producers
Trevor Kennedy and
John Carter, using the cream of London's session musicians, including
Big Jim Sullivan,
Jimmy Page,
John Paul Jones, famed drummer
Clem Cattini, and vocal group
The Breakaways. The sessions produced several strong new recordings, including "Ooh La La", "It's Not Easy", "Mary Mary", "Turn on the Love Light" and "Can't Do Without Your Love". Despite his absence in London, Rowe's run of chart success in Australia continued. His next single, "Ooh La La" / "Ain't Nobody Home" (November 1966) was another double-sided hit in Melbourne and a Top 5 hit in most capitals, reaching #2 in Sydney, and #4 in Brisbane and Adelaide. Up to that time, there was no national pop chart in Australia, with most pop radio stations and newspapers in state capitals and major cities publishing their own competing charts. However, on 5 October 1966,
Go-Set magazine, which had been launched in February, began publishing a weekly national Top 40, compiled by
Ed Nimmervoll. "Ooh La La" / "Mary, Mary" debuted at #6 on the new
Go-Set chart on 7 December 1966, and reached #1 in the 21 December chart, hence becoming Rowe's first official national #1 hit. It stayed at #1 for two weeks before being briefly supplanted by The Easybeats' "
Friday on My Mind" on 4 January, but returned to the top for the next two weeks. While "Ooh La La" was at #1 in Australia, Rowe's next single, the ballad "It's Not Easy" was also climbing the chart. It debuted at #17 in the
Go-Set chart in the last week of December 1966, and reached the Top 10 in the second week of January. Through the end of January and into February, Rowe achieved a first for an Australian popular recording artist by having two of the top three singles simultaneously for three consecutive weeks. Rowe worked in England for ten months and toured with acts including
Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity,
The Spencer Davis Group,
Kiki Dee,
Gene Pitney and
The Troggs. High hopes were held for a British breakthrough and, in the early months of 1967, the pages of
Go-Set featured predictions of his imminent UK stardom, though that never materialised. The new Playboys lineup arrived in London in December, but Rowe flew home for Christmas, which coincided with the release of "It's Not Easy" / "Mary Mary". He returned to England in January and, in March 1967, the group embarked on a tour of the UK, supporting
The Troggs,
Gene Pitney and
Sounds Incorporated. That same month, Phil Blackmore left the group for family reasons and returned to Australia, being replaced by English organist Trevor Griffin. Rod Stone left in mid-1967 and returned to Australia, after which he joined band
The Groove. He was replaced by former
Adam Faith sideman Mick Rogers. At the end of 1966, Rowe was voted Australia's best male singer in the inaugural
Go-Set Pop Poll. Meanwhile, The Playboys secured a one-off single deal with
Andrew Loog Oldham's
Immediate Records label, releasing the single "Sad" / "Black Sheep RIP" in August. Written by Brian Peacock, "Sad" is now considered a 'freakbeat' classic and has been widely anthologised, appearing on the British collection
Chocolate Soup For Diabetics Vol III, Raven Records'
Kicks and Rhino's
Nuggets II. In June, Normie Rowe and the Playboys travelled to North America, supporting
Roy Orbison on a US tour and, along with
The Seekers, he represented Australia in performance at
Expo '67 in Montreal. He returned to Australia in July, where he appeared as a special guest at the national finals of the 1967
Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds. Rowe had more national chart success in late 1967 with the
Graham Gouldman song "Going Home" (b/w "I Don't Care"), assumed to be about the Vietnam War, but really about a migrant's return to Australia from Britain, which debuted at #22 in the
Go-Set chart in late April and stayed in the national Top Ten until the end of May, peaking at #7 in the second week of May. "Sunshine Secret" / "But I Know", and another single, "
Turn Down Day" charted in Melbourne. However, in September 1967, any questions about his career future were dramatically stalled when he received his call-up notice for
national service.
National Service: 1968–1970 carrier in South Vietnam Rowe was inducted into the army in February 1968, although he continued to perform part-time until leaving for Vietnam in January 1969, making various television appearances. On 19 October 1968, he appeared on ATV-0's
Uptight with a cropped haircut. He also began working with a new backing band, Nature's Own, who also regularly backed
Johnny Farnham and other members of the Sunshine roster. His only charting record during that period was the ballad "Penelope", written by former Playboys member Brian Peacock. Rowe's basic training at
Puckapunyal army camp was extensively covered by the Australian media. In Vietnam, Rowe rose to the rank of corporal and was crew commander of an
armoured personnel carrier. He was discharged from the army in February 1970. Rowe's final minor hit was "Hello", written by
Johnny Young, released in May 1970, and he subsequently released an album of the same name. Rowe was later revealed to have inspired the song "Smiley", written by Johnny Young and recorded by
Ronnie Burns, which was a major hit in Australia in 1969 and 1970. The
Hello album marked the end of Rowe's Sunshine contract, although the label had been taken over by Festival several years earlier after it had run into financial problems. Rowe signed to Festival Records in 1971, and cut three singles. "Que Sera Sera" was re-released in January 1971 and, on 6 March, he married his girlfriend, Sue Powlesland. Rowe's pop music career was effectively ended by his time in Vietnam and, in his absence,
Ronnie Burns and
John Farnham (then billed as Johnny Farnham) replaced him as
King of Pop. The strong anti-war sentiment of the period affected him, and like many Vietnam vets, Rowe suffered considerably because of his service. He said that he was treated like a pariah by the very people who had been buying his records and screaming at his concerts only a couple of years before. One of the people he remembers fondly from that period, who stuck by him and gave him encouragement in tough times, was Meteors drummer
Stewie Speer. Rowe remembers that Speer would often wear "King Normie" and "We Love Normie" badges on his jacket.
Variety Although his pop career was effectively over, Rowe was able to fall back on the training from his dance hall days, and began to concentrate on a varied career playing the club and hotel circuit, as well as making TV performances. He became a popular participant on variety programs such as
The Don Lane Show and
The Mike Walsh Show. Continuing to record through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he switched to
Astor Records in 1975, and had considerable success with the single "Elizabeth", which won the "Best Song" category at that year's
Tokyo Music Festival. ==Theatre and television==