Desperately seeking

Perhaps no other band in history has achieved such long-term universal success as The Seekers, in their many and varied guises. Spearheading Britain’s acoustic folk-rock invasion of the US in the late 50s, it was their often saccharine, ultra-clean image that helped them sing their way to the top of the charts the US and UK for over 30 years. Originally from Australia, all four members had resonant yet distinctly interdependent voices. The group's sound was based in folk music, but had the polish and some of the flash of folk-rock. They didn't even have an electric bass, but their soaring harmonies, coupled with Keith Potger's powerfully strummed acoustic 12-string and Bruce Woodley's emphatic 6-string playing, gave them a sound not too far removed from that of The Searchers, and not out of place in a musical era dominated by the sounds of The Beatles' acoustic period, the Byrds and the Beau Brummels. By the late 1960s, their upbeat pop sound seemed increasingly out of touch with the darkening mood in the United States, especially among their younger listeners. The band split up for the first time in 1969, but was reborn The New Seekers under Keith Potger, making an international hit out of the Coca-Cola jingle 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing', the first corporate anthem to top the charts. Through several revivals, in a variety of guises and combinations, the band continued to record and play 100s of live concerts until the late 90s, swearing once again that this time there would be no more. The world waits with baited breath.