Patricia "Little Pattie" Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949) is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording

surf pop Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...

, with her backing group The Statesmen, she subsequently went onto to record

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

.McFarlane, (1999), Billed as ''Little Pattie'', she released her debut single in November 1963, "He's My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy" which peaked at No. 19 on the national

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

and entered No. 2 in Sydney. Note: Australia had no contemporaneous national charts until '' Go-Set'' published their Australian National Charts from 5 October 1966. Chart positions for 1940–1969 were back calculated by David Kent in 2005. She appeared regularly on television variety programs, including '' Bandstand'', and toured as a support act for Col Joye and the Joy Boys. Little Pattie was entertaining troops during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

in Nui Dat,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, as an Australia Forces Sweetheart (in the vein of Lorrae Desmond, Dinah Lee and others), when the nearby Battle of Long Tan began on 18 August 1966. In 1994 she received the

Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal The Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal was issued to recognise the service of Australian support personnel during the Vietnam War. Qualification requirements The qualifying criteria for the medal include: * Service of one day or more as a member ...

"in recognition of her services in support of the Australian Armed Forces in operations in Vietnam."

Beginnings

Patricia Thelma Amphlett was born in March 1949 in

Paddington, New South Wales Paddington is an upscale inner-city area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two local government areas. The portion south of Oxford Street lies wi ...

, and has an older brother, Joe. She is the cousin of the late Chrissy Amphlett, frontwoman of Australian band Divinyls. She was educated at King Street Primary School and Sydney Girls High School. She was nicknamed "Little Pattie" at school as she had two taller friends also named Patricia. At eight years old, she commenced piano lessons with Gwen Parsons, and then singing lessons when 11 years old. Parsons also taught

Noeleen Batley Noeleen Batley (born 25 December 1944) was an Australian pop star in the 1960s and early 1970s. She was known as "Australia's Little Miss Sweetheart". Early life Batley was born in Sydney on Christmas Day, 1944, and began singing at the age of ...

, a popular singer called "Australia's Little Miss Sweetheart". Both persuaded her to audition for the Nine Network TV teen variety show ''

Saturday Date ''Saturday Date'' is an Australian television series which aired on TCN-9 from 1963 to 1967. Originally hosted by Jimmy Hannan and later hosted by Tony Murphy, guest artists who performed on the show included Billy Thorpe and Olivia Newton-John ...

'', where she was a hit. She first appeared on TV, singing on the ''Opportunity Knocks'' series, when she was 13. While a third-year high school student, at the age of 14, she performed weekly at the Bronte Surf Club as lead singer of the Statesmen with Nev Jade, Peter Maxworthy, Duncan McGuire (on bass guitar), Mark Rigby and Peter Walker. Singer-songwriter

Jay Justin Jay Justin McCarthy is an Australian rock singer and songwriter. He had a top ten hit with "Proud of You" (written by Justin and Joe Halford) which earnt him Australia's first silver record. Early singles he released include "Sweet Sensation", ...

was impressed with her vocals and recommended her for a recording contract with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Teenage singing star

Little Pattie's debut single was the

double A-sided The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"He's My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy" / "Stompin' at Maroubra", both co-written by Jay Justin and record producer Joe Halford, which used the surf music style and a dance style craze that was known as 'The Stomp'. It was released by

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

in November 1963 when she was aged 14, and reached No. 2 on the Sydney music charts (#1 was

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " I Want to Hold Your Hand"), No. 6 in Brisbane, and peaked at No. 19 on the national

. Little Pattie left school in early 1964, and released her debut album, ''The Many Moods of Little Pattie'' on EMI /

. She had further hits on the Sydney charts with "We're Gonna Have a Party Tonight" (#18 in March), "Pushin' a Good Thing Too Far" (#28 in March 1965) and "Dance Puppet Dance" (#9 in October). Her popularity saw her voted as Australian Female Singer of the Year in 1965. She appeared frequently on television variety programs, including ''Bandstand'', ''Saturday Date'', ''

An Evening With An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian an ...

'' and ''Sing, Sing, Sing''. Little Pattie regularly toured supporting Col Joye & the Joy Boys, with

Judy Stone Judith Anne Stone AM (born 1 January 1942) is an Australian pop and country music singer. For much of the 1960s she was a regular performer on the music variety ''Bandstand'', Stone's top 20 singles on the national charts are "I'll Step ...

Cathy Wayne Catherine Anne Warnes (7 December 1949 – 20 July 1969), professionally Cathy Wayne, was an Australian singer and dancer, who was killed during a tour of Vietnam at a United States Marine Corps, United States Marine Base where she was hosting w ...

and international star Sandie Shaw. The Joy Boys included Joye's brothers

Kevin Jacobsen Kevin George Jacobsen OAM (born 29 July 1939 in Sydney) is an Australian entertainment entrepreneur and former musician, who is the head of the ''Jacobson Entertainment Group'' Along with his brothers, singer Col Joye and Keith, he was a mem ...

on piano and Keith Jacobsen on bass guitar. On 16 August 1966, 17 years old and tall, Little Pattie became the youngest and shortest person to entertain troops during the

. Along with Col Joye & the Joy Boys she performed three concerts each day in Nui Dat. She was singing onstage backed by the Joy Boys when the Battle of Long Tan started on 18 August less than away. Although organisers had promised her safety, she was evacuated from the area before the completion of her scheduled performances. In the days after the battle, Joye and Little Pattie visited injured soldiers in hospital to comfort and sing to them. In 1994 she received the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal ''in recognition of her services in support of the Australian Armed Forces in operations in Vietnam''. From 1966, Little Pattie was performing solo in cabarets and clubs, she continued releasing singles and albums with EMI until 1970, and then signed with Joye's ATA recording label and management group. She subsequently appeared on several TV shows in America, including ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

''.

Later career

As Little Pattie entered her twenties, she continued her career moving into adult contemporary music. During the

1972 Australian Federal election The 1972 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, as well as a single Senate seat in Queensland. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition governme ...

campaign she sang with other entertainers including Joye and Judy Stone in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

's " It's Time" TV commercial, which featured future Prime Minister,

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

. Styled as Pattie Amphlett from 1972, she released singles and albums on ATA / Festival Records and by 1977 had moved into

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. In 1973, she married Keith Jacobsen (Joy Boys' bass guitarist, ATA record producer and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

) and continued to perform on television and in clubs. Amphlett parted from Keith in 1984 and married Lawrie Thompson (a drummer) in 1986. Her repertoire included

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

tunes from Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, and

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

. In 1990, she toured China as vocalist for veteran jazz musician Graeme Bell and his Allstars. As Patricia Thompson, she became an active unionist in the entertainment industry, and a vocal teacher, later coaching

Nikki Webster Nicole Marie Webster (born 30 April 1987) is an Australian pop singer. She is best known for her role in performing at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics opening ceremony and her song " Strawberry Kisses", which made number 21 on the list of Top ...

before her performance at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. She has taught at a number of Sydney high schools:

Burwood Girls High School Burwood Girls' High School is a public, comprehensive, secondary school for girls, located in Croydon, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1929, the school enrolled approximately 1,150 students in 2 ...

St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill , motto_translation = Strive Strive for better things , established = , type = Independent single-sex secondary day and boarding school , educational_authority = New South Wales Department of Educat ...

, Mercy College, Chatswood and Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview. In 2001 EMI re-released a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''20 Stompy Wompy Hits'', which featured her early songs. The ABC-TV series ''

Long Way to the Top ''Long Way to the Top'' was a six-part weekly Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) documentary film series on the history of Australian rock and roll, from 1956 to the modern era, it was initially broadcast from 8 August to 12 September 2 ...

'' was broadcast in August 2001. Little Pattie featured on Episode 1, "Bed of a Thousand Struggles 1956–1964", where she discussed her early surf music and 'The Stomp' dance craze. NOTE: The website quotes her as Little Patti /nowiki>''sic''">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>''sic">/nowiki>''sic''/nowiki>. The TV series inspired the Long Way to the Top national concert tour during August–September 2002, which featured a host of the best Australian acts of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s including Little Pattie and Col Joye and the Joy Boys. In 2004, General Peter Cosgrove invited her to be patron of FACE (Forces Advisory Council on Entertainment) and she was invited to go to Iraq to perform for Christmas 2005 and New Year 2006. She performed at the "Salute to Vietnam Veterans" held at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

on 19 August 2006. In addition to her music career, Little Pattie was a member of the Council for the Australian War Memorial from 1995 until 1998, and received an Order of Australia Medal in 2003 for her services (as national President) to the

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), also sometimes referred to as the Alliance, is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries. Its Musicians section c ...

and (as vice-president) to Actors' Equity. She has been on the Federal Executive of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). In 2000 ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' included her on a list of the 'century's most loved faces', and she was included in a 1998 issue of Australian stamps featuring pop and rock acts. On 27 August 2009, Little Pattie was inducted into the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA)

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

alongside

Kev Carmody Kevin Daniel Carmody (born 1946), better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", ...

, The Dingoes, Mental As Anything and John Paul Young. She was inducted by her cousin,

Christina Amphlett Christine Joy Amphlett (; 25 October 1959 – 21 April 2013) was an Australian singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the frontwoman of the rock band Divinyls. She was notable for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive hum ...

of Divinyls, with former ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

'' star,

Lisa Mitchell Lisa Helen Mitchell (born 22 March 1990) is an Australian singer-songwriter who grew up in Albury, New South Wales. Mitchell currently lives in Melbourne and is working on her fourth studio album. Mitchell finished sixth in the 2006 season o ...

performing "He's My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy". She is currently a singing teacher at various high schools in Sydney, including St Joseph's College and Burwood Girls High School.

Personal life

In 1973, Little Pattie married Joy Boys' bass guitarist and ATA record producer and manager Keith Jacobsen, brother of Colin ( Col Joye) and

. Keith and Little Pattie parted in 1984 and she subsequently married Lawrie Thompson in 1986.

National honours

Little Pattie received a Medal of the Order of Australia on 9 June 2003 for her services to the

(as National President) and to

Actors Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American trade union, labor union representing those who work in live theater, live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage ...

(as vice-president). On 27 August 2009, Little Pattie was inducted into the

(ARIA)

alongside

, The Dingoes, Mental As Anything and John Paul Young.

Discography

Releases by Little Pattie unless otherwise indicated:

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Charity singles

FILM * ''Natural Causes'' (1985) * ''Breaking Loose: Summer City II'' (1988) * ''The Sharp End'' (1992) (Film documentary) TELEVISION * ''Opportunity Knocks'' (1963) * ''Sing, Sing, Sing'' (1963-1965) * ''Ampol Stamp Quiz'' (1964) * ''Teen Scene'' (1964) * ''Saturday Date'' (1965) * ''Bandstand'' (1965-1968) * ''The Go!! Show'' (1966-1967) * ''An Evening With'' (1966) * ''The 10th Annual TV Week Logie Awards'' (1968) (TV special) * ''Sounds Like Us'' (1970) * ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' (1970) (US) * ''25 Years Of Channel Nine'' (1971) (TV special) (archival clips) * ''Carry On Spike In Australia'' (1972) (TV special) * ''The Bert Newton Show'' (1973) * ''Matt Flinders And Friends'' (1973) * ''The Graham Kennedy Show'' (1973;1975) * ''The Ernie Sigley Show'' (1974-1975) * ''The Norman Gunston Show'' (1975) * ''Countdown'' (1976;1977;1981) * ''Bandstand '76'' (1976) * ''The Celebrity Game'' (1977) * ''This Is Your Life? Johnny O'Keefe'' (1977) * ''The 1978 Australian Song Festival'' (1978) (TV special) * ''Festival Of Carols'' (1978) (TV special) * ''This Fabulous Century'' (1979) * ''Young Talent Time'' (1979) (Herself) * ''Countdown'' (1981) * ''Australian Music Stars Of The 60s'' (1982) (TV special) (archival clips) * ''The Daryl Somers Show'' (1982) * ''Countdown Music & Video Awards 1983'' (1984) (ABC TV special) * ''Television: The First 30 Years'' (1986) (TV special) * ''Have A Go'' (1987) * ''The N.S.W. Royal Bicentennial Concert'' (1988) (TV special) * ''Good Morning Australia'' (1988) * ''The Bert Newton Show'' (1988;1989) * ''35 Years Of Australian Television'' (1991) (TV special) (archival clips) * ''Good Morning Australia'' (1994-2003) * ''Fifty Fantastic Years'' (1995) (TV special) * ''Our Century'' (1996) * ''When Rock Was Young: The 60s'' (1998) (TV special) * ''Barry Humphries' Flashbacks'' (1999) (archival clips) * ''Laws'' (1999) * ''This Fabulous Century: The Heroes'' (1999) (TV special) * ''Long Way To The Top'' (2001) * ''Long Way To The Top: Live In Concert'' (2002) (ABC TV special) * ''Love Is In The Air'' (2003) * ''Billy Thorpe Memorial Service'' (2007) (TV special) * ''ABC News'' (2007) * ''Talking Heads'' (2007) * ''Bert's Family Fued'' (2007) * ''Today'' (2008,2012) * ''Mornings With Kerri-Anne'' (2008) * ''Aria Hall Of Fame 2009'' (2009) (TV special) * ''Spicks & Specks'' (2010) * ''Anzac Day March'' (2011- ) * ''The Morning Show'' (2012) * ''Today Extra'' (2012) * ''Sunrise'' (2012) * ''ABC News Breakfast'' (2012) * ''Long Way To The Top 10th Anniversary Special'' (2012) (TV special) * ''The Time Of My Life'' (2013) * ''News Breakfast'' (2016;2021) * ''Australian Story'' (2016) * ''Men Of Wood And Foam'' (2017) (Foxtel TV Special) * ''News Breakfast'' (2020) * ''Nine Late News'' (2021) * ''Australian Women In Music Awards'' (2022) (ABC2 TV special)

Notes

:A."He's My Blonde-Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy" / "Stompin' at Marourbra" was originally released as a double A-sided single by Little Pattie & the Statesmen in November 1963. Both tracks appeared on the EP, ''He's My Blonde Headed Real Gone Stompie Wompie Surfer Boy'' in December and subsequently appeared on the album, ''The Many Moods of Little Pattie'' in 1964.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. Little Pattie was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. , - , ARIA Music Awards of 2009 , herself ,

ARIA Hall of Fame In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

Australian Women in Music Awards

The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the

Australian Music Industry Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018. , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Patricia Amphlett , Lifetime Achievement Awards ,

Go-Set Pop Poll

The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, '' Go-Set'' and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. , - , 1966 , herself , Female Vocal , 4th , - , 1967 , herself , Female Vocal , 5th , - , 1968 , herself , Female Vocal , 4th , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Little Pattie won one award in that time. (wins only) , - , 2009 , Little Pattie , John Campbell Fellowship Award , , -

Honours and awards

Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal ribbon

Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

References

;General * * * * * *

External links

Little Pattie
ATA Allstar Artist profile

''Long Way to the Top'', ABC
Reach For The Stars
Performing Arts Website *

archive: copyright photographs of Pattie preparing for, and performing in, Vietnam (August 1966)

* Other copyright photos
PopArchives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Pattie 1949 births ARIA Award winners ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Living people Logie Award winners Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Singers from Sydney Surf musicians Australian women pop singers People educated at Sydney Girls High School