Col Joye, Australia’s first home-grown rock and roll number one artist. Photo: Jukebox Saturday Night archive
Before The Easybeats, before Billy Thorpe and before anyone outside Queensland had heard of the Gibb brothers, there was Col Joye. Neat hair, nice suit, big grin. Mums liked him. Their kids bought the records, and kept buying them well into the 1960s. For a few years around 1959 that was a rare combination in Australian rock and roll.
Is Col Joye still alive
No. Col Joye died in Sydney on 5 August 2025, aged 89, the ABC reported. He had been in declining health for a long time before that. Normie Rowe called him “the true gentleman of the industry”, and added that he didn’t think anybody could ever have had a bad word to say about Col. He now has his place in our rock n roll heaven tribute.
How Colin Jacobsen became Col Joye
He was born Colin Frederick Jacobsen on 13 April 1936 in East Hills, in Sydney’s south-west, according to his Wikipedia biography. In 1957 he joined his brother Kevin’s band, the KJ Quintet, with brother Keith on bass, and it became Col Joye and the Joy Boys. The new surname came, so the story goes, on the advice of a clairvoyant, as Independent Australia recalled in its tribute.
They were the second Australian rock and roll act signed to Festival Records, after Johnny O’Keefe. At Festival’s studio in Pyrmont they cut ‘Bye bye baby’ using a toilet as an echo chamber, according to the National Film and Sound Archive. It went into the Sydney chart in May 1959 and sat at number one for four weeks, reaching number three nationally. Then ‘Oh yeah uh huh’ made Col the first Australian pop artist with a national number one. ‘Rockin’ rollin’ Clementine’ (number three) and ‘Yes sir, that’s my baby’ (number five) weren’t far behind.
Fourteen years on Bandstand
When Channel Nine started Bandstand in late 1958, Col became a regular almost straight away and stayed for many years. The NFSA puts his success down partly to that clean-cut image. Johnny O’Keefe was the wild one. Col was the boy your parents didn’t mind. “We never got parents offside,” he once said. Another time he put it even more simply: “We didn’t know how to be anything more than what we were.”
The Bandstand connection went beyond the studio, too. Col and the Joy Boys toured the country with other acts from the program, including Judy Stone, and the two of them recorded duets that turn up on the DVDs.
The Bandstand footage is full of him. Our Best of Bandstand Volume 1: 1960 to 1962 has him singing ‘Today’s teardrops’ and chatting with Brian Henderson, and it includes the 1961 Bandstand Awards, where Col was named Best Male Performer. Volume 2: 1963 has the Joy Boys at the Avalon Beach surf show in December 1963, plus a game of tennis between Col and Brian Henderson that ends with Col in the swimming pool. On the 1963 Christmas special he sings ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’. Volume 5 has Brian quizzing him about his flying lessons and a duet with Patsy Ann Noble. Col and Judy Stone sing ‘One dozen roses’ on Volume 2 as well. He also sang on Johnny O’Keefe’s Six O’Clock Rock on the ABC, and in the mid-1960s he entertained Australian troops in Vietnam and Borneo.
The man who signed the Bee Gees
With Kevin, Col built a management, publishing and recording business. In 1961 they found three young brothers named Gibb, Barry, Robin and Maurice, performing in Surfers Paradise, and signed them to Joye Music. The Bee Gees sang backing vocals on Col’s 1963 single ‘Starlight of love’, and the Jacobsens later worked with Andy Gibb too. The brothers also set up ATA Studios in Glebe.
Col toured with Little Pattie and recorded an album with her, and in 1973 he was back at number one with ‘Heaven is my woman’s love’. All up he had 16 chart entries, per Independent Australia. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia on 8 June 1981 and went into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988. When he died, ARIA’s chief executive Annabelle Herd said he had made a remarkable contribution to Australian music for more than six decades.
Col Joye’s wife and family
Col married Dalys Dawson in Fiji in 1970, and they had two children, Clayton and Amber, according to Independent Australia and Australian Seniors News. Clayton is a director and producer, and Amber an entrepreneur and musical producer, so the showbiz gene carried on.
In 1990 he fell six metres while pruning a neighbour’s tree with a chainsaw and spent time in a coma. He fought his way back and was on stage again by 1998, and in the early 2000s he joined the Long Way to the Top concert tour, singing for crowds who’d first heard him on the wireless.
Did you see Col and the Joy Boys at a Sydney dance, or watch him every Saturday on Bandstand? Share your memories in the comments. And if you love the pioneers, read our story on Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Col Joye still alive?
No. Col Joye died in Sydney on 5 August 2025, aged 89. Normie Rowe called him “the true gentleman of the industry”, and ARIA said he had made a remarkable contribution to Australian music for more than six decades.
How old was Col Joye when he died?
He was 89. Col was born Colin Frederick Jacobsen on 13 April 1936 in East Hills, New South Wales, and died on 5 August 2025, a few months after his 89th birthday.
Who was Col Joye’s wife?
Col married Dalys Dawson in Fiji in 1970, and they were together for more than 50 years, until his death in 2025. They had two children, Clayton and Amber.
Why did Colin Jacobsen change his name to Col Joye?
According to Independent Australia’s tribute, he took the name Joye on the advice of a clairvoyant. His brothers Kevin and Keith, who played alongside him in the Joy Boys, kept the family name Jacobsen.
What was Col Joye’s biggest hit?
‘Oh yeah uh huh’ is the landmark, because it made him the first Australian pop artist with a nationwide number one. ‘Bye bye baby’ (1959) spent four weeks at number one in Sydney, and ‘Heaven is my woman’s love’ went to number one nationally in 1973.
Was Col Joye on Bandstand?
Constantly. He became a regular soon after the show started in late 1958 and stayed for many years. He was named Best Male Performer at the 1961 Bandstand Awards, and our Best of Bandstand DVDs are full of his performances.
What was Col Joye’s connection to the Bee Gees?
Col and his brother Kevin found the young Gibb brothers in Surfers Paradise in 1961 and signed them to their Joye Music business. The Bee Gees sang backing vocals on Col’s 1963 single ‘Starlight of love’, and the Jacobsens later worked with Andy Gibb.
What happened to Col Joye in 1990?
He fell about six metres while pruning a neighbour’s tree with a chainsaw, hit his head and went into a coma. He recovered and was performing again by 1998, and he later joined the Long Way to the Top concert tour.
Is Col Joye in the ARIA Hall of Fame?
Yes, he was inducted in 1988, the year the ARIA Hall of Fame began. He was also appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 8 June 1981 for his services to the entertainment industry.
You can discover more about your favourite artists on Jukebox Saturday Night.
Disclaimer: The information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, music history is often based on available documentation and interpretation.
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