Many years ago, back in the long-forgotten year of 1987, among the detritus of valley girls, acid-washed jeans, big hair and Ray-Bans, the nation of Australia became noticed by audiences who got to see Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee. Hot off the heels of Hoges' big hit in America, came this fellow apparently dead-sure that the Aussie shout of "Oi!" would sell batteries in the US:
The fella in question above is known as Jacko... or rather, Mark "Jacko" Jackson. Jacko was a player in Aussie Rules Football during the 1980's. He was known for his "bad boy" image, and even worse attitude. His popularity and skill within the game of Aussie Footy was well known across Australia, as well as how many times he faced getting sacked from teams he played for due to disciplinary reason.
Despite this, Jacko was a popular man among the people... a fact that lead to his decision that he would retire from Aussie Rules Football to follow the most obvious career: rock star! Wait, what???:
You might laugh at the video above, but for Jacko, the move was a stroke of genius. The song was a Number 1 hit in Australia, and put his face in front of more faces than just his football fans. The popularity lead to his appearance in the Energizer commercial, which was later exported to the USA. Following the success of his advertisement, he was cast in a role in the television series The Highwayman. Featuring Sam Jones (aka Flash Gordon) in the lead role, Jacko played JETTO, a survival expert. While the show had some moderate international success, it was short-lived. Here's a sample:
And finally, here's some footage of Jacko in his Aussie Footy years
