W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Barry Humphries - Snow Complications (1965)

 

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.

With tomorrow being the first day of Winter in Australia and the recent passing of Barry Humphries, I thought I might dedicate this month's WOCK on Vinyl post to Barry Humphries (again) by presenting his popular piece of comical satire entitled "Snow Complications" - released as a single back in 1965.

I believe Humphries wrote "Snow Complications" when he was reasonably young. Maybe it is based on overheard stories while attending a Melbourne private school or perhaps his family did some skiing.  Barry's Brother was a builder who partially specialised in Alpine construction, so I'd say there was probably a bit of both.

So, do you remember this monologue from the sixties — about going to the snow, with the line “believe you me it's a great life up there amongst the snow community and you can really have a ball, no matter which of the major schools you went to, particularly if you're lucky enough to get snowed in with a stack of gluweins, a few crates of tinnies, a couple of little snow bunnies and no complications.”? 

Apparently this famous line brought about an association of Snow Bunnies with Melbourne Football supporters, as discussed below by 'Clint Bizkit' on the Demonland.com website in 2007:

Snow Bunny Supporters

For many Melbourne supporters, the Queens Birthday long weekend means making a difficult decision.

Do they go and watch the Dees take on the Pies at the MCG, or do they head for the hills to get their first taste of snow for the year?

Well that's what you would think if you took any notice of opposition supporters and some football personalities in the media.

However, seeing as the Queens Birthday has just recently come and gone for another year and with Melbourne having a break this weekend, I thought that I should take this opportunity to dispel the "Snow Bunny Melbourne Supporter" stereotype once and for all!

Well not quite, but I do want to share a few observations that I made whilst working up at Mt Buller last year.

Before anyone says anything, the "Snow Bunny Melbourne Supporter" stereotype says nothing about working at the snow.

If you were to believe the stereotype, then you would imagine the ski fields being filled with nothing but rich snobs who drive four wheel drive BMW's and "support" the Melbourne Football Club. And while the snow does have its fair share of rich wankers, they are not all Melbourne supporters.

In fact, I did not see a single piece of Melbourne Football Club merchandise for the whole time I was up there!

60's Snow Bunny

If you were then to use this football merchandise observation as a way of finding out which AFL team's supporters spend the most time at the snow then you would have to say that the "Snow Bunny Supporter" tag belongs with Fremantle, West Coast, Adelaide and Port Adelaide supporters.

There is however, a good reason for this. For many Western and South Australians, the need for warm clothing is almost nonexistent, hence why they pull out the footy scarves and beanies when at the snow.

Nonetheless, it was something that really stood out to me and I thought that I would just do my bit to try and clear up the "myth" about those of us who support the Melbourne Demons.

'Maxim Bob' then went on to say in his reply post:

Stuff the stereotype !

This tripe about snow bunnies started with Barry Humphries way back in the 60's on one of his early (best-selling) records, for those who remember vinyl. About going to the snow etc. I always thought it was more about Geelong Grammar (Sam Newman springs to mind...his almer mater), although Barry did attend Melbourne Grammar and was poking fun at some of his classmates. But by no means all.

Nevertheless this populist mud has stuck and we've had to live with it as the Melbourne Football Club ever since. The so-called alliance with the MCG hasn't helped this perception either.

In the old days the opposition supporters would sit in the 'Outer' and look across to the Grey Smith stand and the Members and the Ladies stand and give us kids heaps. We were sitting in the 'Inner'.

And fair enough. We had the privileged seats and looked high and mighty. The irony was that many of us got a free ticket in as juniors and supported the Dees regardless of where we sat. In '64 I stood in Bay 13. It didn't matter to me where I was in the ground as long as I was there.

The salient point is that since then we've developed (and always had) a much broader supporter base than the popular perception of toffee-nosed skiers. 

RIP  Barry Humphries

Well, who would have thought that one of Mr Humphries comical monologues could dispel such a long, lasting myth - but then again, I suspect he was still chuckling to himself, right to the end.  And yes, it ticks the Obscure box for W.O.C.K postings, but also because it was released under the subtitle 'Chunder Down Under'.   

The files were ripped to FLAC from a pristine Bulletin Records 45 (thanks to SunnyToo from Ausrock) and includes cover art and label scans.

Track Listing:

01 - Snow Complications

02 - The Old Pacific Sea

Barry Humphries Link (67Mb)