''Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong'' is an Australian

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

released in November 1974 as a spin-off from the cult

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

show ''

Aunty Jack ''The Aunty Jack Show'' was a Logie Award-winning Australian television comedy series that ran from 1972 to 1973. Produced by and broadcast on ABC-TV, the series attained an instant cult status that persists to the present day. The lead chara ...

''. It contains a mixture of songs and sketches and, along with the single "

Farewell Aunty Jack "Farewell Aunty Jack" was the closing theme to ''The Aunty Jack Show'', played at the end of each episode. It was re-recorded and released as a hit single in late 1973 and spent 3 weeks at number one in the charts in Australia in February and M ...

", is the only audio release from the ''Aunty Jack'' crew.

Track listing

The album follows the format of the ''Aunty Jack'' show - sketches with the main characters Aunty Jack, Thin Arthur, Kid Eager and Flange Desire (although Flange is almost completely absent from the album sketches) interspersed with sketches with other characters. According to the album notes "The Album was conceived as an aural/visual experience; a TV Show on record; sound with pictures. From a day trip to Wollongong to Spider Farrelly's Bucks Party. Settle back, close your eyes and be transported to a day in the life of Aunty Jack with Thin Arthur and Kid Eager." Side one starts off with a jokes dating back to the days of

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...

. Aunty Jack gets "pronged" by the needle, Kid Eager falls down the hole in the centre of the album and Aunty Jack with Thin Arthur get chased by the needle. After the first song they wind up in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, in the Gong A Go Go club where

Norman Gunston Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He ...

introduces the Farrelly Brothers, who sing

I've Been Everywhere "I've Been Everywhere" is a song written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, and popularised by Lucky Starr and Hank Snow in 1962. The song as originally written listed Australian towns. It was later adapted by Australian singe ...

- except the only place they have been is Wollongong - and

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

. Norman Gunston spots Aunty Jack in the audience, and starts to introduce her, but Kid Eager jumps in instead with a dance. Aunty Jack steps in, and introduces her dance. Mervyn Whipple, Man of a Thousand Faces then jumps in with his omni directional sound effects act. The scene then shifts to a park bench with Neil and Errol who sing a song where they have to avoid rhymes. Eventually Neil makes a rhyme, and Errol is thus set free. The scene shifts again to Kev Kavanagh and the Kavemen at the Abattoirs Discothèque (which he pronounces "dis-COTH-e-kew"). Somehow after their song, we are back at the Gong a Go Go, where Norman Gunston thanks Kev for his act and takes us into Wollongong's national anthem "Wollongong The Brave". The cast join in, but find it hard to stop as someone (usually Norman Gunston) keeps the song going. Bit by bit everyone departs, leaving eventually only Norman, who refuses to end it, until it is pointed out everyone is going to the other side of the record. He still continues, and gets bombed. Side two begins with Norman Gunston still singing "Wollongong The Brave", until Aunty Jack shuts him up, and the theme from Aunty Jack plays. We then are transported to Spider Farrelly's Bucks Party with his steel-worker mates - during their lunch break - who are entertained by the Ri Fol Tit Men. The duo sing three songs until they are shouted off by the steel workers for their foul language (which is only of "poo, bum, wee" grade). The next act is the stripper, but it turns out to be Aunty Jack. Norman Gunston on the radio interrupts with one of his "What's On In Wollongong" segments, introducing the Farrelly Brothers who sing a Bush Ballad that sounds suspiciously more Hawaiian than Australian, due no doubt to the dangerous substance they inhaled. This is followed by Tarzan Super Ape, a

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

in the style of

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

. Back at the steelworkers' canteen an ad is read for Fish Milk Shakes. The Farrelly Brothers return with some Country and Western Suburbs music. Aunty Jack and her band The Gongs sing a song with Flange Desire showing her limited skills in a keyboard solo. The now audibly drunk steelworkers stand, face Nor-North West, and watch the Aunty Jack show. As the final song ends, Aunty Jack et al. get squashed by the next record. Aunty Jack climbs up to intervene and winds up jamming with the legendary Japanese blues star Blind Josh Orange Drop Mitsubishi and his side-man harp player Muddy Mahawat.

Side One

#"Rip Off" (Aunty Jack and Thin Arthur) – 2:57 #"I've Been Everywhere" (The Farrelly Brothers) – 2:39 #"The Kid Eager" (Kid Eager 'n' The Gong) – 1:40 #"Doin' The Aunty Jack" (Aunty Jack 'n' The Gong) – 1:50 #"Man Of 1000 Faces" (Mervyn Whipple & Sampson) – 0:46 #"The Last Refrain" (Neil and Errol) – 3:14 #"Veggie Queen" (Kev Kavanagh & the Kavemen) – 3:02 #"Wollongong The Brave" (Norman & The Gunstonnettes) – 6:30

Side Two

#"Wollongong The Brave (reprise)" (Norman Gunston) – 0:13 #"Head Of The Pack" (Thin Arthur) – 0:57 #"Spider's Bucks Lunch" (Len, Ron & Darryl) – 1:00 #"Ri Fol Tit Men" (Ri Fol Tit Men) – 2:41 #"Don't Take It Off" (Thin Arthur) – 0:26 #"What's On In Wollongong" (Norman Gunston) – 0:28 #"Snowy Aloha" (The 'Banjo' Farrelly Brothers) – 1:42 #"Tarzan Super Ape" (an Origami Rock Opera) – 5:52 #"Fish Milk Shakes" (Terry Dutton) – 0:52 #"The Western Lady" (The Farrelly Brothers) – 1:59 #"Aunty Jack 'N' The Box" (Aunty Jack 'n' The Gong) – 5:37 #"

" (Thin Arthur & Aunty Jack) – 1:54 #"Nagasaki Blues" (Blind Josh Orange Drop Mitsubishi & Muddy Mahawat, with Aunty Jack) – 3:21 "Head Of The Pack" was used as the opening theme music on the Aunty Jack show, and "Farewell, Aunty Jack" is taken from the closing credits. "

" and "Doin' The Aunty Jack" are different versions than appear on the single. "Tarzan Super Ape" was recorded for use in the Aunty Jack show, series one. John Derum normally played the character Narrator Neville, but left at the end of the first series, being replaced by Garry McDonald. The original 1974 release is now a collector's item as it is highly difficult to find.

2006 Re-Issue

In 2006, the album was re-released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

, as a 2 disc set. Disc one is both sides of the original album, and disc two is a compilation of the

single, as well as songs used in the Aunty Jack series, Flash Nick From Jindavik, the Off Show, and News Free Zone. #"

" (single version) #"Doin' The Aunty Jack" (B-side to "

") #"Wollongong On The Mind" #"Pearl Pureheart" #" Be-Bop-a-Lula" #"A Football Opera" #"Dear Scarlett" #"Herman The Brave" #"Teenage Butcher" #"Do The Kev" #"La Kookaracha" #"Honalulu Lulu" #"Norman Gunston's Second Dream" #"You're Ugly" #"Flash Nick From Jindavik" #"Ride Riley Ride" #"Off Show Theme" #"Leave It To Jesus" #"Away In A Major" #"Budgie Pizza" #"Queen Of The Gong" #"Greenhouse Blues" #"News Free Zone" #"Please Respect Me" "Leave It To Jesus" is the opening theme to the sketch of the same name, a lampoon of Leave It To Beaver, which was to appear on an early episode of

The Off Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

- before an ABC-TV executive erased it on the night before it was due to be broadcast. It was this incident that led to Bond and O'Donoghue ending their association with ABC-TV for several years. "News Free Zone" was broadcast in 1985 on ABC-TV, intended to be an entire evening's entertainment in one half-hour with no news (shown at the same time the three commercial networks showed their evening news) - a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

(85 Australia Street), a

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

(Neverending Story), and a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

(Party Line which always started with a voice over saying "A wise man once said..."), along with Kev Kevanagh's Kulture, and Vintage Video which showed old Aunty Jack sketches. The show ended each night with a reading from The Book Of Wisdom, usually a vague saying of doubtful value, before Bond sang "Please Respect Me". Bond and O'Donoghue recreate this at the end of the second disc.

Charts

Main Performers

*Grahame Bond - Aunty Jack, Farrelly Brother, Errol, Kev Kavanagh, Len, Ri Fol Tit man, Tarzan, Terry Dutton *Rory O'Donoghue - Thin Arthur, Farrelly Brother, Neil, Ri Fol Tit man, Witch Doctor *Garry McDonald - Kid Eager, Norman Gunston *Maggie McKinney - Jane, Flange Desire *John Derum - Bomba The Jungle Boy

Credits

*''Music produced by'' Graham Bond / Rory O'Donoghue *''Dialogue produce by'' Maurice Murphy *''Engineer'' Wahanui 'Wyn' Wynyard *''Studios'' United Sound *''Synthesisers supplied and built by''

Kim Ryrie Kim Ryrie is an Australian synthesiser inventor who founded the audio technology company Fairlight with Peter Vogel. Career Kim Ryrie was the son of magazine publisher, Colin Ryrie, of Modern Magazines Pty Ltd. Based in Sydney, Ryrie launched ...

(later of Fairlight) *''Union Delegate'' Spider Farrelly "The album was recorded in 1974, sometime."

References

* {{Authority control 1974 albums 2006 albums The Aunty Jack Show