The New Seekers

The split of the hugely popular 1960s Australian group The Seekers left a gap in the market for a populist vocal group. One of them, Keith Potger, resolved to fill that void by forming a new group, The New Seekers, offering the same family entertainment values with bright upbeat pop songs and bouncy choruses. One major difference from the old Seekers was that instead of one girl singer, they had two - Eve Graham and Lyn Paul - creating the template for subsequent boy/girl groups like Abba and Brotherhood Of Man to follow. They also had a rockier style reflected in early hits Never Ending Song Of Love and their cover of Melanie Safka's What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? They represented the UK in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest with Beg, Steal Or Borrow and then achieved their biggest hit in 1971 with I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, adapted from a Coca Cola TV jingle. Other hits like You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me and I Get A Little Sentimental Over You followed before they disbanded in 1974. However, they were to reform with a new line-up and still tour, though Paul Layton is the only one still with them from the early days.