began lugging a wind-up record player to school when I was five years old so that I could have music to listen and sing to and as a backing when miming or performing songs for my friends. From the start, I never doubted that I would be anything but a singer and that’s the way my life’s path took me.
When I was fifteen, I was smuggled into the Hampton Hotel between my friend’s parents so I could make a bee-line for the band leader, Mr Eddie Zavod. I asked him … ‘please could I sing with the band?’. In retrospect, it was amazing that he let me, because it wasn’t usual for bands to let kids up and sing with them. But that first taste was like riding a racehorse into the wind. That was it, I knew what I would be doing for the rest of my days.
My mother had begun her working life improvising the mood music for silent movies in the early 20’s. My father was a Hoyts Theatre manager. They met in and because of the theatre, so naturally I was entirely influenced by the moving picture shows! My life could be seen to be a reflection of everything from the The Wizard of Oz to Easy Rider and The Rose. My imagination was vivid and I’ve been lucky to survive the tightrope between reality and the projected image.
Working my way through the scout hall, reception, hotel and restaurant scenes, I was ushered into ‘residencies’ ie I was contracted to a particular hotel and sometimes I had my own room. In this way, I worked the Hotel Australia in Melbourne. The Terrance Room was so ‘french’ to me – the closest I’d been to Paris! I worked the Chevron and the Ritz Hotel with a modern jazz quartet in 1967 and this is where I met Brian Jones and Kevin Simmonds, who both pay with me on Vocal Chords and Shoestrings. I was in amongst the bump and grind, wearing silky gowns and loving it! The famous, fabulous Lido, owned by David McIlwraith, was in Melbourne’s only lavish nightclub which featured (amongst other things) a crystal chandelier, once owned by the Aga Khan, whilst the famous Lido Girls did their thing in pearls ‘n feathers and little else. I would appear with the Ian Mawson Trio, a modern jazz outfit, singing with Ian, Murray Wall and Kevin Simmonds from 10.00pm to 3.00am – it was all very ‘Follies Bergeres’. We opened the restaurant at Tullamarine Airport and stayed a year, loving the international audiences and watching the jets landing at night.
1963 – Hawthorn Town Hall – my first gig.
I branched out doing floor shows at night clubs at a time when, apart from the huge productions at the Lido, there were only two night clubs in Melbourne. Shoot outs and mysterious fires saw the last of them but it was fun while it lasted.
For one season, I was booked by the St Kilda Football Club to sing with their resident band every Saturday night. What a hoot! One night, during the gig, Daryl Baldock, St Kilda’s captain suddenly picked me up by the hips and carried me across the floor, like I was football or only weighed as much.
For a while, I made ‘roughs’ for commercial TV. Sadly, the entertainment scene changed almost overnight with the advent of discotheques. Hotels took their stages down, bandstands and dance floors disappeared and so did the musicians, the singers and the floor show artists. The Musicians’ Union did what they could to keep live music ‘live’ but the disco scene won out.
I worked the Rock and Roll business next, some backing vocals recorded and the Rhythm and Blues band called ‘Maximum Load’. An audition for Jesus Christ Superstar had me flying up to Sydney to do rock soprano parts with the original cast.
After ‘Superstar’, I hit the road Joplin style in a Greyhound bus bound for Western Australia where I joined a Rock Show band who travelled up and down the West Coast and on returning to Melbourne, began singing with the ‘Les Swinges Modern’ – a Django Reinhardt inspired Hot Club band with as many as 12 musos on stage plus sit ins.
1977 and the Bopbenders started up at the Grainstore in Melbourne. The crowds loved BeBop and we stayed there for 18 months. Numerous bands, University concerts, peace rallies, fund raisers, weddings, a stint at the Last Laugh comedy club and a gig for the Prime Minister brought me into the 80’s. I began putting my own shoes together and working Arts Festivals. A highlight being the honour of appearing with Norman Simmonds, Rufus Reid and Kenny Washington. For several years, I performed at Jazz After Dark at the Melbourne Arts Centre.
I made many videos that didn’t work due to lack of funds, financed many of my own shows and concerts and have had the privilege of working with the cream of Melbourne’s musicians.
In 1993, I moved to Central Victoria where mostly Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll, Country and Western and Folk music goes down. Despite that, I’ve managed to continue to work and introduced people to the modern sounds I love so much.
In 1997 I financed my own CD and recorded for the first time.