Yvonne Frances Barrett (19462 September 1985) was an Australian pop singer. She reached the top 60

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 ...

singles chart with her cover versions of

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

single " You're the One"/"Little People", in October 1965. She released other singles in that, and the following, decade. Barrett also appeared on TV shows in the 1960s and 1970s. She became a session singer and performed on the club circuit. Barrett married Hoang Van Truong, a former

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 ...

veteran, in December 1983; the couple separated in the following year. Truong was found guilty of Barrett's 1985 murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, in August 1986.

Biography

Yvonne Barrett was the daughter of Ted and Sheila Barrett, and was raised with two siblings. The family lived in

Braybrook, Victoria Braybrook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Braybrook recorded a population of 9,682 at the . Braybrook is bounded in th ...

. Barrett started ballet lessons at the age of two and a half. In January 1957 she performed in the pantomime, ''Jack and Jill'', at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne. Note: includes a photo of Barrett, aged 10. In 1963 she joined the cast of '' Swallow's Juniors'', a children's TV talent contest and entertainment show on

HSV7 HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbo ...

. Note: includes a photo of Barrett. She took singing lessons in her mid-teens, which led to musical theatre including, ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'', in the role of Louisa von Trapp, at the Princess Theatre in October 1961. She subsequently appeared in ''

Carnival! ''Carnival'' is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film ''Lili'', which again was based on the short story ...

'', ''Wild Cat'' and ''Stop the World – I Want to Get Off''. Barrett described working in musicals to ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

''s correspondent in July 1964, "I love everything about the theatre. We work odd hours, but it doesn't worry me. I've never known a nine to five job – and it's wonderful to be able to sleep in in the mornings." Barrett became a regular on pop music TV program, ''

The Go!! Show ''The Go!! Show'' (also known simply as ''Go!!'') was an Australian popular music television series which aired on ATV (Australia), ATV-0, Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, from August 1964 to August 1967. It was produced by DYT Productions at th ...

'', by 1965, where she performed her renditions, "Off & Running", "I Walk Alone" and the Toys' "A Lovers Concerto". She was signed to the related

Go!! Records Go Records (usually badged as Go!! Records) was a small independent Melbourne-based recording label which ran from 1964 to 1968. Its releases were manufactured and distributed by the Melbourne-based recording and electronics company Astor. The ...

label, which issued her first three singles. She achieved her highest chart success with her cover version of

's " You're the One" backed by her rendition of Chloee Harris' "Little People", in October 1965. Note: Chart positions back calculated by Kent in 2005. In December Barrett, along with fellow TV personalities,

Ian Turpie Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

Tommy Hanlon Jr Tommy Hanlon Jr. (14 August 1923 – 9 October 2003) was an American-born actor, comedian, television host and circus ringmaster, notable for his career in Australia after emigrating there in 1959, where he became a Gold Logie-award-winning me ...

and

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'', and NBC' ...

, entertained Australian troops during the Vietnam War. They were "the first Government-sponsored entertainment team" to visit the Australian troops in Vietnam. Her next single, "Send Her Away", appeared in July 1966 and was followed by "Don't Bother Callin'" in October; Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, described the singles as, "minor hits in Melbourne." Barrett and Carroll returned to Vietnam for another tour in August 1968. Barrett was presented with a

Việt Cộng The Viet Cong, ; contraction of (Vietnamese communist) was an armed Communism, communist organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It fought under the direction of North Vietnam against the South Vietnamese and United States governments ...

flag during one of her two tours. Australian pop music newspaper, ''

Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...

'' (not related to ''Go!! Show'' or Go!! Records), published an annual poll of their readers, which included female-based categories, where she was listed at No. 7 Girl Vocal (1966), No. 6 Top Girl Singer (1967), No. 7 Female Vocal (1969), No. 5 Girl (1970), No. 6 Best Girl Vocal (1971) and No. 6 Female Vocalist (1972). Note: This PDF is 282 pages. In 1970 she released a single, "Lu" (originally by

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

), which featured her big voice with a brassy jazz-rock, Blood Sweat & Tears arrangement. Although not achieving further chart success she retained popularity due to live appearances, and being on national TV shows, ''Uptight'' and ''Happening 70-72''. She performed "Always Something There to Remind Me" and Rare Earth's, "Get Ready". During the 1970s she moved into session work and club appearances, and was a regular on Mary Hardy's ''

The Penthouse Club ''The Penthouse Club'' was an Australian weekly variety program produced live to air from the studios of HSV-7 Melbourne from 10 October 1970. It was originally hosted by Michael Williamson (also a football commentator for HSV) and comedian Mar ...

'' on HSV7. Soon after she moved to Perth. In the 1980s Yvonne Barrett moved from Perth to Sydney and was working as a waitress. Barrett married former Vietnam War veteran, Hoang Van Truong, in December 1983; they had met in a Perth nightclub. The couple separated in the following year.

Death

Barrett's body was found on 3 September 1985, at her unit in

Birchgrove, New South Wales Birchgrove is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Birchgrove is located five kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Bir ...

. Her estranged husband, Truong, was found guilty of her murder; he had spent the night with her, and strangled her in the morning when she asked him to leave. Barrett's funeral was held at Christ the King Catholic Church, Braybrook, Victoria. It was attended by Australian show business celebrities including,

Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

and

Patti Newton Patricia Anne Newton (née McGrath; born 4 February 1945) is an Australian singer, actress, dancer, stage performer and radio and television presenter. Life and career Prior to her marriage, Newton worked under her birth name, Patti McGrath, w ...

. Patti posted a condolence notice in ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', "What wonderful times to remember of growing up together." Barrett was buried at Altona Memorial Park, Victoria.

Discography

Singles

* "Little People" / "You're the One" (October 1965) –

KMR No. 58, Melbourne: No. 28, Sydney: No. 3 * "Send Her Away" / "Won't Someone Say" (July 1966) – Go!! Records * "Don't Bother Callin'" / "I'm Taking Him Back" (October 1966) – Go!! Records * "Lu" / "Picture Me Gone" (March 1970) – Columbia /

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 ...

) * "No Longer Part of Your Life" / "Mr 7654312" (1972) –

Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, whose ...

TELEVISION

Awards and nominations

Go-Set Pop Poll

The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, ''

'' and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. , - , 1970 , herself , Girl Vocal , 5th , -

References

;General * * * * * Gavin Ryan's Chart Books ;Specific

External links

''The Go! Show''
at MilesAgo website
Reference to performance at Bien Hoa, Vietnam 23 December 1965

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Yvonne 1946 births 1985 deaths Singers from Melbourne Barrett, Yvonne 20th-century Australian women singers People murdered in Sydney People from Braybrook, Victoria