The Woozle in Wollongong 24/25 May 2025

Hello again music fans.

This is a bit of a rundown of my recent weekend away and the set I played in support of the Wollongong leg of George Huitker's Maliyan 2025 Australian Tour.

I hadn't been to Wollongong for a while. For those not in the know, it's on the coast about 90km south of Sydney. From Canberra it's about a 3 hour drive if you include stops.

I chose to head to the 'Gong a day before the show. Winter is coming in fast in Canberra and the opportunity to get some sunshine and coastal air was a big drawcard. It's clearly not tourist season down there as accomodation was easy to find. I got a fab and groovy place about a five minute walk from both the CBD and the beach.

I am not a fan of the beach. I don't like sand. Salt water tastes horrible and of course there are sharks out there. I do, however, like being at the coast. I like the sound of the ocean and I'm pretty happy sitting on a bench somewhere gazing out to sea. Wollongong is great for a walk along the coast beside the beach. But, let me go out on a limb here and suggest that it is possible to walk without a takeaway coffee and/or without being on your phone the whole time...

I was fortunate enough to catch up with a couple of good friends there. Once by good luck when we were all out walking at the same time, and the next day for brekky at a fab cafe. Other than that I was pretty happy with my own company. I do wonder if the people in the next hotel room enjoyed me rehearsing my set though!

Rarely do I write much about food as it can be a challenging topic for me. I do, however, want to tell you all about the pineapple fritter I had as a treat at Glory Days on Crown Street. For years, every time I decide to get one I am disappointed. They arrive only half cooked, drowned in sugar and generally make me feel like I'd not bothered. Not this time. Oh, my, goodness. My taste buds were in heaven; the best pineapple fritter ever. Cooked to perfection and with just the right amount of cinnamon sugar. I should've gone back for a second one but let's not go too crazy.

Sunday came around with an early morning stroll, the aforementioned breakfast, and the joy of setting up sound equipment for a gig.

Lajos opened the show with poetry readings. This is the man that recently wrote 1000 poems in 1000 days. We'll be needing some of these in a book before too long. Great stuff.

Then it was me. It's been quite a while since I played and sang in public. The fact that I'd lost my voice just a week earlier threatened to make life interesting. I chose my repertoire accordingly and almost got away with it, almost. I chose to play four songs written by other people as well as a couple of mine. Here they are, along with why I chose them. Don't feel that you must read all of this as it is as much a journal entry for me as an expose of my musical scattergun approach.

i. To A Mouse - Robert Burns - https://youtu.be/5kFST60dNgY (read by Billy Connolly)

Lajos had read poetry and I really thought that I was about to lower the tone of the evening substantially so I read this one myself. Somewhere I have a certificate from early primary school in Scotland for reciting this particular poem.

1. Gold - John Stewart - https://youtu.be/reFlgu1vq3Q

This song has so much going for it. Firstly it takes me back to my childhood and AM radio. Lyrically I love it; "I jump into my car and I throw in my guitar". The rhythm of the syllables and feel of spitting out the consonants are beautiful things. "California" was interchanged with "Illawarra" and "Alabama".

2. If It Takes A Lifetime - Jason Isbell - https://youtu.be/d82uSO0tn3k

 

Y'all know that Jason is one of my favourite songwriters. His songs, however, are quite difficult for me to sing given his range and level of control. I'm not sure I did a wonderful job with this one, maybe I should have done it a bit later after my voice and nerves were more under control, but I still enjoyed it. For me, this is a song about continuing to move forwards.

3. Love Lies Bleeding - Elton John - https://youtu.be/REfKNbNndzo

George loves prog rock and this was as close as I could get with one voice and an acoustic guitar. I distilled the original eleven minute epic down to a bare bones, Neil Young-esque version, of about three minutes. It has a lot of chords, I needed a capo so that I could sing and play it at the same time, and it was a challenge to arrange and learn. My goodness it was fun though!

4. No Way Nadir - George Huitker - https://youtu.be/puATe3Ty3sQ

I knew that George wouldn't be playing this song in his set and, after trying out a number of his other tracks, I decided to give this one a red hot go. It's got a thousand chords as well but I played it so many times when I was in Junk Sculpture that it's pretty much muscle memory. But...I started it too fast and the lyrics need to come out thick and fast! Then I had the capo in the wrong place so it got a bit of a spoken word / Mark Knopfler vocal styling in places! And I reverted to the original lyrics...sorry H.

5. One's Too Many - https://on.soundcloud.com/udo5TD45qECNiR7h8

One of my originals that's been around for a little while now. I feel like I've played it to everyone I know but this was a whole new crowd and it has one additional lyric I wanted to try on for size.

6. Another Day - Lovesmudge - https://youtu.be/k8KgQzU3tJY

I had time up my sleeve so, unrehearsed, I threw this one in. I wrote the lyrics in 1992 for a band I was in at the time. It's not that easy with just the one guitar but I think the song still stands up today.

7. If You Don't Like Hank Williams - Kris Kristofferson - https://youtu.be/J8RSGCJF6gI

There's a demo version of this which I have linked that I just adore. Kris was a smart man who liked all sorts of music and artists and I wanted to channel a little of that vibe. A few lyrics were altered so that Hank Williams is replaced by George Huitker. I'm sure you'll get it when you listen to the original.

And that was me, done and dusted.

George and Evan were up next playing a range of songs from his ten albums. Quiet songs, and 'bangers' as George calls them and everything in between. Lajos and I got up for some backing vocals on two tracks but no-one saw that green trombone solo coming. Anarchy in Wollongong!

Good times indeed.

Cautiously, I think I am now available for low key lounge room shows across the ACT. Book now to ensure disappointment!

Thanks if you read all of this.

The Woozle.

World Wide Woozle episode #648

Hello all you radio fans.

Yes, it's been a while so this might get long. Strap in.

First of all, this Sunday 25 May I'm playing a support set at a gig in Wollongong. Come along and see me murder some great songs by other people and one that I wrote myself. I might do one more but it depends how long I yak about my choices! You'll also see quality entertainment with Lajos Hamers doing his thing followed by George and Evan playing selections from his ten albums.

I've just come home from nine days in New Zealand. It was fab to spend time with my family there simply catching up. Nothing beats being in the same room. I also did a ton of walking here and there, went to a gig, regretted wearing shorts once or twice, hung out with my awesome niece and nephew, almost lost my voice and, for the first time I can remember, joined with my brother in taking Mum out for Mother's Day. I was also extremely fortunate in that Wellington only turned on the gale force winds and sideways rain on the day I was coming home. That's my holiday for this year. Other than a long weekend here and there, I'm now saving my holidays to go to Scotland in 2026. It's time.

Big Country - In A Big Country - https://youtu.be/657TZDHZqj4

I don't tend to listen to a lot of music when I'm on holiday. Sure, on the plane is a different story, but out and about walking and on public transport I prefer to immerse myself in the local environment. Having said that, I did listen to this song more than once as a result of seeing it played live in Wellington at the very groovy Vogelmorn Bowling Club.

Andrew London - Country's Buggered - https://andrewlondon.bandcamp.com/track/countrys-buggered

In the last few months I've experienced four anxiety attacks. Not fun, not fun at all. In fact the first one, when I was out for a walk, was absolutely terrifying and is the reason I got a new psychologist and started to take this all much more seriously. The others were horrible as well. One was when I was riding home and another just as I got on the plane to come home from Adelaide. It lasted almost the length of the flight to Canberra. What I've learned is that they can come out of nowhere and make my thought patterns dark and illogical. Yes, I told my psychologist about them and we're working on it. This kind of thing isn't something you should keep to yourself or try to deal with alone because it's hard. In the throes of an attack all I can do is try to sit with the discomfort and ride it out. I use music, sometimes a podcast or an audio book to help with this. And lots of photos to remind me that my life is good and that the voice in my head yelling all the unhelpful thoughts will eventually shut up. Many of you will know that I have "don't give up" tattooed on the inside of my left forearm. It's a constant reminder to keep going. I guess I've accepted that mental health challenges are part of my life and have been for quite a while. Once I admitted this to myself and began to get help (and follow the advice properly) it has been getting better but it's far from a linear progression.

Why am I writing this bit? Some of it is cathartic. But it also takes up a lot of my time and energy and is a reason that I haven't published anything here for a while.

I Ain't Got No Home - Bruce Springsteen - https://youtu.be/QeSrR1X65EA

The Lemonheads have been in the country playing some gigs recently. I saw them at the ANU in about 1993 and they really weren't all that good. I remember being disappointed that they finished the gig by simply making an unholy racket and not playing their current single. The album at that time, It's A Shame About Ray, however, is awesome. I bought it on the strength of hearing it over the sound system at the record shop, something that has only happened to me twice. Live performance aside, it's still an album I like a lot and it reminds me of a pretty awesome period in my life.

The Lemonheads - Confetti - https://youtu.be/4s7Fi2QBXqk

For many years I worked in IT support and then I taught computing to high school students. Later on I also dabbled in helping older people with technology. Having now assisted with getting my Mum a new computer and transferring some information across, I may never want to choose Microsoft for anything I do myself again. Seriously, there is a new version of Outlook which might be the biggest disaster since disasters began. It truly is diabolical for anyone used to a well thought out and functioning email client. I live my digital life, including email, in the cloud these days and most is pretty seamless. The installation process for Office 2024 and associated importing of email files, accounts and folders is a disgrace. Bill Gates is spinning in his grave and he isn't even dead yet.

Heaven & Hell - Bible Black - https://youtu.be/EKyEbjcvUag

You may have guessed that songs mean a lot to me. I like to share music. Like a lot of people it started with mixtapes that I gave to friends, family and people who mattered to me. Then the blog came along and of course playlist sharing. But did you ever share a song with someone and then, maybe when things went south, found that the song stings a bit? In the film, Rattle and Hum, Bono from U2 talks about stealing the Beatles song, Helter Skelter, back from Charles Manson. Well I'm stealing this one back. It's a beautiful song that's been hurting me for too long. Radio NZ have literally released the below version today so get on it!

Don McGlashan w/ Anita Clark - Anchor Me - https://youtu.be/qlAJjSpi5T0

Back in the 90s I was in a band called Lovesmudge. Formed out of the smouldering embers of a covers band, we wrote and played what you'd probably describe as indie music. We were influenced by awesome groups like The Falling Joys and The Clouds. I put one of our demo tracks online years ago here but I really should get the other three digitised and uploaded. Fast forward just a few years to the present day and I can hear that kind of sound coming back. How good is this track all the way from Gosford?

Little Quirks - Storm Like Me - https://youtu.be/KDZ1LwibVfY

The World Wide Woozle current listening playlist is pretty heavy and angry at the moment. I guess that's the mood I was in when I put it together. It's likely to change in the next few days so grab a listen here and subscribe to it so that you can come back at any time to listen and wonder, "what WAS he thinking!"

Since I'll be in Wollongong this weekend I think I'll finish with a great band from that town. I saw Tumbleweed play supporting Rollins Band in 1994 and they were tops. Sludgy, fat, loud, stoner rock and roll.

Tumbleweed - TV Genocide - https://youtu.be/3DbgkGJoGeo

Keep smiling groovers,

The Woozle

"Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose

In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there ought to be a man in black"

Johnny Cash, The Man In Black, 1971