Everyone knows the Band Aid hit "Do They Know It's Christmas", but do you remember who sang the opening lines? Paul Young tells the story of how he was unintentionally given that honour. The stories behind his hits are covered as well as the voice issues that have been part of his lengthy career.
"Clair", "Get Down", "Ooh Wakka Doo Wakka Day" and "Alone Again (Naturally)" were just some of the hits of Gilbert O'Sullivan.....but there could have been many more! Gilbert tells how ground-breaking legal action put his career on hold for a number of years and made him an "outsider" in the music industry, BUT permanently changed things for the better.
Another of the acts now starring in Rock and Roll Heaven is Gene Pitney. In 2006 he died doing what he loved - touring. Just hours after a UK concert he suffered a heart attack in his hotel room which brought to an end a 45 year music career. There were many hits over the years and Gene shares some great hit stories here.
Three times (1976 - 78) she was "Australian Queen of Pop". Not a bad achievement for a girl who landed in Australia from Boston USA at just 16 years of age. Marcia Hines came half way around the world, alone, to star in the debut Australian version of the rock musical "Hair". It was just the first step in her pathway to Aussie stardom.
In Australia Graham Bonnet is best remembered as a solo artist, however internationally his biggest successes came with bands. In the 60's with The Marbles and then in 1979/80 as lead singer for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Two of his greatest hits came courtesy of Bee Gee Barry Gibb and the stories behind those hits are worth hearing!
Nothing needs to be said to embellish the career of American songwriter Diane Warren, the facts speak for themselves. With an amazing list of song writing credits, arm loads of awards and a bank balance we could only guess at......its not surprising to hear the music industry call Diane Warren: "the most important songwriter in the world".
The music of Bread has romantically inspired many people over many, many years. Yet some of the stories behind these hits could affect you in a different way. There's one Bread hit that many would consider to be a love song, which was actually written after the death of David Gates's father. Hearing David Gates tell the story behind this David Gates classic will touch you.
"Mamma Mia", the stage musical, brought ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus back to work in Australia for the first time since the 70's. In this interview with Ian Keenan he discusses how the musical came about, some trivia concerning ABBA hits and how Bjorn felt about touring in the 70's. You might also be interested to find out what was the biggest lie reported about ABBA.
Did you know that it's generally considered that the very first "disco" hit was written and produced by Harry Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band? The twist in the story is that KC didn't sing it! KC put his vocals on the many Sunshine Band hits but NOT on that ground breaking first disco hit. Hear the story in his interview with Ian Keenan.
Few people can claim an impact on the Aussie music industry as big as Harry Vanda's! From The Easybeats to AC/DC there's been many acts who owe their success to Harry Vanda & George Young. Producers, songwriters and band mates in both The Easybeats and Flash and The Pan, this interview was recorded just after the were given the award for "Best Australian Song" EVER!
