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Observer SCRUMPTIOUS STATE EDITION Vol 45 No 1501 SERVING VICTORIA SINCE 1969
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013
76 PAGES FIRST ISSUE FOR 2013 $2.95
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PHILOSOPHER’S SCRAPBOOK HISTORIC REPRINT OF THE 1950s BOOK BY 3DB’S MONTY BLANDFORD
Introduction
PART ONE: 4-PAGE LIFTOUT
■ For the past 18 years I have been broadcasting my Philosopher's Scrap Book to listeners in Victoria. It is a selection of writings from hundreds of sources compiled originally with one aim in view- to entertain. Over the years, through the medium of thousands of letters, and hundreds of personal meetings, I have been encouraged to believe that the Philosopher's Scrap Book has been, and still is, a source of spiritual and philosophical comfort to a large number of listeners, and gradually I have been endowed with the character of a homely philosopher, welcomed in thousands of homes every Sunday morning. Few of the words I broadcast are mine, but I accept the responsibility of choosing them, and that, combined with a desire to do their meaning justice -allows me to accept the spirit at least, of the vast number of encouraging and laudatory letters I have received. Many of them contain requests for copies of excerpts from the Scrap Book. Because of circumstances beyond my control, I am not always able to supply these - so I have chosen this method of making available to a very kind public a selection of the most sought after items. I acknowledge my deep debt of gratitude to all those people who, over the years, have supplied me with original compositions. Many of them have found their way into this book. It has been no easy task to make the selection, but it has been a labour of love, and if in these pages you find words which will bring a smile to your lips, happiness to your heart, and understanding to your mind, then I shall indeed be richly rewarded. - Monty Blandford "I shall pass through this world but once; Any good therefore, that I can do, Or any kindness I can show To any human being, Let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."
2013 THEATRE LATEST Pages 68-69
Anthology of prose and verse ■ Philosopher's Scrap Book is an anthology of prose and verse compiled by Monty Blandford after repeated re quests from radio listeners over the 18 years. The reading of these everlasting gems kept his listeners enthralled - thousands of letters were received for copies of certain articles. These were not available and the idea was born in Monty Blandford's mind to publish this book so that his listeners could obtain the most appreciated works. Certain articles influenced the lives of many people and they will continue to do so. The reader will find that its influence will be transferred to their life - it will lead them along the road to better understanding of their fellow men. Its sincerity of purpose, and its blending of charm and pathos will compel you to think and reflect over the meanings so admirably expressed by writers recognised as great by literary people throughout the world. During your leisure moments gather your family and friends around you and read aloud a few pages - you will hold their enthusiasm and will find yourself becoming a philosopher-living accord ing to the rules of practical wisdom. As an anthology alone, it will be found of immense value to those who like to keep by them quotations and accounts from works known and loved. "
● Monty Blandford
Father forgets
Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside. These are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor. At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on you bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Good-bye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!" Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were
holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boy friends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!. Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in, timidly, with a sort of a hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped. You said nothing but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affec tion that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, patter ing up the stairs. Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth.
It was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years. And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me goodnight. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed ! It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy ... a little boy!" I am afraid I have visualised you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much. - W. Livingston Larned
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■ Rachael Beck stars as “Truly Scrumptious’ in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which opened this week at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Julie Houghton gives a glowing review for the show (Page 5). Opening night photos are on Page 11.
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THE FARNHAM WEDDING: DENIALS AND DRAMAS
■ When Melbourne-based pop magazine Go-Set lodged its advertising copy with radio station 3AK on February 1, 1973, it unleashed one of Australia’s biggest showbiz stories of the year. Go-Set columnist Ian Meldrum, now known universally as ‘Molly’, was breaking the story that ‘King of Pop’ Johnny Farnham was to marry his 17-year-old sweetheart Jillian Billman, a dancer. The 3AK newsroom got onto the story ... which was promptly denied
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by bride-to-be Jill, and the pop star’s manager Darryl Sambell. Then followed a week of further denials and name-calling ... until GoSet Editor Ed Nimmervoll went to press with a copy of the wedding invitation, and Meldrum’s breathless 1000-word explanation, proving his claim. Meldrum, then 30, was making his name in the music industry as a producer, critic and journalist. It was long before the days of the familiar Stetson hat and Countdown.
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A star’s wedding that made headlines, 40 years ago
■ In 1973, Johnny Farnham was at his peak as a teen pop idol in Melbourne. Long before he became an adult contemporary singer, Farnham’s days in the spotlight started in 1964 as a singer with The Mavericks and Strings Unlimited. When he performed at Cohuna in 1967 with Bev Harrell, her boyfriend Darryl Sambell offered to become his manager. Farnham recorded an advertising jingle Susan Jones for Ansett ANA and was offered a solo record contract with EMI. His first commercially successful recording was a novelty song entitled Sadie (The Cleaning Lady). Pop magazine Go-Set ran a poll to determine the 'King of Pop' which was first won by Normie Rowe for 1967–1968. When TV Week sponsored the 'King of Pop' awards, readers forwarded their votes from coupons, and Farnham won the most popular male award and was crowned 'King of Pop' five consecutive times from 1969–1973. So when Ian Meldrum broke the story in Go-Set of the Farnham wedding, it was huge news ... especially when it was denied by Sambell and the bride-to-be.
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● Johnny Farnham, as he was then known, and Jillian Billman tie the knot at St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Glenroy, on April 18, 1973. When the couple arrived they were confronted by thousands of fans. Most of the adoring female fans hated Jillian and even tried to rip her dress when she walked past. After the wedding the Farnhams enjoyed their honeymoon on Brampton Island.
Most of his Go-Set work was typed up by his secretary, Glenys Long (no relation), with Meldrum pacing the office as he dictated. Meldrum explained that he had tried to contact Farnham six times before publishing the story. “I rang Jillian at her home in Glenroy nad asked if she had any objection to the story going into the paper. Jillian’s reply was that she didn’t ● Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum went to press with a copy of his invitation mind at all.” Meldrum went to air on 3AK that to Johnny Farnham’s wedding, after it was denied by his manager he would stake his whole career on Darryl Sambell. Go Set’s original story was carried in the February 3 edition in 1973, 40 years ago. the accuracy of the story. A “rather fierce argument” erupted with Sambell who accused Molly of betraying a confidence. Later, Sambell “congratulated me on the story and then said he would made the story look ridiculous because he and John would deny any knowledge of any wedding”. “He also said that if there was any wedding, then it was off, because the Billman and Farnham families (were) feuding.” Meldrum’s report went on to say that he believed Sambell feared that any wedding reports might kill Farnham’s popularity with his female fans. He revealed that Jill had received death threats from some “twisted people”. Meldrum, in his trade-mark style, detailed the to-and-fro of arguments, confusion, drama and denials surrounding the story. Go-Set Editor Ed Nimmervoll wrote: “We have proved in this instance we are a responsible magazine ... always first and authoritative.” The wedding, originally scheduled as a double wedding with sister Judy and her fiancé Vincent Grech on March 29, finally went ahead on April 18. In 2011, Farnham told the Sydney Daily Telegraph of the day he first saw Jill: “The first time I saw Jill, I just knew. She was coming out of rehearsals at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne. She had long hair and big eyes. I just thought, oh! And that was it.” He said it took him three months to get a kiss: “She thought I was gay, as ● Jillian and John Farnham have only one photograph of their own most of the country did back then. I from their wedding at St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Glenroy, in had a lot of gay fans. I was very lucky; 1973. The photographer that was hired disappeared after the certhey loved me to death.” emony ... negatives and all.
● Turn To Page 67
MARK RICHARDSON’S PORCH THOUGHTS: PAGE 22