Moomba, King, Portrait, Jonny Farnham, 1972
Summary
Framed black-and-white portrait of 1972 Moomba King, Johnny Farnham.
John “Johnny” Farnham, born in 1949, was crowned Moomba King in 1972. The Sun described him as ‘King of Pop, King of the Kids and now King of Moomba’. He had migrated to Australia from England with his family 13 years earlier, but there was still public disquiet over his status as a “true” Australian, with regards to the festival having an Australian figurehead. In response, he claimed: “I’m an Australian and bloody proud of it”. In 1967 Farnham enjoyed his first pop hit, with the single ‘Sadie (the Cleaning Lady)’ achieving the highest sales for an Australian artist for the decade (at 180,000). In his long career in the music industry, Farnham has apparently managed to produce a No. 1 record in five consecutive decades.
