The Easybeats are worldwide known for their 1966 superhit “Friday on My Mind”. It reached no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, no. 1 on the Dutch Top 40 chart, no. 1 in Australia and no. 6 in the UK, as well as charting in several other countries. In 2001, it was voted “Best Australian Song” of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). In 2007 the song was added to the National Film and Sound Archive’s Sounds of Australia registry.
The Easybeats was formed in 1964. All five founder members were from families that had migrated to Australia from Europe. The two founding Dutch members of the group were lead guitarist Harry Vanda and bassist Dick Diamonde.
Dingeman Adriaan Henry van der Sluijs (born 28 December 1947), better known by his stage name Dick Diamonde was a founding mainstay member of the group. He emigrated with his family from when he was four years old.
Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known by his stage name Harry Vanda was the co-writer of Friday on My Mind. His family migrated to Australia in 1963. Vanda had been a guitarist with the Hague-based band the Starfighters.
The other members of the band were George Young from Scotland (guitar and vocals) and two Englishmen: lead singer Stevie Wright (Yorkshire) and drummer, Snowy Fleet (Liverpool).
They all met at the migration hostel in Villawood, Sydney. The meeting between Vanda and George that year was in 2007 recognised by the Australian Musician Magazine as the most significant event in Australian pop and rock music history.
George Young later became the producer of AC/DC, the rock icons starring his younger brothers Malcolm and Angus Young.
Source: various articles from Wikepedia.
Paul Budde (2021)
Friday on My Mind is also an Australian television drama mini series first screened on ABC in 2017, based on the history of the band from its formation at the Villawood Migrant Hostel in 1964 to the 1969 breakup.
