Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the early 1950s. A pioneer of Rock music in Australia, his hits include "Wild One" (1958), "Shout!" and "She's My Baby". Often referred to by his initials "J.O'K." or by his nickname "The Wild One", O'Keefe was the first Australian rock n' roll performer to tour the United States, and the first Australian artist to make the local Top 40 charts. He had twenty-nine Top 40 hits in Australia between 1958 and 1973. In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe released over 50 singles, 50 EPs and 100 albums. O'Keefe was also a radio and television entertainer and presenter. O'Keefe died in 1978 from a drug overdose. He was the younger brother of Australian jurist Barry O'Keefe (a former head of the New South Wales ICAC). His father, Alderman Ray O'Keefe, was Mayor of Waverley Council in the early 1960s. Through Barry, O'Keefe was the uncle of Australian television personality Andrew O'Keefe. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Bondi Junction (suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), Died October 6, 1978 (St Vincent's Hospital (public hospital in Sydney, Australia) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1958
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, piano
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decca | 104779 | 4/17/1958 | Shake baby shake | Johnny O'Keefe | vocalist, instrumentalist, piano | |||
| Decca | 104780 | 4/17/1958 | Real wild child | Johnny O'Keefe | vocalist, instrumentalist, piano |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "O'Keefe, Johnny," accessed January 4, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/108004.
O'Keefe, Johnny. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 4, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/108004.
"O'Keefe, Johnny." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 4 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: O'Keefe, Johnny, 1935-1978 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80077752
Wikidata: Johnny O’Keefe - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q962163
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/57914204
MusicBrainz: Johnny O’Keefe - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fb238d66-e385-430e-a3d4-2dfd60bb7f41
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/56612 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/56612
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