Gavin Wood's Podcast

Graham William Nash OBE (born 2 February 1942) is an English-American musician, singer and songwriter. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997 and as a member of the Hollies in 2010.He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to music and to charity. Nash holds four honorary doctorates, including one from the New York Institute of Technology, one in music from the University of Salford in 2011 and one in fine arts from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Susan Kay Quatro was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1950, and grew up pursuing performing. Suzi was playing bongos on stage with her father’s jazz band by the age of eight, and by 14 she’s changed her name to Suzi soul and had left school to become a Go-Go dancer.

By the age of 15, Suzi was fronting the band the Pleasure Seekers, with her sisters. The band toured the country and were invited to Vietnam to entertain troops, before changing their name to Cradle in the early 1970’s and transitioning to a more hard-rock sound.

It was performing with Cradle where Suzi was first noticed by British producer Mickie Most, who was interested in Suzi as a solo performer. Mickie invited her to London and introduced her to professional songwriters Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, which turned out to be a winning formula.

In 1973, “Can the Can” flew to number one and went on to sell two and a half million copies worldwide. Between 1973 and 1980, Suzi featured in the British charts for no less than 101 weeks, and has sold to date over 55 million records.

Since then, she has released fifteen studio albums, ten compilation albums, and one live album. Other songs, including "48 Crash", "Daytona Demon", "The Wild One", and "Your Mama Won't Like Me", also charted highly overseas.

While Suzi enjoyed great success both in the UK and Australia, she is mostly known in the US for her cameo on hit TV show Happy Days as Leather Tuscadero. However the appearance might’ve helped her duet "Stumblin' In" with Smokie's lead singer Chris Norman reach No. 4 in the US.

Suzi is still active, writing, broadcasting, recording, and this year she’s embarking on her 38th tour of Australia.

On this episode, Gavin catches up with Australian media personality and radio broadcaster – Philip Brady OAM.

Philip Brady OAM is one of the country’s most experienced and familiar radio broadcasters, with a career spanning more than 6 decades.

From Kennedy to Vizard, Newton to Hogan, Philip has collaborated with Australia’s most iconic personalities.

Philip’s career started in tandem with the early beginnings of Australian television transmission in the late 1950s.

Like many of Australia’s media greats, he got his start providing voiceovers on Channel 9 and making appearances on Graham Kennedy’s In Melbourne Tonight.

Philip’s most substantial work came from his nearly 30-year position as host of 3AW’s Nightline program.

Just last year, Philip celebrated 65 years in the media industry, and is still co-hosting Remember When on 3AW with Simon Owens.

In 2018 Philip was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the broadcast media industry

Beyond broadcasting, Philip is a long-time supporter of The Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria and is one of the Australia Day Ambassador Program’s longest-serving members.

Listen to the podcast now to hear as Gavin catches up with one of Australia’s most enduring media personalities – Philip Brady:

On this episode of Gavin Wood’s Countdown podcast, Gavin catches up with American singer, songwriter and composer - Jimmy Webb.

Jimmy Webb achieved success from a young age, aged just 21 when he won his first Grammy Award, winning Song of the Year in 1967, for the song, “Up, Up, and Away”.

As well as “Up, Up, and Away”, Jimmy has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst That Could Happen", "Galveston" and "All I Know".

Throughout his career he collaborated with top tier musicians such as Glen Campbell, Michael Feinstein, Linda Ronstadt, the 5th Dimension, the Supremes, Art Garfunkel and Richard Harris.

In 1986 Jimmy was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 1990 he joined the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. A celebrated artist, Jimmy picked up the National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, the Songwriters Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award in 2003, the ASCAP "Voice of Music" Award in 2006 and the Ivor Novello Special International Award in 2012.

Jimmy is the only artist ever to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration, and according to BMI, his song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was the third most performed song in the 50 years between 1940 and 1990.

Tommy Emmanuel was a working

He has never had a formal guitar

Tommy’s guitar skills grew from

After years as a popular sideman and

A four-time winner of Australia's

Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the Pyromania album. Prior to joining Def Leppard, Collen had

Born Christopher John Cheney in 1975, Chris graduated with a VCE from Wheelers Hill Secondary College. Chris played guitar since age 6 and studied jazz at Box Hill Tafe in 1994-95. However, it was at a barbecue Chris' was introduced by his sister to Scott Owen. In 1992 they formed a cover band called 'The Runaway Boys' taken from a Stray Cats song of the same name which performed covers of the band's songs with the odd original song thrown in.

In 1994 he got his first album with The Living End who formed with a drummer called Joe Piripitzi who was later kicked out for musical differences. In 1995 the EP 'Hellbound' was released and The Living End was made. In 1996 they released another EP called 'It's For Your Own Good' and had success by sending a T-shirt to Green Day for a gig as their supporting act.

In 1997 after Joe was replaced with new drummer Trav Demsey, The Living End cut their first single, entitled "Prisoner Of Society/Second Solution". Two songs from their debut album. This followed up with more success of their self-titled album 'The Living End'. In 2000 this followed with the album 'Roll On'.

In 2001 Chris was involved in a severe car accident with his girlfriend Emma who escaped with minor injuries but left Chris in a wheelchair with a broken leg and 3 pins to replace some of the muscle that was damaged. After 2 years of resting and writing songs for the new album they were back in the studio where Trav quit due to a disliking of heavy touring and to spend more time with his family. The Living End were stranded. They spent two days auditioning 40 drummers of which the first was Andy Strachan. Their current drummer. The boys hit the studio and recorded a 14 track album entitled 'Modern ARTillery' which was released in 2003. In 2004 the boys hit the studio once more to record 2 more tracks, "I Can't Give You What I Haven't Got" and "Bringin' It All Back Home". This was a greatest hits album called 'From Here On In: The Singles (1997-2004)'. The same year he formed tribute super group The Wrights with Nic Cester (Jet) - Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger) - Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon) - Kram (Spiderbait) - Davey Lane (You Am I/The Pictures) and Pat Bourke (Dallas Crane). He performed with the band as the lead and rhythm guitarist for parts 1 and 3 respectively and later released Stevie Wrights hit Evie with all three songs of "Evie: (Let You Hair Hang Down)", "Evie: (Evie)" which Chris was not involved with and "Evie: (I'm Losing You)".

It wasn't until 2005 the boys hit the studio again to record the fifth album entitled "State Of Emergency" released in 2006. After almost a year and a half of touring Chris left the band and took up yoga and painting while his other band mates hit the surf. It wasn't until late 2007 that they hit the studio again to write and rehearse songs which resulted in the band's sixth studio album 'White Noise' with a single of the same name.

Since then the boys have been performing to the general public throughout Australia, Japan, USA and more.

Peter first came to prominence with Stylus in 1975, releasing four albums with hits such as ‘Summer Breeze’ and ‘World of Make Believe’ before the band split in 1980.

A successful solo career followed throughout the 80’s, with a top 20 hit for his first release, ‘Fear of Thunder’, and success with the song ‘Blame it on the Weather’ – not only for Peter but also for John Farnham, whose voice, incidentally, Peter’s soaring vocals are often compared to. Peter also became a regular on TV shows such as The Midday Show, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Tonight Live, and Carols by Candlelight at the Myer Music Bowl.

Other albums released include ‘Still Alive’ (with a reformed Stylus); ‘Changes’, ‘Bac2basix’ – a roots album filled with wonderful storytelling songs such as ‘Pioneers’, ‘Family’ and the ‘Poor Man’s Al Jolson; a jazz standards album, ‘About Time’; and ‘Home Grown’ – Peter’s own tribute to some of his favourite Aussie artists.

Over the last decade, Peter has toured both solo and with Stylus, and with his close friend, Australian rock legend, the late Jon English. Their collaborative show, Uncorked’, filled with nostalgia and good humoured banter, delighted audiences everywhere throughout Australia.

Peter works with many charities and has written songs for the ‘Make a Wish Foundation’ and the ‘Sacred Heart Foundation’.

His album, ‘OBSERVATIONS’ – which he describes as ‘a collection of songs that look at the heart of our everyday existence, some personal, some not’ – was released in October 2016. “I am extremely proud of this album,’ says Cupples. “I truly believe it is probably one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

He is now bringing a night of great entertainment to the Taphouse with the songs of Burt Bacharach. From 'Say a Little Prayer' to 'What the World Needs Now' enjoy the songs you know and love.

Melbourne-born sisters, Vika and Linda Bull, grew up singing at church, and were taught how to harmonize by their Tongan mother.

The talented siblings first made their mark as members of Joe Camilleri’s The Black Sorrows in the late 1980s, also providing backing vocals for other artists including Hunters and Collectors, Archie Roach, John Farnham, Deborah Conway, and Paul Kelly.

In 1994 they left the band to launch their own career as a duo, releasing their debut self-titled album that same year. The album was produced by Kelly, and peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Albums Chart, reaching certified platinum and nominated for an ARIA Music Award in 1995 for 'Breakthrough Artist – Album'.

Vika and Linda had four singles, “Hard Love”, "We've Started a Fire", "When Will You Fall For Me", and "House of Love”, the latter two were featured as backing music on the soap opera, Home and Away.

The pair have since had near-inseparable careers, releasing eight studio albums and twenty-one singles, collaborating closely with the likes of Paul Kelly, Diesel and Renée Geyer and cementing their place as national musical treasure.

Vika and Linda have a long and decorated music career, with constant critical acclaim, including four ARIA Award nominations for Best Adult Contemporary Album, a Special Recognition Award at the Pacific Music Awards, and performed the national anthem at the AFL Grand Final.

In 2019 they were inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame and in 2020, their retrospective album 'Akilotoa: Anthology (1994-2006) entered the Australian charts at number one, making Vika and Linda the first Australian female duo to debut at No. 1. They are currently finalists for the Artistic Excellence Award at the 2023 Australian Women in Music Awards.

Their music has traversed genres over the past three decades, incorporating rock, country, gospel, reggae, R&B, soul and blues, as well as paying tribute to their rich Tongan heritage.