Noeleen Batley (born 25 December 1944)^[1] was an Australian pop star in the 1960s and early 1970s. She was known as "Australia's Little Miss Sweetheart".^[2]

Early life

Batley was born in Sydney on Christmas Day, 1944, and began singing at the age of five with her mother's encouragement. As a child, she sang on radio shows such as 2UE's Youth Parade, 2UW's Amateur Hour and the ABC's Rockville Junction.^[2] She entered numerous talent competitions, and eventually won her first recording contract, with Festival Records, in 1960 as a prize in a singing competition.^[1]

Career

Batley's first record "Starry Eyed" was released in February 1960, but was not a success.^[3] However her next record, released in October of the same year, reached the Top 5 in all Australian mainland capital cities.^[1] It was a recording of Barefoot Boy, a song written by the then 16-year-old Helene Grover.^[2][4] It remained in the charts for sixteen weeks.^[2] With its success, Batley became the first Australian female pop singer to have a national hit song, and began to appear on TV shows such as Youth Show, Bandstand and Six O'Clock Rock.^[1]

In 1961, Batley was voted Australia's Top Female Singer.^[2] Her mother became her manager and together they completed a two-week tour of New Zealand in 1964.^[3] She continued to record for Festival until 1969, when she went on a tour of Europe and England. She eventually settled in England, in 1970, and continued to perform there.^[2] Her last recording, Seabird, was released in 1972.^[2]

Later life

Batley married in 1975 and had a child in 1976. The family lived first in Essex, England, and then in Miami, Florida.^[1]