1970 'Cheryl Moana Marie' hits No. 1

During the late 1960s John Rowles established himself as New Zealand’s leading international artist. He wrote his hit single ‘Cheryl Moana Marie’, which sold a million copies worldwide, about a younger sister. It was lovingly parodied in New Zealand as ‘Share a banana with me’.

In 1963, after a stint as guitarist and singer in an Auckland club band, Rowles − like many New Zealand performers − ‘crossed the ditch’ to perform in Melbourne and Sydney. In 1966 he began working with the Kiwi promoter Graham Dent. A new hairstyle and mod clothes saw the good-looking boy from Kawerau make a successful appearance on Australian television’s New Faces of 1966.

John Rowles’s big break came after he moved to England in late 1967 to take on established stars like Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. His first UK release, ‘If I Only Had Time’/‘Now Is the Hour’, was a huge hit, making the top 10 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The follow-up single, ‘Hush Not a Word to Mary’/‘The Night We Called It A Day’, made the top 20 in all three countries.

Now a star, Rowles made a triumphant return visit to New Zealand, performing to sell-out crowds. In late 1969 he released the album Cheryl Moana Marie. The single ‘Cheryl Moana Marie’/‘I Was A Boy’ hit no. 1 in New Zealand and no. 20 in Australia. It also made the US charts, peaking at no. 64. (Surprisingly, it never charted in England, where Rowles was still based.)

Rowles now focused his attention on the US. At 22, he became the youngest performer to be the headline act in a major Las Vegas showroom, the Flamingo Hotel. He also regularly performed in Hawaii, where he eventually based himself. In 1978 he had his last no. 1 hit in New Zealand, ‘Tania’, which was also inspired by one of his sisters. His last chart success in New Zealand came in 1981 when his version of ‘Island in the Sun’ reached no. 4 in the charts.

In 1980 Rowles was admitted to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to the music industry.

See 'The Secret Life of John Rowles' from NZOnScreen: