Post 477 - Con The Fruiterer – A Cuppla Days – The Con Dance

Mark Mitchell was born in Melbourne. He studied English and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and then completed a Diploma of Education at State College of Victoria Rusden Campus. He taught secondary school English for five years before becoming an advertising copy-writer and then a professional actor. Mark starred in the pioneering sketch comedy show The Eleventh Hour, a predecessor to his hit sketch show The Comedy Company. He has made many guest appearances on Australian television series such as SeaChange, Neighbours, Something in the Air, Blue Heelers, Prisoner and Dogwoman. Mitchell's best known character is Con Dickaletus aka 'Con the Fruiterer' whom he created after being served by two Greek Australian stall holders at Glenferrie Markets in 1984. The character became known nationally from regular appearances in The Comedy Company, Con's catchphrases "cuppla days" and "bewdiful" entered the Australian vernacular. In August 1989, then Prime Minister Bob Hawke appeared in a The Comedy Company sketch with Mitchell on the premise of presenting Con with Australian citizenship. In reply to Con's question as to when Hawke was going to fix up the country, Hawke took great delight in responding "cuppla days" In 1988 Con released the single “A Cuppla Days” b/w “The Con Dance” (653148 7) for CBS. The two tracks were written and produced by Colin Hay & Greg Ham from Men At Work. 

Post 476 - Tony Monopoly – The Girl I’ll Never Know – Love And The World Loves With You

Born Antonio Rosario Monopoli in Adelaide, Australia, he was a regular on the national radio show Kangaroos on Parade at the age of nine. At the age of sixteen he became a Carmelite monk and remained in the order for five years. He was appearing at Caesar's Palace in Luton when he auditioned for Opportunity Knocks, a British television talent show, which he won on six consecutive occasions in the 1970s. By the early 1980s, Monopoly was frequently obliged to display his talents aboard cruise liners. "I lived on one yacht for a year," he said. "I went to 56 countries. I had champagne for breakfast. But I hated it" When fulfilling his increasingly rare engagements on dry land, he divided his time between Australia and the UK. He was headhunted for a musical while appearing in Cinderella at Hanley, near Stoke-on-Trent. Monopoly starred - in drag - in Moby Dick, the inaugural production at the newly refurbished Old Fire Station Theatre in Oxford. The show's success prompted Cameron Mackintosh to mount a 1992 West End production, that opened to scathing reviews and promptly closed, after which Monopoly portrayed Old Deuteronomy in a UK tour of Cats. Here to download is a single by Tony “The Girl I’ll Never Know” b/w “Love And The World Loves With You” (EA-9666) recorded for H.M.V. Records and produced by Howard Gable. I searched the net but can’t seem to find what year this was released. Monopoly died in Brighton, England on 21 March 1995.

Post 475 - Sparklers – Don’t Go Changing – Overworking

The Sparklers were a Sydney band formed in 1985 by ex-members of the Sunnyboys, Bill Bilson and Peter Oxley together with Chris Abrahams from the Jazzy Benders. They were managed by journalist Ed St.John. The band released 5 singles and one LP between ’85 and ’89. This single “Don’t Go Changing” b/w  “Overworking” (MB20197) was their last single in 1989 recorded for Mighty Boy Records produced by Les Karski and both sides of the record was penned by lead vocalist Melanie Oxley who is the sister of Sunnyboys front man & chief songwriter Jeremy Oxley. 

Post 474 - Tintookies – The Tintookie March – Imagine-Reprise

Peter Scriven played a huge role in establishing puppetry as a serious art form in Australia. His Tintookies and Little Fella Bindi toured all over Australasia. The Tintookies, from an Aboriginal word meaning 'little people who come from the sand hills', was an elaborate marionette musical first staged by creator Peter Scriven at the Elizabethan Theatre in Sydney in 1956. After the success of this production, Tintookie   became the generic name for any of the puppets used by the Marionette Theatre of Australia, formed by Scriven under the auspices of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1965.  After a spell in Singapore and Malaysia, Scriven returned to Sydney in 1973 as puppetry consultant to the Australian Council for the Arts. In late 1974 Scriven put together a new version of The Tintookies. Utilising around 100 near life-size marionettes, this was the biggest puppet production ever undertaken in Australia. It premiered at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne on 8 January 1975 and toured Asia in early 1976. In 1974 the Tiookies released a double A sided single here for you to download for Festival Records “The Tintookie March” b/w “Imagine-Reprise” (MX-46139). Many of the Tintookie marionettes now live in the archives of the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

Post 473 - The Two Man Band - Single Collection

"Up There Cazaly" is an Australian sporting catchphrase inspired by former St Kilda and South Melbourne great Roy Cazaly ("Up there Cazaly" was "a phrase that would be shouted by team mate Fred "Skeeter" Fleiter when he wanted Cazaly to go for a mark"). The expression later became the basis of a song recorded and composed by The Two Man Band (Mike Brady & Peter Sullivan). The song was recorded in 1979, intended as a promotion for Channel Seven's Australian Rules Football (VFL) coverage. The single, released on the Fable Records label, sold over 250,000 copies and became the largest-selling Australian single ever released up to that time. Peter Sullivan has written arrangements and produced albums for many of Australia’s leading artists including Pseudo Echo, Little River Band, Daryl Somers, Ricky May, Normie Rowe, The Seekers, Colleen Hewitt, Dennis Walter. Mike Brady was one-third of the 1960s pop act MPD Ltd. (which stood for Mike, Pete and Danny) which had hits with "Little Boy Sad" and "Lonely Boy". The band toured Australia and the U.K. He has written songs for popular Australian artists such as John Farnham and Tina Arena. He also wrote the song "Courage in their Eyes" for the Seven Network's Olympics coverage.  Here are the five singles released between 1979/85 “Up There Cazaly” b/w “The Winner’s March” (Fable-FB-329), “One Day In September” b/w “Look Up In The Sky” (7-MS-449), “There’s A Little Bit Of Cazaly In Us All” b/w “Twenty Five Years In The Outer” (Full Moon-FMS 2105), “We’re Gonna Grab That Cup” b/w “Hobart” (Fable-FB-1057) and “You Are Australian” b/w “ You Are Australian (Instrumental)” (Full Moon – FMS 1001)