Jukebox Saturday Night
For 17 years, every episode of Young Talent Time finished the same way. The team gathered round and sang ‘All my loving’, the Beatles song Johnny Young had taken to number four in 1967, like a lullaby to send the country off to bed (Young Talent Time). Hard to hear it now without a lump in the throat.
Johnny Young died on 14 August 2026, aged 79, after a short illness with pancreatic cancer, his family said (ABC News). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he gave Australia “the gift of joy”. Most of us knew him as the fella with the big grin hosting the kids. Fewer people realise he also wrote some of the best Australian pop records of the late sixties.
How old was Johnny Young?
He was born Johnny Benjamin Arthur de Jong in Rotterdam on 12 March 1947. The family migrated to Western Australia in the 1950s and settled in Kalamunda, in the hills outside Perth. His mum sang in a choir, which is where the music started (Wikipedia). He was 79 when he died and now has his place in our Rock n Roll Heaven.
Perth teenager to number one
He was still a teenager when he began hosting Club Seventeen on TVW-7 Perth in early 1965. Normie Rowe remembered being struck that the kid already had his own show, and admitted after Young’s death, “I realised I could never do what John did” (ABC News).
The record that made him was ‘Step back’, written for him by George Young and Stevie Wright of the Easybeats. It came out in May 1966 as a double A-side with ‘Cara-Lyn’ and reached number one on the Go-Set national chart in November. With his backing band Kompany, which included guitarist John Eddy and drummer Warwick Findlay, he moved to Melbourne in mid-1966, and more hits followed in 1967: ‘When will I be loved’ at number three, ‘All my loving’ at four and the oddball ‘Craise Finton Kirk’ at 14. He won a Logie that year as Best Teenage Personality for The Go!! Show.
Later in 1967 he tried London, sharing a flat with Barry Gibb, who wrote ‘Lady’ for him. He was back home by January 1968 (Wikipedia).
The songwriter hiding in plain sight
This is the part of his story that deserves a lot more attention. Young wrote ‘The real thing’, the six-minute psychedelic monster that took Russell Morris to number one in 1969. He’d made a demo with Ronnie Burns in mind, Molly Meldrum heard it, and the rest is in the history books (The Conversation). He also wrote ‘The star’, a number one for Ross D. Wyllie that Herman’s Hermits later covered, ‘Smiley’, which took Ronnie Burns to number two in 1970, and ‘I thank you’, a number one for boxer Lionel Rose. Normie Rowe got ‘Hello’ in 1970.
Music writer Clinton Walker put it simply: “He had a lot more strings to his bow than Young Talent Time” (The Senior). Russell Morris called him one of the most intelligent people he’d ever met (ABC News). He went into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
Young Talent Time, 1971 to 1988
The first episode went out on Network Ten on 24 April 1971 and the last on 23 December 1988, mostly from the ATV-0 studios in Melbourne. Johnny hosted and produced. The rule was that team members left at 16, though it got bent more than once. There was even a spin-off feature film, Caravan Holiday, in 1972. Tina Arena, who stayed from 1977 to 1983, was the longest-serving, and the list of alumni runs through Dannii Minogue, Debra Byrne, Jamie Redfern and Sally Boyden among many others (Young Talent Time).
After his death Tina Arena said he “allowed, and equally encouraged” her to find her voice. Karen Knowles called it “a very, very sad day for all of us who owed so much to John for our start” (ABC News). He was the first person inducted into both the Logie Hall of Fame (1990) and the ARIA Hall of Fame (2010).
So who sang ‘Sadie the cleaning lady’?
People often put ‘Sadie’ down as a Johnny Young song. It was actually the breakthrough for the other Johnny of the day, Johnny Farnham. Written by Americans Ray Gilmore, Johnny Madara and Dave White and produced by David Mackay, it came out in November 1967, reached number one in 1968 and sold around 180,000 copies, the biggest-selling single by an Australian artist in the sixties (Sadie history). Two Johnnys, both teen idols, same charts. Easy mistake to make, and when Normie Rowe went off to do national service it was Farnham and Ronnie Burns who moved into the ‘King of Pop’ spotlight (Normie Rowe).
Fancy hearing ‘Step back’ or ‘All my loving’ again? Request a song, and tell us your favourite Young Talent Time memory in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
How old was Johnny Young when he died?
He was 79. Johnny Young was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on 12 March 1947 and died on 14 August 2026 after a short illness with pancreatic cancer, according to his family’s statement reported by the ABC.
Who was Johnny Young’s wife?
Johnny Young married Marisha, an economist, in 2002. His family said he was survived by Marisha, his sister Cornelia, daughters Anna and Fleur, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His son Craig died before him.
What song closed every episode of Young Talent Time?
The Beatles’ ‘All my loving’. Johnny Young’s own version had reached number four in 1967, and the team sang it at the end of each show as a kind of goodnight lullaby. For many viewers it’s the song they’ll always tie to him.
When did Young Talent Time start and finish?
The original series ran on Network Ten from 24 April 1971 to 23 December 1988 and was made mostly at ATV-0 in Melbourne. A revival with a new host went to air briefly in 2012.
Did Johnny Young sing ‘Sadie the cleaning lady’?
No, that was Johnny Farnham. ‘Sadie (the cleaning lady)’ was written by Americans Ray Gilmore, Johnny Madara and Dave White. Farnham’s version came out in November 1967, went to number one in 1968 and became the biggest-selling single by an Australian artist in the 1960s.
Were Johnny Young and Normie Rowe rivals?
They were both teen idols chasing the same chart spots in the late sixties, but the record shows more teamwork than feuding. Young wrote Rowe’s 1970 single ‘Hello’, and Rowe was later named as the inspiration for ‘Smiley’, which Young wrote for Ronnie Burns.
What songs did Johnny Young write?
His best-known songs for other people are ‘The real thing’ for Russell Morris, ‘The star’ for Ross D. Wyllie, ‘Smiley’ for Ronnie Burns and ‘I thank you’ for boxer Lionel Rose. He went into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
Who wrote Johnny Young’s hit ‘Step back’?
George Young and Stevie Wright of the Easybeats. Released in May 1966 as a double A-side with ‘Cara-Lyn’, it reached number one on the Go-Set national chart that November and was one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the decade.
There’s plenty more where this came from. 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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