WE’LL NEVER FIND ANOTHER HER
Australian folkie Judith Durham has shed her dowdy feathers and flew aged 79. A little bit. Judith Cock strangely adopted her mother’s maiden name for her musical career, which began as a jazz pianist with Frank Traynor’s Jazz Preachers before joining forces with the Seekers. Anchored by Durham’s lead vocals and with works typically composed by Tom “Dusty’s brother” Springfield, the Seekers were one of the first groups from Down Under to achieve mainstream success across the English-speaking world, with moodier classics “I’ll Never Find Another You” and “The Carnival Is Over” both UK No. 1s and the whimsical “Georgy Girl” their closest to achieving the same feat in the US. It was in their homeland where Durham and the Seekers were most cherished – they were designated Australians of the Year in 1967 and their 90s recording “I Am Australian” has become an unofficial anthem.
The Seekers broke up in the late 60s and Durham explored a solo career to varied success. She endured a string of difficulties from the 90s on: She and her husband survived a car crash in 1990 – the outpouring of support was such it inspired the Seekers to reunite. Her husband died of ALS a few years later. A deranged fan was a seeker a bit too literally, sending Durham over 40 doormats on top of an unending barrage of fanmail (the stalker later went to jail for defrauding schools in Tasmania). She recorded a version of “I Am Australian” with the Air Supply guy. Lastly, she suffered a stroke in 2013, impeding her reading and writing ability albeit leaving her singing pipes intact. Nevertheless she was made of stern stuff and performed intermittently over the following decade before dying of an unrelated lung disease, prompting Australia to mourn a national treasure. Oh what a change there’ll be for CLOG POPPERS, the only team to pick her.
Judith Durham
3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022, aged 79
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 11 POINTS