Born on November 4, 1935, in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, Barry Rocker is a singer, entertainer, and actor best known for his TV and film work in the 1960s and 1970s as well as his easy listening albums and singles that revealed his more sensitive crooning style. His most well-known recording is the theme song to the popular Australian soap opera Neighbours. His entertainment career began in the late 1950s after he finished National Service with the RAAF. He toured with a theater group throughout Australia before performing in the UK and US. Back in Australia, he spent the mid-to-late 1960s hosting his own show as well as musical variety show Say It With Music from 1967 to 1969. Although he had recorded several singles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Barry Crooker released his debut album Love, This is My Song in 1968. Barry Crocker began acting in 1969 and spent the next few decades balancing his stage, screen, and recording careers. One of his most successful albums was 1973’s Music Makes My Day, which included “Susie Darlin’” featuring Olivia Newton-John on backing vocals. Other albums include With a Song in My Heart (1976), No Regrets (1978), You’re My World (1981), and others. By the early 1980s, his music career slowed down, but he made a significant – if brief – recovery in 1987 when her performed the theme to the Australian soap opera Neighbours, which was also a sensation in Europe. The show’s theme song was composed by Tony Hatch with Barry Crocker providing his classic crooning voice. Out of decades of album and single releases, the song remains his most recognizable recording.
