Ol’ 55 And Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons Reunite For Tour

Ol’ 55 and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons will reunite for three shows in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast.

The shows have been put together by promoter Duane McDonald of Regional Touring, the company behind One Electric Day, Red Hot Summer and the upcoming Tex Perkins’ ‘Far From Folsom’ shows. “This is a truly special series of shows. Ol’ 55 and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons are a historic part of the development of Australian rock in the 70s. To have both bands reform and on the same stage is a rare musical treat and something Australian music fans have not seen in nearly 40 years,” Duane told Noise11.com.

The classic Ol’ 55 line-up featuring Frankie J. Holden and Wilbur Wilde upfront, songwriter Jimmy Manzie on bass, guitarist-singer Rockpile Jones and Patrick Drummond, has not played together since 1977.

Wilbur will also perform in his usual spot with Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons with John Power on bass, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse’s searing guitars and Gary Young and special guest Angus Burchall on the drum kits.

Ol’ 55 formed in Sydney as Fanis in 1972 and in 1975 changed their name to Ol’ 55, after the Tom Waits song made famous by Eagles. Frankie J Holden and Wilbur Wilde joined at that time.

Ol’ 55 then had a string of hits including ‘On The Prowl’ (no 14, 1976), ‘Looking For An Echo’ (no 9, 1976), ‘I Want A Rocking Christmas’ (no 7, 1976), ‘C’Mon Let’s Do It’ (no 24, 1977), ‘Stay While The Night Is Young’ (no 16, 1977), ‘Feels Like A Summers Night’ (no 50, 1978), ‘Ruby’ (no 36, 1979) and ‘Two Faces Have I’ (no 15, 1980).

The band’s debut album ‘Take It Greasy’ peaked at no 3 in 1976. Frankie left the band in May 1977. Warner Music have released Ol’ 55’s ‘Time To Rock n Roll: The Anthology’.

Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons approached the chart in 1976 with ‘Beating Around The Bush’ (no 73, 1976), ‘Security’ (no 98, 1977), ‘I’m In A Dancing Mood’ (no 90, 1977), ‘The Honeydripper’ (no 53, 1978), ‘So Young’ (no 48, 1978), ‘Hit and Run’ (no 12, 1979), ‘Shape I’m In’ (no 22, 1979), ‘All A Wanna Do’ (no 34, 1980), ‘Puppet On A String’ (no 53, 1980) and then later as Jo Jo Zep ‘Taxi Mary’ (no 11, 1982) and ‘Walk On By’ (no 55, 1983).

Jo Jo Zep (& The Falcons) were around from 1975-1984. Joe Camilleri has regrouped a number of times since 2001 and released the ‘Ricochet’ album in 2003.