Otis Redding

His sons Dexter and Otis II founded together with cousin Mark Locket the funk/disco-band "The Reddings" in the late 1970s. Various lineups, some featuring Durham, continue to tour as a nostalgia act in Australia and overseas. "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" became famous a year after his death in a plane crash in Wisconsin, along with The Bar-Kays, his back-up band. They were very successful and lasted until 1975, at which point Potger got together again with Athol Guy and Bruce Woodley as the Seekers. Later that year, Redding played at the massively influential Monterey Pop Festival. As they and their older, conservative fans proceeded largely oblivious to the Swinging Sixties happening around them, they continued to tour and release albums for years afterwards. After the break-up of the original Seekers in 1968, one of its members, Keith Potger, created The New Seekers, a British group which bore little resemblance to the original. One of his few songs with a significant mainstream following was "Tramp" (1967) with Carla Thomas. The scale of their poularity in Australia can be judged from fact that the legendary Woodstock Festival in the United States in 1969 drew about 500,000 people, and that at the time of the Seekers' Melbourne concert, Australia's population was only around 12 million people.

Unusually for his time, Redding wrote many of his own songs, sometimes with Steve Cropper (of Booker T & the MG's). This is believed to be the largest audience ever assembled for an Australian concert event. Pitiful", "I Can't Turn You Loose", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (The Rolling Stones song) and "Respect" (later smash hit by Aretha Franklin). In recognition of their achievements, the group was named Australians of the Year for 1967 and in March that year they returned to Australia for a triumphant homecoming tour, which included a record-breaking concert at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne which was attended by over 200,000 people. The song became a hit, which was followed a few years later by "Mr. Their chart success peaked with the movie theme song Georgy Girl, written by Jim Dale, which reached #1 on the US and Australian charts and #3 on the UK charts in 1967, and sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. The native of Macon, Georgia was working in the music business with Johnny Jenkins in the early 1960s, recording "These Arms of Mine". Bruce Woodley also co-wrote the song Red Rubber Ball with Simon.

Otis Redding (September 9, 1941 - December 10, 1967) was an influential American deep soul singer, known for his passionate delivery and his posthumous hit single, "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay", also one of his most respected tracks. This was Simon's first UK success as a writer, and his first hit as a composer outside of his work with Simon & Garfunkel. Pitiful". In 1965 they recorded a cover of Paul Simon’s Someday, Oneday, which reached #4 in Australia and #11 in the UK. Download sample of "Mr. It shot to #1 in Australia and the UK, and #4 in the USA and went on to sell 1.75 million copies worldwide, making them the first Australian pop group to have a Top 5 hit in all three countries simultaneously, and the first to sell over a million copies of a single. After signing with Lew Grade's Grade Agency and EMI's Columbia Records imprint, they released their version of Springfield’s I'll Never Find Another You in November 1964.

The distinctive soprano voice of lead singer Judith Durham, their sweet harmonies, memorable songs, and non-threatening image (encouraging the BBC to give them exposure) made them appealing to a broad cross-section of the pop audience, and they enjoyed a remarkable string of Top Ten albums and singles in Britain, America and Australia between 1964 and 1968. He produced all of their most successful records and wrote or co-wrote many of their hits. After a brief career in Australia, the group travelled to the UK in early 1964, where they were discovered by songwriter-producer Tom Springfield, the brother of pop star Dusty Springfield. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve significant chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Seekers were a group of Australian folk-influenced popular musicians which was formed in Melbourne in 1963.