MARCIE JONES

MUSIC ARTISTS - AUSTRALIA


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Marcie Jones

DESCRIPTION: Marcie Jones

ACTIVITY STATUS: Active

ACTIVITY PERIOD: 1960's - Current

MUSIC GENRE: Pop

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: AUSTRALIA

MAIN INSTRUMENT: Vocals

BANDS / OUTFITS: Solo Artists, Marcie and The Cookies

RECORD COMPANIES / LABELS (Current & Past): Sunshine Records, Atlantic

MAIN WEB PAGE: https://www.marciejones.com/


ABOUT HER:

Marcie Jones was born 26th July 1945 in Moreland Victoria.

From a very early age Marcie developed a love for music largely due to being exposed to the music played by her mother on piano and by her relatives using instruments such as accordion, fiddle and the bango.

Marcie was gifted genetically with a strong voice and her early performances were on the home dinning-room table.

Her early music influences included singers Connie Francis and Brenda Lee.

As a teen Marcie and her girlfriends would attend local dances and she was particularly taken by the then top Melbourne group, The Thunderbirds.

At the age of fifteen, while attending such a dance at the Canterbury Ballroom, she asked if she could sing with them and of course was told no. However she was told the Thunderbirds were looking for a singer and invited her back the following week to audition.

Given her music influences it came as no surprise when Marcie went along and sang three songs, Stupid Cupid, Lipstick On Your Collar and Robot Man and, the rest became history!

Marcie was working as a hairdresser but at around the age of 19, circa 1964, she was chosen to sing on the main teen program of the day, The Go Show.

So singing at dances four nights a week and doing The Go Show, and being a hairdresser meant something had to give, and that was hairdressing.

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Marcie and Normie Rowe

It was through the Go Show that Marcie met and developed a friendship with Normie Rowe.

This friendship would eventually become stronger and stronger eventuating in an engagement.

In October of 1967 while on a tour of Queensland Marcie connected with a local 3-piece girl group - The Cookies which consisted of the three Cook sisters, Beverley, Margaret and Wendy.

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Marcie and The Cookies

With encouragement from Normie Rowe, Marcie and the Cook Sisters formed the group - Marcie and The Cookies.

It was a very sucessful combination and they toured nationally, had two singles and supported overseas acts such as The Monkees, the Seekers, Cliff Richard, Tom Jones and supported Gene Pitney on five national tours.

By now her career was on a charge and the sky was the limit. Her relationship with Normie had grown stronger and stronger and nothing seemed like it could go wrong.

However, in 1967 Normie Rowe was "conscripted" to fight in the Vietnam war, despite being the only person with his birthday to be so conscripted.

Marcie promised Normie should would be there to meet him on his return, and this was a promise that would later return to haunt her.

Marcie and the Cookies then toured parts of SE Asia and then went onto work in England, even recording in the famous Abbey Road Studios.

What seemed to be a logical and good decision to go to England, turned out to be pretty much a disaster for Marcie and for the Cookies, as indeed it was for many great Australian acts.

Things just didn't work out and it was while she was in England that Normie returned to Melbourne from Vietnam, and Marcie wasn't there to meet him.

This event along with the constant pressure from management for the relationship not to develop, ended with their engagement being broken.

Despite this the friendship remains and is as strong today as ever.

Marcie returned to Australia alone, disillusioned and went back to singing in small gigs and clubs where she slowly but surely resurrected her career.

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Olivia Newton-John, Marcie and her daughter

Over the subsequent years she built up a close friendship with Olivia Newton-John through their mutual work on the Go Show. In fact Marcie went on to be part of the Koala Blue business venture. That friendship continues today.

She reconnected years later with Murray Robinson of the Thunderbirds and they became life-partners.

Her singing career has altered from those heady days, but she still works regularly in and around Melbourne singing with that same sassy strong voice, not exclusively, but far more regularly with an older audience - her legion of fans who have taken the journey of the past fifty five or so years with her.

Marcie was presented with an award from WEA Records in 1987 for her contribution to Australian music.

Marcie is now a published author bringing out a range of children's books and can be purchased through her store - the George and Charlie series.

Between 1965 and 1976 Marcie released ten singles under her own name and in 1973 the album That Girl Jones

In 1999, Marcie released a four track CD titled Pure Heart.

One of the tracks from this CD, her own composition -"George Jones" written about her father, won her a nomination at the 1999 Victorian Country Music Awards for Best Female Singer. She has won further nominations in the same category for both the 2000 and 2001 awards singing her own songs "Butterfly of Love" and "Long Boots".

Marcie has recently released a new CD - Anthology

Marcie has her own website where music and books can be purchased - Marcie Jones Web Site


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Parent Category Page Links: Music Artists / Outfits - Australia Major Musicians - Australia

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