Daddy Cool - Eagle Rock - Clip (1971)

"Daddy Cool - Eagle Rock - Clip (1971)

"The "Eagle Rock" clip is a pioneering Australian promotional music video directed by 23-year-old Melbourne filmmaker Chris Löfvén and officially commissioned in May 1971. Shot on 16mm black-and-white film, it captures the band Daddy Cool—Ross Wilson (vocals/guitar), Ross Hannaford (guitar), Wayne Duncan (bass), and Gary Young (drums)—performing their debut single in various iconic Melbourne locations. The video opens in a South Melbourne milk bar on Clarendon Street (now a Mexican restaurant), where the band hangs out and starts jamming. It transitions to street scenes, including driving up The Esplanade in St Kilda toward The Espy (Esplanade Hotel), passing burger joints (one now a McDonald's opposite Luna Park), and footage of energetic crowds dancing at a live gig on April 3, 1971, at The Maze club on Flinders Street. The clip emphasizes the band's retro doo-wop energy, with Wilson leading infectious dances like the "Eagle Rock" move, blending performance shots with casual, youthful vignettes that evoke 1950s rock 'n' roll nostalgia. Running about 3-4 minutes, it was a key factor in the song's massive success, airing on TV shows like Happening '71. A rare experimental colorized version (using filters on 37 seconds of footage) was discovered and restored by the National Film and Sound Archive in 2013, adding vibrant pops of color to select sequences for the first time.

The clip's raw, location-based style helped propel "Eagle Rock" to cultural phenomenon status, inspiring traditions like university students dropping trousers to dance to it and even influencing Elton John's "Crocodile Rock."

When "Eagle Rock" Was Written

"Eagle Rock" was written by Daddy Cool frontman Ross Wilson in late 1970, during his time with the progressive rock band Sons of the Vegetal Mother (which evolved into Daddy Cool in October 1970). Wilson drew inspiration from 1950s/1960s slang for a hip-shaking dance move, referencing phrases like "cutting the pigeon wing and doing the eagle rock" from old sheet music or lyrics (echoing 1914's "Ballin' the Jack"). He paired it with a Mississippi blues-style guitar riff he was experimenting with, initially performing a proto-version live with guitarist Ross Hannaford as a fun, danceable number amid heavier material. The song was refined for Daddy Cool's setlist by early 1971, recorded in a rapid two-and-a-half-day session in Melbourne (produced by Robie Porter and mixed in Los Angeles), and released as a single on May 21, 1971, on the Sparmac label. It debuted on charts around May 10, topping them for a record 10 weeks and becoming Australia's best-selling single of the year.