Where were you the day the King died? On August 16 1977, I had just stepped off a plane in London & saw the newspaper stands that said ‘THE KING IS DEAD’. I was confused. The British have a queen I thought but I soon learnt the devastating news. Elvis Presley dead at 42.
Forty years on and I finally get my opportunity, to pay homage to the man who inspired me to become an entertainer. On the eve of the 40th Anniversary of Elvis’ death, ‘Graceland on the Line’ is a tender & heartfelt testimonial to unrequited love. It’s retro country style, is not dissimilar to some of the great man’s ballads. Written by John Young (‘The Real Thing’) & John St Peeters, the song has heart & a soul. I feel it’s a great country tune & tells a wonderful story. Once again the King is there to guide and inspire. I hope you like ‘Graceland on the Line’ & will add it to your collection.
During an illustrious career as an actor and singer Rhone has performed with and in front of some of the biggest names in entertainment. From the Rolling Stones to Yul Brynner; the Bee Gees, John Denver, Peter Allen and performed on stage in front of De Niro, Hoffman, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, the late Princess Grace of Monaco, the late King Hussein of Jordan and the British Royal family.
Most recently, and on film, he has played roles as diverse as Fung, the brain damaged prison inmate in the feature film ‘Rise’, ‘God’ (with a British accent), a Chinese shopkeeper, an overseer (with American accent) His mixed parentage enables him to be considered for most nationalities from European to Asian to American. He is also adept at many accents having played four different nationalities in recent roles. His ability to portray a differing array of characters has seen him play the fugitive assassin Henry in the short film Snowmen and Master Long in the NOVA competition winning ‘Marble’.
On consistency of performance there are few to match him, nor done or achieved as much as he has over such a long period – theatre, television series, film, concert stage, No1 hit records ‘Denim & Lace’ and ‘A Mean Pair of Jeans’. There are few that have a CV to match.
Over a 50 year stellar career Rhone has compiled an extraordinary catalogue of performances as diverse as Lun Tha in ‘The King & I’ with the late Yul Brynner at the London Palladium, Godspell, Machiavelli’s La Mandragola, Jack the Ripper, ‘God’ in Stephen Schwartz’ ‘Children of Eden’, Winner of the ‘Outstanding Performance Award at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo and MC for Pope John II Youth Rally in front of 40,000. Whether it’s acting, or singing, Marty Rhone has done it all and with great panache.
In 2014 he toured Australia in the Broadway revival of The King & I with Lou Diamond Phillips and Lisa McCune, playing the Kralahome, for which he was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played a lead role in the feature film Rise which played in cinemas around Australia and NZ and was released in the US and Canada in May 2016. In 2016 he starred in the 6-part television series Under the Milky Way in which he playing astronomer Harry Rosenfeldt. He was also seen in Doctor Blake Mysteries on ABC TV & in 2017 he will be seen in Wentworth. In 2017 Marty releases his first music single worldwide in 40 years, Graceland on the Line, marking the 40th Anniversary of the passing of the King, Elvis Presley. A stellar career that has excelled through six decades.
MartyRhone.com has just launched a brand new CD store where you can buy one of Marty’s CDs direct. Simply click the image below of visit the store HERE to browse and select from the available CDs!
Included in the store is Marty’s latest album: Marty Rhone – 50th Anniversary Album!
Henry, the retired assassin confronting his own killer – his son.
Arnold, telling how relationships should be to his ‘loser’ of a dining companion.
Joe (God) laying down the law to his troublesome young disciple.
Playing a Chinese shopkeeper, ‘business mentor’ to the young boy.
Gerald, trying desperately to hold his highly dysfunctional family together against the odds.
American Southern, American Standard & New York (Bronx)
Example of an American Southern Accent
The Ripper, planning his carve up of Mary and all humanity.
Lun Tha singing to his lover Tup Tim in the Kings court.
As series of example for cartoon voices & various character accents
Marty’s Narration Reel for 2015, various performances
Marty’s Voice Over Reel for 2015, various performances
The first single, ‘Nature Boy’, was released on the Spin Label in 1966, followed by ‘Thirteen Women’, ‘I Want You Back Again’, ‘She Is Mine’ and Marty’s own composition titled: ‘Village Tapestry’ – (the Bee Gees did backing vocals on both ‘She Is Mine’ and ‘Village Tapestry’). ‘Village Tapestry’ is now considered a classic 60’s tune and has since been critically recognised as being way ahead of its time.
In August 1975, Marty’s dues-paying ended when he signed to the M7 label and burst into the charts with ‘Denim and Lace’, which became the year’s second biggest selling single, and spent thirty-five weeks in the charts. Within two years Marty had notched up three more hits – ‘Star Song’, ‘I’m On the Loose Again’ and the funky ‘Mean Pair of Jeans’ which was also released on the country’s first 12 inch 45.
Marty went on to represent Australia at the 1976 Australian Popular Song Festival, performing a song composed by Brian Dawe and Steve Groves titled ‘On the Loose Again’. It became the winning entry and from there they took it to the World Contest at Tokyo, where they took out two major awards – ‘Best Song’ and ‘Most Outstanding Performance’.
Four of his songs; ‘Every Minute Of You’ – ‘I Can Tell’ – ‘Nature Boy’ and ‘Thirteen Women’ were included on Spinning High; ‘Green Mansions’ and ‘Lonely Too Long’ resurfaced on So Good Together; ‘No No No No’ and ‘Village Tapestry’ got a further airing on Spin Discovery; ‘Leave While The Music is Still Playing’ can also be found on Countdown Silver Jubilee LP, ‘Mean Pair Of Jeans’ also figured on Jukebox From Hell and you’ll also find ‘Ruby With Red Hair’ on Sound Of The 70s. ‘Every Minute of You’ can also be found on the Pretty Ugly CD.
Finally, ‘Thirteen Women’, resurfaced on So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star, Vol. 1 and So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (3-CDs). Albums; 1972 The Hits of Godspell, 1975 Denim & Lace, 1977 Mean Pair of Jeans, 1983 Best of Marty Rhone, 1992 Village Tapestry (Festival File).
In 1998 Marty released his critically acclaimed ‘First Love’ album which is to date still his biggest selling album. It features Marty’s choice of many of the biggest love ballads of the rock era. This was followed in 2002 by Stairway to Heaven, a tribute to some of the rock stars in Rock n Roll heaven. 2010 Born to Rock and Double Denim EP followed.
Then in 2013 Marty released ‘The Long & Winding Road’, his homage to the music of the Beatles. In 2016 Marty celebrated 50 years in the recording industry by releasing his 50th Anniversary Album; a collection of his recordings from the very first to his most recent and contains many of his own compositions.
2017 marks a significant change in Marty’s recording direction with a move into country music and the release of ‘Graceland on the Line’ to mark the 40th Anniversary of the sad passing of the King Elvis Presley. An album of country songs is to follow.
Forty years apart: 1977 #1 A Mean Pair of Jeans – 2017 #1 Graceland on the Line and on the 40th anniversary year of Elvis’ sad passing. Thank you, for buying the song, requesting it and listening to it. Thank you to Australian Country Radio?. I’m stoked!! http://www.auscountry.com.au/top-10.html You can buy it here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/graceland-on-the-line-single/id1190167983
An hour of Graceland on the Line, Marty’s favourite Elvis songs and more! Following the launch of Graceland on the Line, Marty was invited to join David Nicholas at 88.6 Plenty Valley FM for an hour of Elvis favourites, and stories from Marty’s recent travels and song launch. Click below for an hour of enjoyable […]
It has been a whirlwind since returning to Australia from my stint launching Graceland on the Line in the US. Check out what I’ve been up to! US RECORD DEAL Apparently it is unusual for an independent recording artist to have a song released in the US and to then secure a recording deal but […]
Australian musician and actor Marty Rhone has just returned from the USA following one of the most eventful and productive periods of his long and distinguished career. First single in 40 years In January this year Rhone travelled to the US for the worldwide release of his first single in 40 years, ‘Graceland on the […]
It’s been a whirlwind couple of days since the launch of my first single in 40 years, ‘Graceland on the Line’! I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a couple of wonderful radio personalities as well – have a listen below if you’d like. Denis Walter interviews Marty Rhone on 3AW in Melbourne Bob Rogers […]
