John Blanchfield dead: Iconic 60s popstar who worked with BeeGees dies as family speak out

Australian hitmaker John Blanchfield has died at the age of 79. Known for his various hit singles that he recorded in 1960s with music veterans such as the Bee Gees, the Melbourne-born singer later became a talented manager. When the musician retired from the spotlight back in the 1970s, he launched his own music label, Rainbird Records, and worked with a series of up-and-coming Australian singers at the time including Normie Rowe and Loddy Lloyd.

His family announced his tragic death on John's Facebook page on Thursday night (August 7). They wrote: "It's with great sadness, love and pride that we let you know that our darling husband, Dad, Paree, and friend, John Blanchfield, grabbed his hat and got out of here on Wednesday (August 6).

"John's great loves were music and good people, and his days were filled with both until the last moment." John's father, a cobbler, left the heart of Melbourne to resettle his family in Brisbane in the early 1940s.

From an early age, John showed signs of his musical talents when he started "performing" days by entertaining guests with tunes at various family gatherings.

After moving out at the age of 18 and travelling back to Melbourne, John was working as a postman when he got his first big break in the music industry. In 1966, he auditioned as a singer in a nightclub.

Although he didn't get the job, a prominent star of the time spotted him and saw his potential as a future singer and advised him to work on his act. The budding pop singer returned to Brisbane and scored a regular spot on Countdown, a music program broadcast on TVQ-0.

John appeared each week to sing covers of hit tunes. Later on in his career, he met the Bee Gees backstage during the recording of a show. The Saturday Night Fever hitmakers, who were already big stars at the time, brought John to Sydney to record his first major single.

Procuded in the Bee Gees' own studio which they had converted from an old butcher shop in Hurstville, John recorded Town Of Tuxley Toymake Part 1, and Upstairs, Downstairs, which were released in 1967.

The songs were specially written for him by the Bee Gees members Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. Recalling his varied music career on the Purple Haze podcast, John said they were the only songs that the Bee Gees wrote that they never re-recorded for themselves.

While the songs never made it into the music charts, John - who changed his name to 'Jon' while he was a performer, had several hits in his hometown. Upstairs, Downstairs and the singles She's My Baby, and Lucy's Place were regularly featured on many of the local Brisbane music charts and radio stations.

He gained a lot of attention back in 1969 with his single Son of a Simple Man, which was a song about notorious Australian bushranger Ned Kelly. With his dashing good looks, John was also sought out by TV producers and scored gigs on Brisbane TV including the music show, Uptight.

After retiring from music in the early 70s, John turned his hand to managing and producing where he founded Rainbird Records in 1976. But it's fair to say he had more success with his talent agency, Beetroot Services.

He later guided the careers of several major names such as Ross Wilkon of Mondo Rock fame, jazz artists Vince Jones and the band Goanna, who had a huge hit with their 1982 single, Solid Rock.