Beyond The Guess Who: Peter Foldy- "Bondi Junction", Shawne Jackson- "Just As Bad As You" & Playboy Records: Early Home Of ABBA.
Two Canadian artists with a connection to Hugh Hefner and ABBA.
Welcome to Beyond The Guess Who. Each edition I cover a lesser-known or overlooked musical artist that charted outside the Billboard Hot 100. This week: Hungarian-Canadian singer Peter Foldy and Canadian R&B singer Shawne Jackson plus some details about the label both were briefly signed to: Playboy Records.
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This started out as a post for Bubbling Under. It made more sense as I went further to make this a new installment of Beyond The Guess Who. As a result, Bubbling Under is mentioned a lot in regards to Peter Foldy.
As I’ve mentioned before, many Canadian artists also reached the Bubbling Under charts. When I read the list I use to gather subjects for these articles, I was surprised by the amount of Canadian hits listed. I was browsing 45cat looking up Noosha Fox (of the 70’s band Fox) when I saw one of her UK labels had a release by Peter Foldy. Looking up Foldy, I’d forgotten that “Bondi Junction” had been given a US release on Playboy Records. And because it’s been established that I’m a huge ABBA fan, I’ll use any excuse to write about them.
Foldy’s Wikipedia page reads more like a press release than an actual bio. Basically, he was born in Budapest Hungary and wound up in Sydney Australia at some point. Various online sources on Foldy insist he became friendly with three brothers named Barry, Robin, and Maurice. He also dabbled in modelling. According to IMDB he was the poster boy for Nestle Crunch chocolates as a teenager. Finally, as a young adult, he settled in Toronto.
Once Foldy moved to Canada, he studied film, which became his primary career later on, and also started writing songs. He signed to a small label called Kanata, later moving onto Capitol (Polydor across the border). His very first single was “Bondi Junction”.
Because Peter Foldy is a Canadian artist from the 1970s pre-VHS era, there is no footage of him online performing “Bondi Junction”.
It’s basically an inoffensive middle of the road pop ballad with a harmonica solo in the middle. I can see why it was successful. My guess as to why it didn’t take off as well across the border is the label it was released on over there.
Playboy Records was a Los Angeles-based record label with ties to Hugh Hefner and Playboy Enterprises. Later on, the label had hits with groups such as Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds (“Fallin’ In Love”). They also distributed the Beserkely label for a while, home of The Rubinoos and Greg Kihn. Before 1974 or so though, research tells me they had some distribution snags. My guess is that “Bondi Junction” was a victim of that.
Sig Anderson, the manager/label boss behind ABBA has cited Playboy Records’ lack of distribution as a factor as to why their first Stateside release didn’t go any higher than the Record World equivalent of the Bubbling Under charts.
Before they were known as ABBA, the group was initially billed as Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha, and Anni-Frid. Their debut was the 1972 single “People Need Love”. A far cry from their later material, the track resembles Dutch duo Mouth and Macneal’s 1972 hit “How Do You Do?” and features yodelling.
Perhaps in an effort to “sex up” the group, Playboy released the single as “Bjorn and Benny Featuring Svenska Flicka” which translates to the cringe-worthy “Bjorn and Benny featuring Swedish Girl”. They also mostly released singles featuring Bjorn on lead vocals as follow-ups. Notably “Another Town Another Train” (which finally gave credit to “Anna and Freida”).
None of these did well, though “People Need Love” did hit the Bubbling Under chart equivalents of Billboard rivals Cashbox and Record World. ABBA wisely moved on to Atlantic Records, who knew they had a goldmine, in time for “Waterloo”. ABBA’s Playboy singles are all highly sought after now by fans.
Peter Foldy released singles as late as the 1980s. He had some minor Canadian hits after “Bondi Junction”. I can’t find video or audio of “I’ll Never Know” but it peaked at #61 on the RPM charts in 1974.
“When I Am So In Love” sounded a lot like something Gilbert O’Sullivan would have recorded.
Eventually, he switched his sound up a bit. 1976’s “Roxanne” (No relation to The Police) is more of a soft rock affair with lyrics that remind me of English singer-songwriter Clifford T. Ward who was active during the same era.
1979’s “Love City” followed a similar formula.
Foldy eventually returned to the Canadian film industry. He’s produced a string of low-budget movies with titles like My Nanny Stole My Life and Rent-A-Groom. He also directs films, most recently 2024’s Looking For Dr. Love and Roommate Regret. I don’t know who the audience is for these movies, but he seems to have had a lucrative second career making them.
His personal website is also active and it mentions some new musical recordings.
As for Playboy Records, “Bondi Junction” wasn’t their last attempt at trying to break a Canadian recording artist.
The next year, they briefly signed R&B singer Shawne Jackson and released her single “Just As Bad As You”. This one was always on oldies radio when I was a kid and it’s one of the catchiest songs ever. This should have been massive internationally.
It’s funky, but still pop enough to reach the AM radio market. It’s also easily my favourite 1970’s era CanCon airplay item.
Shawne Jackson started singing as a child. By the time she was 15, she’d generated some label interest and had appeared on CBC’s Music Hop program. Later, she joined the Majestics. They released one single, a cover of “Respect” on the Arc label in late 1967. There were also albums released, but sources seem to vary whether she was on them or not. Eventually, her brother Jay joined at some point. The group also toured in support of Dominic Troiano’s band Mandala. Here’s a performance from what appears to be a reunion show:
Following a stint in the group The Stone Soul Children, Jackson left music for a while. She took a modelling course in New York and then later worked as a dressmaker in Los Angeles.
In my Bubbling Under post on The Guess Who, I mentioned new member Dominic Toriano who joined the band towards the end of their career.
At this time, he was also dating Jackson. The two would later marry, remaining together until Troiano’s death in 2005. Troiano, who later had some success in Canada as a solo artist, penned “Just As Bad As You”. Along with Jackson, they also wrote the song’s B-Side “He May Be Your Man”.
“Just As Bad As You” squeaked into the lower reaches of Billboard’s R&B charts and Jackson recorded some follow-ups for various labels.
A Troiano-produced album for RCA (Home of The Guess Who) followed the next year. The proto-disco “Get Out Of The Kitchen” was the album’s single. It’s catchy, but for whatever reason, it didn’t reach the same heights as “Just As Bad As You”. Jackson also went on tour (some sources say she also joined) with Canadian R&B group Sweet Blindness.
Famous Toronto venue the El Mocambo had a short-lived record label in the early 1980’s. Jackson briefly resurfaced with a single titled “Come Back Boy”. Switching into dance music, Jackson released another single in 1983, “Loveline” (a cover of a 1981 Tavares hit) that had moderate club play. As a fan of funky early 1980’s dance music, this one was right up my alley:
By the 1980’s, Jackson had moved into acting as well as the occasional studio work with Troiano. Her most prominent roles were four episodes of the Canadian TV classic Night Heat as well as voicing Teacher Harriet on Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood from 2012-2018.
By the mid-1970’s Playboy Records fortunes improved. The label scored a hit with “Fallin’ In Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. They had luck in the country genre with Hugh Hefner’s then partner Barbi Benton as well as Mickey Gilley. The closest Benton got to the pop charts, however, was the ironically titled “Staying Power”, which peaked at #108. The label finally shuttered in 1978.
Next Week: Bubbling Under returns with ABBA
You've brought two intriguing Canadian artists back into the spotlight! The details about their ties to Playboy Records and ABBA were fascinating. It’s incredible how you blend music history with personal anecdotes. This is an enjoyable read that adds depth to overlooked chapters in music.
"Bondi Junction" has a paltry 11,000 streams on Spotify but I'm proud to have contributed one after reading your post.