Marty Kristian
Marty Kristian , of Latvian heritage , emigrated to Australia after the second world war with his widowed mother.
He studied architecture at Melbourne University in the 60’s but dropped out to pursue a singing career in Australia. This eventually led him to work his passage to England on The “Fair Star “as an entertainer. Coincidentally following in the footsteps of ‘The Seekers’, who also worked their passage on the sister ship ‘The Fair Sky’.
He became a founder member of The New Seekers – a vocal harmony group who enjoyed enormous worldwide success in the early 70’s. Their biggest hit was ‘I’d like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony’ which reached number 1 across the globe selling in excess of 7.5 million copies.
The New Seekers appeared in front of Her Majesty the queen at The Royal Command Performance. They Represented the U.K. and came second by a narrow margin in the Eurovision song contest in 1972 with the hit ‘Beg Steal Or Borrow’. They were regulars on Top Of the Pops and performed on all the variety shows of the day including the legendary Morecambe & Wise Christmas special. They toured all over the world, lived in America for a time and even sang at President Nixon’s inauguration. They had Numerous no 1 and top 10 hits including I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, Never Ending song Of Love, Beg Steal Or Borrow’ Circles’ Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma,’ ‘I get A Little Sentimental Over You’, ‘You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me’ to name a few.
Marty’s show biz career spans more than 4 decades during which time he has encountered numerous show biz, political and Royal personalities and has amassed a veritable arsenal of insights, humorous anecdotes and stories about his encounters which he relates as a Cruise ship and after dinner speaker.
Marty’s interests cover a wide spectrum including philosophy Yoga Meditation and Esoteric Sciences. He has also developed artistic skills in sculpture and painting being highly privileged by having the Queen Mother attend and open one of his murals.
More recently he has achieved success as a song writer having had several Hits in the HOT DISC Country charts, the most successful being a song he wrote and performed on called ‘BRING THE CURTAIN DOWN’ which reached number one on the European and British / Irish HOT DISC Country charts.
First Guitar
“- I remember when my mum finally relented and bought me a guitar , I enrolled in a communal guitar class situated behind a music store in Melbourne, called The Banjo Club. There I learned my first three chords – A, D an E, – I practised and practised until I became quite fluent.. With those three chords under my belt I could now sing and play most of my favourite songs. If a tune required more than 3 chords , I would block the strings and strum out a muted rhythm until I hit the next chord. We lived in a weatherboard house in a less salubrious part of Melbourne called Reservoir. I used to stand in our hall way which was surrounded by ply wood timber doors. When all the doors were closed it made a perfect echo chamber. – I was in my element – Suddenly I was able to imitate my favourite singers and songs. My mother often worked double shifts as a Tram Conductress which meant I spent a lot of time on my own. This allowed me to indulge my passion for Pop & Rock music and I would spend hours in my echo chamber wailing away.
When I was 14 – perhaps 15, I entered a Talent competition – I think it was called The Three Gong Award, a radio talent show in Melbourne. In the 1950s & 60’s it was Melbourne’s answer to the X factor – well ..perhaps more like Opportunity Knocks. Incidentally Olivia Newton John also had her start on that show – not at the same time though..”