Tag Archives: 80s

General, Maynard, Retro, The Castanet Club, Video

Almost Live From The Castanet Club – Ep 3

Be loud, be proud and prepare ye for the third and final episode of Almost Live from the Castanet Club! from the now closed Castanet Club exhibition.

With current public health orders preventing visitors from experiencing our special exhibition The Castanet Club – An exhibition you can dance to! in person, we’re bringing the fun to you with this limited release variety show.

In true Castanet Club collaborative style, we’ve gathered talented musicians, videographers, sound engineers and visual artists to produce a modern take on a classic Novocastrian attitude: get your friends together, have fun, make art and share it!

We bring you a big finish with Newcastle legends Fish Fry getting us off to a roaring start with 24 Hours from Tulsa. Maynard and Zorica demonstrate Rodney Cambridge MBE’s Lamington Recipe (concluding it’s easier to go to the bakery). Finally, Nastassja Bassi haunts us from 1986 with a beautiful version of Wuthering Heights.

Watch our third and final show from Newcastle Museum.

Watch The Castanet Club Comes to YOU!

The Castanet Club facebook page

Get your Castanet Club full colour 110 page book with over 200 photos you haven’t seen…

General, Maynard, The Castanet Club, Video

Almost Live From The Castanet Club – Ep 2

Sit back, put on your loudest shirt, and enjoy! Newcastle Museum is proud to bring you Almost Live from the Castanet Club!

With current public health orders preventing visitors from experiencing our special exhibition The Castanet Club – An exhibition you can dance to! in person, we’re bringing the fun to you with this limited release variety show.

In true Castanet Club collaborative style, we’ve gathered talented musicians, videographers, sound engineers and visual artists to produce a modern take on a classic Novocastrian attitude: get your friends together, have fun, make art and share it!

In today’s show Maynard goes on a deep dive into the complex history of and uses for bunting with Newcastle Museum’s head bunter Emma and ask who on a Royal Navy ship is known as the “bunts”? Lance Norton overcomes a shambolic start to a Tom Jones classic at the Sydney Trade Union Club in December 1984, and we finish off with high operatic drama from the Nutbush Seating Limits singing The Legend of Xanadu!

Watch our second show from Newcastle Museum.

Watch The Castanet Club Comes to YOU!

The Castanet Club facebook page

General, Maynard, The Castanet Club, Video

Almost Live From The Castanet Club – Ep 1

Sit back, put on your most outrageous jumper, and enjoy! Newcastle Museum is proud to bring you Almost Live from the Castanet Club!

With current public health orders preventing visitors from experiencing our special exhibition The Castanet Club – An exhibition you can dance to! in person, we’re bringing the fun to you with this limited release variety show.


In true Castanet Club collaborative style, we’ve gathered talented musicians, videographers, sound engineers and visual artists to produce a modern take on a classic Novocastrian attitude: get your friends together, have fun, make art and share it!


For our first episode of Almost Live The Medley Sisters join us from 1988 and get into a banjo duel – except with a violin and an accordion. Maynard makes a special Castanet Club themed cocktail with scientist Catherine and Sprout Catering & Kitchen bartender Harry (they also chat about sedimentary rocks). We round off this electric experiment in almost live entertainment with The Lairs, who take us all the way to Las Vegas!

Watch our first show from Newcastle Museum.

Watch The Castanet Club Comes to YOU!

The Castanet Club facebook page

General, Maynard, Retro, Video

Watch the August Maynardarama video livestream

Saturday night Maynardarama broadcast to the world a message of foolishness and colourful tea towels wrapped in the grooves that are so needed these days.

Watch all the action live from Maynard International Studios

Enjoy a trampoline with Ann-Margret, a casually undone bow tie with Tom jones or maybe marvel at Mari Wilson changing her outfit in under 25 seconds on live TV. Tim Ferguson drops in to monkey around AND International (but mainly NSW) Tea Towel News.

Tim Ferguson on Maynardarama
Tim Ferguson on Maynardarama
Maynard with Mari Wilson pink tea towel
Maynard with Mari Wilson pink tea towel

Watch previous Castanet Club based video livestreams from August

General, Maynard, The Castanet Club, Video

The Castanet Club Comes to YOU! – (Final)

Maynard brings the colour and movement that was The Castanet Club 1982-1991 into your home (Final show)*.

Tune in one last time. Hang onto your Lana Caruso hat, because you’ll need it for this show.

Videos and songs from Castanet Club archives, as well as some photos even we’ve never seen. See the Newcastle Museum exhibition from afar, close up and live from Maynard International Studios. Plus videos of a few of the artists that influenced The Castanet Club.

See what can be done with just some really old slide photos and VHS tapes.

Lance, Rodney, Warren, Kid Paganini, Nastassja Bassi, Jodi Shields and Leslie Fountain will be on our final show this Saturday night.

*show may not go as planned. Some viewers may be underwhelmed.

Here is the second show from Saturday 31st July, the final Castanet Club Come to YOU!

Enjoy the second (and final) Castanet Club Comes to YOU!
A real hi-light from the final show Nastassja Bassi (Jacqueline Amidy) singing Wuthering Heights. It’s as good as the book and a lot shorter.

Watch the first Castanet Club comes to YOU!

Newcastle Museum Exhibition

General, Maynard, The Castanet Club

The Castanet Club 2021 -2022 calendar

Your 18 month Castanet Club calendar is here for you to enjoy and print out. You can see The Castanet Club exhibition at Newcastle Museum July 11th through to October 2nd 2021.

Download your calendar here.

This will open in a new window (probably), then right click and choose Save As

How about some out of context quotes about The Castanet Club 1982 – 1991 from the people that were there.

The only full colour book about The Castanet Club is now available.

Steve Abbott (Johnny Goodman) – “If you make friends with the audience before the show, it makes it harder for them to dislike you.” “We were excessively daggy”.

Warren Coleman (Bowling Man) – “We had a show that would work in a pub or a theatre”.

Glenn Butcher (Lance Norton) – “The first show we played outside Newcastle at the Adelaide Fringe festival in 1984 was 3 hours long. We did everything.”

Jane Turner (Kath & Kim) – “When I first saw The Castanet Club at The Last Laugh in Melbourne, I fell in love with Lance Norton’s voice.”

Angela Moore (Betty & Shirley Purvis) – “Shirley Purvis was based on my grandmother from Yowie Bay.”

Mikey (Elvis Presle) – “The Castanet Club never had a bad gig. How many acts can say that?”

Russell Cheek (Tron Wexler & Douggie) – “The greatest comedy cabaret big band in the world that never made any money.”

Jacqueline Amidy (Nastassaja Bassi) – “Everything was much bigger than it should have been.”

Kathy Bluff (Kid Paganini) – “We were always anchored in popular culture and retro.”

John Doyle (Roy Slaven) – “The Castanet Club was larger than the sum of its parts.”

The Castanet Club book cover
The new Castanet Club book

Castanet Club calendars drying on the line
Castanet Club calendars drying on the line
General, Maynard, Retro, Video

We Don’t Care Quiz show January 2021 – Australian music retro edition.

Maynard’s Mastermind returns as the We Don’t Care Quiz to suit the awkward zeitgeist that 2021 will become. (Trigger warning, two German words appear in this 50 minute show)

We Don’t Care Quiz

Join Maynard, Richard Saunders, and inflatable hippo Anderson Cooper as we test your knowledge of Australian retro music up to 1998.

Questions on everything from Aunty Jack to The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Dickhead. What could be more Australian than that?

If you have any issues with the We Don’t Care Quiz, you have our answer already.

November’s Mastermind Quiz

Maynard, Retro, Video

RAT Party NYE 87/88 live on RAGE

Rage via VHS tape from possibly the only time it did a live outside broadcast. Maynard hosted Rage from 1987/88 RAT party in at Hordern Pavillion, Sydney goofing with the crowd.

Rage NYE live crosses from RAT Party, Sydney Hordern Pavillion 87/88.

The live cross at midnight has the Castanet Club in the background finishing their gig that night, then some New Year’s thoughts from the crowd, a run down the giant slide, a visit to an unimpressed DJ Tim Richie, then goodbye from the central dance floor at the Hordern Pavillion.

These all went to air between music clips played in back at ABC-TV at Gore Hill between 12-1am NYE 1987/88.

Maynard live Rage NYE 87/88 RAT party
Maynard live Rage NYE 87/88 RAT the crowd looks impressed

Maynard Hordern Dance Party special

Maynard, Retro, Video, Xmas

Have a Madd New Year this New Year’s Eve

Its a Madd New Year from 9pm New Year’s Eve through to 1am. Video livestream LIVE at Mixcloud.

Every Madd Club video livestream from this year. PLUS at midnight Maynard live to air interviews (direct from VHS) at NYE 1987/88 Rage Hordern RAT party.

THEN get your groove on watching the hot retro explosion that was Ant, Kate & Maynard working The Moshpit, Newtown in Septembertill about 1am.

Get your kook on with a Madd New Year.. See you in the chat room from 9pm.

Facebook event for Madd New Year

Maynard Mixcloud live page from 9pm – 1am New Year’s Madd

This will take some explanation. Best you just watch Madd New Year.

A Very 2020 Xmas spectacular to warn to what to expect