Born on the La Perouse Mission in Sydney in 1946, Vic Simms was a fiercely proud Bidjigal man. He discovered his love of music at a young age.

Vic’s first single, 'Yo Yo Heart', was released when he was only 15. Through the early 1960s he was a regular on the music circuit and performed with stars such as Shirley Bassey, Johnny O’Keefe, Peter Allen and Col Joye. He was also a regular on early Australian television and one of the first Indigenous entertainers on the small screen, appearing on shows such as Bandstand, In Melbourne Tonight and The Johnny O’Keefe Show.

In the late 1960s, Vic’s life took a turn, and he found himself in Bathurst Gaol, but his love of music continued to be a vital force in his life. As well as singing, he learnt guitar and started writing songs about his experiences and those of fellow inmates. This led to the prison authorities providing him with a tape recorder, as Vic recalls in this clip from his NFSA Oral History interview in 2009.

Soon Vic was recording his album The Loner, considered to be the first Indigenous protest album released in Australia. The Loner was inducted into the NFSA’s Sounds of Australia registry in 2009.