Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris (born March 30, 1930 in Perth ) is an Australian musician, painter and television entertainer.

biography

Harris was born the son of Welsh immigrants in Bassendean, a suburb of the Western Australian city of Perth. In his younger years he was a successful swimmer, was an Australian youth champion and was a several times Western Australian champion. Nevertheless, his interest in art and entertainment predominated, which is why he gave up a teaching degree in Australia and studied art at the City and Guilds Arts School in London at the age of 22 . From 1953 he appeared in London on children's television.

First success

Harris was also into music. At the age of nine he had learned to play the piano and had already made money as a piano teacher. In 1958 he accidentally invented the "wobble board", an elastic hardboard made of masonite , which was originally intended to serve as a canvas and which warped when it dried. The "wobble board" is held slightly curved with both hands and, by shaking movements, is made to jump back and forth, creating a rhythmic noise. He used the sound to represent the jumping kangaroos for the song Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport . The Novelty song was a great success in Great Britain and made it into the Top 10 in 1960. In 1963 it was released in the USA and even reached number 3. In late 1963, he sang the song for BBC Radio with the Beatles as backing singers and on the Beatles minted extra stanzas.

Unusual instrumentation and noises remained a hallmark of Harris' music. In the song Sun Arise , which was originally a song by the Australian natives, the Aborigines , he imitated the Australian didgeridoo with four double basses and later with a stylophone . This song also became a hit in Great Britain in 1962.

Music and painting on television

After working on children's television in Australia from 1960 to 1962, Rolf Harris finally relocated to England and not only worked there in television entertainment, but also presented a TV series in Canada. From 1967 he presented The Rolf Harris Show , in which he combined music and painting. In 1971 some episodes of it ran in Germany. The Swedish singer Bibi Johns was co-host . A special highlight of the show was when he, while singing, apparently accidentally splashed paint on an oversized screen and the audience puzzled over the meaning. Only at the end was the motif recognizable with a few drawn lines.

In 1969, the Australian had his greatest musical hit with the maudlin story of two men who shared their toy horse in childhood, and when the two fight as soldiers in the war and one of them is wounded, the other rides up and upsets him his horse safe. The Two Little Boys song was a perfect fit for the Christmas season and became a number one hit in the UK .

At the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in 1982 he was one of the main artists and in addition to a version of Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport , he also sang the "secret national anthem" of Australia, Waltzing Matilda .

He also gave instructions on painting and drawing at Rolf Harris's Cartoon Time and Rolf's Cartoon Club in the 1980s and early 1990s .

Harris had another unusual hit parade in 1993 with a version of the Led Zeppelin classic Stairway to Heaven . In the implementation with "wobble board" and didgeridoos in the style of his Kangaroo song, he once again reached the UK Top 10. Since then he has also performed several times at the Glastonbury Festival , one of the largest and most famous rock festivals in Europe.

The hit programs of the nineties

He was also very successful on television. From 1994 he presented Animal Hospital for ten years with stories and contributions from veterinary clinics and veterinary practices. The show was awarded the national television award five times. In Rolf on Art he presented famous painters and in a special of the series 150 pictures, on which 150 people had each painted an enlarged section of the picture "The Hay Cart" by the English landscape painter John Constable , were put together to form a huge replica of the painting.

In 2002 Harris was allowed to exhibit his paintings from Rolf on Art in the English National Gallery .

Queen Elizabeth II had Harris made a portrait of herself in 2005 on the occasion of her 80th birthday. The creation of the picture was also shown as a series special.

In 2005 he played the didgeridoo as a guest musician on Kate Bush's album Aerial .

Sexual abuse conviction

In March 2013, Harris was one of 12 suspects arrested as part of "Operation Yewtree". They were already accused from long ago sexual abuse, which, however, nothing to do with the investigation in the case of the former BBC -Moderators Jimmy Savile should have to do.

He was initially not charged, but denied the allegations, although he made no public comment. When he came back on stage for the first time after his arrest in May 2013, he thanked the audience for the support he had received.

He was arrested again in August 2013 and charged with nine sexual abuse cases against two 14 and 16 year old girls from the 1980s. Another indictment was four cases of making indecent children's pictures in 2012, but those charges were dropped. On June 30, 2014, Harris was found guilty of sexual abuse on four then underage girls on 12 counts by a jury panel. The cases had occurred in the 1960s to 1980s. On July 4, 2014, 84 year old Harris was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison. In May 2017, Rolf Harris was released early from prison.

Awards

Rolf Harris was awarded a medal in 1968 (MBE) and 1977 (OBE). In 2006 he was awarded the title of Commander of the British Empire ; this title was stripped from him because of his conviction in March 2015. His admission to the ARIA Hall of Fame from 2008 was also revoked.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1963	Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport & Sun Arise	-	US29 (9 weeks) US
1997	Can You Tell What It Is Yet?	UK70 (2 weeks) UK	-

more albums

1962: At the Arctic Club 1964: Join Rolf Harris Singing the Court of King Caractacus and Other Fun Songs 1965: All Together Now 1966: The Man with a Microphone 1966: Again! 1966: At the Cave, Vancouver 1968: It's a Rolf Harris World! 1969: Live at the Talk of the Town 1970: Rolf Harris Sings Mary's Boy Child 1971: Instant Music - Rolf Harris and the Instant Music Kids

1971: Jake the Peg in Vancouver Town 1973: The Rolf Harris Album 1973: You Name It ... 1976: Mirrored Image 1979: Rolf on Saturday OK? 1979: The Boy from Bassendean 1987: Cartoon Favorites 1993: Rolf Rules OK! 1999: Bootleg 1 2004: Rockin 'Rollin' Ramblin ' 2006: Songs for Kids

Compilations

1967: The Best of Rolf Harris 1970: Greatest Hits 1984: All The Best Of ... 1994: Didgereely-Doo All That: The Best of Rolf Harris 1994: The Definitive Rolf Harris 1999: The Best of Rolf Harris 2000: The Rolf Harris Collection

2001: She'll Be Right 2003: The Best of Rolf Harris 2005: original gold 2005: HMV Easy: The Rolf Harris Collection 2006: A Portrait in Song 2008: The Platinum Collection 2008: At the Sydney Opera House: First Night 1973

EPs

1960: Favorites 1965: All Together Now 1966: Sings for Survival 1966: Shamus O'Sean, the Leprechaun (with Shamus O'Sean the Leprechaun) 1966: The Kangaroo 1966: Jake the Peg 1966: Big Dog 1967: BOAC Pacific Panorama (with The Philip Green Orchestra and the George Mitchell Singers) (Promo) 1967: Rolf Harris Favorites

1967: Six White Boomers 1968: Fijian Girl 1969: Hurry Home 1970: Stylophone - Glenn Miller album 1970: The Stylophone Accompaniment Record 1970: Two Little Boys 1970: Traditional Tunes, Christmas Carols 1972: My Electric Finger 1981: Rolf's Christmas

Singles

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1960	Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport At the Arctic Club	UK9 (13 weeks) UK	US3 (11 weeks) US	Chart entry in the USA in June 1963 Author: Rolf Harris
1962	Sun Arise Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport & Sun Arise	UK3 (19 weeks) UK	US61 (7 weeks) US	Chart entry in the USA in March 1963 Authors: Harry Butler, Rolf Harris
1963	Johnny Day Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport & Sun Arise	UK44 (2 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Harry Butler, Rolf Harris
	Nick Teen and Al K. Hall Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport & Sun Arise	-	US95 (1 week) US	Author: Rolf Harris
1969	Bluer Than Blue The Best of Rolf Harris	UK30 (8 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Ken Howard & Alan Blaikley , Barry Mason
	Two Little Boys Jake the Peg in Vancouver Town	UK1 (25 weeks) UK	-
1993	Stairway to Heaven Rolf Rules OK!	UK7 (6 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Jimmy Page , Robert Plant Original: Led Zeppelin , 1971
1995	Ego Sum Pauper	UK83 (3 weeks) UK	-
1996	Bohemian Rhapsody	UK50 (2 weeks) UK	-	Author: Freddie Mercury Original: Queen , 1975
2000	Fine day	UK24 (3 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Steve Lima, Rolf Harris

more singles

1960: Tame Eagle 1961: Six White Boomers 1961: In the Wet 1962: My Winkles Have Been Pinched 1963: I Know a Man 1963: I've Lost My Mummy 1963: Living It Up 1964: The Court of King Caractacus 1964: Ringo for President 1964: Click Go the Shears 1964: Wild Colonial Boy 1965: Sydney Town 1965: The Five Young Apprentices 1965: Tie Me Hunting Dog Down, Jed 1965: Iko Iko 1965: Was canoe 1966: Big Dog 1966: Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy? 1967: Fijian Girl 1967: I've Never Seen Anything Like It 1967: Pukka Chicken 1968: Hurry Home 1968: Have a Beer 1970: Ned Kelly 1970: 2 boys small (2 little boys) 1970: Tennessee Birdwalk 1970: Mary of the Quiet Eyes 1970: Mary's Boy Child 1971: Salvation Army Citadel

1971: A Ram Sam Sam 1971: Vancouver Town '71 1972: Football Crazy 1972: So Earlye in the Evenin ' 1972: Tutankhamun 1972: She'll Be Right 1972: Waltzing Matilda 1972: Emu 1972: Down Under in the Outback 1972: We're the Maoris (Hoea Ra) 1972: She'll Be Right 1973: Introduces the Stylophone System 1973: I've Lost My Mummy 1973: Wobble Along with Rolf Harris 1974: Papillon 1974: Little Pal 1975: Presbyterian Church 1975: Happy Birthday, Father Christmas 1976: Yarrabangee 1978: Back to WA 1979: What's a Pommie 1979: Stuck to the Ice 1980: It's Hard to Be Humble 1981: Hey Jimmy Johnson 1981: Was Canoe 1984: G'Day LA (Pavlova) 1984: Kangaroos Are Dangaroos 1985: Tommy (From 88 Pine)

swell

1. ^ Josh Halliday: Rolf Harris charged operation yewtree. In: The Guardian UK News. August 30, 2010, accessed August 30, 2011 . 
2. ^ Rolf Harris guilty of indecent assaults. BBC News, June 30, 2014, accessed July 1, 2014 . 
3. ^ Rolf Harris jailed for five years and nine months. BBC News, July 4, 2014, accessed July 4, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Naziah Parveen: Rolf Harris released from prison after almost three years. In: theguardian.com. May 19, 2017, accessed June 29, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris stripped of CBE on the BBC News website from March 3, 2015 (English).
6. ^ Rolf Harris stripped of his ARIA Hall of Fame induction. The Sydney Morning Herald , July 1, 2014, accessed August 5, 2017 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles UK US Albums US
8. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7

literature

• Can You Tell What It Is Yet ?, Rolf Harris, Bantam Press, 2002, autobiography

Web links

• Homepage of Rolf Harris
• Rolf Harris in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Rolf Harris at Allmusic (English)
• Rolf Harris at Discogs (English)