From video "The Ultimate Kylie" 2004

Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum OAM (born January 29, 1946 in Orbost, Victoria) is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer, and musical entrepreneur, best known as talent co-ordinator, on-air interviewer and music news presenter on the popular music program Countdown. He acted as talent co-ordinator for the show's entire 1974 to 1987 run; his on-air role was between the years of 1975 and 1986. Many consider Meldrum to be an icon in the Australian music scene. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x576, 267 KB) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x576, 267 KB) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Insignia of a Companion of the Order of Australia. ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Orbost () is a town of approximately 2000 inhabitants (2001 census) in the East Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 375km east of Melbourne where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. ... “VIC” redirects here. ... Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from late 1974 until July 19, 1987. ...

Early years

During the Beatles' first tour of Australia in 1964, Meldrum was captured by TV cameras as the person climbing atop the bonnet of their car shortly after their arrival at Melbourne airport. Later, he was ejected from their Melbourne concert for being "too enthusiastic". The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ...

Meldrum began his music career in the late 1960s as a "roadie" for a band named the Groop. Sharing a house with singer Ronnie Burns, he first started writing for Go-Set magazine in 1966, a new Australian pop music magazine, after befriending the editor Philip Frazer. Soon he was writing for the magazine on a regular basis. Meldrum continued writing for Go-Set on a weekly basis until it folded in August 1974. It was during this period that he was given his nickname, "Molly", by his friend and fellow Go-Set writer Stan Rofe, a Melbourne radio DJ. This first appeared in published form in a column written by Stan Rofe in Go-Set in 1968. Ronnie Burns (born Ronald Leslie Burns) on 8 September 1946 in Melbourne), is an Australian pop singer and former lead singer of Melbourne Band The Flies and former member of Cotton Morris & Burns He began singing with the Mod band, The Flies, in early 1964 when they entered a Moomba... Go-Set was a legendary Australian rock music magazine published from 1966-1974. ... Stan The Man Rofe (30 May 1930 – 16 May 2003) was Melbournes first and most influential rocknroll disc jockey. ... Stan The Man Rofe (30 May 1930 – 16 May 2003) was Melbournes first and most influential rocknroll disc jockey. ...

Around this time, Meldrum also began hanging out at a newly-opened Melbourne recording studio owned by Bill Armstrong, which soon became the leading pop studio in Australia. While he learned production and engineering techniques, he became involved with producing a number of artists including the Masters Apprentices, as well as working on Kommotion, a teen-oriented pop music "mime show" (where performers would mime to the latest overseas hits), which ended soon after when Actors Equity banned the practice. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

In 1968 Meldrum became the manager and producer of solo singer Russell Morris, who had recently quit his previous band, Somebody's Image. Meldrum produced Morris' first solo single, a Johnny Young-composed song The Real Thing. Young had written the song for Meldrum's friend Ronnie Burns, but when Meldrum heard Young playing it backstage during a taping of the TV pop show Uptight, he determined to secure the song for Morris, reportedly going to Young's home that evening with a tape recorder and refusing to leave until Young had taped a "demo" version of the song for him. For the Australian rules footballer, see Russell Morris (footballer). ... Johnny Young (born John de Jong), born in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, is an Australian singer, composer, producer, disc jockey and television producer and host. ... Uptight is a 1966 album by Motown singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. ...

In collaboration with Armstrong's house engineer John Sayers, Meldrum radically transformed The Real Thing from Young's original vision of a simple acoustic ballad backed by strings, into a highly produced studio masterpiece, extending it to an unheard-of six minutes in length (with much encouragement from Stan Rofe) and overdubbing the basic track with many additional instruments, vocals and sound effects. To achieve this, they used the services of The Groop as backing band, with contributions from vocalist Maureen Elkner and Groop lead singer Ronnie Charles, guitarist Roger Hicks from Zoot — who played the song's distinctive acoustic guitar intro — and arranger John Farrar. The single is reported to have cost AU$10,000 — the most expensive ever made in Australia up to that time — and features one of the earliest uses of the studio technique known as "phasing" on an Australian recording. The Real Thing became a national number one hit for Morris in mid-1969 and is widely considered to be one of the finest Australian pop-rock recordings of the era. Roger Hicks is a popular author of photography and cook books, often written with the aid of his wife Francis. ... Zoot was a four piece pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965. ... The cover of Farrars self-titled album. ... Definition of phase shift Phase shifting describes relative phase shift in superposing waves. ...

Meldrum also produced several other hits — including Burns' number one single Smiley — while continuing to write for a variety of magazines. After splitting with Morris in about 1970, he travelled to the United Kingdom, where he began working for the The Beatles' company, Apple Corps. During this time he met Paul McCartney and John Lennon. One (possibly apocryphal) story is that Meldrum fainted when he met Lennon for the first time. His association with The Beatles enabled him to score a scoop interview with Lennon and Yoko Ono, in which Lennon revealed publicly for the first time that the Beatles were breaking up. Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an iconic English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... Yoko Ono Lennon (小野 洋子 Ono Yōko), born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese-American artist and musician. ...

Countdown years

After returning to Australia in the early 1970s, Meldrum continued writing for the music press as well as venturing back into television as the presenter of a shortlived TV children's show, where he met producers Michael Shrimpton and Rob Weekes.

In 1973, Meldrum, Shrimpton and Weekes approached the ABC with the concept for a new weekly pop music show, based on the British show Top Of The Pops and on the Australian pop show Kommotion, on which Meldrum had appeared in the mid-1960s. Countdown premiered in November 1974, with Meldrum as the show's talent coordinator. He did not originally appear in the series, which had a different guest host each week; his first on-screen appearances were in the "Humdrum" music news segment in mid-1975, but by the end of that year he had become the face of the series. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart television programme, made and broadcast by the BBC. It was originally shown each week, mostly on BBC One, from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. ... Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from late 1974 until July 19, 1987. ...

Originally broadcast weekly, at 6.30 on a Friday evening for 30 minutes, Countdown was fortunate to have begun just before the introduction of colour television in Australia in March 1975. Equally crucial to its success was the move in January that year to the 6pm Sunday timeslot, with the show being extended to 60 minutes. Its reach was further enhanced by the fact that a midday Saturday timeslot was used to repeat the previous week's show. The combination of the ABC's nationwide reach, the novelty of colour broadcasting and the show's dual timeslot enabled Countdown to reach an unprecedented number of viewers. It soon became the most successful and popular music program ever made in Australia and exerted a massive influence on Australian music over the next decade. Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from late 1974 until July 19, 1987. ...

The advent of colour TV coincided with a major change in the direction of Australian popular music, and it was vital making national successes of bands such as Skyhooks and Sherbet. Skyhooks was an Australian rock band of the 1970s, sometimes classified as a glam rock band, although this is mainly the result of the bands flamboyant costumes and makeup. ... Sherbet (a. ...

Countdown benefited from the fact that it appeared just as the music video genre was taking off. Indeed, the show was instrumental in popularising the use of purpose-made promotional videos — which had previously only been a minor part of pop show programming — and its extensive use of film-clips and videos by both established and emerging overseas acts (who at that time toured Australia only rarely) made Countdown an important venue for breaking new songs and new groups. A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ...

The series is credited with giving early exposure to, and generating breakthrough Australian hits for, a number of major international acts including ABBA, Meat Loaf, Blondie, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, sometimes years before they became international stars. Meldrum made many overseas trips and became personally friendly with many of the top pop and rock stars of the period, enabling Countdown to gain many international exclusives. “Abba” redirects here. ... This article is about the singer. ... Blondie is the name of an American rock band that first gained fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ... Boz Scaggs album cover Boz Scaggs (born William Royce Scaggs, June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. ... Cynthia Ann Stephanie Cyndi Lauper (born June 22, 1953) is an American Grammy Award-winning singer and Emmy Award-winning film, television and theatre actress. ... This article is about the American entertainer. ...

Meldrum's on-screen performances were often criticised, and he became legendary for his rambling and sometimes incomprehensible commentaries and interview questions. In 1985, when Meldrum was crowned King of Moomba he quipped "I was at the cricket the other day and the boys in Bay 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground were all yelling out 'Moomba' and 'hail the king'... not to mention a few 'hail the queen' ".^[1] For the fictional creature Moomba from the final fantasy series, see http://en. ...

He was also noted for several famous on-screen gaffes, including one famous incident during an interview with Prince Charles in which the clearly anxious Meldrum repeatedly bungled his lines. Despite occasional episodes of apparent ineptitude, Meldrum soon became a major star in his own right. He was also notable as a champion of local Australian talent and for his regular use of the show to pressure local radio to play more Australian music. As a result of his efforts, Countdown was soon in a position to make overnight hits with songs and performers it featured, and through the late 1970s and early 1980s it was the key factor in determining the direction of Australian popular music. “Prince Charles” redirects here. ...

After Countdown

After Countdown finished its run, Meldrum presented a regular music segment, titled Molly's Melodrama, for the popular Australian variety show, Hey Hey It's Saturday for several years in the 1990s. He travelled extensively, conducting interviews for the segment; one of these was a one-on-one with each member of The Rolling Stones. Hey Hey Its Saturday was a long running variety television program on Australian television. ... “Rolling Stones” redirects here. ...

In 2004, Meldrum became a judge on Popstars Live, a reality program on Channel Seven. As part of his contract to the network, he appears regularly on popular breakfast TV show Sunrise. Popstars Live was an Australian talent quest program similar to Australian Idol that aired on the Seven Network in early 2004. ... Channel Seven is an Australian television channel broadcasted by the Seven Network. ... Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network and its affiliates. ...

Meldrum's trademark cowboy hat headwear, enthusiasm for popular music, and sometimes incoherent interviewing style remain well known. He is an amateur Egyptologist. That his extensive general knowledge extended beyond popular music was perhaps less well-known until, as a contestant on a celebrity edition Who Wants to be a Millionaire, he won $500,000 for a charity, the equal biggest win on the Australian version of the program until October 2005, although he only got the $500,000 by phoning a friend, Red Symons of Skyhooks fame. He appeared on the 4th series of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars in 2006 and was voted off after the first round. He was also on an episode of Deal or No Deal (Dancing with the Deals) on 13 February 2006. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ... Logo from the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers very large cash prizes for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions. ... Red Symons (born June 13, 1949 in Brighton, England) is an Australian musician, writer, and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with the Skyhooks and as the snide judge of Red Faces, a The Gong Show-esque segment of the long-running Hey Hey Its Saturday variety... Skyhooks was an Australian rock band of the 1970s, sometimes classified as a glam rock band, although this is mainly the result of the bands flamboyant costumes and makeup. ... Dancing with the Stars is an Australian television series based on the British Strictly Come Dancing. ... Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was produced by Dutch producer Endemol. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Meldrum is a prominent supporter of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL). St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League. ... This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ... The Melbourne Storm are a professional rugby league football club based in the city of Melbourne, Australia. ... The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. ...

Molly Meldrum is openly gay. In one episode of Red Faces, the men from Adelaide did a tribute to him by coming onto the stage dressed in cowboy hats and tutus GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ...

On Australia Day 1986 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for service to the fostering of international relief and to youth.^[2] Anniversary Day redirects here. ... Insignia of a Companion of the Order of Australia. ...

In 1992 Molly received The Special Achievement Award at the ARIAs for services to the music industry

In 2003, a televised roast for the openly gay Meldrum, Molly: Toasted and Roasted, drew controversy for its excessive and obscene homophobic slurs. Footy Show star Sam Newman was noted in particular.^[3] A roast is an event in which an individual is subject to publicly bearing insults, praise, outlandish true and untrue stories, and heartwarming tributes. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... John Noel William Sam Newman (born December 22, 1945 in Geelong, Victoria) is a retired Australian rules football player for the Geelong Cats and is now a local celebrity, television personality and part-time specialist ruck coach. ...

In September 2006, Molly's interview with Prince Charles on Countdown was listed at #41 in TV Week's 'Top 50 most memorable moments on Australian television' list. In 2007 Molly appeared in the award winning Frank Howson movie Remembering Nigel. Frank Howson has been in showbusiness since he was seven and has amassed experience in all facets of the industry. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Interview MP3 extract of Molly Meldrum taken from Interviews Archive
• Ian "Molly" Meldrum at the Internet Movie Database
• Countdown Website