I sit here writing this thinking that I can't believe that Graham and I are on the eve of releasing our 25th CD, “Mumbo Jumbo”! It's been a long road getting here certainly, and I never could have imagined the career that we have been allowed to enjoy for such a long time.
I was born in Melbourne in Victoria, Australia on June the 15th 1949 to my parents Mal and Bette having my sister Gail preceded me by four years. We lived in the suburb of Brunswick close to an iron foundry and a brick works and although we were not wealthy, we were provided for to the best of my parent’s abilities.
My childhood was a happy one and there was always music in the house, my Dad was a singer in his younger years and my sister had a great voice too! My early school years were uneventful save for being struck by a truck when I was seven years old and on my way to school. My mother said I was never the same after that (joke!)
I really became interested in music when my sister bought a record player and I got to listen to her 12 inch long play records. Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Tony Bennett were among the great voices that I was exposed to. It wasn't until I was in High School that music really became important to me when one of my good friends handed me a single recording. He said, “You have to listen to this, it's a new band called The Beatles.” I was amazed at the raw, exciting sound, the vocals, everything. I was hooked!
In 1964, my cousin presented me with tickets for us to go and see The Beatles perform in Melbourne. They played six songs I think, and of course I could barely hear them above the screaming thousands that attended the concert. From that moment forward, I lived and breathed The Beatles, and to this day I believe that they are the greatest band that has ever existed.
I dropped out of high school when I was sixteen and worked in retail for some years and of course earning an income, as meager as it was, allowed me to purchase my own records which were basically everything The Beatles released and anything else that caught my ear, The Bee Gees were the most recognizable and local bands including The Twilights, The Purple Hearts and my favorite voice, John Farnham were all in my collection.
I never thought that I would have a career in music and lived my life through my teenage years, changed jobs a couple of times and eventually ended up being transferred with my office job to Sydney. In 1975 I was living with my girlfriend just north of Sydney and one day she arrived home from work and handed me a newspaper with a half page advertisement asking for singers to audition for the current production of Jesus Christ Superstar. After much conversation, I decided to take the chance so off I flew to Melbourne to audition. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say, after overcoming my nerves and the 300 other people there and being asked back a couple of times, I was asked to join the production.
On the 12th of May, 1975, I met Graham Russell and, as they say, the rest is history.
So here we are all these years later, numerous recordings, lots of hits, thousands of concerts and a passion for what we do that to this day has never diminished. Our newest recording, “Mumbo Jumbo,” is by far our most ambitious project ever. The most diverse spectrum of songs and sounds coupled with a concept that tells a story from beginning to end. Graham has truly outdone himself with the most memorable melodies and lyrics. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the time and effort that this project demanded of us and that you'll find something very special in each of the songs.
We look forward to 2010 with excitement and anticipation and we will do our best to once again bring you the songs you've come to love and songs from Mumbo Jumbo that will hopefully become a part of your lives as well.
