AUSTRALIAN FEMALE SINGERS (1970s) (Part 5) by scotta 111 - Dailymotion

scotta 111

Collection of Australian female singers from the 1970s era.

Transcript

00:00Well, you'll all remember our next guest. She put Australian music on the map.

00:06It's hard to buy a book when it needs much to buy.

00:09Or is it the clothes you wear?

00:13You're always window shopping but never stopping to buy.

00:18Ah, come on, you're all singing along, I know that.

00:20Well, now Judith Durham is releasing some new music,

00:23including her own version of Advance Australia Fair for the first time in eight years.

00:28She's with us now. Good morning to you.

00:30Morning, Judith.

00:31It's so lovely to meet you.

00:32It's beautiful to be here, thank you.

00:33I love the Seekers music.

00:36When you look back at that footage, happy memories?

00:38Oh, very much so.

00:39Although it was a particularly stressful day, that particular show,

00:42because we were just about to break up.

00:44So it's amazing to think what was going through my mind.

00:46The first live coverage from England, if I remember rightly, that was Colour.

00:50And there really was no bigger Australian act at the time in the 60s.

00:55John Farnham was around, the Bee Gees were around,

00:57but the Seekers were absolutely it in terms of topping the charts.

01:02And at the height of all that success, you walked away.

01:05Yes.

01:06Why did you do that?

01:07Oh, well, I needed to do other things in life.

01:09It was a pretty big decision at the time.

01:11And I didn't realise then that it would cause a lot of grief amongst the fans.

01:14With maturity now, I understand the news should have been broken a lot more gently.

01:18But it was great that we could have our reunion concerts, of course, in the 90s.

01:22So a lot of people have caught up with us through that.

01:24People still want to hear your voice.

01:26And I heard you sing recently.

01:28Your voice has lost absolutely nothing.

01:30Oh, thank you very much.

01:31Well, I do have to take care of it a bit more than I used to.

01:34I used to have biscuits and tea and everything before recordings back in the 60s.

01:38But now I've got to be on a very careful diet because I have a lung condition as well.

01:41So mostly fruit and vegetables and a good night's sleep.

01:44And I don't drink or smoke, so that helps a lot.

01:46Well, it's obviously all working a treat.

01:48So you've decided to make a comeback.

01:51And you're releasing new music, including a brand-new version of Advance Australia Fair.

01:57Why did you decide to rewrite the words to that?

01:59Oh, look, I felt that there were words that other people might have liked to sing, as indeed I would have.

02:03Because it's a fairly old-fashioned lyric, of course, written in the 1800s.

02:08Beautiful tune, though.

02:10So I thought, well, maybe in 50 years' time, if anybody's prepared to look at a change,

02:14at least my one will be out there and people may have a look at it along with a lot of other choices.

02:18Well, let's have a closer listen.

02:21Precious water, soil and sun,

02:25grand life for you and me.

02:30Our land abounds in nature's gifts

02:35to love, respect and share.

02:39So what are the essential changes?

02:41What was it that you objected to?

02:43There were certain parts you really weren't happy with.

02:47Well, there was a lot of ridicule about Gert by sea.

02:49I mean, obviously there still is.

02:50Every time we sing, we think Gert by sea, Gert by sea.

02:53I mean, that was my first and foremost thought.

02:56Is there a possibility of replacing those words with something else that is of our language?

03:00But in addition to that, though, I thought about the fact that we are young and free,

03:05which can be taken two ways, of course.

03:07Australia is young and we are free in spirit.

03:09But then again, our ancient culture is renowned through all the world.

03:13We are the oldest living culture with the indigenous history that we have in this ancient land.

03:19So I felt it was such a pity not to be celebrating that,

03:22along with the other things that we sing about our country.

03:24And what sort of reaction have you had?

03:26Quite mind-boggling, actually.

03:28Yes, it's been fantastic.

03:30A lot of support.

03:31I mean, naturally some people are going to be critical.

03:33But the wonderful thing is that the indigenous people wanted to sing it,

03:36the ones who I've been in contact with.

03:38And that was a big turnaround.

03:39I didn't even know whether they were happy with the existing anthem or not.

03:43But it turned out, with the feedback I got,

03:45that many of them actually don't bother to sing our existing anthem.

03:48And so that is a plus.

03:50I mean, obviously I didn't set out to achieve only that.

03:53The main thing was to just come up with a contemporary lyric.

03:55But it's been really wonderful.

03:57And I've had a lot of help with other people helping me write the lyric, too.

04:00Is there any chance at all that the government would see this as the one that we should adopt?

04:05I think it's very much off their agenda at the moment.

04:08My main mission was to do something while I was still capable,

04:11to make a suggestion, to come up with an offering.

04:14Because I kept thinking, gee, someone should change those words.

04:16And then I thought, well, maybe I can have a bash at it, you see.

04:19So, look, it's there.

04:20I just hope people won't forget about it at the time when maybe there is a change.

04:23Well, you're making a comeback, although the truth is you never really went away.

04:27You would have seen overnight that John Farnham's ticket sold out in 15 minutes yesterday.

04:32If people would like to see you, where are you touring?

04:34Well, I'm not actually touring yet.

04:36I hope to sometime soon.

04:38I have another album in the pipeline.

04:40At the moment, I've got the Up Close and Personal album, which has just been released,

04:43which is an a cappella album of spiritual songs along with the single being out.

04:47But in around about September, October, there's an album of the Australian City Suite,

04:52which is songs I've written for all the capital cities.

04:54So that'll be a fundraiser for the Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund and many other charities.

04:58And after that, it's possible I'll tour.

05:00So I don't know if I'm capable of doing a big tour,

05:03but I certainly haven't toured Australia for a long time.

05:05And I would very much like to do it.

05:07So if Farnham can do it, I can do it, maybe.

05:09Indeed. Indeed.

05:11Well, I know a lot of Australia has missed you.

05:13So, Judith Durham, it's a real treat to meet you.

05:15Thanks very much for coming in this morning.

05:16Thank you very much, Lisa, and lots of love to everyone.

05:19Over to you, Carl.

05:20Judith Durham, one of the very few artists in the 60s having a milk arrow

05:24and a cup of tea before a recording session.

JUDITH DURHAM - Today (2009)

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AUSTRALIAN FEMALE SINGERS (1970s) (Part 5)

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