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)

W.O.C.K ON Vinyl: Barry Humphries - Savoury Dip (1971)

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.

Barry Humphries, the man responsible for some of Australia’s most loved characters including Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, has exited stage left for the last time. Humphries, 89, died on Saturday 22nd May at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, where he had been treated for various health issues. For weeks the comic had brushed aside concerns about the seriousness of his condition.

With over ​70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be. His audiences were precious to him, and he never took them for granted. Although he may be best remembered for his work in theatre, he was a painter, author, poet, and a collector and lover of ​a​​​​rt in all its forms.​

He was also a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a friend and confidant to many. His passing leaves a void in so many lives but the characters he created, which brought laughter to millions, will live on.

Humphries was initially admitted to hospital in February after falling in his Sydney apartment and injuring his hip, requiring a “painful” hip replacement. In March, he was adamant he would soon be back on his feet and planned to tour the country. Despite grueling sessions with a physiotherapist, Humphries never returned home and his condition began to deteriorate.

Throughout his lengthy career Humphries has written scripts, produced films, and worked as a landscape painter. never wavering from his Australian roots and love of all things Melburnian.

Humphries true calling came with his one-man satirical stage revues where he’d perform as a multitude of characters he’d created.  Humphries once said “I found that entertaining people gave me a great feeling of release, making people laugh was a very good way of befriending them. People couldn’t hit you if they were laughing.”

His first outing as 'Dame Edna Everage' came in 1955, where he’d perform as the character for a skit during the Olympic Hostess stage show at Melbourne University’s Union Theatre on 12th December 1955.  Humphries initially conceived 'Dame Edna' as a dowdy, small-minded housewife, but over the character’s four decades of existence has evolved into a global superstar, appearing in numerous shows in London’s West End, Australia, the USA and on television.

Other characters included the gentle senior, Sandy Stone, of Anzac Drive and the constantly-offensive Sir Les Patterson.

Amongst his many stage and television specials were A Night with Dame Edna, An Evening’s Intercourse with Dame Edna, Edna: The Spectacle, Back with a Vengeance, The Dame Edna Treatment, Dame Edna Live: The First Last Tour plus Ally McBeal, The Life & Death of Sandy Stone, Jack Irish, The Kangaroo Gang and appearances on talk shows such as Parkinson, The Graham Norton Show, The Don Lane Show and more.

This month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl pays tribute to this great comedian and entertainer with a posting of his 1971 LP entitled 'Savoury Dip'.  This compilation album  features 6 sketches: 'Edna's Hymn' (written 1968), 'Wendy the One-eyed Wombat (written 1969), 'Highett Waltz' (written 1958), 'Great Big Fish' (written 1970) and 'Barry Humphries at Las Vegas' (1971); and a single 17min sketch on side two 'Sandy Claus' (written 1965). All sketches were written by Barry Humphries; musical accompaniment to 'Wendy the One-eyed Wombat' was written by Stanley Myers.  The album was made in Australia by Parlophone, a company of the EMI group, in 1971. The cover was designed by Mark Strizic.

I decided to rip the album to MP3(320) because a majority of the recordings on this LP are dialogue, so FLAC would make no difference to the quality of the listening experience.

This album certainly ticks the Obscure box (you won't find it posted elsewhere) for W.O.C.K status, but it also ticks Creative and Comical boxes as well, as Humphries was a genius in both categories. 

VALE Barry Humphries

* For other Barry Humphries releases, see previous posts

Track Listing

A1 Edna's Hymn (1968) 5:13

A2 Wendy The One-Eyed Wombat (1969) 1:17

A3 Highett Waltz (1958) 3:41

A4 Great Big Fish (1970) 2:36

A5 Barry Humphries At Las Vegas (Recorded Live At The Las Vegas Sanitorium, Melbourne, 4 a.m., Ash Wednesday, 1971)   5:25

B1 Sandy Claus 17:18

Barry Humphries Savoury Dip Link (86Mb) New Link 18/11/2024

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Les Patterson - 12 Inches of Les The Album (1985)

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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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From the desk of:
Dr. Sir Leslie Colin Patterson, K.B.E.
EMERITUS VICE-CHANCELLOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF AUSTRIALIAN STUDIES

Dear Music Lover,

I’m Australia’s best loved diplomat, no worries, but I’m certainly no kill-joy or blue-nosed wowser, to use an old ethnic Australian expression.

An old mate of mine Ken (Tommo) Thompson, who’s been kicking around the upper echelons of the P.R. Rag-Trade Media traps for yonks, first introduced me to the raunchy sound of Country Music. I heard it and I liked it, little dreaming that a couple of years later I’d be laying down these chart-bustin' tracks.

In my capacity as Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of the London School of Australian Studies, Shadow Cultural Attache to the Court of St. James and Chairperson of the Australian Chapter of the World Cheese Authority, I’m a self-taught singer. Currently, the voice you hear on this microgroove is completely ‘natural’ and ‘untrained’ in terms of singing.

Yet these tracks, mostly crafted by Aussie’s award-winning and internationally acclaimed songsmiths, Barry Humphries and Diane Millstead and arranged by ace muso David Mackay, have already had hard-nosed critics using adverbs like ‘comparatively nice’ and ‘quite acceptable’.

I guess you could say I am the acceptable voice of the Post Nashville Sound as we know it Down Under. I am also an up-market Johnny Cash and a thinking man’s Leonard Cohen. There’s even a bit of Dolly Parton in me, though I wouldn’t mind an even bigger bit of me in Dolly Parton. Are you with me?

This is a family record. Take it on your holiday with you and you’ll end up with a family.

It remains for me to thank Bob England and Tim Prior of Towerbell Records for making this waxing the fun it sounds and the Australian Cheese Board (literary and musical archives division) for paying the band, though let’s face it , Cliff Hall on keyboards, Chris Rae on guitar, Paul Westwood on bass and Graham Jarvis on drums would all have done it for nothing. No worries.

All the best,
Sir Les Patterson

This month's WOCK on vinyl is yet another Barry Humphries (aka Les Patterson) gem, requested by the blog follower 'Real Deal' just recently.  Les Patterson is another one of Humphries fictional characters - obese, lecherous and offensive. However, Patterson is Dame Edna Everage's exact opposite: she is female, refined, Protestant and from Melbourne; while Les is male, uncouth, Roman Catholic and from Sydney.
Because these recordings are Wicked and Offensive, they fit nicely into the WOCK charter, and I'm sure sure your'e going to love these comical and  riskee' ditties. My favourite of course is the single "Give Her One For Christmas" which only features 7 Inches of Les!
Because the songs run into one another with Patterson's never ending hilarious dialogue, I have chosen to rip each side of the album as a single file to retain the continuity of the entertainment.  Ripped from Vinyl in MP3 (320kps) format, this post includes full album artwork and label scans.

Tracklist
A1 Sir Les Intro (Genuine Reprise)
A2 Role Model For All Australian Ministers For The Yartz Discusses Diplomacy & Diversification
A3 Genuine
A4 Lady Gwen Former Hand Model (The Woman Behind The Statesman)
A5 My Old Lady
A6 Vinyl Venues, San Quentin Or Wormwood Scrubs?
A7 Give Her One For Christmas (A Seasonal Chartbuster)
A8 You Can't Win 'Em All
A9 Help Me Make It Through The Night +
B1 Patterson's Pointers On Political Pitfalls
B2 Never Trust A Man Who Doesn't Drink (Blue Nosed Wowser)
B3 Les Exposes Himself And The Odd Masonic Secret
B4 Motel Mini Bar
B5 It's Stiff Cheddar, Chairing The Cheeseboard
B6 Song Of Thanks
B7 Sir Les Outro & Encore
B8 Desert Island Dilemmas
B9 Bangkok Chiropody
B10  13,000 Miles

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12 Inches of Les Link (132Mb)

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W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Barry Humphries - A Track Winding Back (1972) EP

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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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He’s been called the funniest man in the world. He describes himself as a “music-hall artist”. But to the thousands who have flocked to his one-man shows since the 1960s he has that rare quality that separates the great entertainer from the mere performer. He’s one of the few carrying on the tradition of Max Miller, Roy Rene, and the glorious Broadway era of Jolson, Cantor and the Marx Brothers. All were masters at bridging the gap to the crowd across the footlights.

Barry Humphries was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1934 and was a very intelligent boy who attended Melbourne University. There, he began in revues and doing some impersonations. He moved to London around 1960 and began his TV career. Humphries went on to present a succession of hugely successful one-man shows in Britain, the United States and Australia. In these the ubiquitous 'Dame Edna Everage' appeared with a motley range of other Humphries characters, most notably and consistently the nostalgic, rambling ‘senior’, Sandy Stone, and the appallingly crude Sir Les Patterson, ‘Australian Cultural Attaché to the Court of St James’. The longevity of Humphries’ career – and the characters he created – is unique. For more than fifty years, neither he nor they showed signs of flagging: Edna’s adoring ‘possums’ still crowded theatres, still waved their ‘gladdies’ in joyous unison, and still eagerly submitted to her barbed but good humoured humiliation.

By the early 1970s, censorship restrictions had been lifted on script for "The Wonderful World Of Barry McKenzie" and moreover the newly set-up Film Development Corporation (funded by a government grant) decided to turn it into a movie. With actor Barry Crocker in the title role and Barry Humphries playing Edna and two other characters, cameras started rolling in 1972. The all-star cast also featured Dennis Price, Dick Bentley and old mates Peter Cook and Spike Milligan.

It was at this time that Barry Humphries in collaboration with co-star Dick Bentley, had the idea of recording a traditional Aussie bush song entitled "Along The Road To Gundagai" along with some satirical ditties. Although not his first recording, the EP entitled 'A Track Winding Back' was certainly the first of many successful attempts at musical satire.

From what I can gather, this EP is somewhat obscure and fetches some decent $$ on ebay.  Well Possums, what more can I say! This post ticks both the Obscure and Wacky categories for this month's WOCK on Vinyl post.  Ripped to FLAC from my A+ vinyl, fans of Barry Humphries are just gonna love this month's offering.  

To close, in the infamous words of Humphries himself  "Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century."

Barry Humphries FLACs & Artwork (62Mb) 

W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Barry Humphries - The Sound Of Edna (1978)

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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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John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, satirist, artist, and author. Humphries is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".

Humphries' characters have brought him international renown, and he has appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, Edna has evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom, the gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally feted Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna Everage.
 
Dear Music-Buffs:  All Australians are superb singers. Just think of Helen Reddy, Peter Dawson, Olivia Newton-John, Joan Sutherland, Rolf Harris, and my namesake Dame Nellie Melba if you don't believe me.
Being a proud Australian, I am happy to say that I am no exception to our miracle song-bird statistics. And yet, you will be amazed to learn, I have never had a singing lesson in my life! Mine is a natural talent given to me by Dame Nature herself, and when you and your loved ones listen to this historic microgroove you will not be surprised to hear that world renowned opera singers chantooses and glamour-pusses have begged me for the secret of my lovely voice.

The songs and arias on this beautiful waxing will be mostly new to music lovers and fans of my consummate artistry. Some I have sung over the wireless and oh my internationally acclaimed, award-winning BBC television shows. A few have been specially commissioned by the world famous Charisma gramophone company.

I hope there is something on this record for every taste, whether you be a housewife or a senior citizen, a baby-sitter or a beatnik. Little Nic Rowley, who composed and arranged the music, is quite simply one of my Very special people, and at our recording sessions in Amsterdam and Los Angeles he was always at pains to show off the wonderful variety and richness of my voice without being in any way 'pushy' or bossy. What a foolish boy he would be if he tried! The words or 'lyrics' as we call them in musical circles, are by Barry Humphries who, to give him his due, 'discovered' me many moons ago, and has basked in my limelight ever since.

I wish I could give him full marks for his poems, but to my mind some of them have an uncalled-for and unnecessary element about them which I can't quite put my finger on. The nicer songs were supervised by the multi-talented lan Davidson who I have a lot of time for, and who has ensured that wholesomeness and good taste remain the keynote, in spite of Barry's said efforts.

Edna And Her Gladdys

I happen to know that the Powers that Be are putting a copy of this best-selling disc in a time capsule, and I'm proud to think that in millions of years time people will judge our entire western civilisation by my humble repertoire. Does that thought give you goose bumps as well? [Album Liner Notes]
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Anyone who lives in Australia will know Barry Humphries (alias Dame Edna Everage) and some have been lucky enough to see him (her) in person. I was one of the lucky ones when Barry Humphries lectured to a small group of 'budding botantists' at the School of Botany in Melbourne University, back in 1981. His topic was of course 'The Gladiolus' (a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family) and was nothing short of hilarious. And so, it is with pleasure that I present this Wacky and Wonderful Comical satire for this month's WOCK on Vinyl post in MP3 (320kps) format ripped from vinyl. (See alternative cover design below)
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Track Listing

01- Life In A Goldfish Bowl   
02 - The Night We Burnt My Mother's Things   
03 - I'm Sorry (With Apologies To Ken Thomson)   
04 - A Woman's Woman   
05 - Niceness   
06 - Every Mother Wants A Boy Like Elton   
07 - My Bridesmaid And I   
08 - I Miss My Norm (Duet For Edna & Brazen Hussar)   
09 - S & M Lady (with Edna Evil & The Ratbags)

The Everage White Band are:
Nic Rowley - Keyboards
Peter Moss - Bass, Guitars
Roy Jones - Percussion 

Chris Warren-Green - Violin
Nigel Warren-Green - Cello
Les Fyson - Baritone Solo
Sue Aldred - Soprano Solo
The Fred Tomlinson Singers - Choir
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The Sound Of Edna (87Mb) New Link 02/09/2025