Drie gitaren zonder mondharmonica...als dat maar goed gaat.
The band was founded in Brisbane in 1965,by John "Fuzzy" Lee (born 9 March 1944, Ashtead, Surrey, England) and the Australian Mel Noonan (born 10 November 1943, Sydney). In 1968 John Kane (born 18 April 1946, Glasgow, Scotland) joined the group, and by the end of the decade they were one of Australia's most popular acts. They were originally billed as The New World Trio.
At the beginning of the 1970s, songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman booked the group on television. They also took the band to Europe, where record label owner Mickie Most signed them immediately to his imprint RAK. Their first single for RAK, "Rose Garden", hit #15 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971. At the same time, country singer, Lynn Anderson, released a cover version of this song which was an international #1 hit.
The group's biggest hit was a version of "Tom-Tom Turnaround", also recorded by Sweet. This was followed by "Kara, Kara", which was a hit in the UK and Germany; although a German language version of the tune was a bigger hit for Peter Orloff. They had a fourth hit in the UK with "Sister Jane", but their next release, "Living Next Door to Alice", was a flop. This song would later become a worldwide hit for Smokie in 1976.
In the early 1970s, New World were musical guests on the BBC shows, The Two Ronnies in 1971 and The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1973.
The group appeared on the UK talent show Opportunity Knocks, but were tried at the Old Bailey for receiving one bogus vote (obtained after performing at a girls' college when one girl put in a vote for a friend who had gone to bed). They were subsequently acquitted.
New World's last releases were issued in 1976.
