W.O.C.K on Vinyl: Various - AFL Footy Favourites (1981)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
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You've probably heard them belt out renditions of the club theme song after a win, so it can hardly come as a surprise that as singers, most AFL players make good footballers.

Whenever attention turns to the subject of AFL league footballers singing, the reference point is the 1981 LP Footy Favourites. One player from each of the then 12 VFL clubs was roped into recording a song, the brainchild of Jeff Joseph, a music manager who also looked after the affairs of footballers such as Trevor Barker and Tony Lockett (Alas Plugger). Apparently a similar rugby league version did well in the northern markets, but that's not saying much back here in AFL territory.

Back in 2008, several of the players spoke to the Herald Sun’s Jon Anderson about the experience.

Swans ruckman Barry Round, a big country and western man, somehow ended up sing Elton John’s "Little Jeannie", and although reluctant at first “after 14 cans I wanted to do the whole album’’.

Former Collingwood captain Ray Shaw (Danny Boy), recorded his effort a couple of days after doing his knee, and said the guidance of musicians Peter Cupples and Gene Pierson, “made a very, very ordinary effort sound very ordinary’’.

Melbourne great Robbie Flower, probably the skinniest footballer ever to be inducted into the hall of fame (182cm, 68kg), sang the Village People’s "Macho Man", “such an appropriate song for someone built like me’’.

Shaw reckons the players were paid $342 — “a dollar for each record sold’’. [by Warwick Green, Herald Sun, May 6, 2014]

  
Following the release of the N.S.W Footy Favourites LP, Victoria released their album in 1981 on Studio One Records. Here your football stars sing their favourite hits. The album was engineered by John French and recorded at Flagstaff Studios West Melbourne, and remixed a EMI Sydney. The vocal production was by Gene Pierson and Peter Cuppies. Contributing to this album are Tim Watson (Essendon), Trevor Barker (St.Kilda), Ray Shaw (Collingwood), Wayne Schimmelbusch (North Melb.), Barry Round (South Melb.), David Cloke (Richmond), Michael Turner (Geelong), Laurie Serafini (Fitzroy), Mark Maclure (Carlton), Michael Moncrieff (Hawthorn), Robert Flower (Melbourne) and Kelvin Templeton (Footscray). Here to download is the LP "Footy Favourites" (SO 802). All the players appear by kind permission of their respective clubs and the V.F.L. Football players liaison: Jeff Joseph.

Comment: I remember 3XY played a couple of songs from the album just to be polite really. They were AWFUL!! I also remember reading that the project ultimately lost Thirty Thousand Dollars.

SO WHAT ARE THEY ALL DOING NOW?
 
Tim Watson -  Tim is a prominent and popular sports journalist and media personality. On television he regularly appears on the Seven Network, where he does sports reports for the Melbourne news and has a special comments role on the station's Australian Football League (AFL) football coverage.
 
Tim Watson recently rang in to talk about the recording session for the 1981 Footy Favourites album with the Triple M Hot Breakfast Show crew.  Listen to the podcast HERE

Trevor Barker - After retiring from the Saints in 1989, Barker embarked on a coaching career with Victorian Football Association club Sandringham. He coached the Zebras to premierships in 1992 and 1994 before leaving after his second premiership to return to the Saints as an assistant coach to Stan Alves.

Wayne Schimmelbusch - Schimmelbusch was appointed coach of the North Melbourne Football Club in 1990. The team did not perform well, and in the 1993 pre-season, Schimmelbusch was replaced by Denis Pagan. Schimmelbusch was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1997 and named in the North Melbourne "Team of the Century" (half forward flank) in 2001.

 
Ray Shaw - After a fallout with Collingwood officialdom in 1981, Shaw returned to Preston as captain-coach and led them to the 1983 and 1984 premierships. Shaw then continued on to coach various clubs in the lower suburban competitions around Melbourne, including Lalor and Hurstbridge and Oakleigh Districts.

Barry Round - After retirement from VFL football, he played and coached for several years for Williamstown in the Victorian Football Association, the second highest level of football in Victoria, where he participated in their 1986 and Captain/Coached their 1990 premiership teams. Round then captained the Williamstown Football Club in the 1989-1991 seasons, and Coached the club from 1989-1993. In 2001 Round was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

David Cloke - In 1992, post his VFL/AFL career, Cloke joined Ainslie Football Club in the ACT as captain-coach, and guided them to a flag, a success repeated the following year when he won the Alex Jesaulenko Trophy for best afield in the grand final. He joined Victorian Football Association club Port Melbourne as non-playing coach in 1994, although did come out of retirement to play a handful of games during the season due to his team's long injury list. Cloke was inducted into Richmond's Hall of Fame in 2007.

Michael Turner - In 1989, Turner signed on as captain-coach of Werribee in the Victorian Football Association. In 1995 he was appointed by AFL Victoria to be the regional manager for the Geelong Falcons, responsible for the development of junior talent in the area.

Laurie Serafini - Serafini remained involved in football after injuries caused his premature retirement and when his old club merged with the Bears he became a director at the Brisbane Lions.

Mark Maclure - He currently works as a football commentator for ABC Radio and appears once a week on AFL 360, Fox Footy's Monday to Thursday television program.

Michael Moncrieff - After retirement from AFL in 1986, Moncrieff played for Sandringham in the Victorian Football Association. Off-field, Moncrieff served as president of the Victorian Football League Players' Association, and later served as a member of the AFL Grievance Tribunal.

Robert Flower - After retiring as a player, Flower was inducted in the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was named on the wing in Melbourne's Team of the Century. He later served on the Melbourne board until he resigned after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2004. Sadly, Flower died on 2 October 2014, after a brief illness.

Kelvin Templeton - Templeton become the CEO of the Sydney Swans as they started to become a power in the Australian Football League.

So, it's not rocket science to work out why 'Footy Favourites' has been chosen to be the centre of attention for this months WOCK on Vinyl post - the singing is Wofull, Out of Bounds, Corny and no goals were Kicked during the making of this album. Enjoy if you can.  

Track listing

A1 Tim Watson (Essendon) - Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town)
A2 Trevor Barker (St Kilda) - I Can See Clearly Now
A3 Ray Shaw (Collingwood) - Danny Boy
A4 Wayne Schimmelbusch (North Melbourne) - Twenty Miles
A5 Barry Round (South Melbourne) - Little Jeannie
A6 David Cloke (Richmond) - The Letter
B1 Michael Turner (Geelong) - I Go to Rio
B2 Laurie Serafini (Fitzroy) - Hard Rock Cafe
B3 Mark Maclure (Carlton) - Imagine
B4 Michael Moncrieff (Hawthorn) - Don't Stand So Close to Me
B5 Robert Flower (Melbourne) - Macho Man
B6 Kelvin Templeton (Footscray) - Who's Sorry Now 

Footy Favourites MP3 (320kps) Link (62Mb)