Ross Andrew Wilson (born 18 November 1947) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is the co-founder and frontman of the long-standing rock groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, as well as a number of other former bands, in addition to performing solo. He has produced records for bands such as Skyhooks and Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons, as well as for those of his own bands. He appeared as a judge on celebrity singing TV series It Takes Two from 2005. Wilson was individually inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1989 and again as a member of Daddy Cool in 2006. Ross currently resides in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne.
Early life
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. 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.|Ross Wilson|2001
Mondo Rock went through several incarnations but the best known line-up included bassist Paul Christie (ex-Kevin Borich Express, later in The Party Boys), guitarist and songwriter Eric McCusker, (ex-The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band), drummer John Hackett (ex-Stars) and James Black on keyboards and guitar. Wilson also produced the band's first single in 1978 "The Fugitive Kind" and first album, 1979's Primal Park for his own Oz Records label. Greatest singles success was with 1980's "State of the Heart", 1981's "Chemistry" and "Cool World" all from their award-winning second album Chemistry released in 1981 on Avenue Records. 1980s teen-idol Rick Springfield recorded "State of the Heart" in 1985, making the U.S. Top 40. McCusker had written "State of the Heart", 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) <!-- Note this ref is for "Bop Girl" only --> in 1983 and reached No. 2.
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! scope="row" | Dark Side of the Man
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- Released: July 1989
- Label: WEA (256405.2)
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! scope="row" | Go Bongo Go Wild!
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- Released: 2001
- Label: Wild Bongo (WBR 001)
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! scope="row" | Country and Wilson
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- Released: 2003
- Label: Sound Vault (SV0360)
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! scope="row" | Tributary
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- Released: 2008
- Label: Liberation Music (BLUE161.2)
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! scope="row" | I Come in Peace
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- Released: 2010
- Label: Shock (CD-1181)
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Soundtrack albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of soundtrack albums, with selected details and chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details
! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart<br />positions
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! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:90%"| AUS<br />
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! scope="row" | Oz – A Rock 'n' Roll Road Movie
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- Released: 1976
- Format: LP
- Label: OZ Records (OZS 1001)
- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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Extended plays
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of EPs, with selected details
! Title
! Details
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! scope="row" | She's Stuck On Facebook All the Time
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- Released: 9 June 2023
- Format: digital
- Label: Mushroom
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Charting 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<br />positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album
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! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:90%"| AUS<br />
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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.
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| 2009
| himself
| Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame
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References
External links
- Ross Wilson official website
- It Takes Two official website
- Ross Wilson's Oral History at the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia