Breakfast Club Blog
Another Great Man. Normie Rowe.
4 July 2008
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Yesterday I blogged about Mex Merritt and his medical woes.
Then, on the program, we spoke to the mighty Max who, despite his auto-immune disease and desperate need for a kidney transplant, is as chipper and happy as ever.
I also mentioned how heaps of musicians from across Australia have come together to do a DVD, Concert for Max, proceeds of which will go to help Max’s medical expenses.
You can buy the DVD at maxmerritt.com.au
One of the people on the album is the 1960s Australian superstar Normie Rowe, who still sings like a dove. He was in a show with my missus aboiut 15 years ago and he did a killer version of Cole Porter’s I Love Paris. This guy can do anything.
Yesterday Normie also came into the Club to chat about Max, and just about everything really.
He was joined by our Dr Ron and we had a whale of a time. There was so much more I wanted to speak with Normie about. Like how his pop stardom in 1966 came to a rapid end when he was conscripted to fight in the war in Vietnam. He saw a lot of bad things in that war, and he says his life was never the same. We’ll talk with him about that some other time.
If you get a chance, have a listen to the Normie and Max interviews. They’re together at radioaustralia.net.au/breakfastclub
You’ll get a chance to feast on their music too. It was pretty hot.
And thanks Gus by the way for your kind comments from the last blog. We love reaction to the blog. Keep ‘em coming folks.
- Phil
Max Merritt. A Loved Legend.
3 July 2008
Last night I went to a special function. It was a launch of a DVD featuring Australian rock luminaries from the 1960’s and 70’s playing in a concert. Normie Rowe, Doug Parkinson and many others belted out tunes with passion and voices that were as good or better than they ever were.
This passion was stirred by the fact that their great friend and fellow star, Max Merritt was seriously ill with kidney disease, and needed their help.
That’s why they were on the DVD. The proceeds were going towards helping Max. And last night all the people involved were together in the same room in Melbourne’s gorgeous Palais Theatre to launch the DVD and to pay tribute to Max.
What was fantastic about the night was the love. Speech after speech was made by people who obviously adore Max Merritt. There were plenty of stories of how Max started their careers or at least influenced them. There were tears, not the least from Max himself.
He was a bit emabrrassed by it all though. As the speechmakers were gushing over him, Max sat along at a nearby table with his head in his hand, occcasionally flicking me a bemused glance when words like ‘trailblazer’ and ‘greatest’ were tossed out.
To be at such a place for such an occasion makes you realise how our community can really be a community. Rock people are rarely rich, despite their hit singles, yet they still give their time and art to help one of their kind.
I’m honoured that I was asked to be there.
Max, by the way, will be on the Club this morning. have a listen if you can.
- Phil
More Than One Wife? Kill Me Now.
2 July 2008
It’s not that I don’t love women, but one is enough for me.
At the moment the wife is working in Sydney and I have the house to myself (well, myself and the dog), and when she returns for a weekend visit, the place goes into turmoil. Any little nothing that I have inadvertedly moved during her time away is spotted and put back exactly as SHE wants it to be. Every plant is inspected and I am blamed for every curled leaf. I can no longer go to bed early (remember: I do a Breakfast show) because if I trot off to the bedroom before 9pm this is considered to be proof that I don’t love her so much anymore. As if it’s compulsory that I stay up to watch a DVD of Little Women, a movie she cries in and I try not to sleep through.
Yes, one of her, adorable as she is, is enough.
So I can only think it bizarre when men want to take more than one wife. This has been one of the big issues of the last week, with a Muslim group advocating the legalisation of polygamy here in Australia. We’ve spoken to some guests about this over the last few days, and it’s surprised both Addy and myself that some of these regular Breakfast Club friends have been living in poylgamous relationships for some years. They, women, seem pretty happy about it, although they say the rules have to be set at the beginning.
Now some men might see this as alluring. Your own private harem. But we know that it doesn’t work out like that. We’re dealing with people here folks. To make a multiple marriage work would take a lot of effort. Polygamy is standard pratice in some cultures, and they make it work based on respect and co-operation.
As for me. Noooeeoowwww…
- Phil
You Can Be a Star
1 July 2008
We had a great day on the Brekkie Club yesterday.
One of our listeners, Gus from Vietnam had sent in an audio file of his band, and it was pretty cool. In fact the reaction to the song was so good that it might even make it onto the Brekkie Club Top Ten.
That’s what we want. New music. We want to be more than a show that plays just the established record company offerings. We’ll still do that, but we want to help smaller musicians to get a break too.
So thanks Gus for your song.
We’re doing more than that though. Radio Australia has just started a program called Pacific Break, which encourages musicians from across the Pacific to send us their recordings, and they can win prizes. The man behind the competition is Steve Hassett, a musician of some note here in Australia, and all round good guy.
No longer will you have to hide your musical light under a bushell of self-doubt.
So whether you’re a hopeful band in the pacific, (or anywhere in the world really), send your stuff to us, and who knows?
- Phil
Water. How Can Something So Simple Become So Political?
30 June 2008
This morning we spoke with Elizabeth Royte, who has examined the bottled water industry.
And it is some industry! Over the last eighteen years it has grown from a 115 million dollar industry in the US to 11 Billion.
Is this a good thing? Is it just as good to be drinking from the tap. Elizabeth says, in the US at least, tap water is just as good as bottled water. Indeed my dentist says I should drink tap water as much as possible, because here in Australia our water is fluoridated (he says fluorine fights tooth decay, although there are plenty of fluoridation opponents who disagree).
In many countries that we broadcast to across the oceans, safe drinking water is an isssue, and often tourists and locals are urged by health authorities to drink bottled water.
Which brings us to a big issue: is there enough good water in the region? According to a guest from last week, Colin Chartres from the International Water Management Institute, too much water is being wasted. It takes one litre of water to grow one CALORIE of food, which means the average Australian consumes up to 3000 litres of water in their food alone. Heavy meat eaters consume even more since cattle, piggies and sheep have to graze for a long time before they get the chop.
Bottom line is: if you’re got good water, count yourself lucky, and please don’t abuse the privilege. There are plenty of people who are wasting it. And plenty more who need the stuff.
- Phil
