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Wednesday 26 January 2011

Post 328 - Dame Edna Everage - The Sound Of Edna LP


Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books including an autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, appeared in several films and hosted various television shows. While Dame Edna is a fictitious character whose life story has been entirely created by Barry Humphries, so complete is her identity as an individual that Macmillan published her "autobiography," written by Humphries but credited to Edna herself, on its non-fiction list. According to that autobiography, "My Gorgeous Life," and to statements Edna has made over the years, she was born Edna May Beazley in the rural city of Wagga Wagga, with a sibling who would give birth to Barry McKenzie. Everage started her stage career on 19 December 1955 as Mrs. Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from Moonee Ponds, a Melbourne suburb. Dame Edna spent many years accompanied by her bridesmaid and constant companion Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry), a New Zealander from Palmerston North who assisted Dame Edna with her appearances and television shows. (Perry died at the age of 100 in 2008). Here to download is Edna's 1978 LP "The Sound Of Enda" (9124 027) recorded for Charisma Records. The single lifted from this set was "Every Mother Wants A Boy Like Elton". On 7th of March 2007 her home town, Melbourne, re-named a city street in her honour: Dame Edna Place, formerly Brown Alley off Little Collins Street. In early 2010, Dame Edna collaborated with cabaret pianist and singer, Michael Feinstein for a two person revue entitled "All About Me", based on the concept that the pair were rivals who were forced to work together for the show's sake. The show opened as the second production for the newly refurbished Henry Miller's Theatre.

3 comments:

pflext said...

Just finished reading "Handling Edna" by Barry Humphries.
A fascinating & hilarious read.
Still have my 7" of "Every Mother Wants A Boy Like Elton"
Thanks for the LP which was not in my collection.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for posting this!!!! I've been searching all over the net for it!! So great to hear it again.
I don't suppose you have HOUSEWIFE SUPERSTAR, a very clever standup Edna did back in the 1970s? It opens, I think, with Sir Les and then Edna appears and sings AT LEAST I CAN SEE I'VE SEEN IT and then lays into her audience for a hysterical 45 minutes or so... I used to have it on vinyl but it disappeared.
Thanks also for putting up THE BIGGEST CLOWN by Olivia. Never though I'd be able to hear that again.

OZZIE MUSIC MAN said...

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the comments I don't have the other Dame Edna LP but my good friend has a Blog that does have it. Here's the web address http://mymusicrip.blogspot.com/2010/11/barry-humphries-dame-edna-housewife.html Enjoy!!