Country and Western singer Keith Riordon was born August 12, 1940, in Mildura. In 1948 his family moved to Lockington, and he began singing solo at school concerts. In 1952 he won the first talent quest he entered at Barooga, NSW. This was the start of him appearing regularly at concerts and talent quests. In the mid 50s he met Neville Pellitt at 3SR Shepparton and appeared regularly on the Harmony Trail Concerts until they ceased in the early 1960s.
He recorded his first single ”A Demon Called Love”, written by Colin James, backed with Clarabello Lambo, was released on Planet Records in 1959. He was accompanied by the Henri Bource All Stars and the Moontones. In 1960 he recorded a six-track EP ‘The Rising Star of Keith Riordan’ also on Planet Records.
Keith was then offered a record deal with W&G and he continued to record on that label until the company ceased operation in the 1970s. His 1960s releases were the single ”Gerada/Two Cigarettes In An Ash-Tray (1961), the four track EP ‘Keith Riordan Goes Hawaiian’ (1961) backed by The Jack Varney 5, the four track EP ‘Suvla Bay’ (1963) backed by popular Cohuna band The Lonely Ones and the four track EP ‘On Camera’ (1966). During this period, he appeared on national TV show Country and Western Hour in Adelaide, and he also hosted his own TV show Matinee Of Song on local station GMV-6 Shepparton. In 1971 he recorded his first album ‘Country Favorites’ followed by a number of singles and one more album ‘Red, Red Wine’. In 1979 Keith was inducted into the Country Hands of Fame at Tamworth.
