Jamie Redfern (born 9 April 1957) is an Australian television presenter and personality and pop singer. Redfern was an original cast member of children's variety show, Young Talent Time from April 1971 to early 1972, before leaving the show to tour in the US with Liberace. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, he "possessed a booming, mature voice which belied his tender age... [he] scored four Top 40 hit singles and sold more than $1.3 million worth of records." His equal highest-charting singles were the double-A sided covers of "Rainbow on the River"/"We'll Meet Again" (November 1972), and "Venus" (August 1973), which each peaked at No. 8 on the Go-Set national charts.

Biography

Jamie Redfern was born on 9 April 1957 in Liverpool to Sam and Mary Redfern; he has five siblings. The family emigrated to Australia and settled in Melbourne. In 1968 he appeared alongside Happy Hammond in an early colour television demonstration for the same channel. Redfern also guested on Happening '70 (1970) and Happening '71 (1971), which were co-produced by former pop star, Johnny Young, and his associate, Kevin Lewis.

In April 1971 Redfern became an original cast member of the Australian children's variety show, Young Talent Time, hosted by Young and co-produced by Lewis and Young.

Young arranged to have Redfern signed with Festival Records, which issued his debut single in 1971. His second single, "When You Wish upon a Star" (1971) reached the Go-Set Top 40 in February of the following year. At the end of 1971, Redfern was named "Most Outstanding Newcomer" in the TV Week King of Pop Ceremony.

In mid-1972 Redfern toured the US with his mentor, Liberace. Redfern remembered his early US performances, "lt was great... I was nervous at first. I got songs in the wrong order and the band was playing different music from what I was singing. But it soon straightened out, and I loved the excitement every night." His second studio album, Sitting on Top of the World (1972), also reached No. 16. It provided a double-A sided single with his versions of "Rainbow on the River"/"We'll Meet Again" (November 1972), which peaked at No. 8. At 15 he was the youngest Australian artist to have a top 10 hit until Nikki Webster's "Strawberry Kisses" in June 2001.

In January 1973 he briefly returned to Australia to record an album, Johnny Young, The Young Talent Team and Jamie Redfern Sing the Hits! (1973), he provided lead vocals for "Waltzing Matilda" and joined the then-current Young Talent Team on two tracks; his brother, Derek, sang lead for another track, "Puppy Love". In April 1981 he told John Vidler of The Australian Women's Weeklys TV World that he was performing regularly at Sydney RSL and Leagues Clubs and clubs in Melbourne. He also worked as a singing instructor and "tries his hand at penning a few songs." He presented Jamie Redfern's Rascals on Aurora TV.

Personal life

Jamie Redfern married Judy, a former dancer, in about 1987, they have two children and divorced amicably in 2020. He was the director of the Australian Showbusiness Academy, which ran talent schools in Melbourne's western suburbs. He told Joel Dwyer of Star Weekly that his time in the US ended as "My contracts in Australia were about to run out. There was only about a month to go... but at that time my voice was changing and the keys were having to be brought down... I asked them to give me a break for a year, but nobody did and nobody listened. I do feel a bit resentful about that now. Being a singing teacher, I look after kids' voices and I am very aware of when you need rest and why."

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! scope="row" | When You Wish upon a Star

|

  • Released: 1971
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival <small>(SFL-934426)</small>

| 20

|-

! scope="row" | Sitting on Top of the World

|

  • Released: November 1972
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival <small>(FL 34671)</small>

| 6

|-

! scope="row" | Hitch a Ride on a Smile

|

  • Released: October 1974
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival <small>(L 35285)</small>

| 56

|-

! scope="row" | Jamie Redfern's Golden Hits

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  • Released: 1975
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Festival <small>(L35724)</small>
  • Compilation album

| —

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:90%"| AUS<br />

|-

| 1972

| himself

| Best Australian Newcomer

| 5th

|-

King of Pop Awards

The King of Pop Awards were voted by the readers of TV Week. The King of Pop award started in 1967 and ran through to 1978.