New Seekers - The Best Of (Quad Reel to DVDA DTS 9624 Dolby)

Artist Biography by Steve Huey (allmusic.com)
Known chiefly for making a Coca-Cola jingle into a massive worldwide hit, the New Seekers ostensibly grew out of the ashes
of the Australian folk-rock outfit the Seekers ("Georgy Girl"). Although their clear harmonies, pop leanings, and squeaky-clean
image were similar to the original band, their actual connection was tenuous at best. After the Seekers disbanded, guitarist/vocalist
Keith Potger put together an otherwise completely new band in late 1969: female vocalists Eve Graham and Sally Graham (no relation),
guitarists/vocalists Laurie Heath and Marty Kristian, and bassist/vocalist Chris Barrington. Potger christened them the New Seekers and
produced their self-titled 1970 debut album, and while he did sing with them at first, he soon retired from both performance and production
to become their manager, leaving them with no members of the original Seekers. His last appearance was on the ironically titled follow-up
Keith Potger and the New Seekers, which was issued before the end of the year and featured numerous personnel changes; only Eve Graham
and Marty Kristian remained, joined by singer Lyn Paul and guitarists/vocalists Paul Layton and Peter Doyle.

Thus constituted, the New Seekers scored their first American hit with a cover of Melanie's "Look What They Done to My Song, Ma" in late 1970.
They toured the U.S. in early 1971 and appeared on several variety shows, and the title track of Beautiful People was a significant follow-up
success; they also broke through in the U.K. later that year with a version of Delaney Bramlett's "Never Ending Song of Love." Their biggest
success, however, came from an unlikely source: an ad jingle they recorded for Coca-Cola, which became part of a hugely popular campaign that
summer -- so popular, in fact, that radio listeners actually called in to request the commercial. It was decided to release the song as a
single called "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)," with the lyrics rewritten to remove product references. Since the
New Seekers were unavailable at the time, a country-tinged version by the Hillside Singers was actually released first. the New Seekers recorded
their own version while touring America toward the end of the year, and since it naturally sounded more like the commercial, it proved the bigger
hit, reaching the U.S. Top Ten despite stiff competition from the alternate recording. Helped by the ad campaign, "I'd Like to Teach the World to
Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" was a smash hit all over the world, topping the charts in several countries (including the U.K.) and giving the New
Seekers their biggest hit ever.

Tommy In 1972, the New Seekers placed second in the annual Eurovision Song Contest with "Beg, Steal or Borrow," which was their highly successful
U.K. follow-up to "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"; the title track of Circles was another hit that summer. the New Seekers kicked off
1973 by playing Richard Nixon's inaugural ball, but subsequently tried to hip up their image and gain a little more critical respect by recording
more rock-oriented numbers (including material from the Who's Tommy) on Now; it didn't work, and their sales began to slip as a result. Peter Doyle
left the group that summer and was replaced by Peter Oliver. The singles "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me" and "I Get a Little Sentimental Over
You" (featured on the 1974 album Together) returned them to the U.K. Top Ten, but both female singers (Eve Graham and Lyn Paul) decided to leave
the group in early 1974. They embarked on a farewell tour of the U.K. that spring, and entered the studio one last time to record The Farewell
Album, which was issued that summer after they had officially disbanded. That wasn't the end of the New Seekers, although it was the end of their
commercial prime. The group re-formed in 1976 with original members Eve Graham, Marty Kristian, and Paul Layton, plus newcomers Kathy Ann Rae and
Danny Finn. They recorded the album Together Again and began playing the U.K. cabaret circuit with other non-rock pop acts. While they would land
a few minor hits over the next two years, none were on the scale of their previous successes, and after one final album, 1978's Anthem, Graham and
Finn left the group to marry and perform as a duo. With their departure, the New Seekers effectively ceased to be an active recording concern.
Kristian and Layton continued to lead various New Seekers lineups into the '80s and sporadically during the '90s, but despite continued world
tours, they were strictly a nostalgia act. Peter Doyle died of throat cancer on October 13, 2001.