Gavin Wood's Podcast

Born on 10 May 1946 in Manchester, Graham was given his first guitar at the age of 11 and started playing with local bands at 15. He received early encouragement to develop his musical talent from his mother Betty and father Hymie, who also contributed with suggested lyrics and song titles.

Graham played with various Manchester bands before forming The Mockingbirds in 1965 (with Kevin Godley on drums), and when the record label Columbia rejected Graham’s first single composition for the band, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The song, For Your Love, became a huge hit for The Yardbirds.

Working by day in a men’s outfitters shop and playing by night with his semi-professional band, Graham went on to write a string of hits, such as Pamela, Pamela for Wayne Fontana, For Your Love, Evil Hearted You and Heart Full of Soul (The Yardbirds), Bus Stop and Look Through Any Window (The Hollies), No Milk Today and Listen People (Herman’s Hermits), and Tallyman for Jeff Beck.

In 1972, along with Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, he formed 10cc and enjoyed a string of Top 10 hits, including three No 1s – Rubber Bullets, I’m Not In Love and Dreadlock Holiday – along with Donna (No 2), Art For Art’s Sake and Good Morning Judge (both reaching No 5), The Things We Do For Love and I’m Mandy Fly Me (6), and The Wall Street Shuffle (10).

It’s the enduring popularity of these tracks, along with others such as Bridge To Your Heart from Graham’s time in Wax with the late Andrew Gold and songs from film soundtracks including Animalympics, that led to the formation of Heart Full of Songs. Needless to say, the band also features tracks from Graham’s acclaimed solo albums, And Another Thing, Love And Work, Play Nicely And Share and 2020’s Modesty Forbids.

Patrick Simmons born October 19, 1948 is an American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band The Doobie Brothers (whom he was inducted as a member of into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the only consistent member of the band throughout their tenure.

In 1970, a California-based power trio consisting of Tom Johnston, Skip Spence, and John Hartman, teamed up with Simmons to form a group together. They would call themselves “The Doobie Brothers”, after their friend Keith "Dyno" Rosen, who either lived with or next to the band told them

Why don't you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you're always smoking pot?

Simmons wrote and sang many songs for the Doobie Brothers, including "South City Midnight Lady", "Dependin' On You", "Echoes of Love", "Wheels of Fortune" and "Black Water", the group's first #1 record.

Patrick sang lead on many Doobie Brothers songs, such as Listen to the Music.

The group's 1978 studio album, Minute by Minute, which reached number one for five weeks, and won the band a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, while the single "What A Fool Believes" from the album won three Grammys itself.

The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 200 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 7, 2020.[2][3] The group has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.

Mark Jeremy Seymour (born 26 July 1956)   is an Australian musician and singer best known for his work as the frontman and songwriter of rock band Hunters & Collectors.

In 1997, whilst still officially part of Hunters & Collectors he released his debut solo album King Without a Clue, which earned him a nomination in the ARIA Awards for Best Male Artist (as well as Best Debut Single with Last Ditch Cabaret). In 1998, Hunters & Collectors officially split up.

Seymour later released a live DVD/CD in 2001 entitled One Eyed Man, Embedded in 2004, and 2005's Daytime & the Dark. His fourth solo studio album, titled Westgate was released in June, 2007.

Seymour continues to tour, focusing on mostly small acoustic performances.

On this episode of Gavin Wood’s Countdown podcast, Gavin chats to Gary Puckett, solo artist and the lead singer of 60’s American pop/rock group Gary Puckett & The Union Gap.

Active in the late ‘60’s Gary Puckett & The Union Gap rose to prominence worldwide with hit singles "Woman, Woman", "Young Girl", "Lady Willpower", and "Over You", all achieving top 10 chart positions in the US, UK, and here in Australia.

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap were one of the few artists whose first five releases went gold. Not even Elvis accomplished this.

In 1968, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap had 6 consecutive gold records and sold more records that year than any other recording act, including The Beatles.

Gary played a command performance at the White House for Prince Charles and Princess Anne by special invitation of President Richard Nixon.

Once The Union Gap disbanded in 1971, Gary went on to work in theatre and perform solo. He was billed for the first Monkees reunion tour in 1986 and made more than 50 television appearances.

The Gary Puckett & The Union Gap's "Greatest Hits" album is one of CBS's bestselling "Collector's Series" albums today.

1927 are an Australian pop rock band formed in 1987 with James Barton on drums, Bill Frost on bass guitar, his brother Garry Frost on guitar and keyboards, and Eric Weideman on vocals, guitar and keyboards. They were popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their major hit songs "That's When I Think of You", "If I Could", "Compulsory Hero" and "Tell Me a Story". Their multi-platinum number-one album, ...ish (1988) was followed by The Other Side (1990). At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they won two categories: Breakthrough Artist – Album for ...ish and Breakthrough Artist – Single for "That's When I Think of You". At the 1990 ceremony they won Best Video for "Compulsory Hero", which was directed by Geoff Barter. In 1992 the group released a third studio album, 1927, which reached the top 40; but they disbanded the following year. Weideman reformed 1927 in 2009 with a new line-up.

Norman John Rowe AM (born 1 February 1947)[1] is an Australian singer and songwriter of pop music and an actor of theatre and soap opera for which he remains best known as Douglas Fletcher in 1980s serial Sons and Daughters. As a singer he was credited for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence. Many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Nat Kipner and later by Pat Aulton, house producers for the Sunshine Records label. Backed by his band, The Playboys, Rowe released a string of Australian pop hits on the label that kept him at the top of the Australian charts and made him the most popular solo performer of the mid-1960s. Rowe's double-sided hit the A-side, a reworking of the Doris Day hit "Que Sera Sera" /with b-side a cover of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates "Shakin' All Over" was one of the most successful Australian singles of the 1960s.

Between 1965 and 1967 Rowe was Australia's most popular male star but his career was cut short when he was drafted for compulsory military service (called National Service in Australia) in late 1967. His subsequent tour of duty in Vietnam effectively ended his pop career. Unable to recapture the musical success he enjoyed at his peak in the 1960s, he carved out instead a career in theatre and television.

Michael Glenn Chugg AM (born 15 June 1947) is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman and concert tour promoter. As a promoter and manager he was a founder of Frontier Touring Company (1979–99) and Michael Chugg Entertainment (2000–present). On 8 June 1998, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation "for service to music and the performing arts, particularly in relation to the promotion of Australian artists and to fundraising for youth and children's charities". In 2010, he co-authored his autobiography, Hey, You in the Black T-Shirt: The Real Story of Touring the World's Biggest Acts, with journalist, Iain Shedden. In March 2014 on the 50th anniversary of his start as a promoter, Denis Handlin (ex CEO of Sony Music Australia) opined "Chuggy is noisy, wild, cantankerous, the oldest teenager I know and very often a nightmare to deal with. But somehow we all love him because he lives and sweats the business with 100 per cent persistence and passion". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019 Chugg received the ARIA Industry Icon Award.

Reyne was born in Lagos, Nigeria.

He formed a band called Spiff Rouch. By early 1978 Spiff Rouch had split, and Reyne formed Clutch Cargo, with Binks, Robinson, Williams and his younger brother David Reyne.

In late 1978, Clutch Cargo was renamed Australian Crawl and started to gain popularity on the pub circuit. The band went on to sell more than one million albums in Australia in the 1980s.

In 1987, Reyne released his self titled debut solo album and started the "Rip it Up" tour. The first two singles released from the album, "Fall of Rome" and "Hammerhead.

His debut was followed in May 1989 by his next solo release, Hard Reyne, which featured the hits "House of Cards" (#17 ARIA Charts and "One More River" (#22 ARIA Charts.

In 1991, Electric Digger Dandy was released. ". It remains Reyne's highest-charting album in Australia, reaching No. 3 on the ARIA albums chart.

In 1992, he recorded a duet with country singer James Blundell. Later that year he joined former Sherbet frontman Daryl Braithwaite, Jef Scott and Simon Hussey to create the album Company of Strangers, which spawned three Australian top 50 singles: "Motor City ,"Sweet Love", "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star.

October 1994 saw the release of his fourth album, on the RooArt label, The Whiff of Bedlam, recorded in Los Angeles with Stewart Levine.

Reyne returned to the studio in 1997 to work with producer Ashley Caddell. Now signed to Village Roadshow Music, the first release was "Brand New Emperor's Clothes" in October 1997.

In 2004 he released Speedboats for Breakfast, which included the singles "Bug" and "The Rainbow's Dead End".

Reyne hosted Dig, a music show on ABC2 (2006–2007), and made an appearance on The AFL Footy Show in Melbourne in 2006. In May 2007, he released a new studio album, Every Man a King, which features the singles "Light in the Tunnel" and "Little Man You've Had a Busy Day". A second acoustic album, Ghost Ships, was released in September 2007.

In April 2010 Reyne released, TCB (Taking Care of Business), a collection of Elvis Presley covers. The album debuted at number 32 on the ARIA Albums chart.

In the Australia Day Honours of 2014, Reyne was recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division "for service to the performing arts as a singer/songwriter, and through support for a range of charitable organisations".

Universal Records released a two-CD set, The Anthology, on 1 August 2014. The double album featured all of Reyne's earlier hits on Disc 1 and a collection of his more recent material and radio singles on the Disc 2. In late 2014, Reyne launched a "James Reyne Plays Australian Crawl" series of shows across Australia. Performing only songs from the Australian Crawl catalogue, Reyne stated it was the closest thing to a reunion as fans were ever to get.

In July 2019, Reyne released an original song titled "Fearless" for the Australian film Palm Beach soundtrack.

In April 2020, Reyne announced the release of his twelfth studio album Toon Town Lullaby, alongside the album's lead single of the same name. Toon Town Lullaby released in July 2020.

Temperley was born in 1978 in Mosman Park, Western Australia, and grew up in Fremantle. At seven years of age, his name was changed to 'Satyam Kavyen Temperley'—Temperley is his mother's maiden name and 'Satyam Kavyen' means "Poet of Truth".

The Temperley family were members of the 'Orange People' (Rajneesh movement) and made trips to India as well Oregon, United States, throughout the early 1980s.

Between the ages of seven and 12, Temperley attended the Lance Holt School, a Fremantle community school. At the age of thirteen, he accompanied his mother on a trip to India, where they stayed at the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune. It was during this trip that he enrolled in an international alternative boarding school in Devon called Ko Hsuan that is based on the teachings of controversial Indian mystic Osho. Temperley was accepted as a boarder and remained at the school for a year:

“That was an amazing place, musically. They had a really good music room. If we had two periods of math, in between we'd run off and jam for 10 minutes. We'd come back and be totally chilled because we'd gotten all that nervous energy out of our systems.”

Temperley referred to his time at Ko Hsuan as his "saving grace", and it was there that he discovered a passion for music before he returned to Fremantle and John Curtin High School due to homesickness:

“Then I thought I was going to become an actor until I started wagging school and writing songs.”

Kav Temperley was frontman, bassist and songwriter of legendary Australian Rock band and 1990’s Indie icons, Eskimo Joe. With 6 studio albums under their belts and sales in excess of 750,000, in Australia alone, the band has seen 3 of those albums debut at number 1 on the ARIA charts, with steamroller ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ shining for a monster 62 weeks in the ARIA Chart Top 50 and “Foreign Land”, from their 4th album ‘Inshalla', bringing home 2 APRA Awards, for Most Played Rock Song on Australian radio and Best Rock Song of 2010.

Austen Tayshus is always, as a matter of principle, pushing the boundaries, and entering the quagmire of Political Correctness throwing hand grenades all to stomp on narrow-mindedness and mediocrity to wake people up to alternative ideas.

He performs anywhere-from outback bowls clubs, to hipster pubs in Melbourne and Adelaide, Universities, Theatres, and Rock Concerts all over Australia, to refine  and define his craft.

When he strides on stage no-one he knows what is going to happen. He can improvise brilliantly, impersonate creatively, offend everyone, satirise anything and talk louder than anyone. He magically creates a masterful night of gut- laughing totally uncensored, exciting entertainment

Some people don’t like it, so he goes in harder. He shakes it up. He can control anY audience. If they do not like it, they should have stayed at home.

This is how he makes a living. Driving thousands of kilometres, a year, he has seen more of Australia than any other performer. He keeps doing it because   he loves it.

His biggest hit ‘Australiana,’broke sales records in Australia in 1983. It was on top  of the charts for 13 weeks and was the biggest selling single of the year and  remains the biggest selling Australian Single EVER.

But it is his love of Stand-Up that rules his life. He is a complete master at it. No audience, no hecklers, no drunken behaviour escapes his sharp tongue. He has never been one for the comfortable life, the easy fix, the day job, the tv talk show noddy drip feed, the comfort zone or the chasing of accolades.