Over the years many New Zealand born performers have moved to Australia in order to further their careers, but in the 60's one of the very first to do so was Max Merritt. In the 70's he then left for the UK before settling in the USA. Max recalls some of his earlier hits as well as the massive chart success of "Slipping Away".
One of Australia's most quirky and creative musicians would have to be Spectrum's Mike Rudd. At one stage he had two bands simultaneously and the other was named by spelling "Spectrum" backwards! Whilst he also found some chart success with his band called Ariel, without doubt his greatest musical legacy will continue to be the 70's classic "I'll Be Gone".
American singer, songwriter, musician and painter Sophie B Hawkins was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy Award in 1993 after the huge success of her debut album which featured "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover". Sophie shares explanations of some of her hits and, for the first time, the tale behind a mysterious credit on one of her albums.
Hailing from Atlanta Georgia, it's fascinating to hear Tommy Roe recall the musical heroes he literally grew up with. In Part 1 of this interview you can listen as Tommy details the amazing start to his career and reveals his memories of writing many of his hits. The story of Tommy Roe's career continues in Part 2.
The story of Tommy Roe's career continues in Part 2 with even more stories concerning his hits. Tommy also chats about how some of his songs have been covered by other artists and do you know which hit song of his is actually named after one of his father's favourite expressions? If you missed Part 1 of the interview, it can be found here.
Singer/songwriter Nick Gilder first found fame in his native Canada as the lead singer of a "glam rock" band. Despite that band's success, Nick departed to chase the international fame he found with his song "Hot Child In The City". Nick reveals the meaning of "Hot Child" and tells about the huge hit he co-wrote for another band.
In a fascinating interview the singer/songwriter who made pina coladas famous with his song "Escape" tells the true story behind the song. Rupert Holmes also explains that he produced and played keyboards on a hit for a British band in the 70's, gave Michael Jackson advice early in his career and worked closely with Barbra Streisand....and that's just the start of his story!
"Heart-throb" and "guitar hero" were common descriptions for Peter Frampton in the 70's. He also created the biggest selling "live" album of the decade! Here Peter recalls the day he wrote two of his biggest hits, how he recorded with George Harrison on the epic "All Things Must Pass" plus tells what led to him playing on a famous movie theme.
Quote: "If vocal talent equalled financial success, Paul Carrack would be a bigger name than legends such as Phil Collins or Elton John." Paul has often been a quiet achiever as a session keyboard player as well as singer with bands such as Ace and Mike & The Mechanics. Here he chats about his career and explains the meaning behind the hit "How Long".
In Part 1 Justin Hayward explains how he began his professional career and signed a contract which gave someone else the rights to some of his best known songs. You'll hear the stories behind many of the Moody Blues hits and you'll also want to listen to Part 2 to hear about his involvement with "Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds".
