Johnny Devlin

Johnny Devlin was New Zealand's first rock'n'roll star and the first Kiwi recording artist to earn a gold record. He was also the first New Zealand rocker to cross the Tasman, the beginning of a long, influential and fruitful traffic.

His parents had been semi-professional country and western entertainers but Johnny kickstarted his own career at the age of twelve when he payed off a guitar from a paper round and taught himself to play. By the time he left school he was performing with his brothers in River City Ramblers, playing a mixture of country music, skiffle and occasional rock and roll. Discovering Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' changed everything. By the end of 1956 Devlin was performing solo, was known for the wild hair and 'hepcat' slang he'd picked up from American movies, and he was winning every talent quest he entered with his Elvis Presley impersonation. Local promoter Johnny Cooper started billing Devlin as "New Zealand's Elvis Presley" at charity concerts and youth clubs in the mid North Island.

In June 1958 he released his version of Elvis Presley's version of Lloyd Price's 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' on Phil Warren's Prestige label. Without any airplay on New Zealand's Government controlled radio the record went on to top the charts and sold 100,000 copies, New Zealand's first gold record. He followed by releasing a series of singles offering songs not available in New Zealand, like Larry Williams' 'Bony Maronie' and Eddie Cochrane's 'Twenty Flight Rock'. He was now performing in front of his own group, The Devils, and was a major attraction on both the North and South Islands, creating riots and news wherever he went. Johnny Devlin and the Devils were New Zealand teenagers' access to the rock and roll age. Devlin toured with band The Devils across 1958 and in early 1959 - and was greeted with such hysteria that his shirt was often ripped off by female fans after he performed. In one infamous Invercargill show, Devlin's trousers were torn off and he had to escape through a toilet window.

When Australian promoter Lee Gordon took the Platters and Tommy Sands to New Zealand he added Sydney's Johnny O'Keefe to the line-up, more as a filler than out of a commitment to O'Keefe's talents, but the Australian rocker went over so well, Lee Gordon would take him more seriously from now on. That tour was also a turning point for Johnny Devlin. Watching O'Keefe, the New Zealander decided to try his luck in Australia.

It was managed with the help of his record company boss. Phil Warren, who was handling the New Zealand end of Lee Gordon's next Big Show, starring the Everly Brothers and also featuring Sal Mineo and Tab Hunter. Johnny Devlin and the Devils were added to both the New Zealand and Australian line-ups. The 21 year old Devlin had the impact in Australia that O'Keefe had had in his country. He was only meant to stay a week, but ended up staying permanently.

His flamboyant lame, tiger skin and satin stage costumes, combined with the former body builder's overtly sexual presence earned him the nickname 'Satin Satan'. But his records never matched the power of Johnny Devlin on stage. The almost novelty records he was now recording became a clue of what was to come, as Devlin gravitated towards management and writer of songs like Digger Revell's 'My Little Rocker's Turned Surfie', who Devlin managed. By 1964 he had virtually retired from the stage to run his own Sydney theatrical and booking agency.

But that was the year Devlin re-entered the limelight as part of the Beatles tour in both Australia and New Zealand. In September 1965, on the advice of Beatles publicist Derek Taylor, Johnny Devlin took his talents to England, hoping for a shot at international fame. He recorded several singles for CBS but in 1967 his working visa ran out, and the singer returned to establish himself as a regular performer on Australian's clubs and oldies circuit.

In October 2007 the man labelled the "Wanganui Elvis" and the "Satin Satan" was inducted as the inaugural member of the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.