Allison Durbin chats to Bert Newton from Good Morning Australia in 1994.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00two platinum albums, five gold records, three times Queen of Pop and a whole
00:05range of awards of varying kinds. And to get the answer wonderful Alison Durbin.
00:14Good to see you again. It's been a long long time. Oh wow, the ups and downs of this
00:20wonderful industry. Yeah. I tell you what you're looking a wonderful Bert. I feel
00:24great. As always. Thank you. I tell you what I saw a picture of your son and
00:29yourself. It was it was Stars and Their Children. Yes. Oh there was the likes of
00:33Rosemary Margan and so on and I'm not sure it was the opening something. And
00:36your son, oh talk about look-alike. I mean, oh exactly. That good-looking you're
00:41reckoning is. Absolutely. What else? I hate to ask you how old are your children now?
00:46Because I can recall going to Footscray Hospital and one had just been born at
00:51that stage. That's 78? Yes, 76. 76. 76. Yes, he's 17. That's the second. Your second
00:58boy. Yeah. And actually it was was wonderful that that day because Bert
01:03came in with the radio. Actually the radio mic all the way up the hall. This
01:07was being broadcast. That's right, it was too. Yes. And all the nurses were going Bert Newton, Bert Newton.
01:13As you're walking up the hall and of course Patty was with you. Yes. And I was
01:16sitting. Unfortunately when they're all saying Bert Newton, Bert Newton. It ruined my act.
01:21That was for a gold record presentation wasn't it? Yes, you were wonderful. You presented me
01:25with the gold record for Born a Woman which, because I got pregnant in the
01:30middle of record, three or four months into recording my first country music
01:34album. That's right. I swapped the country and so we thought what are we gonna do here? So we
01:37named it Born a Woman and went gold and you were wonderful. You came out and presented me with that.
01:41Well it was my pleasure because like everybody else in Australia I was a huge fan. They
01:45were, they were great days. I mean you've, I've mentioned already some of the
01:48highlights. Fantastic start to a career wasn't it? That's for sure. I'll tell you
01:52what. I mean I can remember 69, 68, 69 like the King of Pop Awards for instance.
01:59You know in those days the Go Set Pop Bowl Awards. Right. And, and the live, the
02:04kids and that the people, public would be there live like at the Delicate Brookes
02:08Hall or the St. Kilda Palais. And when they read out the nominations like
02:12blast from the past like Yvonne Barrett, Ann Hawker. Yeah. And you had oh golly
02:19Wendy Saddington. These are all the people I was up against when I first
02:22came out. Viv Harrell and so on. And as, as you then with males Russell Morris,
02:28Johnny Farnham, da da da da. Of course you originally came from New Zealand didn't you?
02:31Yes, yes I did. You had your first hit over there when you were what 16 years of age?
02:3517, 18. Yeah. Yeah. It's an early start isn't it eh? Early start. I was very lucky. I had
02:40recorded about four but you know I had a couple that were local, local hits but I
02:44mean probably sold ten or something. Yeah. Alison, I know that for you. Alison your time with John
02:50Farnham, I mean that was a wonderful combining of two talents too. Happy
02:53memories with that? Very, very. What a wonderful guy. I mean he deserves so much you know
03:00everything that he's, he's achieved he's deserved because. He basically had, he's
03:06had at least two careers that we can talk about and think about. And the one
03:11thing about John is that he hasn't changed. Has he? Hasn't he? He's matured obviously but still the
03:17same great guy. That's for sure. Do you see much of him? Do you see him at all? No. I, you know
03:21every now and then every so many years we bump into each other along the way
03:24somewhere and it's just like we've seen each other yesterday, had seen each other
03:28yesterday but you know we move in different, you know we're both travelling all the time,
03:31move in different circles so. Sure. You know it gets hard. Alison your career still full-on? Yes
03:37well at the moment we've just put, we're just putting a new tour together
03:40actually of, we're travelling, taking it right through New Zealand and Australia and it's
03:45sort of doing all the, all the, mentioning Baby Without You, I'm doing that one on the show as
03:50well. There's a gentleman called, he does a Roy Orbison impersonation, I'll tell you what, not
03:56only does he look like him but he sounds more like Roy Orbison than Roy Orbison. His name is Rick
04:00Diamond. I know Rick, yes. You know Rick is a wonderful singer and he's on the show with me
04:06and we've got. He joins you on that does he? Yes and we do Baby Without You and we do a duet of
04:11Crying as well and we've got a group that do all the 60s material as well and a little early 70s.
04:17So you're doing the tour all around the place? Right through, right through. We actually did
04:22our first three, we've done three so far and they've been a blast, it was great. We did the
04:26Flemington Melbourne Cup Room last week and they. It's a nice room I believe. It was lovely, very
04:32unusual, like a big stadium, it was incredible but it was a great night and it was a pleasure and
04:38we're taking it right through. That's very enjoyable but I mean all that music I'm bringing
04:42back now, I'm doing I've Loved Me a Man, Don't Come Any Closer and all the songs, Angel of the Morning,
04:48River Deep, Mountain High which was on my first album before Tina Turner of course had the worldwide
04:53hit with it. Yeah. But you know it's a ball, we have a ball with it. You're doing a beautiful song for us
04:58this morning, Bright Eyes. Yes, good memories that. Special memories for you? Yes, well it was my second
05:06platinum record and to actually, the achievement I thought with the first one, Three Times a Lady,
05:11when Bright Eyes came along, I tell you what the tears were just unbelievable, I just couldn't
05:16believe it that the public would be so wonderful and supportive and it was terrific. Well I'd love
05:20you to go and sing it for us because I want to hear you sing again, number two, I want to see you get
05:23up in that dress you're wearing. It's not going to be easy. Great to see you. Lovely to see you. If you'd like to move. Doug Cotterill is with us this morning, isn't he?
05:32Doug Cotterill is our musical director on the actual show, on the tour and of course I still do my own
05:38tours and I've got a concert up in Tweed Heads very shortly at the golf club up there and
05:42travel right through so. I feel as though I should say I do. I do. Looks like we're getting married. Patty might get jealous. Well who knows, we could come to some arrangement, eh? Good to see you.
05:51Doug Cotterill, my musical director, you'll see on the piano. Lovely. Thank you, lovely to see you. He's very attractive too.