John Rowles

aka Ja-Ar


Seeing John Rowles play an intimate Sunday afternoon showcase at the Auckland casino feels like a privilege.

Here’s the Māori boy from Kawerau, who for a brief moment became one of the world’s biggest ballad singers, back home playing not a large concert hall but a bar so small you could reach out and shake his hand.

A late 1970s John Rowles publicity shot
The Sundowners with John Rowles. At back, L-R: Billy Nuku, Triggy Delano, Ian Franklin. In front, L-R: Eddie Low, Nephi Shortland, John Rowles. 
Thunderball (in Sydney, 1960s)
John Rowles with Mikey Havoc at 95bFM in the mid 2000s
John Rowles performs a tribute to the late Sir Howard Morrison at the 2009 New Zealand Music Awards
Photo credit: Courtesy of Recorded Music New Zealand
John Rowles with Norman and Ruth Kirk, 1973
A mid-1970s John Rowles publicity shot
John Rowles and musician friends, at the Mon Desir Hotel, Takapuna. From left: Warren McMillan, Ben Tawhiti, John Rowles, Buddy Wilson, and Alex Behrens.
Photo credit: Buddy Wilson collection
Ja-Ar - At The End Of A Rainbow (in Sydney, 1960s)
Record Mirror gets it right - producer Mike Leander with John Rowles in 1968
Spanish Harlem (in Sydney, 1960s)
John Rowles in Rave magazine, June 1968
John Rowles, Ladies and Gentlemen (1969) - NZ On Screen
Live in the Royal Hawaiian's Monarch Room, 1970s
John Rowles reflects on Cheryl Moana Marie (from documentary The Secret Life of John Rowles)
A late 1970s John Rowles publicity shot
A ticket for John Rowles' show in Hawaii in 1970
John Rowles at 95bFM with DJ Mikey Havoc in the mid 2000s
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Roach
Please Help Me I'm Falling
Don't Be Cruel (in Sydney, 1960s)
The original UK single for John Rowles. If I Only Had Time was a No.3 hit in 1968.
Sir John Rowles with Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy and Sir David Gascoigne, on the occasion of his investiture as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to entertainment, 11 October, 2018, Auckland.
Sir John Rowles with Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy on the occasion of his investiture as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to entertainment, 11 October, 2018, Auckland.
John Rowles in Hawaii in the 1970s
John Rowles 2013
A 19 yr old Ja-Ar does Satisfaction on Australian TV, 1966
Sway (in Sydney, 1960s)
Mary In The Morning (in Sydney, 1960s)
A late 1973 John Rowles tour programme. The tour, as with many of his 1970s shows, was promoted by Phil Warren and tour managed by Ken Cooper, who has continued to work with Rowles into the 21st Century.
Cheryl Moana Marie (Live at the 2011 APRA Silver Scrolls with The Vietnam War)
Kaingatuturu
John Rowles in the early 1970s
Maria (in Sydney, 1960s)
If I Only Had Time (alternate video)
If I Only Had Time
Girl Girls Girls (in Sydney, 1960s)
John Rowles' first show in Wellington after his international success in the late 1960s, with Allison Durbin on 28 February, 1969
Photo credit: Ken Cooper collection
2013 Anthology
The Shadows in 1963: John Rowles, Andy Tioke, Patrick Ratana, Sam Ngataki, Paul Tioke and Ruri Williams
In 2014 John Rowles undertook an ambitious New Zealand tour with members of Elvis Presley's early 1970s "TCB" band. They performed songs by Presley - and Rowles. 
John Rowles in the late 1960s
Photo credit: Gisborne Photo News
John Rowles and friend in the early 1970s
Live performance of Cheryl Moana Marie, 1976 live TV special
John Rowles, from Live Back Home, Pye 1973.
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (in Sydney, 1960s)
Cliff and John, 1968
The Sundowners in Sydney. In the wicker chair is Triggy Delano; behind him, from left: Ian Franklin, John Rowles, Nephi Shortland, Billy Nuku, Eddie Low.
Labels:

Pye


CBS


EMI


MCA


RCA

John Rowles discusses with UK magazine Disc about other artists he is encouraging to move from Australia to the UK to pursue their careers, c. 1968.
John Rowles as a Playdate pinup, September 1968

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