John Rowles biography

John Rowles was born on 26th March 1947 in Whakatane, New Zealand,  and raised in Kawerau in the Bay Of Plenty. His parents were Eddie and Phyllis Rowles. Eddie played on the wing and three-quarter for the Maori All Black's in 1938, and was also a talented singer.

John's musical background is quite extensive with his first performance being at the age of 10, when he entered a local talent quest and sang 'All Shook Up', taking out first prize. Whilst still at school he organised a group called the Shadows, named after the original group, and John played lead guitar. His father managed the group and they played at local dances at weekends. He was encouraged by his father and he even bought him his first electric guitar.


John and Eddie moved to Australia in 1963 after signing a nine month contract to sing at the Riverside Inn in Melbourne. After that contract expired, John moved to Sydney and joined a group called the Dingdongers. John stayed with them for about a year and during his time with them, the group changed their name to the Sundowners.

John's first single as a soloist was released in 1966 on both the Sunshine and Komotion labels in Australia as JA-AR and was called 'The End (Of The Rainbow)'/'You Still Love Him'. This was followed early in 1967 with 'Please Help Me I'm Falling'/'Girl Girl Girl' just on the Sunshine label. Owing to his television exposure, both singles did quite well.

In 1967, John went to England where he met up with producer Mike Leander.
The first release in England came early in 1968 and was 'If I Only Had Time'/'Now Is The Hour'. This was a huge hit, reaching #3 on the British charts, #6 in Australia and #2 in New Zealand. A self titled album containing the hit was also released.

The follow-up single, not from the album, later in 1968 was almost as popular as the first. 'Hush Not A Word To Mary'/'The Night We Called It A Day' reached 12 on the British charts, 11 in Australia and number 9 in New Zealand.


The next albums were by far his best selling and from them came a number of successful singles. The first was 'The Pain Goes On Forever'/'All My Love's Laughter' in 1969, and although it didn't chart in England, it was a number 4 hit in New Zealand. The next single was 'M'Lady'/'Say Goodbye' and again this did well in New Zealand, reaching the top of the charts. This was followed by 'One Day'/'I Must Have Been Out Of My Mind' and 'It Takes A Fool Like Me'/'When You Walk Away'.


When released as a single, 'Cheryl Moana Marie'/'I Was A Boy' again reached the #1 position on the New Zealand charts, #20 in Australia and was his first charted record in the USA, where it reached #64. What was unusual was that it never charted in England. 'Cheryl Moana Marie' has sold millions of copies over the years and is John's best selling single of all time. Another album was released called 'John Rowles Sings Time For Love', but this was soon repackaged as 'John Rowles Sings Cheryl Moana Marie' as the song began to sell all over the world.

Although his singles and albums continued to be released in Britain, John only ever charted there with his first two singles.