Australian folk singer Kerrilee Male grew up in Melbourne and began singing with various jazz bands at the age of 15. She attended Canterbury Girls High School there, and by age 19, she had sung with The Driftwood Band, The Yarra-Yarra New Orleans Jazz Band, and Graeme Bell's Jazz Band in Melbourne. Kerrilee Male first came to prominence when she appeared as one of three female vocalists in the Dave's Place Group. This band was put together in 1965 for a folk TV show (Dave's Place) by Dave Guard an ex member of The Kingston Trio who resided in Australia in the mid 60s. Kerrilee Male appeared on the show from weeks 2 to 5 and then resurfaced in weeks 7 and 12. In 1965 she recorded two EPs 'Gospel And Blues Volume 1' and 'Gospel And Blues Volume 2' with the Ray Price Quartet.
Moving to the UK she hooked up with fellow ex-pat Trevor Lucas and formed the band Eclection in 1967 with Norwegian-born Georg Kajanus (then known as Georg Hultgreen), Canadian Michael Rosen and Briton Gerry Conway.. The band's self-titled album, 'Eclection', was released in August 1968. Eight of the songs were written by Hultgreen, and the remaining three by Rosen. Hultgreen and Rosen also shared the lead vocals with Kerrilee Male, although most critics commented on the strength of Male's voice, Lillian Roxon stating that "Her voice cuts into the brain like a carving knife". The band's style drew comparisons with The Seekers, Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas and The Papas and We Five. Reviewer Richie Unterberger stated: "The combination of male-female harmonies, optimistic lyrics with shades of romantic psychedelia, folk-rock melodies, acoustic-electric six- and twelve-string guitar combinations, and stratospheric orchestration couldn't help but bring to mind similar Californian folk-pop-rock of the mid-to-late 1960s."
After the album was released, the band began to perform at festivals and in clubs around Britain. Their second single, a version of American band Kaleidoscope's song "Please (Mark II)", was released in October 1968. However, that month Kerrilee Male decided to leave the band, and returned to Australia. Gerry Conway said: "Once we started playing live, it was very soon apparent that Kerrilee didn't want to stay with it. I think she decided she didn't want to be in the music world''. Kerrilee lived out her final years on Magnetic Island in North Queensland and died in 2025.
