Horrie Dargie was born on the 7th of July 1917, in Whyalla, South Australia, the second son of Andrew and Adelaide Dargie. His older brother Sir William Dargie was a noted Australian portrait artist. In the early 1930s he took up the chromatic harmonica and won a variety competition on a local radio station in 1937. In 1938 he moved to Sydney. Horrie Dargie joined the Australian Army in 1941 and served in New Guinea and later in the occupational forces in Japan. He returned to Melbourne in 1947 and subsequently formed the famous Horrie Dargie Quintet. By 1952 the Quintet had risen in popularity by dint of hard work, and played their farewell concert at the Sydney Town Hall in 1952 before leaving for England. By chance, a recording was made of the performance on a wire recorder using just one microphone. The 10″ record of the farewell concert became Australia's first Gold Record, selling 75,000 copies. In 1958 Dargie took up a position at Channel 9, where he was in charge of the talent division . He compered the BP Super Show and also was responsible for the Delo and Daly Show, He was the first Australian compere of the show "The Price is Right" and managed the The Go!! Show, a pop music show that regularly featured entertainers such as Johnny Young, Ian Turpie and Olivia Newton-John. Dargie also established Go!! Records in 1964 to promote artists who appeared on the show. Here to download is the EP recorded for Astor Records 'Dig The Didjeridoo With The Dargies" (AEP 4001). There is no date release on the cover or record anywhere even Astor has a ? where the date should be so I'm hoping someone out there can help us with this. Dargie is also remembered for his musical arrangements for the film Crocodile Dundee and the TV show The Leyland Brothers. He also played the background music for the TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Horrie Dargie passed away at the age of 82 on 30 August, 1999.
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