Rock ’N’ Roll Used To Help To Curb Delinquency

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29324, 1 October 1960, Page 15

Rock ’N’ Roll Used To Help To Curb Delinquency

“A Sydney Minister uses rock ’n’ roll to help to curb delinquency,” said Johnny Devlin, the New Zealand-born singer, in Christchurch, yesterday.

Devlin said he and other wellknown entertainers often performed free of charge at a dance known as “Teen-age Cabaret.” This was run each Saturday evening by the Rev. A. Walker, and was designed to keep teen-agers off the street. “The dances are invariably packed out,” said Devlin. “During the evening Mr Walker conducts prayers, and the performers are called on to sing hymns.” Devlin appeared in the “Johnny Devlin Show” at the Theatre Royal, last evening, after arriving from Wellington, where he gave three concerts. After a sixth concert in Auckland, on Monday, he will return to Australia.

In a hotel-room interview, yesterday afternoon, he was confident and talkative. He said he had a soft spot for Christchurch because “I got my first shirt ripped off here.” The son of a railway worker, Devlin was born in Raetihi, but was brought up in Wanganui. He came from a musical family, he said, and had been singing on the stage since the age of 12. During his first job as a clerk for the Railways Department, and later as a bank clerk, he was always getting “told og” for singing. • He has now 'been singing professionally for three years—mainly in Australia. He has appeared on stage with Ricky Nelson, Fabian, Conway Twitty, Lloyd Price, Tab Hunter, Sal Mineo and the Everly Brothers. Once a fortnight he is the special guest artist on the teenage television programme “Bandstand.”

He also writes songs for three record companies, has regular night club engagements, and makes records. “By not having a weekly commitment I am able to make more tours, and consequently more money,” he said. Property Owner He said his average earnings are about £2OO a week, but he has made up to £6OO a week. Most of his money was invested in properties. He Has bought and sold a lot of land on the Sydney waterfront, and was now thinging of buying a block of flats in Auckland. He also holds half shares in a record company. “I plan to retire in 1962,” said Devlin, ‘ ‘but first I hope to make a tour in England, or possibly the United States.”

He said that although he was known mainly as a rock ’n’ roll singer, he sang a variety of songs “I am now concentrating on ballads and novelty songs,” he said. “Rock ’n’ roll has a keen following in Australia, but the raucous type that appeared first has gone. Some bands now use strings, and the dress of the rock ’n’ roll singer is more conservative. “I think rock ’n’ roll will last for another generation at least. Its form may change, but it will always be basically the same. The simplicity of the music enables everyone to enjoy and understand it. That accounts for its popularity. For aspiring rock ’n’ roll singers in New Zealand, Devlin advises: “Stay here until you are established before thinking of going to Australia.”