Entertainment For Lively Minds
Molly Meldrum: broadcasting legend
There was a bit of discussion over on another thread recently about Ian 'Molly' Meldrum - the DLT of Australia - and his contribution to broadcasting. Some say he's a national treasure, others a national joke.
I don't know enough to comment, but I'm hoping Mojo Working, Five Centres and Shane Pacey - at the very least - will have something to say on the matter.
For casual onlookers, here he is in a 'best of' collection of his show 'Countdown' - where a few international guests don't get in the way of it being pretty much a Moll-fest - broadcast in 1980.
National treasure or buffoon, there's an absolutely hilarious blooper compilation from his interview with Prince Charles which deserves wider viewing. As Molly would say "Do yourself a favour" and watch it! It's not embeddable but it's only 70 seconds of your time, here:
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I have two very strong memories of Molly
One negative, one positive
In one show he said he was sick of people claiming he praised everything and to prove it wasn't true he verbally shredded a new release and then threw the record over his shoulder as if to say "That's the last you'll ever hear of them"
It was by a group called "Two Nice Girls From Cincinatti" I remember thinking at the time "You wouldn't do that to a new Michael Jackson record you prick" It was just nasty and cowardly.
Another time he introduced Rapture by Blondie for it's first ever play on Aussie TV and he said "This is what music will sound like in the future." He wasn't far wrong.
For all his faults Molly would play just about anything on the show, he played The Scientists, The Birthday Party. He didn't push them the way he did bands like INXS but he did play them.
he got one of the best interviews out of Springsteen
when he was over promoting Tom Joad. He was told he would be allowed 15 mins with questions submitted before.
Meldrum wanted more and so managed to keep his interview going for 90 mins. Springsteen is clearly amused by his brass neck as well as aware that his "people" offscreen are getting more and more pissed off. However as Meldrum is clearly a fan and asked none of the usual questions he lets it run.
Afterwards Springsteen camp went ballistic and forbid him from broadcasting more than the first 15 mins. However as with all these things it is available
Well I hadn't heard of him before
But really enjoyed those clips. Nice to see Split Enz and Geldof slagging McCartney.
Great stuff, chaps...
...in particular, that's a great story DogFace - I don't believe I'll ever have time in my life for watching a 90 min Broooooce interview (though Heppo might), but it does at least show that he's genuinely interested in something and not just a media smarmster who has no interest in music at all (like Simon Bates or Noel Edmonds).
Keep 'em coming!
Meanwhile, this Molly interview with Tom Baker is priceless - Tom camps it up like there's no tomorrow (which, as the Doctor - or 'Doctor Who' as Molly keeps saying - is a bit of a reverse polarity neutron flow situation [or, to the rest of us, an oxymoron]):
"I'm in a permanent state of confusion"
Hysterically funny! We need to know more about Tom Baker.
His bumbling persona
is most of his charm. He would never deliver a particularly insightful review or interview, but his enthusiasm was genuine. I haven't looked at the clip, but I presume it includes Molly classics such as his interviews with Billy Idol and Iggy Pop.
In the late 80s and 90s he appeared as a regular on a dire Australian comedy program where he was regularly baited for his homosexuality. I always thought he handled the jibes with dignity and he went up considerably in my estimation.
Homosexual? Who knew!
...sounds like he took the ribbing (ONLY in Australia... well, almost...) rather better than the spectacularly camp, yet heterosexual, Lionel Blair - who retains a blistering sourness after years of lampooning for supposed gender related matters on BBC Radio 4's panel show 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue'.
Actually, his Idol and Pop interviews aren't in those particular clips...
I am aware of his work
I first saw him on the Australian Who Wants to Be a Millionaire celebrity edition, featuring him and Murray from the Wiggles (which, God help me, is the reason why I watched it). Molly, I think, got to at least $500,000 - looking bewildered throughout as if his answers were complete guesses - but I sense they weren't.
And sometimes over here in NZ he is referenced in Australian shows like Rove and the (excellent) Gruen Transfer. A British equivalent of DLT and/or Noel Edmonds? I'm not sure. He appears to be generally spoken about with affection.
That's interesting, Austin - thanks...
...I must admit I'm getting the impression from the above trawl of clips that he's a harmless enthusiast with a little bit of likeable self deprecation about himself. You'd certainly want to have a beer with him more than with Noel or Dave Lee, that's for sure...
I must watch the 'Long Way To The Top' series on DVD again - I retain an impression of him seeming self-important and a bit po-faced on that, in the interviews. Then again, they probably were asking him to talk about himself on that, so its a fine line to tread...
I had the same reaction....
....comparing him to DLT in any way would be a major insult to Molly. I'd have called a more like a camp, glam-era John Peel given his taste-making and trend setting (at least musically, not fashion wise) activities.
I suspect
Iggy may be "on" something here
I'm just another slimy bored...
This is one of my biggest Countdown memories. On Monday at school, one of the boys inevitably invented 'I'm just another slimy bored' as a catchphrase and then repeated it for the rest of the year. Was it 1980? Without videotape, we had to wait all week to see people like Iggy Pop or The Clash, then store it away like gold in our teenage brains, because we thought we would never see it again (no repeats). I also remember seeing The Go-Betweens performing Cattle and Cane in a barn they had mocked up in the studio...unbelievable stuff.
I knew...
...you'd pop round eventually! :-D
It goes without saying
that Molly co-presented the Aussie TV broadcast of Live Aid in 1985. The one single vivid memory I have of this is when, during the big finale of Let It Be, they cut back to the studio mid-song to show Molly and his "posse" with arms around each other, swaying to the music and with tears streaming down their faces.
It was definitely a triple sickbag moment.
Hmmm
I've only heard the "wink wink nudge nudge say no more" stories about molly back in the day and as unaccustomed as it is on this forum, I will keep them to myself.
But on a side note isn't he the person that John and Yoko told to tell the world that the Beatles had broken up?
Molly
You regularly see Molly Meldrum out and about at music gigs in Melbourne so he does love his music (unlike some music presenters/journos).
He often appears "tired and emotional" when anyone puts him live to air nowadays though.
Although, on the flip side, there's a troubling anecdote in Guy Pratt's "Bass And Other Animals" where Pratt has to evade Meldrum's clutches while on tour in Oz with Icehouse. Likens Molly to Jonathan King. (His words - not mine).
Isn't there that famous clip
Where Molly is at the "Disco Countdown" and is visibly on the bugle? Also Molly "heavily relaxed" and dancing at Sunbury to Billy Thorpe.
That's true
I've seen Molly at several gigs, including a Who concert in Melbourne.
Let's not forget though, he almost certainly gets in everywhere free.
How does he make a crust?
I've not seen him for years, I am in Brisbane so we only get Robert Forster at many of our gigs. But I haven't seen Molly do anything for quite a while.
I assume
he works for one of the cable networks these days. I sometimes see him pop up on Foxtel.
He ran a record company for many years too and I think his was the first label to sign Peter Andre!
And did he remember to do that, Luke?
...and why on earth would he be the go-to guy on that? amazing!
If you watch the end of the very first clip, above, it's clear that Bette Midler had also heard those stories you refer to.
Molly - don't get me started
When I arrived in Australia from NZ in the early 80's everybody religiously watched Countdown every Sunday evening. I could not believe this bumbling idiot who couldn't string a sentence together without umming and aahing for most of it.
OK so he was enthusiastic, but even that got out of hand the time he announced that an album by the Don't You Want Me Baby hitmakers was up there with Sgt Pepper and DSOTM.
D'oh!
As I mentioned on an earlier thread
it's on record that Molly was ejected from a 1964 Melbourne Beatles' concert for "screaming like a girl".
It's also said that during the Fabs' motorcade journey through Melbourne (during which a quarter of a million people lined the streets), Molly threw himself onto the bonnet of the car carrying the Beatles.
When that failed to get the desired response, he then pretented to be part of the security team and tried to hold back the hordes of fans.
I can't picture DLT doing that somehow.
My favourite Molly moment of that ilk
involves his beloved St Kilda Football Club.
I've heard him tell this tale many times. He was present at the MCG at their only Grand Final victory. They beat Collingwood by a point which would be great except Molly missed the game's ending because he fainted.
I used to work with Molly
on Countdown back in the "old days". To be honest, I thought the guy was an idiot. He had SO much power over what did or didn't get airplay/TV exposure - far too much for on one person. If you got him on a good day, he could be nice, co-operative, and downright reasonable. Then there were those OTHER days... ...
We surely can't leave it at that, Phil!
...the floor is yours...
Everything you care to know about Molly..
..is transmitted here by Rod The Mod's reaction to a particularly insightful query.
Priceless, Shane, priceless!
...have you ever, er, been involved with Molly (in a professional capacity)? Does he get in free at Bondi Cigars shows?
I was on Countdown a few times..
..back in the day, and from there I will draw a discrete veil.
Molly was very civil to me when I met him.
I think (like Elton) there lies a real music fan under all the fol-de-rol.
Well, you can't say fairer than that Shane...
...you met the guy, he was civil. Good on him!
But this discreet veil you speak of... we can't be having that! SURELY you'll allow us to see some of the footage? Is it on youtube? And if not, why not!
I was on Countdown once in the early 80's
fortunately the clip doesn't seem to have emerged on YouTube but here's the song from the record company's worst-selling album of the year
Wow
That's a real toe tapper
Well if only we had Dicky Knee
To ask all the tough questions of him. He could insinuate all matter of things about Molly’s private life to the masses
annoyingly inarticulate
not everyone is articulate
but for an interviewer it is important
Comedy doesn't get much better then this
http://youtu.be/n0VPIviw7Fc
Just as
"Molly" Meldrum is to DLT, so Aussie rock pundit Glenn A. Baker is to Paul Gambaccini.
Whenever something big happens in pop or someone dies, then it's guaranteed that Aussie TV will wheel him out.
Another classic case of the big fish in a small pond syndrome, Baker is, to be fair, a knowledgable chap with an obvious love of music (not mention questionable dress sense and a nice line in kooky hats, possibly hiding baldness).
He's also heavily involved with Aussie re-issue label Raven Records, which has been responsible for making available many long-deleted titles.
There's another guy, from 'Go-Set' in the '70s...
...who crops up in documentaries too - like the one on the Daddy Cool DVD. Portly chap, can't recall his name... any ideas?
And what about Ian McFarlane - he seems to be an incredibly prolific, very knowledgeable guy on Aussie rock - writes 90% of the always substantial Aztec Music label reissue sleevenotes...
Ian McFarlane
He's a prolific collector of Aussie records (or a prolific Aussie record collector) and this has developed into reissue sleeve notes and the like.
I've sold him a few items in the past and he seems like a decent bloke.
Can't think who the portly chap is. Any more details?
Can't think of any more details at the mo except...
...having gone through the alphabet in my mind (as I tend to do when I can't recall someone's name - often works... eventually!) I find it musing on the letter 'N'. Sedentary chap with several chins. If worst comes to worst I can always rewatch the Daddy Cool doc later... (A terrific DVD, incidentally - especially the only-broadcast-once 1972 doc on the band: a pristine quality film also featuring Spectrum and Pat Wilson).
When you're speaking to McFarlane next do tell him there's a bloke in Ireland who's most impressed by, and as a fascinated punter very grateful for, the effort he puts into his CD notes. He's doing posterity a great service!
Richard Clapton perhaps?
Dark glasses, owlish? Looks like an overweight Roy Orbison with long hair?
Ed Nimmervoll?
Ed Nimmervoll?
THAT'S...
...the guy! Thanks B. and glad to see that my A-Z technique didn't let me down!
I'm slightly familiar with Richard Clapton's music - can't get past his voice, though. Not my cup of tea...
I was thinking that it may be..
David N. Pepperrell actually.
You've just...
...made that name up, haven't you, Shane!
bumped into him a few weeks ago at a gig
david n peperell aka Dr Pepper was one of the first import record store owners in Melbourne
Meldrum and Fleetwood Mac
A possibly refreshed Molly asks inexplicable yet obvious questions, and receives somewhat incomprehensible answers from Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham. Made even funnier by the tape running slightly fast.
It is unlikely that any participants in this event would have passed a random drugs test upon completion.
This might be
The first Australian thread that has gotten into the Hot Topics,
Good work everyone involved
Indeed, but...
...what's happened to Mousey's video? I was unable to watch it when it was posted earlier and now, here I am, looking forward to some unsuccessful '80s pop music... and it's not there!
Come on Mouse - don't be so timid like, er, like a Mouse...
Well seeing you asked
'tis back up there.
Took it off cos it felt a bit own-trumpet-blowing-ish which I know is not regarded well round these parts.
Not at all, Mouse...
...I think there's a world of difference between sharing something about yourself in a conversation and trumpet-blowing. We're talking Aussie rock history here: and you're part of it! (Albeit a not very well known nor very large part of it!)
Decades after the event it sounds like you were exploring the little known grey area between Devo and Huey Lewis & The News - or am I completely off beam there? :-)
Devo - yes, we liked them...
...but the really big thing for us (ie songwriter Fane Flaws and myself) at the time was Elvis Costello's "Get Happy", which seems to be a largely forgotten album. We loved The Attractions, the great rhythm section and I loved Steve Nieve's keyboard playing.
I remember we also liked The Residents and the idea of anonymity (hence the masks in the clip). Certainly we succeeded in the anonymous department!
Fane and I are still working together as The Living Hamsters and here's our latest song/video "Permanent Battle"
"succeeded in the anonymous department"
...that's fantastic, Mouse! :-D Just got into work (and typically, for a semi-artificial govt job in the 70+% public sectorised NI, there's bugger all to do) and that raised a smile...
I'll check out the clip later (no audio here). But yes, now you mention it I can 'hear' the Steve N retro organ sound on your Greatest Hit...
Did you meet Molly or anyone else interesting back in the day?
Mousey...
...I don't know how much of this is down to the whisky (I've just had a shit day at work followed by a 4 hour evening course), but that track sounds terrific - nice one!
Damned...
...with faint praise? ;-)
Oh dear!
...that maybe didn't come across as well as it should have done! Look, Mouse - it's a bloody good track - but if you pass trebles of single malt round your audience before the shows it'll be EVEN more appreciated! :-D
n fact, lads, let's celebrate...
...the defeat of Australia by Ireland at rugby by... er, no, hang on... Right: let's celebrate the unexpected level of interest in this thread and the simultaneous first-time full CD release for Aussie rock legends Daddy Cool's 'Daddy Who?' album with this clip of Ross 'The Boss' and the boys from 1971. It's almost as if David Gray - latterday king of head-wobblery - was exposed to this kind of presentational method at an impressionable age. Plus it's a great song...
Daddy Cool were the best
I saw them at a reunion a few years ago and they were just as wonderful as ever. Ross Hannaford's guitar ...(bows in respect)...
As far as I'm concerned you can take your INXSs and yer Silverchairs and all the others and put em in a brown paper bag.
Well, might keep The Easybeats.
Daddy Who? Daddy Cool!
And the award for…
…the highest-slung guitar in pop history goes to, George Young of the Easybeats.
It's Deja Vu all over again, folks. I already posted this on another thread, but it fell on stony ground. Perhaps it will fare better here.
Here’s my copy of the 1965 debut Easybeats’ LP Easy. The little bloke with the Hofner Club 40 caressing his Adam’s apple is George Young, elder brother of Angus (you can see the family resemblance).
Over on the left with the big red Gibson 345 is Harry Vanda. After the Easybeats folded, the Vanda/Young partnership became legendary in Australia where they wrote and/or produced dozens of records for artists such as AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Cheetah, The Angels and John Paul Young.
Their best known song in the UK is probably John Paul Young's disco smash Love Is in the Air which was a worldwide hit in 1978, then again in 1997 as part of the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack.
Yet another member of the Young musical dynasty is Alex. He played (under the name George Alexander) with the Beatles-endorsed band Grapefruit .
The Easybeats' biggest hit by far was Friday On My Mind, a truly magical single which is often cited as the best Australian record ever. That's a mighty big claim, especially since not a single member of the Easybeats was born in Australia, Friday On My Mind was recorded in London at Abbey Road and it was produced by an American, Shel Talmy.
But it's still the best paean to teenage angst and frustration you'll hear this side of My Generation.
Aswell as
Being Flash and the Pan, who I hear are massive in Europe.
Very true Luke
The Young family has done quite nicely for themselves considering they started life in Australia as £10 Poms in the Villawood Migrant Hostel, which is now the infamous Villawood Detention Centre.
That's also where The Easybeats were formed, I believe.
According to Wiki:
The band's line-up exemplified the influence of post-war migration on Australian society. All five founding members were from families who had migrated to Australia from Europe: lead singer Stevie Wright and drummer Gordon "Snowy" Fleet were from England; rhythm guitarist George Young was from Scotland; lead guitarist Harry Vanda and bassist Dick Diamonde were from the Netherlands.
Nevertheless, Gerry Marsden had a lot to answer for...
...that guitar-round-the-neck business is NOT a good look.
It's a close-run thing
but I think Gerry has it by a short neck
Now we need the Jimmy Page/Ramones guitar-down-by-the-knees pic for comparison
Why
is Blue Peter / Flash Gordon's Peter Duncan in the middle seemigly disgusted after having "followed through"?
It did cross my mind
that that picture of Stevie Wright (for it is he) was a prime candidate for the "Rock stars breaking wind" thread.
Not stony ground exactly, Moje...
...more a case (for me anyway) of my PC taking ages to access that particular thread, groaning as it was under the weight of video clips!
Speaking of which, this is one of the best Aussie rock performances from the past couple of decades IMHO - the Angry Tradesmen from a fine Surf documentary a couple of years back. Fabulous energy in it (but no high-slung guitars, sadly):
Molly and Kate
God almighty
Kate Bush meets Leif Garrett....there should have been a matter/antimatter explosion or equivalent when that happened...
The past...
...is indeed a foreign country, isn't it? That whole clip feels like a vision from a lost world, or something that maybe never existed. It's all a dream... it's all laudanum and Lewis Carroll...
Based on that clip
I wonder if you look up "pillock" in the OED it says Molly Meldrum: Australian TV presenter. Ability to talk excitedly without making much sense.
I love how he draws the clear distinction between the "International rock scene" (ie UK/US) and the "Australian rock scene".
"talk excitedly without making much sense"
...there's a guy in Ireland called Dave Fanning who does pretty much the same thing, but with less charm...
Bad news on the Meldrum front
It seems Molly fell off a ladder at his home this afternoon and is in critical condition in a Melbourne hospital...hope he pulls through OK
Oh dear
I hope he pulls through. I missed this thread first time around, but from what I've seen I'd say he's done a lot for Aussie music, both at home and abroad.
To some he's a Jonathan King figure, but he's so much more than that.
Yes, it's big news here
It seems he fell off the roof at his home in Richmond in Melbourne. I've not been very charitable to him in this thread, but I really hope he pulls through.
Would it be fair to say...
...his popularity has suddenly gone through the roof?
But yes... gallows humour aside, also wishing him well.
I've just checked the Aussie news sites...
...apparently he didn't fall off a ladder, he fell off/from a spa.
Can any of our Oz friends explain this? How do you fall off a spa?
Quote from ABC website
"Ambulance officers were called to Meldrum's home in Richmond just before 7pm (AEDT) after he apparently fell around three metres while putting up Christmas decorations around his spa area".
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-15/man-rushed-to-hospital-after-ladde...
One of his representatives was also quoted somewhere...
...saying "He'll be okay - he was wearing his hat". seriously!
Do you think
he had an emu up there with him?
If I hear Molly described as a
"Rock Guru" by the Aussie media one more time....
What does that even mean?
It sounds like an aboriginal word...
...or at least an abbreviation of one: 'rockgurumurumurabajagal' - which possibly translates as 'exciteable man in a hat'.