Normie Rowe - Frenzy!: The 50th Anniversary Collection (2015)

2015 marks 50 years since Normie Rowe’s first single – and first of many smash hits – “It Ain’t Necessarily So”. To celebrate, Festival Records - who released all of Normie’s original run of hits on their Sunshine label back in the second half of the ‘60s - is releasing a special new Normie Rowe collection, "Frenzy - The 50th Anniversary Collection". The 30 song compilation will be released June 5.

"Frenzy!" focuses not on Normie's full 50 plus year career as a highly visible entertainer and public figure, but on the early years of that career, when he was the subject of an unprecedented and spectacular explosion of personal popularity and multi-media attention that had not previously been experienced by an Australian artist. And one that hasn't been experienced since. Not even the big dreaming boy from Northcote boy could have imagined what would happen....

In just three years, from 1965 to 1968, Normie released 11 Top 10 singles, 13 EPs and 5 Albums. He toured relentlessly in Australia and then spent nearly a year in the UK. Pop Radio was saturated with Normie throughout those three years, as were all TV formats while newspapers and magazines couldn't get enough of his exploits on and off stage. The word "frenzy" sums up the turbulance in Normie's life during those 3 years; the innocent fun of teen hysteria, the power of pop music and the social changes that were taking place around the world. And the draft; famously Normie was called up for National service in early '68, and was in Vietnam by January 1969.

In the telling of this story, one thing is often overlooked, and that is the sheer quality of the records that Normie made during this period. From the tough, dramatic and powerful early Melbourne recordings like "It Ain't Necessarily So" and subsequent singles like "(I) Who Have Nothing", "Que Sera Sera" and "Shakin' All Over", through to the superbly arranged and sung tracks he recorded in London in '66 and '67 (with session musicians like Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones no less - what other Aussie can claim that?) like later hits like "Ooh La La" and "It's Not Easy", Normie's pop and R&B-encompassing body of work is as strong as that of any other Australian of the era. And on this new collection it sounds better than ever, thanks to the mastering work of Aztec Records' Gil Matthews.

Includes 30 tracks - all the classic hits and more, remastered ( By Aztec Records’ Gil Matthews ) and beautifully repackaged.