Editing Johnny Young (section)

===Songwriter===
While sharing a flat with Barry Gibb in London in late 1967, Young was encouraged to write songs. Gibb taught him that "there are no rules in song-writing, there is a structure, but what you need to do is find the 'hook', and it could be in the melody, the chorus, the words or even an identifiable riff, and that can be the difference in writing a hit record."<ref name="Marner"/> During 1968, back in Australia, Young wrote "[[The Real Thing (Russell Morris song)|The Real Thing]]" as a reaction against a Coca-Cola jingle, "Coke is the real thing". Young envisaged the song as a low-key acoustic ballad (in the style of the Beatles' "[[Strawberry Fields Forever]]") and he originally intended it for his friend and fellow singer [[Ronnie Burns (singer)|Ronnie Burns]]. Young was practising the song in a dressing room during taping of TV pop music show ''Uptight'' when pop producer and fellow ''Go-Set'' writer [[Ian Meldrum]] heard it. Meldrum (who was also manager for solo singer [[Russell Morris]] (ex-Somebody's Image) was greatly impressed by the song and immediately insisted that Young cut a demo of it for Morris. Under Meldrum's production and with the collaboration of engineer [[John L Sayers|John L. Sayers]] the song was radically transformed into a seven-minute psychedelic epic, with an elaborately edited backing track performed by an all-star band including ex-[[Zoot (band)|Zoot]] guitarist [[Roger Hicks (rock musician)|Roger Hicks]] (who composed the acoustic guitar intro), members of Melbourne band [[The Groop]] and backing vocalist [[Maureen Elkner]]. Reportedly the most expensive single ever recorded in Australia up to that time, it became one of the biggest Australian pop hits of 1969, peaking at number&nbsp;one in May and was number&nbsp;one on ''Go-Set'' Top Records for the Year of 1969, and made Morris an immediate national star.<ref name="GoSetRealThing"/> It was later covered by [[Kylie Minogue]] and by [[Midnight Oil]]. Young's next song for Morris, "The Girl That I Love", was released as a double-A-side with "Part Three into Paper Walls" (another epic extended production co-written by Morris and Young) which reached number&nbsp;one in October.<ref name="Marner"/><ref name="GoSetGirl"/>

TV pop music show, ''Uptight'', was hosted by [[Ross D. Wyllie]] who recorded the Young-penned, "[[The Star (Ross D. Wyllie song)|The Star]]" – it was later covered by [[Herman's Hermits]] as "Here Comes the Star" – which replaced "The Girl That I Love" at number&nbsp;one in November.<ref name="GoSetStar"/><ref name="PopArchiveStar"/> It had been written to describe the loneliness associated with fame in show business.<ref name="Marner"/> Young also wrote and produced hits for Burns including "Smiley", which peaked at number&nbsp;two in February 1970.<ref name="GoSetSmiley"/> It described their mutual friend, Rowe, who had been conscripted to serve in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Miles"/> Rowe recorded his own version on ''Missing in Action'' (2007). Young wrote "I Thank You" for former boxing champion [[Lionel Rose]] which reached number&nbsp;one in March.<ref name="Miles"/><ref name="GoSetThankYou"/> It was used by comedy duo, [[Roy and HG]], for their calls of football grand finals in the 1990s.<ref name="Miles"/> On 11 July 1970, ''Go-Set'' pop poll voted Young as most popular 'Composer' of the year and in 1971 he finished second behind Morris.<ref name="KentThesis"/>