Aussie music icons to bring back hits

Music veterans Russell Morris, Leo Sayer, Joe Camilleri and Richard Clapton will come together for their Good Times Tour during April and May.

A bunch of kooks, two with too much hair and a couple of baldies, will join forces to bring their huge hits to the stage again.

Music veterans Russell Morris, Leo Sayer, Joe Camilleri and Richard Clapton got fans dancing in Melbourne on Wednesday as they launched their show, the APIA Good Times Tour.

Chained To The Wheel and You Make Me Feel Like Dancing are among favourites audiences can expect during the show, which kicks off in Warrnambool in April and then travels across metropolitan and regional Australia.

It's about nostalgia, with a couple of new songs thrown in for good measure.

"We're all kooky, we all feel like we are funnier than the other guy, we all feel that we're more mature and more intellectual," Camilleri says.

"We've got two bald-headed guys, two guys with too much hair, I think it's a nice, evenly balanced scenario."

Camilleri, who is celebrating 50 years in Australian music, fronted Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows, in addition to his solo career.

He is philosophical about the release of his 45th album, Certified Blue, next month.

"There will be people who will hunt it down and there are people who won't give a rat's arse about it.

"I feel good about it, I think they're sophisticated songs."

Camilleri considers one of the album's tracks, Wake Me Up In Paradise, among the best songs he has ever written.

He says the album is brimming with blue stories that relate to how he is feeling.

"They are sad old tales really and here I am smiling."

Camilleri says he is now comfortable reflecting on the past, which hasn't always been the case.

"There was a time when it was like an albatross around my neck because it's all about new, new, new."

He says while it is important to embrace the past he wants to let people know he doesn't live in that box.

"You need to be who you are. I can't chase Harley & Rose around (The Black Sorrows 1990), I can't chase Hit & Run (Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons 1979), I can't chase the songs that have been famous; and they were probably famous for different reasons.

"It was the time, you can't push back the river."

In April, Russell Morris will also release his follow up to Sharkmouth, which earned him an ARIA award for Best Blues and Roots Album last year.

"It's more rhythm and blues rather than straight blues and it's about Australia," he says of his new offering.

Morris says the biggest lesson he has learnt during his decades in the music industry is that nothing is guaranteed.

"Nothing is ever certain, when you think it is, that's when it's the least certain."

APIA GOOD TIMES TOUR DATES:

April 30 - Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool, Vic

May 2 - Adelaide Entertainment Centre

May 3 - Crown Perth

May 7 - West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul, Vic

May 10 - Wrest Point Entertainment Centre, Hobart

May 11 - Country Club Show Room, Launceston

May 14 - Empire Theatre, Toowoomba

May 15 - Concert Hall QPAC, Brisbane

May 16 - Twin Towns, Tweed Heads

May 17 - Civic Theatre, Newcastle

May 18 - The Star Event Centre, Sydney

May 21 - Entertainment Centre, Darwin

May 24 - Entertainment Centre, Shoalhaven, NSW

May 25 - Canberra Theatre

May 30 - Palais Theatre, Melbourne

May 31 - Costa Hall, GPAC, Geelong


4 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


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