Teen Time, Bandstand, Dig Richards, Johnny O'Keefe & The Dee Jays, Sing, Sing, Sing, Col Joye & The Joy Boys, The Delltones, Sydney Stadium, Saigon. some of the names to be found in BEHIND THE ROCK, the refreshingly frank reminiscences of Australian rock musicians, guitarist Jon Hayton and drummer Leon Isackson. Based on personal diaries, BEHIND THE ROCK is a humorous and honest account of life on the Australian rock'n'roll scene from its birth in 1956 to the mid-sixties. With the changing fortunes of their band, the R'Jays, the authors take us behind-the-scenes of Festival Records, "live" television, stadium concerts and dances, band tours in Australia, New Zealand and war-torn Vietnam and the world of adolescent sex, fans and "band vultures", bungling managers and hard-living and heart-broken rock stars. A no-holds-barred, eyewitness story, BEHIND THE ROCK is a vital document for understanding the history of "Oz Rock".
THE AUTHORS
JON HAYTON, born in 1942, became lead guitarist for Dig Richards & The R'Jays in 1958. He stayed with the R'Jays when the band went out on its own in 1961 and then transformed into the Rajah's in 1964. LEON ISACKSON, born in 1942, became the R'Jays' drummer in 1959 and also stuck with the band through the sixties. Jon and Leon's paths crossed again, backing artists like Winifred Atwell and The Delltones, during the seventies. Jon has retired from the music industry while Leon still writes and plays music for a living. Photo: Jon (left) and Leon on tour with the band in Western Australia in August 1960.
