Ross Wilson (musician)

Wilson's father was an amateur jazz musician and his mother would play classical music on the piano at their home in the Melbourne suburb of Hampton. Wilson learnt to sing harmonies with the local Anglican church choir and was selected as a boy soprano wedding singer. In 1958, at ten and a half years old, he and his father attended their first rock & roll show featuring Johnny O'Keefe, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly and the Crickets. A car accident in 1963 caused severe injuries. During recovery over subsequent months, Wilson took up harmonica playing and would copy from records to develop his playing style. ==Career==

Early career Wilson began his musical career in 1964 and formed his first band The Pink Finks with thirteen-year-old Ross Hannaford (guitar and vocals), who would become his long-time musical partner, whilst both were still at school. They released a cover version of "Louie Louie" as a single in 1965 At about this time he met Patricia Higgins (future Pat Wilson) whilst working at the Department of Supply. The "Eagle Rock" promo was directed by Chris Löfvén who had earlier that year directed the video for Spectrum's single "I'll Be Gone". Wilson performed "Livin' in the Land of Oz" (also released as a single), "The Mood", "Greaseball", "Who's Gonna Love You Tonight" and "Atmospherics", with fellow ex-Daddy Cool members Gary Young and Wayne Burt; he produced the soundtrack which also featured the film's stars Joy Dunstan and Graham Matters singing a track each and two tracks by Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. Jo Jo Zep, containing Young and Burt, were also signed to Oz Records and released the single "Beating Around the Bush" from the soundtrack. co-written "Chemistry" with Christie, and Wilson had written "Cool World". Mondo Rock released Nuovo Mondo in 1982 which included their track "A Touch of Paradise" written by Wilson and Gulliver Smith (aka Kevin Smith, ex-Company Caine). This became a 1986 hit when covered by Australian pop singer John Farnham (ex-Little River Band). In 1983, Wilson's then wife Pat recorded and released, "Bop Girl" a song written by Ross. The song featured Ross on backing vocals, and became an Australian No. 2 hit It was released from his July 1989 solo album Dark Side of the Man on WEA. 1990s and beyond Wilson returned to performing in the late 1990s and he has released two albums of new material plus a two-CD retrospective covering his entire career, including many rare tracks. He has also collaborated with children's group The Wiggles, singing on their re-recording of "Eagle Rock" and playing the part of "King Mondo" in the video "Space Dancing". Wilson also appeared as "King Mondo" on the 2004 video "Santa's Rockin'!" singing This Little Baby Is Born Again. In 1996 Wilson was part of the pre-game entertainment at the ARL Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium, with other famous Australian music acts, The Del Tones, Glenn Shorrock, Christine Anu and Kate Ceberano. Wilson sang "Eagle Rock", which was later adopted by the winners of the Grand Final, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, as their team anthem. At the Gimme Ted benefit concert on 9 March 2001 Wilson performed four songs. Ross Wilson has appeared as a judge on the Seven Network celebrity reality singing competition It Takes Two in both 2006 and 2007 series, and was featured in the ABC interview series Talking Heads with Peter Thompson on 9 July 2007. Wilson made a celebrity guest appearance on Neighbours in 2018. On 9 June 2023, Wilson released the 4-track ''She's Stuck On Facebook All the Time'' EP, the first new music in 13 years. ==Personal life==

Wilson has a brother, Bruce Wilson, who designed the logo for the Mojo Label under which The Pink Finks released "Louie Louie", Bruce also designed the logo for The Party Machine, and printed their "obscene and seditious" songbook. Ross Wilson's first wife, Pat Wilson, was a journalist and, briefly, a pop star with "Bop Girl" (written by Ross) in 1983 and reached No. 2. On the promo video for "Eagle Rock" a pregnant Pat Wilson is in the front row of the concert footage. Their only child together, a son, was born later that year. They were married for twenty years. He married his second wife, Tania Gogos, in 1999. They have two children. Through Tania, Wilson is the stepfather of actress and model, Olympia Valance. ==Discography==

Studio albums Soundtrack albums Extended plays Charting singles See also • The Pink Finks • Procession (band) • Sons of the Vegetal Mother • Daddy Cool (band) • Mighty Kong (band) • Mondo Rock ==Awards and nominations==

ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters. ==References==