Johnny Cooper - Give It A Whirl Interview

Interview – 2022

Johnny Cooper (Ngāti Kahungunu) is celebrated for singing on Aotearoa's first rock 'n' roll recording, a 1955 cover of 'Rock Around the Clock'. After enjoying a short but successful stint as a singer, Cooper ran a talent show around Aotearoa, where he mentored new stars.

In this interview for 2003 television series Give It A Whirl, Cooper covers many topics, including:

• The success of his early 1950s singles such as 'One by One' and 'Look What You've Done' (8 minutes in)

• Being persuaded to play rock'n'roll by his record label bosses at HMV (11 minutes)

• Early negative opinions towards rock'n'roll, and how the tides turned (19 minutes)

• Writing what's thought to be Aotearoa's first original rock'n'roll song, 'Pie Cart Rock and Roll' (21 minutes)

• Touring with music legend Johnny Devlin (30 minutes)

• How rock 'n' roll took over music (31 minutes)

This interview was recorded for the 2003 season of TV series Give it a Whirl. All audiovisual content is copyright to Visionary Film & TV, and may not be reproduced.

...maybe in those early days when I had the wind up gramophone, you know? That was my happiest days, listening to those recordings. That might be the reason.
– Johnny Cooper on why he devoted his career to music (34 minutes into this interview)