Portrayed as an Antipodean import, the band was actually largely British; John “Fuzzy” Lee was born in Ashtead, Surrey, and John Kane in Glasgow. Both had moved down under with their families as children.
The two Johns met Australian Mel Noonan in Melbourne, and together they became one of Australia’s most popular acts.
Armed with a recording contract with Albert Productions, the trio first hit the Australian charts at the end of 1968 with their version of Try To Remember, a track from the stage shows The Fantastiks.
Buoyed by this success, the trio travelled back to England in March 1970, working their passage over by singing for board and supper on a P&O liner.
In England, they played the club circuit, which led to an appearance on the UK talent quest show Opportunity Knocks, where they became popular winners (for nine weeks in a row).
Their winning song – and therefore their first single for producer Mickie Most and his fledgling label RAK Records – was the Joe South country classic Rose Garden, and it swiftly became their first British hit.
It made #15 in February 1971, and would doubtless have climbed higher had Lynn Anderson not been topping the chart with her own version at the same time.
The band then teamed with RAK’s songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (also a Brisbane boy), resulting in the hits Tom Tom Turnaround and Sister Jane.
Oddly, New World’s original version of Living Next Door To Alice – a top 20 Australian hit – failed to make any impression in the UK (where it subsequently became a mega-hit for Smokie).
In 1972, the former secretary of the group’s fan club, Wendy Sandiford, wrote to Scotland Yard claiming that John Lee was guilty of carnal knowledge with minors, impregnating a thirteen-year-old girl, and forging postal votes during the Opportunity Knocks campaign back in 1970 to ensure victory.
The three members of New World were tried at the Old Bailey in 1973 with offences under the Forgery Act for attempting to rig votes on the show.
They admitted they had taken part in a plot involving students at the West Wickham Teacher Training College in Kent to send bogus votes to the TV show, but were cleared of other allegations linking them to infamous prostitute Janie Jones who was alleged to have provided sex to an ITV employee to ensure that the weekly ‘clapometer’ on Opportunity Knocks was primed to ensure that New World would win, each time they appeared.
The band’s reputation was permanently besmirched, and they did not chart again.
Mel Noonan moved into music production in the UK, while John Kane and John Lee returned to Australia.
John Kane
Vocals, guitar
John Lee
Vocals, guitar
Mel Noonan
Vocals, guitar
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Armed with a recording contract with Albert Productions, the trio first hit the Australian charts at the end of 1968 with their version of Try To Remember, a track from the stage shows The Fantastiks.
In 1972, the former secretary of the group’s fan club, Wendy Sandiford, wrote to Scotland Yard claiming that John Lee was guilty of carnal knowledge with minors, impregnating a thirteen-year-old girl, and forging postal votes during the Opportunity Knocks campaign back in 1970 to ensure victory.
