Together they recorded three albums which, unfortunately, proved commercial flops. Many fans still think, however, that the Marvin, Welch & Farrar era was the best in the history of the Shads during which the band released some of its best recordings. The three also toured the UK, Europe and the Far East with Cliff Richard in 1971 (Farrar's wife Pat Carroll and Olivia Newton-John did the backing vocals for Richard).
Bruce Welch left the band in 1972 due to personal reasons, but a year later the band reformed and Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett and John Farrar took the original band name The Shadows and in 1975 represented Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest getting to the second place. John Farrar's contribution to the sound of the Shadows in the early 1970s was huge. Brian Bennett once described him as "the most professional musician I have ever worked with."
In 1975, John Farrar left the UK and relocated to the States to become the musical director and record producer for Olivia Newton-John. "It'll Be Me Baby" which featured John's singing was released in 1976 to become the last single of the "new" Shadows. America became John's permanent place of residence and it is here that he achieved success as a songwriter and producer for Olivia Newton-John, the force behind most of her No.1 hits. Today, his tandem with Olivia Newton-John is as strong as ever.
In November 1998 it was announced that writer and Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola had just finished a collaboration with John Farrar on a set of tunes for a possible Columbia Film's musical. The Coppola scripted project, entitled THE GREAT KAHOONA, was said to be a '50s teenage rock 'n' roll musical which Coppola was hoping to interest John Travolta in.
In August 2000 the name of the project was changed to GIDGET and Coppola mounted a musical workshop of "Gidget," turning the story of a surfer girl's summer into an original rock 'n' roll musical. He used 35 students and graduates from the Orange County High School of the Performing Arts in Cerritos, California, to bring the production to the stage. With the exception of Dermot Mulroney, who played the Big Kahuna, the show was filled with unknowns. The young actors performed to standing-room-only audiences at Los Alamitos High School's 100-seat auditorium in Orange County. The production was based on the 1953 book Gidget by Frederick Kohner. A tale of surf, sand and teen-age love, the novel is not to be confused with the Sandra Dee movies or the TV series starring Sally Field. Gidget the musical workshop was scheduled for just its four-day run, and Coppola was reported to be a bit cagey about discussing its future. "I see it going on somehow," he said. "I would imagine, before it's a film, it would be a show somewhere else - on the next level."
Other song and composing credits inclue "A Special Olivia Newton-John" (1976, TV - songs), XANADU (1980 - songs), OLIVIA: PHYSICAL (1981 - songs), FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR (1986 - song), "A Mom for Christmas" (1990, TV) and HEATHCLIFF (1997).
Nominated for Music Best Song 1978: GREASE "Hopelessly Devoted to You" - Music & Lyric
1 nomination