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Archive for October, 2012

A time when Ugly Men worked for Charity

Posted by ken On October - 24 - 2012

UM-04.jpg Johnny O’Keefe, Graham Kennedy, Bobby Limb and Stuart Wagstaff, shirtless on the first Telethon in 1968 Well before the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Esplanade Train Station and the Transperth City Busport, or the car park on the corner of Mounts Bay Road and William Street, there existed on the same site a fairground called White City, which was established by a charitable group called the Ugly Men’s Voluntary Workers Association.

…These bands made guest appearances on the Perth show, where Bill Blaine and the Dynamics were the house band. UM-31.jpg Coca Cola Hi Fi Club Hops at the Embassy (Courtesy of Colin Nichol) Coca-Cola’ subsidiary Gest (Golden West Soft Drinks) also sponsored the Club 7 Teen teenage shows on TVW Channel 7 which were hosted by Gary Carvolth from 1963 to 1964, then by Johnny Young.

We wish to advise that Perth science-teacher-turned-history-author and founder of the Light and Sound Discovery Centre, Richard Rennie, has produced an exciting new reference to everything old in relation to Western Australia wirelesses and gramophones. NEW PUBLICATION The Encyclopedia of Western Australian Wirelesses and Gramophones by Richard Rennie. In the first half of the twentieth […]

Glenys Gill (nee Andrijasevich) started at TVW Channel 7 in 1969, to join the elite team of secretaries employed by Seven. They had to be elite as Managing Director Sir James Cruthers insisted on perfection, when it came to the typing of letters and memorandums. He was trained as a journalist and possessed well tuned […]

“If it ain’t fun, we ain’t doing it !”

Posted by ken On October - 10 - 2012

As retirees and broadcasting history enthusiasts our intrepid researchers Richard Ashton and Gordon McColl have one rule which determines every task: “If it ain’t fun, we ain’t doing it !” There’s so many people to catch up with, who have a shared history, and so many interesting and exciting things to do, that anything otherwise […]

Wireless Hill Celebrates its Centenary

Posted by ken On October - 4 - 2012

Sunday 30th of September, 2012 was the culmination of a series of events to celebrate the centenary of Wireless Hill this year. Scheduled events prior included a Sculpture Walk in February/March; an outdoor film night in March; a history of Wireless Hill talk in March; National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week activities […]

The Perth National Theatre Company – Part 1 of 2

Posted by ken On October - 2 - 2012

The National Theatre Company at the Playhouse (1956 – 1984) Live entertainment in Perth went well beyond the bounds of the Playhouse Theatre (1956), and its predecessor the Repertory Club (1919), for live theatre was being conducted at many venues in Perth and Fremantle from the earliest years when the Mechanics Institute (1851) on corner […]

The Perth National Theatre Company – Part 2 of 2

Posted by ken On October - 2 - 2012

The Perth National Theatre Company was liquidated in 1984. According to Australia Council figures, the National Theatre Company in Perth was struggling with operating deficits of $8,000 in 1981, $198,000 in 1982 and $672,000 in 1983. In February 1984 the National Theatre Company was liquidated and the Perth Theatre Trust took over the building and […]

Mr Anthony Howes, an award winning director and theatre educationist, has kindly shared his sentiments with us regarding the passing of Edgar Melcalfe, which gives one the opportunity to dwell further on the theatre scene in Perth, from when the Repertory Club evolved into a professional company with the building of the Playhouse Theatre, and […]