SHIRLEY READ

Shirley Read began her career in the music business in 1967, when she and her brother John, as the Same Day Twins won the Festival of Perth Talent Quest. The Same Day Twins performed around Perth with such acts as The Shadows and Billy Thorpe and appeared o­n Club 17, the local teenage TV Show. In 1968 they toured South Vietnam with the first West Australian Concert Party, sponsored by Channel 9 and AFOF (Australian Forces Overseas Fund). Upon their return they recorded two tracks o­n Martin Clarke's Clarion label and moved to Sydney where they became Robert Stigwood's o­nly Australian-based act, recording two singles at EMI, released o­n the Festival label, making the National Top Ten in Australia and to No.3 in New Zealand.

The Same Day Twins were regular TV performers, appearing o­n Bandstand, The John Laws Show, The Gordon Chater Show, This Day Tonight, The Bob Rogers Show, The Brisbane Tonight Show, The Dick McCann Show, Celebrity Blind Date, The Easybeats Special, and were regulars o­n Rex Mossop's Club Show – recording two tracks o­n the album of the same name. The duo also supported many local and international touring acts including Billy Preston, Matt Munro, Winnifred Atwell and Johnny O'Keefe.

In 1970, Shirley toured entertainment impresario Ivan Daymon's Swinger Circuit with acts including Normie Rowe, Johnny O'Keefe and Freddy Hampton, with whom she formed Trik, releasing two singles. Over the next few years Shirley performed in a wide variety of acts, including rhythm & blues showband Like Fun with Stevie Wright and Ray Hoff, the ten-piece showband Nine Stage Horizon with Richard Kaal and Mark Punch and guested o­n the popular Auntie Jack Show. In 1973 Shirley moved to Melbourne and joined top recording act Brian Cadd and the Bootleg Family, for their national tour and "Class of '74" album. During this time Shirley also appeared o­n recordings by Billy Thorpe, Colleen Hewitt, Kevin Borich, Ross Wilson and the "Alvin Purple" album. In 1975 she toured nationally with The Renee Geyer Band.

Her next projects were with her then husband, Russell K. Smith – in a revival of 70's cult band Company Caine and with reggae outfit Billy T, producing the album 'No Definitions' o­n CBS and co-writing the single ''Gotta Keep o­n Dancin''. In 1979 the pair relocated to Western Australia and formed A2Z Reggae – fifteen years, several albums and hundreds of gigs made them West Australia's principle exponent of roots music, entertaining audiences with it's spirited and flavoursome concoction of reggae, soul, gospel, ska and soca. Shirley was also active in the recording studio doing many ads and contributing to many local albums, including the multi-award winning "Women At Work" compilation which featured seventeen female West Australian singer/songwriters. Shirley co-ordinated the recording of the album, which was heralded by The West Australian as "…The best local album ever released…" and "…a landmark local album which should silence the critics of local music, set a standard for other releases to emulate and turn the ears of the world towards W.A…".

At the 1993 West Australian Music Industry Awards, Shirley was inducted into The West Australian Rock 'n Roll Of Renown in recognition of "Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the State through Achievement in the Arts" by the Western Australian Music Industry Association. In 1998 Shirley's career took a brief turn when she agreed to be nominated for and was elected Secretary of the Musician's Union, Sydney Branch, returning to Perth twice a year to perform exclusively for the Perth Blues Club. The NSW Union was experiencing financial difficulty and poor membership support, however, after almost four years, with the Union back o­n track, Shirley decided it was time to return to her first love – performing. She returned o­nce more to the Perth Blues Club and recorded her first solo CD o­n the 14th January 2003, titled, "Shirley Smith – Live At the Perth Blues Club".

On the 3rd June, 2004, Shirley became the Inaugural Inductee into the WAM Hall Of Fame by the WA Music Industry Association for "Outstanding Achievement in and Contribution to the WA Music Industry".She has since added the Bellingen Festival (04), Manly Jazz Festival (05), The Lakes Festival (WA) (05) and Thredbo Festival (06) to credits and has been invited back to the Manly Jazz Festival (06) guest with the Zydecats at Clancy’s Fish Pub, Fremantle, WA on Nov 5th and Jazz In The Gardens at Vaucluse House in November 06.

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