Patricia Thelma Thompson OAM (née Amphlett, b. 1949), better known as Little Pattie, first appeared on Australian television at age thirteen in 1962. At fourteen she began performing as lead singer for The Statesmen, who had a regularly weekly gig at Bronte Surf Club. Signed by EMI, she released her first single – ‘He’s My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy’ – in 1963; it reached #2 on the Sydney charts (pipped for top spot by The Beatles’ ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’). Her debut album, The Many Moods of Little Pattie, was released in 1964 and the following year she was voted Australian Female Singer of the Year. In 1966, having toured as the support act for Col Joye & the Joy Boys and having made regular appearances on Bandstand and other television variety shows, she became the youngest singer to perform for troops in Vietnam. (She was evacuated from Nui Dat mid-concert in August 1966 when the Battle of Long Tan broke out). After returning home she continued performing, and releasing singles and albums. She was among the singers who recorded the ALP’s 1972 election anthem ‘It’s Time’, and from the late 1970s onwards her repertoire expanded to include country, jazz, swing and show tunes. A compilation album of her sixties hits was released in 2001 and in 2009 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. She performed for Australian troops in Iraq for Christmas in 2005 and at the Australian War Memorial’s ‘Salute’ to Vietnam veterans in 2006. In addition, she has taught at a number of Sydney high schools and been prominent as a union representative in the entertainment industry, fulfilling executive roles with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Actors’ Equity and the ACTU. Chrissy Amphlett, the late lead singer of The Divinyls, was Little Pattie’s cousin.
