Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Join Cheryl Lee That Radio Chick on Still Rockin' It for news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
What are they up to at the moment? Let's find out .......
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Graham 'Buzz' Bidstrup of The Angels and Ganggajang been up to lately? OR Beats, Buzz & Books
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup doesn't just tell stories—he's lived them. As the drumming powerhouse behind iconic Australian bands The Angels, Gang Gajang, and The Party Boys, Buzz takes us on an unforgettable journey through the electrifying pub rock scene of the 70s and 80s where the air was "thick with the unmistakable scent of beer, sweat, and pot."
Born into a musical Adelaide family in 1952, Buzz's path to rock stardom began with a father who could have been a concert pianist (before WWII trauma silenced his playing) and a mother who sang with gusto in church. This foundation, combined with exposure to seminal artists through his older brother, set the stage for his remarkable career. With characteristic humility and humor, Buzz reveals how he transformed The Angels by suggesting Doc Neeson move from bass to frontman—a decision that created magic. "You couldn't take your eyes off him on stage," Buzz explains about the charismatic Neeson, whom he considers the greatest frontman he's ever worked with.
Beyond the music that defined a generation, Buzz's story takes unexpected turns. His unique upside-down guitar playing created GangGajang's distinctive sound. His work with the Jimmy Little Foundation, promoting healthy eating among indigenous children for 25 years, reveals the depth of his character. "That's what I get up in the morning for," he shares, demonstrating how music can be a vehicle for meaningful change. Still active at 73, Buzz continues mentoring young artists as an APRA ambassador while passing his musical genes to his producer son Maxwell.
Whether you're a die-hard Angels fan or simply appreciate authentic Australian stories, Buzz's memoir "No Secrets" delivers raw insights into a musical life fully lived. The book is available now at Woolworths for $24—grab your copy and discover the stories behind the soundtrack of Australian rock.
What Buzz Bidstrup been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here. Welcome to the Still Rockin Podcast where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. Imagine stepping into a packed Australian pub in the 70s and 80s the heyday of the pub rock music scene where the air was thick with the unmistakable scent of beer, sweat and pot and the atmosphere was electrifying. Doc Neeson, charismatic leader of the Angels, famously captured this raw energy when he said I know you're out there, I can smell you. Drummer for the Angels and founding member of Ganggaj ang Graham. Buzz Bidstrup was there. His new book No Secrets, is an Oz Rock memoir of music and mayhem. We spoke to Buzz in the Zoom room at length. What a generous and amazing human he is. He's seen a lot. Let's find out all the goss. To catch up on podcasts from other favourite artists, simply go to thatradiochick. com. au.
Buzz Bidstrup:Have you got an Angel shirt on? Yeah, good on you.
Cheryl Lee:Oh yeah, I came dressed for the occasion.
Buzz Bidstrup:Damn. I'm wearing a daggy old, bloody sweat top. Actually, I'll tell you what I've got underneath it Bogan Mania.
Cheryl Lee:what is that?
Buzz Bidstrup:That was a podcast in Western Australia about 20 years ago.
Cheryl Lee:Oh yeah, 20 years ago.
Buzz Bidstrup:It must have been one of the very first it was like not so much a podcast. You know, they just did a show for a radio station.
Cheryl Lee:Oh righto, yeah, they were ahead of their time, were they?
Buzz Bidstrup:Ahead of their time, bloody hell.
Buzz Bidstrup:So how are you getting on? Yeah, good, thank you, I'm in adelaide.
Cheryl Lee:Are you? How are you? How nice. That's my old hometown. I know, I did not know that until just now. How could I not know that?
Buzz Bidstrup:I don't know. Are you? Are you an Adelaide girl? Yeah oh wow, are you going to come along to the launch? Well, I do actually have one complaint because it's a night, you can't make it.
Cheryl Lee:You didn't get your people to speak to my people first. Guess, when I leave for three weeks in the States, oh no. Wednesday, the 10th.
Buzz Bidstrup:Oh goodness gracious, what a pity.
Cheryl Lee:I was bitterly disappointed and I thought I'll have to fly somewhere else. It was all over. And then your people must have spoke to my people, because you've chucked one in November, it's at over. And then your people must have spoke to my people, because you've chucked one in November, it's at Avoca Beach, so I might just have to go to Queensland.
Buzz Bidstrup:That's the central coast of New South Wales, just north of Sydney, but it's a lovely beach.
Cheryl Lee:I just have to convince the hubby that.
Buzz Bidstrup:You need to do a little R&R in Sydney and while you're there, just a little bit north, go up to Gosford.
Cheryl Lee:I'm geographically challenged. I thought it was in Queensland, but may as well be. Near enough. I'll just have to say hubby, you know how we've just spent three weeks on the Caribbean. Can we just pop out?
Buzz Bidstrup:To the Caribbean of New South Wales.
Cheryl Lee:How long have we got Graham? Do you prefer Graham or Buzz?
Buzz Bidstrup:I don't mind, I'll answer to either. I'm used to people calling me Buzz, because it's just something that's stuck. It's stuck. Yeah, no, I've got until. I think we're pretty good. I'll just have a look at when the next one is. It's not until two, I think. So I've got an hour, I think, yeah, yeah.
Cheryl Lee:You know doing my research and I think, oh my God, Buzz, how are we going to talk about all of this?
Buzz Bidstrup:I know I was just doing one with Paul Cashmere from the Noise and I think we covered two bands and that was it in an hour.
Cheryl Lee:Who knew that you have done so much, achieved so much, been involved in so much? I don't know where to begin Now. I know we need to talk about the book, but I don't want to give any spoilers about the book. I think we're just going to tease people, give them a reason to go buy it.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, absolutely, and you know, if people are listening in Adelaide they can come along on the 10th. I know you can't, but others may want to come to the town hall and hear my very first band from 1967, Fahrenheit 451. They band from 1967 Fahrenheit 451 they're gonna play.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, and so are Pegasus, my band from 1972. Yeah, it'll be fun. Get along everybody. I won't see you down the front this time, but if you go to Evoka Beach I might. And yeah, of Fahrenheit 451. Something else that I learned today I'm the fundraising coordinator for support at south australia. Oh, how cool. Guess what? Fahrenheit 451 appeared for our monthly fundraising lunches regularly. The last one was in April.
Buzz Bidstrup:Wow.
Cheryl Lee:I know right Adelaide.
Buzz Bidstrup:So they're still playing. Absolutely. That just blows me out, and I did quite a lot of work with Support Act as well over here. I'm a very big supporter, so I say good on you for doing what you do.
Cheryl Lee:Great cause, isn't it?
Buzz Bidstrup:Yep.
Cheryl Lee:Roger was there. They don't just play for free for us every now and again to entertain our members and guests, but they play around town a bit too.
Buzz Bidstrup:They do? Yeah, quite a bit. I saw them. I've still got brothers and a sister in Adelaide, so I get there quite regularly. I went and saw them play one night. I just turned up and stood at the back and then when they had a break, I went over and said, hey, roger, how are you doing? He went what, what are you doing here? So yeah, it was pretty funny. And his lovely wife, jenny. Do you mind go back a tiny little bit before we go forward?
Cheryl Lee:because where do you want to go, shirley? That's your thing. Well, now, I know the adelaide connection. I was just wondering are your parents musical? Do you come from a musical family? Is it in your dna?
Buzz Bidstrup:it kind of was, you know, because, um, my parents were a bit older because I was born in 1952. Right, Dad, before he went to the war he was, he was in the in the second world war and he was in to brook and then Kokoda. So he he was a volunteer like he actually volunteered for it. But when he came back he was so traumatized that, although before he left he was a stanford grade piano player who was told he went to st peter's college and he was told that he could have been a concert pianist. He came back from the war and he never played the piano. We had a piano at home. I never saw him play it.
Buzz Bidstrup:He had reams of music in the shed and old 78s. He was a classical music freak and what he really was was a conductor. So he knew he had all of the music for the different parts of the orchestra and in his later years he would sit and have a couple of whiskeys and put on classical music and he'd be conducting and he'd be saying here come the woodwinds and over here's the violins, and he would do that. He also had perfect pitch. So when I started listening to music in the 60s he couldn't listen to it because it would make the hairs on the back of his neck and he would just sort of go oh, oh, I can't listen to that stuff. It's all out of tune.
Buzz Bidstrup:Mum, on the other hand, was a, was a like a church singer. She would sing with gusto in church and and she and her sisters would sit around the piano at the farm, because my mother's side of the family of farming types and they'd sit around the piano and and sing songs. Like you know, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile. You know, do all those sort of songs and keep on the sunny side always. You know they'd sing all these songs, so I'd start singing with them.
Buzz Bidstrup:I sang in a couple of choirs when I was younger, so that sort of gave me a bit of an idea of sort of different parts of singing. So I did have my brother I say in the book my brother, who was eight years older than me, was into music in the late 50s. So Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, you know all of these seminal artists that sort of people in England quote as being the records that they listened to. So I was listening to the same things when I was eight years old. So I had a beautiful, a beautiful intro into music, into popular music, and it just continued on, you know.
Cheryl Lee:If it wasn't already in your DNA, which it sounds like it was, you also got it by osmosis as well.
Buzz Bidstrup:Absolutely, absolutely. Because you know popular music was the currency back then. You know it was all about what song have you heard? What band do you like? All of that kind of thing.
Cheryl Lee:Stones versus Beatles.
Buzz Bidstrup:Absolutely Well. I was more of a Stones guy until I really discovered the Beatles properly later, you know, yeah, I loved Ringo though.
Cheryl Lee:You mentioned one brother, any other siblings, and did any of them also go into the business.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, yeah, my sister, who's six years older than me. She played a bit of violin, not particularly well, so that didn't last very long. But my brother, who's four years older than me, turned out to be quite a good classical guitar player. Yeah, he was actually really good, and he just didn't continue on. He did for a few years but then sort of stopped playing.
Buzz Bidstrup:I do have a funny story that I talk about in the book, about because I'm left-handed. I would pick up their guitars upside down and I'd play them left-handed and they'd keep saying to me no, no, no, that's a right-handed guitar. You're going to play it this way. You know, left-handed would swap the strings around. The big string would be at the top. I could see you've got guitars in the back.
Buzz Bidstrup:One day, when he was out, he took the strings off his beautiful Spanish guitar and put them the other way around and, of course, not knowing how to do it I think I was about 11 or 12, and tying them up at the end, you know, like really destroying it. And he came back to me and he said I'll only tell you this once do that again and I'll kill you. Don't you touch my guitar. So I used to just look at them and I go so what, what chord is that? And they said that's an e chord, you know. I said I'd look at it and I'm going okay, you got your finger there and there and there, and then I started playing piano when I was about 12.
Buzz Bidstrup:I took some lessons. They didn't last very long because as soon as I could go I thought I could play piano. So that was all I needed to know. But I did learn how to pick notes out of a chord on the piano and then find them on the guitar. That was the way that I learned how to play guitar upside down. And I still play it upside down Really. Yeah, one of the records like Sounds of them, the Ganga Jang song. There's eight of my guitars on that and they're all upside down. So I hit the top strings first and I don't really hit the bottom strings that much because they're down the bottom and they sort of work with my hi-hat. So the little strings of the guitar go with the hi-hat and that's what makes that rhythm in Sounds of them.
Cheryl Lee:And a very distinctive sound.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Cheryl Lee:There you go slightly out of tune. Sorry for not knowing this. Do you have any children, and if so, have they followed you into music?
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, look, I've got one boy who's 35 now. He is a producer. He's very successful. He's done all sorts of stuff in America. He lived in America for a while, lived in London for a while, In fact. He's going back to Japan in about two weeks and then he's going over to London again. His handle is Maxwell, which is M-X-X-W-L-L, all in capitals. He is really successful and I love watching his progress. It's beautiful.
Cheryl Lee:A chip off the old block.
Buzz Bidstrup:A chip off the old block. Yeah, yeah, and it's great because he does play drums and he's a really good drummer and he's a great guitar player, he's a good bass player, he's a good keyboard player, he's like all round, but he makes electronic music, he makes house music. Oh, wow, yeah, go figure.
Cheryl Lee:Each to their own. Yep, he's a multi-instrumentalist as well as are you, so you do drums, keys and guitar. Do you have a favourite?
Buzz Bidstrup:Well, I think you know I love playing drums because that's what I started playing, right, so I just love playing drums. But, as far as I think, being out, you know it's very hard to sit down and just say, hey, have a listen to this song and sit down at the drums and play. You know, I needed to be able to play some guitar and I do like playing the piano, and I think had I been a little bit more, had a bit more forethought when I was 12, I would have actually studied the piano a lot more, because it took me another 20 years really to get to the point when I was about 30, when really said to myself I need to know more about music, I need to know about how it's put together. I need to know because I started producing records and I'd be working with people who were really good players, right, I felt like a bit of a goose, you know, because I, you know what chord is that you're playing.
Buzz Bidstrup:You know, have you ever tried playing a? You know a g, major seventh, and they go. We are playing a g. Oh, really, okay, cool, cool. So you know I I needed to learn more about how it was put together and I did that really by osmosis. I did that by watching other people play asking dumb questions and just you know trial and error.
Cheryl Lee:I mean, apart from the obvious musical talent, you're a multi-instrumentalist, as I mentioned, songwriter, you've also been a music producer, a session player for everybody. Who's everybody? Everybody wants to play with you, don't they?
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, I was lucky. You see, I was around at a time when they didn't have drum machines. In fact, I bought the first DMX drum machine in Australia at a time when they needed drummers and I was just lucky I could play in time and I could start at one tempo and I'd finish at the same tempo. So I got lots of gigs.
Cheryl Lee:You've also done film music composing as well, which I didn't know about, and talent management. You're a one-stop shop.
Buzz Bidstrup:I've got a big hat rack, yeah lots of hats. It's a massive hat rack.
Cheryl Lee:Apart from being a member founding member in most cases, of three of the bands that absolutely shaped the soundtrack to our lives here in Australia the Angels, the Party Boys and Ganggajang
Buzz Bidstrup:A nice little trio, yeah, and very, very privileged and thankful that I was part of all of that. I wasn't the original drummer of the Angels, as people would know. There was a guy called Charlie King that played on Am I Ever Gonna See your Face Again. But I joined the band 12 weeks after that record came out. So I think I played on the first four albums. So I think I can definitely say that I was one of the early founding members.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, absolutely, but there's so much to talk about. You did mechanical engineering here at the Uni of Technology in the 70s, and then you went to Europe.
Buzz Bidstrup:Look, I went over there with, I guess, open eyes, you know, and I just thought, well, I'm just going to see what's happening over there. And I had a few friends who were over there as well. They'd made the trip. So I looked around at as many bands as I could see, and I saw the Sex Pistols play at the Marquee Club, I saw the Stranglers, I saw Ian Durie's first band, I saw all of these different bands. Lana Lovage had a band called Diversions, so I saw all of these bands. And I saw big artists as well Neil Young and Queen. And I saw Queen in a 3,000 seater, which was pretty wild. I saw Little Feet and all sorts of bands and I just sort of was looking around and enjoying. You know what was going on.
Buzz Bidstrup:But I didn't really have a lot of money and as it was in those days, people would say, oh, you can just get a job, you know. So I got a job in a bedding warehouse just near Waterloo and it meant that I had to go there every day, which was a bit of a drag, because what do you do, you know, go there every day, come on. So we, we worked out this. The boss of the place was he really liked australians? For some reason probably because we, you know we did the work right. We devised a thing between three of us that we would share that job. Way back in the 70s we were ahead of your time ahead of our time, shared position.
Buzz Bidstrup:So you know, I'd work for a week and then I'd take a week off, or somebody else did, and then another person would come in. So we do this rotation kind of thing. Just when I was thinking to myself, well, I've either got to buy a drum kit, because the first thing I bought when I got to England I bought a guitar, an acoustic guitar, which I still have, it's right here somewhere an acoustic guitar, a four track tape recorder, four microphones, and that was it. And I was thinking to myself now, if I want to be a drummer, damn, I'm going to have to buy a drum kit, but then I'm going to have to have a car to move it around in. So I was trying to work out what am I going to do? And this band turned up in London called ACDC.
Buzz Bidstrup:I'd known Bon from Adelaide. He lived in Adelaide for a while and I knew him Not that well, but well enough that at the end of the show at the Red Cow, their first gig in London, I was able to walk up to him and, much to the surprise of the people that were there with me, I just said, hey, bonn, how you doing man? He said, hey, yeah, good, good, good, what are? Went back to our place and, you know, smoked a bit of pot and drank a bit of whiskey, had a few laughs. He said so what are you doing? What are you doing? I said I don't know. You know I'm out of money. I'm working at a bedding warehouse. He said what you're not playing? I said no, I, you know, I don't know what to do. And he said because there's gigs everywhere, we're playing five nights a week over there. And he said that's what we have to do. ACDC will have to leave London, go back to Australia, do a tour, make some money and come back again.
Buzz Bidstrup:So I thought, well, I was being away for a while and I thought, look, I'll just go back home and say hello to everyone. I knew how to make a bit of money quickly, which was my uncle had a lawn mowing business that he was always happy to get me to go and it was good. It was cash money, right, I went home and I started doing that and after I'd been home about I don't know three months, I suppose Robbie Robertson, who now runs the Theverton Town Hall, he was my agent like way back, you know, in the bands I was in and he rang me up and he said there's this band from Sydney, signed to Alberts, being produced by Vander and Young, and they're looking for a drummer. And I went wow, you know that's cool. I said who are they? He said, well, just come in, come in, I'll introduce you. And I went oh really Okay.
Buzz Bidstrup:And I walked into his office and there was John and Rick and who I knew as the Keystone Angels, who used to be the Moonshine Jug and String Band. I don't know if you remember this, but you're probably not old enough, but the Moonshine Jug and String Band were really good, like they were a great band, and I used to go and see them, as many people did. Then they decided they wanted to be a rock band, so they became the Keystone Angels and I've got to say they weren't very good. I don't know if anyone saw them, but they weren't very good because they were a jug band playing like 1930s jug music and all of a sudden they were playing 50s rock and roll which revolved around groove. It was all about drums, bass, like it had to have groove. No offence to Charlie King, lovely, lovely man, but he didn't have that groove he wasn't groovy he wasn't groovy, Doc loved him to death was not a bass player, right.
Buzz Bidstrup:so they didn't have a rhythm section that worked. So they were a bit of a joke, you know, to be honest. So anyway, I walk into the office and I go oh, you guys, you know, you know what are you doing here? Oh yeah, we're the band looking for a drummer and my, my friend, robbie, said well, you should just go and have a jam with them. Just go and have a jam. You know what's it going to. You know, just go and have a jam with them. So I go and have a jam with them and they're really nice.
Buzz Bidstrup:I got on with them really well, you know's fine, we won't, we won't hold you to it. So I thought, okay, I'll go to sydney and if I don't like it, I can either join another band or I can go back. I had enough money saved up, I could go back to england or I could go to new york, because I desperately wanted to go to cbgb's, I desperately wanted to go and see punk bands and you know, people like Talking Heads and all that stuff. Right Before we left Adelaide to drive to Melbourne, to Sydney, we had a little meeting. They used to like the John Paul, george and Ringo thing which was John, rick, doc and Charlie, and it sounded kind of cool. But when they said Doc, rick, john and Graham, graham, graham, you know, graham. And I said, you know, like Graham Nash or Graham Goldman, you know, there's been some famous Grahams around, you know? I said, but what about John Rick, dock and Buzz? And they went who the hell is Buzz? I said Buzz Throckman, that's who I am. You can call me Buzz Throckman and you can say that Buzz Throckman has joined the Angels. I had to explain to them that Buzz Throckman was a mythical character that was created in a stone rave in Copenhagen in 1976. Actually, 1975. Buzz Throckman was this mythical character who was actually a Caterpillar tractor driver with the cat hat and stuff. When I told them that they said, oh, that's really funny, that's cool, that's really cool. But what they didn't know is that I'd gone around to Chris Bailey's place because Chris Bailey, bass player, was my friend before I left to go and he said to me you won't last a moment in that band. And he said if you come back to Adelaide after leaving that band, people will think you're a band hopper. They'll think that you don't commit, you know. You said your name will be mud. I said, well, my name, you know I haven't got a name anyways, that doesn't matter, who gives a shit, you know, it doesn't matter. I joined the band. Buzz Throckman joined the band After we recorded the first lot of demos, with Doc playing bass and me playing drums.
Buzz Bidstrup:I had a heart to heart with Doc. I was living at his house and I said, mate, I've got to tell you, you know the bass playing the drumming it's not working, you know. I said you studied drama. You know you're an actor. Have you ever thought about being out the front? He said, but who'd play the bass? I said I know who I can get to play the bass Chris Bailey, because I'd already spoken to him about it. So then we had a meeting with John and Rick and Doc and the four of us are sitting there looking at each other and John says, well, if we're going to get a bass player, I should be the lead singer because I've got a better voice. And I said, yeah, and John admits to this, you might have a better technical voice. But I said you don't look like that guy. This guy's six foot four. He's handsome as hell. He's got a beautiful voice.
Cheryl Lee:And stage presence.
Buzz Bidstrup:And stage presence. So for front men? And he said so who would we get for bass? And I said Chris Bailey said Chris Bailey's never going to leave Adelaide to join us. And I said I think he will, because I've already spoken to him about it. So you know, I got Chris into the band and I must say it was probably the best decision they ever made to do that, to put Doc out the front and to get a bass player, because not only did we have an amazing rhythm section, then we had a guy out the front that was second to none absolutely.
Cheryl Lee:I think you said that he is the best frontman you've ever worked with, I think.
Buzz Bidstrup:So. You know because because of what he bought, and the second best was, I think, was Shirley Strawn, who I loved. And you know because of what he bought, and the second best, I think, was Shirley Strachan, who I loved, and Jimmy Barnes is a great front man that I've worked with. But yeah, Doc, just had this special thing.
Cheryl Lee:The X Factor.
Buzz Bidstrup:An X Factor.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, that charisma. You just couldn't take your eyes off him on the stage.
Buzz Bidstrup:That's it. Yeah, and that's what you want in a front man.
Cheryl Lee:Exactly. I will top and tail this with a lot of this information that I have about your history, probably getting close to using up my time limit. Was there anything in particular out of all my pages that you would like to touch on during our interview? Buzz yeah.
Buzz Bidstrup:Look, I guess one of the things that I point out in the book is that I'm so proud of all of the music work I've done. I mean, I'm very proud of it. But the thing that I'm most proud about is the work I've done with the Jimmy Little Foundation and Uncle Jimmy Thumbs Up, because it's something that came out of left field for me. I never would have thought that I would end up doing that work and it's been 25 years I've been involved in that and I think that the work that I've done there with others to promote healthy eating with indigenous kids in remote communities is probably, I mean, as I tell people, that's what you know, that's what I get up in the morning for, you know, I get up in the morning, I go okay, what can I do now for thumbs up? The music stuff is great. I love making music. I still make music, but what I do for that is heart stuff, that's yeah.
Cheryl Lee:So important. I take my hat off to you because it's easy just to sit back on your laurels on a fabulous career behind you, but to be giving something back so important is yeah, yeah.
Buzz Bidstrup:And the other thing is yeah, crediting, yeah, and you know. The other thing is that I use music to engage kids, so I'm writing songs all the time. Like every time I'm out in the community I'm writing songs and I love it Recording songs. I've just been up in Uluru. I've been recording the local Mutajulu band. I recorded 15 songs with them and I work with the school kids there, the kids in the college. We're working on the 40th handback of Uluru, so there's a big thing in October for that. I'm always making music, which is in my DNA, and sometimes I use it to promote healthy eating and sometimes I use it to promote bands. You know who knows?
Cheryl Lee:Keep you off the streets.
Buzz Bidstrup:Oh, it does, Cheryl Lee, but he keeps me off the streets for sure.
Cheryl Lee:And something else I guess you're really proud of is you're mentoring the young emerging artists as an APRA ambassador.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, look, I've been doing that for many, many years and I was also the vice chair of the Association of Artist Managers for a long time, you know for 10 years or so. That was another kind of way that I get to engage with younger musicians all the time. I think that's something you know. I'm 73 now, so it's really cool just to be working with younger musicians and just sort of get an opportunity to pass on some information, and that's both in the APRA stuff and the Association of Artist Managers, and now I assess grants for touring, grants for Music NSW. So it's like I'm constantly listening to new music and I'm constantly engaging with young musicians, which keeps me young.
Cheryl Lee:Well, I have this theory, Buzz, that rock and roll is the fountain of youth.
Buzz Bidstrup:I think so, I think so it absolutely keeps you young. Yeah, it does. And that's the other great thing about music. Hey, you know and I find also with my work in communities you know it's intergenerational and it's intergender. So you can have bands made up of old people, young people, boys, girls, it doesn't matter. And that's the beauty of music, it's this overall engagement of different people and different genders.
Cheryl Lee:Absolutely. This book is an absolute. Must you co-wrote the song that is the title of the book? Yes, No Secrets with Doc.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yes.
Cheryl Lee:Get onto the Google to track your copy down.
Buzz Bidstrup:If you can get along to the book launch and say g'day 10th of September at 6pm at the Adelaide Town Hall, and I'm really stoked that the Adelaide Town Hall came on board and offered me the banquet hall there, which is a beautiful hall, and it's next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is beautiful as well. There's so many great names on that, so I feel very, very blessed to have been given that opportunity to do my book launch there.
Cheryl Lee:It is a beautiful spot. We went to a dinner there last month, a luncheon there last month and had a little tour of the newly created Hall of Fame. It's beautiful there.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, it is. When Angels Lane was dedicated. A few weeks ago I went and had a look at the Hall of Fame and it is a wonderful exhibition. And yeah, good on them for doing that. You all work too for the Support Act. I might say that's really cool. I was a big friend of Vinnie's and of Daisy's. I knew them very, very well. They used to compare Fiesta Villa when I'd play there back in the 60s. God damn, 60s and 70s. They'd be the compares and we used to have so much fun. John Vincent, he'd pick up his guitar. Oh God, did we have some laughs?
Cheryl Lee:Daisy's wife, Annette, is still on the committee with us.
Buzz Bidstrup:Do say hello to her for me, please.
Cheryl Lee:I will do.
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah.
Cheryl Lee:We have this fundraising lunch on the third Thursday of every month, 12 a year. So whenever you're in Adelaide anywhere near the third Thursday, please come along and join the committee table as our guest. We would love to have you.
Buzz Bidstrup:I would love to be there.
Cheryl Lee:Right, well, put that in your diary.
Buzz Bidstrup:Third Thursday.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, every month you have worked with everybody, or everybody's worked with you, and I'm sure all of this is in the book. One that piqued my interest was Don Walker's the Suave F#cks. You know who's Suave? Yeah, what did you do with the Suave F#cks?
Buzz Bidstrup:Oh, well, I played on the first Catfish record and I did the first tour with Don and Charlie Owen and Paul Burton and Dave Blight playing harmonica. And we did this tour and it was the first time that Don had been on stage without a piano. He was the singer and he'd stand up the front and this you've got to remember, this is the first tour that he'd ever done where he was standing up the front and he had this band behind him. That was kind of a half rockabilly and half punk Great band with Dave on the harmonica and Charlie Owen's guitar, Paul with an upright bass. You know he was in the Milky Bar Kids, another Adelaide boy.
Buzz Bidstrup:We did this tour and Don went from being a very self-conscious, shy kind of I don't know whether I should be doing this, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know about this to being very comfortable being the front man and it was just wonderful to be part of that. Then I played on his second record. I did a couple of tracks on that and then occasionally with his band the Suave, every now and again, hamish Cameron, you know, can't make it or something and Don will ring me up and say, hey, you want to come and play some drums, and that's always fun. That's always just great to be on stage with him.
Cheryl Lee:Except for yourself, of course. He's my favourite Australian songwriter he does create so many pictures with so few words?
Buzz Bidstrup:Yeah, yeah. He's an amazing songwriter. He's a funny chap. He's got a really good sense of humour. He's great to be on the road with.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, I bet you work with Bowie, the Kinks, Cheap Trick, everybody, who's everybody in Australian music as well. I'm sure everybody needs to get out, get the book and read all about it.
Buzz Bidstrup:Well, I hope so. You can buy it at Woolies for $24. I reckon that's a pretty good price. You know this is it everybody? Oh, well done, Charlie. Yep, that's it. No secrets, yeah, and I love the cover and I love what you know. Harper Collins did a wonderful job with the photos. There's some good photos in there. There's me when I was 14 playing on In Time with Noel O'Connor at the Largs Pier Hotel. There's all sorts of great photos in there.
Cheryl Lee:Thank you for writing the book. I just got my copy so I haven't got onto it yet, but I'm going to be on a big, long plane ride.
Buzz Bidstrup:That's a good book for that, and people who have read it say that it's not too hard to read. You know, it's not too onerous, it's quite easy to read. So it's not too onerous, it's quite easy to read. So it has to be. Because I'm a drummer, you know I have to write it. You know, left right, left, right, left, right, yeah, but, um, yeah, I hope you do enjoy it. People seem to be enjoying it, so that's great. I really appreciate you doing the interview with me all the best with it.
Cheryl Lee:I know it's going to be a great success and I look forward to seeing you down the front somewhere yeah, maybe at Avoca Beach.
Buzz Bidstrup:And do you go to Newcastle? Did I read that that you go to Newcastle? Geelong? You go to Geelong, do you? Yeah, oh, okay, yeah, beautiful. Well, I have got some lovely friends in Geelong. So thank you, Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee:All right, you enjoy the rest of your day. All right, I so appreciate us this morning.
Buzz Bidstrup:Thank you, see you, bye-bye. You are listening to Still
Cheryl Lee:Rockin it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee. What else are we going to go out with but the song that Graham wrote with Doc no Secrets? And you can find details about the book. You can get it from Harper Collins. You can get it from Woolworths and details about the book you can get it from Harper Collins, you can get it from Woolworths. And details about the book launches across Australia on the Graham Bidstrup Treehouse Music Facebook page. You're with Cheryl Lee. That radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rockin it podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support Aussie music and I'll see you down the front.