Weird Al Yankovic rocked the very foundations of Australian society during his recent tour of the continent. With his hot accordion and even hotter band he left little or no doubt who wears the Hawaiian shirt in his relationship with his dedicated fans. Maynard interviewed Al and some of his fans at Enmore Theatre, Sydney 14th March.
Enjoy watching a show no sane adult should be party to.
Watch Maynard’s Weird Al clip special
Weird Al Yankovic fans in Sydney go nuts during his last tour here
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Kylie Minogue’s Enjoy Yourself tour played Sydney on 5th February 1990. I was there to cover it for my Triple J breakfast show the next morning. Some of the interviews you’ll hear in this audio never made the breakfast show that next morning (the Dad from Stroud for example).
People who can spot talent realise Kylie’s not trying to preach from a soapbox. She’s just a young chick who’s having a good time and pleasing a lot of people with her music.
Richard Wilkins MTV Feb 1990
At Kylie Minogue’s third only live show in Australia, you’ll hear Ms Minogue herself, Ray Medhurst (Rockmelons), Nick Ferris (Ten Wedge), Alan Jones (you know him), DJ Pee Wee Ferris, James Freud (Models and bass in Kylie’s stage band), Richard Wilkins (MTV etc), Glen A Baker, even Dave Mason (The Reels). Not to mention the sometimes blunt opinions of the overexcited audience that paid the 1990 price of about $30 a ticket at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
Kylie Minogue’s set list from the night
But there was a lot of “Kylie cringe” going on still at the beginning of 1990. Regardless of this, a lot of groovers and hipsters from around Sydney were in the audience to see her show that February night, even though some of the black clothing set looked a bit uncomfortable outside Kings Cross and Darlinghurst.
I think there should be more shows like this. It’s unpretentious in so many ways. It’s really honest. It’s showbiz.
James Freud, Feb 5th 1990 (about 11:30pm backstage)
Supported by Indecent Obsession the Enjoy Yourself show played to a capacity Sydney Entertainment Centre crowd that didn’t stop screaming and singing along all night. Most of the music you’ll hear was recorded by me in the middle of that deliriously screaming crowd, which might give you a feel of what it was like to be there.
Prior to Kylie starting her show, what looked like Jason Donovan in the seated audience section caused a chorus of shrieking just before the show started. Once the show started everyone quickly forgot the Jason incident and had an opinion about Kylie’s black velveteen catsuit (as you will hear, it was her favourite outfit of the show).
Thankyou to the producers who helped produce this, some of which never made it to air on the morning of 6th Feb 1990. Chris Norris & Simon Marnie.
Enjoy Yourself, you’ll hear we ALL did that night.
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William Shatner charmed the frankly overexcited crowd that came from far and very wide to see his live solo show at The State Theatre in Sydney in October 2018.I grabbed my best Shatner tie and my 1969 BBC Star Trek puzzle book and knew I was going to be among my kind of people.
The resulting Planet Maynard podcast is from the dozen people I spoke with at The State Theatre that night.
The many shades of Shatner mentioned included:
The Outer Limits, TJ Hooker, Miss Congeniality, The Twilight Zone, Shit My Dad Says, Tribbles, Gorn, Kingdom of the Spiders, Canada, Red Shirts,Flying High 2, Star Trek 2 (but not Star Trek 5). Yet not one person could even hum the theme to one of my favourite works of The Shatman, Barbary Coast.
Here’s Bill in a mauve smoking jacket as he turns out to be a man of many disguises in the opening credits.
Thanks to the Red Shirts, Belinda and her mum Robyn from the southern tablelands, Kevin Williams and the disgruntled Canadian.
Look At His Butt podcast (the all Bill all the time Star Trek show)
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Time for a serious Oxford Street lunch with Lance Leopard, but not till after an even more serious viewing of Valley of the Dolls, a movie Lance agrees is a “great starting point for any camp movie collection’.
Join Maynard as he visits Lance Leopard, high in his ivory tower of scuttlebutt, where all secrets are hidden and revealed, overlooking the inhospitable wilds of Darlinghurst.
Topics covered in this show include, Delilah, The Gibson Brothers, Madonna’s movie career, Jane Fonda, Liberace, Marilyn Monroe on the piano, Bill Collins, Village People, Claire de Lune, Joe Hasham and ABBA.
Lance declares two “stupid films” that should never have been made. While Maynard gets the best scene from Tank Girl wrong.
And the next time someone you know isn’t getting what you are saying, just do what Lance does, and ask them; “can you hear the drums Fernando?”.
Lance did have a few other things he wished to be quoted on;
“I’m glad you’re working hard on this show Maynard, I’m as lazy as Dean Martin.”
“I thought the Madonna film Body of Evidence was a great film in a genre I’ve made up called faux Hitchcock.”
“Madonna can act, when she’s directed well and she’s not the leading character.”
“My favourite Bond film is Moonraker, it’s James Bond in space AND Shirley Bassey belts out the theme song.”
“I ironed Neil Tenant’s pants once backstage because the Pet Shop Boys wardrobe assistant had gone missing at The Phoenix Bar on ecstasy or something. I blame the gays.”
“I have long arms, so it never looks like I’m taking a selfie. It looks like I’m just waving.”
“I’ve been called a gay icon, and I’ve been called worse.”
“Now a new audience has rediscovered me, I’m trapped with my quiff, my perfect eyebrows and my matte complexion.”
” Now that I’m older, I’ve realised timing and lighting is EVERYTHING.”
Enjoy your lunch with Lance, see you at the buffet….
Maynard’s 1989 interview with Jackie O’Sullivan of Bananrama during their Australian tour
Madonna in Lance’s favourite scene from Dick Tracey, love that dialogue.
March for Science happened in Sydney Saturday morning, with Adam Spencer, Kirsten Banks and many others putting their feet forward for all things evidence based.
We were there for The Skeptic Zone, with Richard Saunders doing the camera and editing work.
The Skeptic Zone show #495 with the audio from the morning is here.
March for Science 2017
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In 1942 the Japanese invasion of Australia seemed imminent and inevitable. Scorched Earth plans to deny the Japanese invaders were drawn up across Australia and Sue Rosen uncovered the very detailed New South Wales Scorched Earth plans that had been forgotten and misfiled at the end of the Second World War.
The plans drawn up included everything from starting aggressive bush fires to hinder the Japanese and using sharpened Ironbark as improvised bayonets to making sure no soldier of Japan captures your tennis shoes.
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Ratcat celebrated 30 years as a band with Toys Went Berserk & Spod at The Factory in Sydney on 14th October. Maynard was on hand as DJ/MC and the night went a bit nuts. Hear from Simon Day, Nic Dalton, Andy Jarvis, Coo Bennett and a lot of over excited fans.
Go onstage, upstage and backstage with me. Your name is on the door.
Saturday night at Enmore Theatre I ventured into the crowd to take the cultural temperature of the group zeitgeist.
This turned out to be less than one of the more intellectual pursuits of the 21st century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEwFTNoITAA
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Maynard & Tim Ferguson take their Bunga Bunga podcast to Supanova Sydney 2016. They want to see the colour, costumes and FANS that make it a wild day out. AND they tackle the Burning Social Issue; Rebels or Empire?
Maynard & Tim Ferguson take their Bunga Bunga podcast to Supanova Sydney 2016. They want to see the colour, costumes and FANS that make it a wild day out. AND they tackle that Burning Social Issue; Rebels or Empire?
Listen to the longer audio podcast Bunga Bunga 30
Camera & Production: Richard Saunders
