[3] She soon joined the Big Apple Union, a soul band, which evolved into Dr Kandy's Third Eye,[2] in which she shared lead vocals with Gulliver Smith, (later of Company Caine).
[4][5] In June 1969, MacCallum joined a seven-piece blue-eyed soul band, This Hallelujah Chorus, sharing lead vocals with Ed Mayne.
[6] In November 1971 the band's final single, "I Ain't Got the Time", was issued – featuring MacCallum's first released appearance – which reached the top 20 in the local charts and peaked at No.
[2][9] In March 1972 Alison MacCallum issued her first solo single, "Superman", on RCA Records which was written by Harry Vanda and George Young (both ex-The Easybeats).
[2] John Tait described Napier-Bell's work as re-invigorating Vanda & Young's songwriting career "Ted Albert assigned him the task of finding artists to record some of the songs Harry and George were sending over from London.
The most notable of these demos was a rock tune called 'Superman' ... [he] matched the song up with the soaring voice of session singer Alison MacCallum, added some brass to the original arrangement and suddenly they had a hit on their hands".
[14] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted Fresh Water's "mix of rock, jazz and blues material proved to be a fine showcase for her expressive voice".
[2][8] According to James Cockington "even though Labor was not credited on the label nor mentioned in the lyrics, most radio stations were reluctant to play the song, sensing its party-political roots".
[18] MacCallum was joined in the TV ads with a variety of celebrities including Bert Newton, Col Joye, Judy Stone, John Dease, Hazel Phillips, Ted Hamilton, Bellbird cast members, and Bobby Limb.
",[2] and a cover of Rotary Connection's 1968 single, "Teach Me How to Fly" (1973), previously an Australian hit for local artist, Jeff St John and Copperwine in 1970.
MacCallum collaborated with two fellow singers, Bobbi Marchini (ex-Freshwater) and Janice Slater as the Hooter Sisters, to release a cover of the Phil Spector-written single, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", originally performed by his band, The Teddy Bears.
[23] In the late 1970s Alison MacCallum concentrated on session work, providing backing vocals on John Robinson's Pity for the Victim and for other artists: Billy Thorpe, Doug Parkinson and Mark Holden.