Playford

Distinguished and Famous people from Playford

🎤 Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes made Elizabeth part of a national story through both music and memoir. After migrating from Glasgow, his family experienced a difficult childhood that he later described in Working Class Boy. The northern suburbs became the setting for years before Cold Chisel and a major solo career. His account pays attention to the violence and insecurity behind the familiar rock-star image, as well as survival and the opportunities music eventually offered. The Elizabeth streets and family experiences preceded the songs, then became subjects he chose to examine publicly.

🎵 Glenn Shorrock

Glenn Shorrock learnt to perform in Elizabeth during the late 1950s and 1960s. One early appearance involved miming to Elvis until the record player failed, leaving him to sing for himself. Applause supplied the encouragement to continue. He later fronted the Twilights and Little River Band, taking a voice first tested in a local hall to international audiences. The incident is a pleasingly economical career lesson: sometimes the backing track needs to stop before a singer discovers what he can do. Shorrock’s recollections keep that youthful Elizabeth setting visible behind the later success.

👮 Peter McAulay

Peter McAulay served at Elizabeth during the sequence of South Australian police postings he held between 1956 and 1967. His career later included United Nations police work in Cyprus, service as Northern Territory commissioner from 1978, and appointment to lead the Australian Federal Police in 1988. He worked on police organisation, equipment and cross-border crime. Elizabeth’s connection is his practical service before those senior appointments, part of the experience accumulated across suburban, city and remote policing.