Join our
Wrokdown
facebook

Use our sponsors please

Despite the loss of most of his original band, Todd Hunter, founding member of Dragon, is still positive about the future, and has a new lineup and CD to prove it.  The reformation comes after 10 or so years writing songs for other performers, and music for film and TV. Wendy caught up with the band at Capers, and accompanied by the sound of Melbourne peak hour traffic, conducted an amusing interview.
DRAGON ARE RELEASING THEIR FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN 20 YEARS AT 'THE BASEMENT' ON AUGUST 13TH

Famous in the early 70's for their two hits 'Boppin the Blues' and 'Seasons of Change', Blackfeather have reformed under the original moniker.  Neale Johns, frontman and founding member, has procured the best musicians and songwriters to further the cause.  Brenden Mason and Kerry McKenna from 'Madder Lake', Mick Holden from the 'Hot City Bump Band' and Daryl Roberts from 'Hey Gringo' make up the rest of the outfit, and you will hear both old and new material. 
This is a live gig from the Corner Hotel Richmond.

In my opinion, the best guitar/harmony band that Australia ever produced.  Very under exposed, sadly because they formed just as over produced keyboard bands were starting.
Featuring Chris Stockley, Sam See and Glyn Mason as the original members and backed by Joe Imbroll (bass) and David Hicks (drums) these 3 brilliant songwriters are still at their peak, with new material not to be missed.
This is a live show at the Corner Hotel

We felt very honoured to have Phil Manning in the studio.  He said he felt honoured to be asked! But believe me, Aussie guitar heroes with his stature, from an era that spawned such a huge contingent of guitarists, could probably be counted on one hand.
Modern day guitarist/singers who strum a few chords could well learn from this all-rounder.  Phil still plays with Chain, while continuously releasing solo albums.

One of the great all rounders, Darryl Cotton has stayed in the entertainment industry by crossing to other forms of media.  From the successful 'Zoot', he played Marty the Monster's sidekick for 5 years on television, then played Joseph in 'Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat', and even did a stint on 'The Young Doctors'.
Now in the middle of working on a 'Zoot' DVD, PLUS doing an Australian Tour with the National Youth Choir, PLUS his many gigs with 'Cotton, Keays and Morris' (phew) it was hard to catch him.
But we were thrilled we did!

Yes - his name means 'horse' - his mother looked it up in a baby naming book!  But there is much more to this song, and to find out you'll have to watch this episode.  Ross became a famous singer songwriter quite by accident, by being in the right place at the right time.  He originally wanted to be a producer, but his obvious talent took him elsewhere.  It's a very interesting story, and you can find Ross at
http://www.rossryan.com/
 

A lot of people will remember Sam Biffi, as he featured on Channel 9's 'The Gift' last year as an organ donor recipient.  But what many of you don't know is that Sam is a well respected and much loved musician from the Melbourne cover band circuit.
In this inspiring interview, he speaks frankly about his illness before the operation, and how it has affected his life. 
Sam has also 'rewritten' the Enrique Iglesias hit song 'Hero'  which he sings and dedicates to his organ donor.
For further information on organ donation go to www.organdonor.com.au to register online.  Your local Medicare office also has the necessary forms, or call them on 1800 777203 to receive a registration information by mail.

Just after his interview, Sam was admitted to hospital for an operation on a brain tumor.  The operation was a success.

A dedicated jazz musician, Wilbur has been able to cross to different forms of media very comfortably.  Stage, TV, radio and film all feature heavily in his resume.  A fact you may not know is that his first small part in a feature film was in 'Mad Max'.  But you'll have to watch this episode to find out what the part was!

Wilbur played with Ol '55, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, did 750 performances of The New Rocky Horror stage show, and countless episodes of Hey Hey it's Saturday.
 

We feature a song at the end of Wilbur's episode by young up-and-coming singer Ngawara Madison.  She is part way through recording a collection of songs in Nashville, and wowed em all at Tamworth this year.
The featured song is 'Lonely Alone' and you can find Ngawara's website by clicking HERE.

Lead singer of 'The Groop', Ronnie Charles and the band won a trip to England.  After they returned, Ronnie packed his bags and went back for 15 years.  He successfully carved his own niche in the overseas marketplace after signing with a well known producer/manager.  After the untimely demise of the manager, with whom he was still contracted, Ronnie returned to Australia.
A very interesting story, and I wish we had more time to fit it all in!  We finish the episode with a never before seen clip from those years in the UK.

The boy from Wagga was the young local talented soprano before he heard 'The Shadows' and was instantly smitten.  He formed many local bands before heading to Melbourne and joining up with Jenny Johnston and Alex Kadell to become 'The Dream', which became 'The New Dream'.  They had a big hit with Jack singing 'Groupie'.

He now works full time in the industry as 'Jack the Music Man', whilst writing and recording his own cd's.