Billy Thorpe Billy Thorpe

Like AC/DC, Thorpey came from interstate but maintains his career took off after he moved to Melbourne.

William Richard "Billy"Thorpe AM (29 March 1946 - 28 February 2007) was the lead singer of Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs.

Hits in the 1960's with "Blue Day", "Poison Ivy", "Over the Rainbow", "Sick and Tired", and "Mashed Potato"; and in the 1970s with "Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy".

Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs are remembered as one of Australia's loudest groups along with concerts at Sunbury Pop Festival and Myer Music Bowl. My ears rang for days after the bowl concert, as they did everytime I went to an AC/DC concert.

He performed as a solo artist; he relocated to the United States from 1976 to 1996 where continued working as a singer-songwriter, producer,and musician.

He worked with ex-Aztec Tony Barber to form a soft toy company in 1987 and co-wrote stories for The Puggle Tales and Tales from the Lost Forests.

Thorpe composed music scores for TV series including War of the Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Columbo, Eight Is Enough and Hard Time on Planet Earth.

Thorpe returned to Australia in 1996 and continued as a performer and producer. He wrote two autobiographies, Sex and Thugs and Rock 'n' Roll (1996) and Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy) (1998).

Thorpey was the country's wildest and heaviest blues rocker, the unassailable monarch of Australian rock music.

Thorpe was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1991.

He died of a heart attack in February 2007 and was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June for his contribution to music as a musician, songwriter and producer, and yes, most people I know, thought you were crazy Billy but OMG, could you rock!

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❊ Web Links ❊

➼ Billy Thorpe 

❊ Also See... ❊

➼ AC/DC

Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy

Be-Bop-A-Lula (Live)

It's All Happening - 23 Original Hits (1964-1975)

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