Fifty-Plus News - John Bowles

Many budding showbiz talents have been nurtured through TV’s ‘Young Talent Time’ of days gone by, and one such is John Bowles, now 32, who readily pays tribute to the wealth of training he received through Johnny Young’s production company. Names such as Johnny Young, Barbara Veitch, Russell Stubbings and Natalie Raine fall from his lips. “While we may have had our individual dancing and singing teachers, there was always great support from the people involved in the show, but I guess I learnt a lot also from simply doing my own thing to some extent. My energy and enthusiasm kept me going, and I was determined to make it.”
And make it John Bowles certainly has, with an impressive portfolio of roles demonstrating his versatility. Following the success of his first CD (‘Hooked on a Feeling’), he has just released his second CD entitled ‘Tribute’, in which he performs a collection of popular songs from yesteryear, chosen from the talents of Peter Allen, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern, Harry Warren, Dorothy Fields and others. He also put together an impressive orchestral backing from his circle of production and musical artists.
Titles which Fifty-Plus readers will recognise in the new CD include’The Way You Look Tonight’, (Kerns/Fields), ‘My Funny Valentine’ (Rogers/Hart), ‘Our Love Is Here To Stay’ and ‘Embraceable You’ (Gershwin).
Also included are two Peter Allen songs, and an opportunity to showcase two of his own compositions, one of them a duet with Leonie Page. Although John Bowles insists he is thoroughly enjoying the pressures of stage and screen at present, (“I really enjoy eight stage performances a week”), he is aware that a change to composing, directing or producing could follow later on.
Roles John has embraced in theatre include the romantic lead Raoul for over 1,000 performances in ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ in its Australian and New Zealand tour; he also starred in ‘Cats’, ‘Hello Dolly!’ and ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum’.
With musical roles an avowed first love, he has also appeared in the TV dramas ‘Power Without Glory’, ‘Twenty Good Years’ and ‘Prisoner’.
Television variety has also claimed him in a brace of leading shows, including The Bert Newton and The Ray Martin Shows, and has added a brace of cabaret stints and concert shows, the sum of which has earned him a Mo Award and two Green Room Nominations.
An interesting variation has been John Bowles’ recent tour of regional country centres starring in the Peter Allen Songbook show which he co-wrote.
In yet another tribute to the past, Bowles is currently producing a 30th Anniversary documentary special on ‘Young Talent Time’ which Network Ten will screen next year.
Quizzed about his early family life and the origins of his performance skills, Bowles relates the story of his mother’s crafty means of controlling her brood of eight children. “You see, Dad had to work pretty hard to support us all,” he says,”and wasn’t around much, so when we were all packed into the car with Mum driving, she resorted to amusing us by singing some of the popular songs of the time. I think this had quite an effect on me, and this could well be why I followed it up.”
In addition, one of John Bowles’ brothers developed a speech defect, and he accompanied his brother to remedial lessons. “Mum always believed each person had a talent in life in which they could excel — whether it be judo, tennis, singing, or whatever — this meant we were encouraged to do our own thing.”
Content to embrace whatever the showbiz spectrum throws his way, John Bowles, well aware of the unpredictability of his chosen career, intends to capitalise on his enduring youthful appearance which should provide the work he currently enjoys the most, built on the ground work of Johnny Young’s Young Talent Time experience.
John Bowles’ new CD is available through Middle Eight Music on line at www.middle8.com or your local CD shop.