Rock On Vinyl: W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Norman Gunston

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song or album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

The `Little Aussie Bleeder' Norman Gunston (played by actor Garry McDonald) was one of the most famous Australian media personalities of the 1970s. The original Norman Gunston Show (circa 1975 and 1976) remains a genuinely funny and innovative television variety show. Gunston's hysterical interviews with the likes of Frank Zappa, Paul and Linda McCartney, Sally Struthers (from US sitcom All in the Family), Keith Moon (where Moon's response was to pour champagne over Norman's head) and later on Kiss are the stuff of legend.

McDonald was an accomplished character actor; he played Dave Rudd in the ABC-TV comedy series Snake Gully with Dad and Dave during 1972. He first developed the Norman Gunston character while a member of the cast of ABC-TV's The Aunty Jack Show. Norman's What's on in Wollongong segment became a popular part of the show. Norman appeared on the Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong album (see previous post), along with McDonald's other character Kid Eager. In 1975, McDonald starred in his own television variety series The Norman Gunston Show.

McDonald was never afraid to make Norman the fall guy, the sap who always managed to send himself up, as well as all those around him. Norman's real talent was in being able to bamboozle and confound his interview subjects. His interviewees were either completely dumbstruck, or caught on and joined in all the fun. Another of Norman's specialties was musical satire. Norman's debut single, "Salute to ABBA/Hors D'Oeuvre", reached #12 on the national charts in December 1976. Norman's debut album, 'The Popular Ballad Animal', also included his reworkings of Tom Jones' "Delilah", Shirley Bassey's "I (Who Have Nothing)", Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock'" Billy Joel's "Piano Man" among others.

Mushroom Records issued Norman's topical "I Might Be a Punk (But I Love You Baby!)/Love Me Tender" in May 1977. The A-side was co-written by Ross Wilson and David `Dr Pepper' Pepperell. 'Nylon Degrees' featured live performances from Norman's tours over the previous year when he was backed by The Gunstonettes and The Norman Tabernacle Choir (i.e. Cheetah). A cover of Sherbet's "Howzat" was issued as a single (June 1978). "Kiss Army"/Normdrum" was a national #13 hit single during November 1980 (see previous post). Comedy writer Trevor Farrant wrote much of Gunston's material (such as "Normdrum"), which McDonald delivered with impeccable timing and madcap style.

Norman & Effie

McDonald then `retired' the Norman Gunston character to concentrate on his acting career (two of his best roles were in the movie Ginger Meggs and as the hapless Arthur in the ABC-TV show Mother and Son). Norman re-emerged in 1990. His first triumph was performing a version of INXS's "Suicide Blonde" with the Salvation Army Band at a variety extravaganza. Next Norman recorded a send-up of "Amigos Para Siempre" (the theme song to the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games) as a duet with Effie (Mary Coustas) from television sitcom Acropolis Now. McDonald commenced a new series of 'The Norman Gunston Show', but after only a few episodes he suffered a much publicised nervous breakdown. McDonald finally laid the Norman Gunston character to rest [taken from Wammo ].

So, this post consists of most of Gunston's single releases - some I own and some I found on the internet. One that I don't have is his rendition of "Suicide Blonde" so if anyone out there has it, I'd love to hear from ya. I've decided to bundle these together into one download (some in FLAC / some in MP3) and most have full artwork.

As this is a WOCK posting and it features Norman Gunston, I think I can safely tick off all criterium boxes (no question there). But all jokes aside, I've always had the greatest respect for McDonald as both an actor and very funny comedian. I'm thankful for all the laughs and hysteria that he provided me during my adolescent years. And thus, the reason why I chose to 'single him out' this month. The singles contained in this post are as follows:

Norman Gunston Singled Out Link (188Mb)