North wind rolling down my friends are leaving townI know they're waiting just for meOne more summer gone and one more winter songAnd one more time I tried to leave Wintersong (Quill/Tolhurst/Dubois) Country Radio’s follow up single to Gypsy Queen was the brilliant avant-garde Wintersong. Another co-write by Greg Quill and Kerryn Tolhurst, following on … Continue reading Song for Winter (Spring, Summer & Autumn too!)
On a ship that's made of paperOh yeah, I will sail the seven seasFight a shark with a toothpickCrawled home to you on my kneesThere isn't nothing baby I wouldn't do Double bonus here with fabulous blues harp from Steve Williams and great vocals from John Power on this ‘B’ side cracking cover of a … Continue reading Power Play
Musical Mr. Subbubs News (Adelaide) Fri 13 Mar 1925 When I first observed this 100 year old cartoon I thought it was an early version of Homer Simpson. A man of the burbs (of course) was Mr. Subbubs, who loved his music and sports. I do see some of myself in him - even his … Continue reading Mr. Subbubs off to South Street.
Edward Harold Collier (22 January 1905 - 8 April 1966) A young Harold Collier resplendent in creams. Harold Collier’s son Geoff posted a comment on Collingwood’s Crackajack Collier way back in 2023. We’ve kept in touch and he recently sent a few photocopies of his Dad which are pictured here. Geoff also provided a wee … Continue reading Collier Wood (Did)
Before you begin this latest episode you may want to read (revisit) the earlier posts on Gene, The Gene Genius and Gene Genius Returns. Recently I stumbled across another newspaper article on the kid, which also led to further discoveries and thus this hotchpotch of a post. The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic) Wed 2 Dec … Continue reading Gene Genius Rides Again (Big Time)
My latest acquisition. The one after the 266 (I said move over once - and a half). However more likely after the 265 as the 266 was originally the 264 1/2. Confused welcome to the world of harmonica identification. The 48 Chord Harmonica (also known as the Akkorda) was manufactured nearly ten years later than … Continue reading No. 267
Cruisin’ in third lookin for birdCruisin’ in third lookin for birdHe’ll drive you up the wall or any oher place. Greedy’s Looking For Bird riffs. I heard it on the car radio while returning from our regular Monday morning jaunt to ‘Invy’ (Inverloch) when my harmonica antenna received strong vibrations. The announcer had an avian … Continue reading Bird Watching or Speedy Greedy
Maxwell Renown Braybrook (22 June 1920 - 12 November 2004) We first come across Maxwell as a thirteen year old lad from Newcastle with his regular contributions to the local paper’s Smile Exchange. Japanese Submarine shelled Newcastle around 2:30 am Tuesday 9 June 1942. (No casualties) He makes a return to the paper not long … Continue reading Ballad of Braybrook
Waldo Burgoyne (December 18, 1891 - June 5, 1960) photo courtesy of Ray Grieve. Waldo was indeed a magnificent mouth organ exponent racking up a life time of trophies and achievements. He was runner up to the legendary P C Spouse in the Australian Championships at South Street Ballarat in 1927. Later he would go … Continue reading Waldo the Magnificent
This certainly is Ollie! The lot of the session musician - as told to Harmonica Riff Raff by Steve Williams……. In 1993 I got a call from Doug at Toybox, a little studio in Northcote, for a harmonica session. He said it was a weird one. The artist, a Dutch chimney sweep called Bill Cook … Continue reading Harley & Harp
Harmonica Riff Raff 