Marty Rhone; From Denim Dreams to Life Lessons

In this episode of The Big 6-Oh!, we sit down with Aussie icon Marty Rhone to reminisce about his incredible career spanning music, television, and stage.

Marty takes us back to the days of Countdown, recalling the highs of performing alongside everyone from The Rolling Stones through to the Bee Gees as he shares hilarious stories about squeezing into his old stage outfits and reflects on balancing his love for music and acting throughout the years. 

Whether you're a fan of 70s classics or just love a great showbiz story, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

* This episode of The Big 6-Oh! is proudly sponsored by www.louiscarr.com.au - helping people in the Hills District find their dream home since 1992.

Transcript

00:00
If you're old enough to remember when phones had cords and the only thing that went viral was a cold, then you're in the right place. Welcome to the Big Six-O with Kaylee Harris and Guy Rawlison. Because who better to discuss life's second act than two people who still think mature is a type of cheese.

00:29
you

00:36
Hey, Kayleigh, did you happen to have any posters on your wall or fan crushes back in the day? Oh, you're kidding me. I had all of them. I had Sean Cassidy, both the Cassidy brothers. But in the local scene, there was definitely anyone who appeared on Countdown. Mark Holden had him. I remember Marty Rohn. There was a whole bunch of ACDC, I think even appeared on Countdown. And as a girl, you never missed an episode, ever. Funny you should say it,

01:06
Like Countdown wasn't high on my list of viewing sort of habits, but I do remember the first episode I saw and was at a cousin's place in Sydney and they were a family of four girls. So Countdown was a staple. But I do distinctly remember the first person I saw was a guy that had all the moves, had great hair and he just had girls hanging off the stage. You want to guess who that might be? I am so excited to say that

01:35
The Marty Rhone is joining us on the podcast. This is like going back and reliving countdown all over again. Marty, thank you so much for your time. It's my pleasure. And when Guy was doing his introduction and he said, he had great hair, I thought he said that he had gray hair. Well, we all have that now. So it's okay. It's absolutely okay. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Now, of course, if you lived in Australia during the 70s, there's no way you wouldn't have known the name Marty Rhone.

02:05
And we'll get to some of the stuff that you're doing now a little bit later. But I was watching one of the walk, the talk series of videos you've done. Yeah. Am I allowed to say it? You used to wear a mean pair of jeans. Well, I don't, I don't wear them, but I found the old denim and lace outfit. I was asked to, uh, actually I was did a charity thing for the Red Cross and I was asked to wear my old stage gear and you know, talk about vanity. I said, sure, no problem. I'll just get it out of the.

02:34
the mothballs and I'll put it on. Well, I got to the gig with no substitute ready at all. I couldn't get it above my thighs. It wouldn't come up. And forget about the top. The top just wouldn't get over my shoulder. I must have been so tiny back then. I think, what do they say? It's the middle-aged spread, isn't it? Yeah. Well, I remember the album cover. There was an album cover for Denim and Lace. You were wearing like a lace top and a denim jacket or something on that, weren't you?

03:02
Oh, look, I had the same clothes designer as Dame Edna Enbridge. So the only, I think he drew the line at the Gladiola. I mean, that's that, well, it was an extension of the old, the whole Deniman lace thing, you know, Deniman lace. So he made all my outfits with a combination of Deniman lace. It was all very clever. Wow. Now your career, it's been as varied as it has been remarkable.

03:32
And it all really started when you came to Australia, didn't you? As a kid, can you take us back to those early days? Well, I came to Australia when I was two, so it probably didn't start there. I was born in Surabaya, Indonesia. My father being in the Dutch East Indies Air Force at the time, met my mum on furlough. Mum was a redhead, freckle-faced Aussie.

03:57
and dad was Dutch Indonesian and married. I was born, as I said, born in Surabaya, came out to Australia when I was two and we moved to Darwin very early in the piece. And my father was a great jazz musician, professional jazz musician. My mother was an actress and a singer. And so I always had that background. They tell the story how they used to take me off to gigs in a bassinet and just put me in the dressing room, go out and do the thing. So I was probably gargantuan goo gooing along with them.

04:26
while they were on stage. But I always had that musical background too. And I think that's where the seeds were first planted that, hey, this is fun. This is the sort of thing I wanna do. And it wasn't till we moved down to Sydney when I was about 11 or 12 years old, and I got some opportunities to appear on kids' television on Channel Nine on a show called Cape of Cabaret, along with people like Ross Coleman, the choreographer, and Jeff St. John, and...

04:54
people like this were all very young and that's how we got our start. And of course you had a band, you had a band back in the sixties, so really early on too, wasn't it? Blue Feelings? Oh, the Blue Feelings in high school. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very interesting story about myself and the Blue Feelings. We went for an audition at Channel 9, which we thought was for Saturday date, but it was actually a clandestine audition for a new record label called Spin Records. And unbeknownst to us,

05:24
a guy in the control room by the name of Nat Kipner, who was Steve Kipner's dad. Steve wrote physical for Olivia and wrote Genie in a Bottle for Christina Aguilera. And their father Nat wrote some hit songs for Johnny Mathis. So he was the A&R man of the record label. He came out of the control room and he pulled me aside, should he care? Like you, hate the band.

05:51
And so sadly, the band and I parted ways and a couple of days later I signed a seven year recording contract which should be unheard of today. And then I spent the next five years having very little record success until Deniman Lace and A Mean Pair of Jeans came along in the mid-70s. So how old were you in the Blue Feelings stage, Marty?

06:18
when you got that seven year contract, how old, you would have been really young. I was 17. Yeah, wow. I was 17, which is very young. And about two weeks after signing that contract, I was at my first professional gig. I was a support act for the Rolling Stones. No way. Out at the old agricultural pavilion at Moore Park in Sydney. What was that like? Oh, unbelievable experience for a 17 year old.

06:45
to be appearing with the Rolling Stones, Max Merritt and the Meteors first Australian tour with the Searchers. And I was the solo artist act. And I remember the tour manager for the Stones coming up to me because I think he felt a bit sorry for me. I was getting changed in this huge dressing room where the workmen used to get changed. It was huge. I was the only person in there. And he came in and he said, would you like to meet a boy in the band? So he took me down to

07:14
to meet the Rolling Stones. And I remember walking into their dressing room and they were all sitting on a trestle table, all five of them in line, all smoking away and just sort of swinging their legs, very laid back as the Stones were. And my clearest memory of that experience was I walked out of their dressing room after about 10 minutes feeling incredibly happy and proceeds to float up on stage for my appearance. So it was quite an experience.

07:44
So when you were told that you were going to be a support act for Rolling Stones, how were the nerves? The nerves were fine actually. I think when you're young, when you're that young and you are so new to the industry, you haven't built up a sufficient appreciation of just how big the occasion was to feel nervous. You just said, oh, this is fun. This is good. Hey, I'm appearing with the Rolling Stones.

08:14
My parents were the same. My parents were never pushy. They never pushed me. It was all my own initiative. And I remember coming home from the Rolling Stones concert. I think it was just after I got my license and I drove myself home and I walked in and my parents were sitting up in bed reading newspapers. And you'd think they'd be all excited. Oh, how was it? They just lowered their paper and said, oh, good evening, son. How did it go? Like that. So. You know.

08:43
Totally underwhelmed, you know, but that's, that was a credit. I think that was a credit to my mother and father that I think it helped me keep some equilibrium. Not many people can say they've supported the Stones. That's a really big call. You should be super proud. I am. I am super proud. I've had the good fortune to appear with some amazing people. Not long after that, I did the PJ Probie Bee Gees Tour of Australia, but the Bee Gees were on the bill.

09:13
as huge as they became then, but I did PJ Probe, I toured with Petula Clark, I toured with Randy Crawford. And then of course I went to London, ended up in the King and I at the Palladium with Yul Brynner. So I've had the good fortune to work with some amazing people. Extraordinary career. Did you ever have that conflict of do I go to stage and acting or do I stay with music or was musical theatre that nice sort of combo of both?

09:42
It was always a balancing act, Guy. It was a balancing act. Like if you look at my career over the years, I started as a singer. When I came out of the National Service at the end of 71, I went into musical theater with Godspill. And then I went from musical theater into television series, number 96 in class of 75. And then I had the hit record, so I was back into singing. And then I chose to go to the UK and I ended up back on the stage in The King and I.

10:11
And so I've sort of balanced my career. It's been difficult at times because one tends to interfere with the other, not only from a timing issue, but the way the people in the different parts of the industry view you. For example, when I was doing the television series, I was going from roll to roll to roll. I just seem to be on a roll, if you like. But the moment I had that huge hit with Deniman Lace,

10:39
The roles just dried up. It was as if all of a sudden I either couldn't act or else I did get some feedback from someone who said, oh, they're worried that your profile is so big now as a pop singer that you won't be looked at seriously as an actor. And yet ironically, if you look at the United States, it's the total opposite of that. If you're a successful recording artist, you end up in films, you end up on television. Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling.

11:09
Beyonce, do I need to go on? You know, but in this country, there seemed to be a totally different attitude. That's really interesting, yeah. Look, was Deniman Lace and Mouin Parajane's both crack top 10? I guess Deniman Lace probably cracked one or two without any trouble. Well, Deniman Lace, the interesting thing about Deniman Lace was it was a sleeper. And you remember the old Kent report, which was like our billboard thing. Kent music report, yep.

11:36
Yeah, it never made number one and yet it stayed on the charts longer than any other Australian single that year. And the reason was that it first broke in Brisbane and Sydney and then it lagged and broke in Melbourne and then lagged and broke in Adelaide and then lagged and broke in Perth. So when it was number one in Perth, it was going on its way out in the Eastern States. So I never had that situation. But it went to number one in every state.

12:05
at different times, so it never hit number one nationally.

12:13
Peace.

12:33
Let's talk about the countdown days because you know I was looking at the clip of you singing Denim and Lace and you're looking very swish in your in your suit and all the girlies are all around you there clapping and the typical countdown scene. For you what was that like? Was it did you feel like a like amazing pop star and I could have any of these girls I want? Is that what it was like? You could but they were literally all underage so you had to be very very careful.

13:01
They were mostly young school girls that lived, probably didn't all live in close vicinity to the ABC studios in Elstown, down here in Melbourne. But they were very young. Doing Countdown was a real buzz. I mean, it was when the industry was at its zenith. It's when the Australian music industry was at its very peak. And I think if you talk about the Countdown days, that was when the Australian pop and

13:31
industry was at its very peak. And so therefore it was a very exciting time to be part of that. I just wish going back to those days, especially when we recorded Countdown in the summer, that some of those young kids in the audience had heard of deodorant because by the end of the day, they used to spend the whole day queuing up outside the studios in the heat.

13:56
and then at around 5.30 they would let them in or 5.30, 6 o'clock they would let them in for Countdown. Well by that stage, of course, the heat being the heat and the hormones being the hormones, by the time they hit the studios, oh man, it was something else. So miming your songs on Countdown was a thing back then and I remember seeing a documentary about it saying that...

14:23
they insisted that most of the artists mimed their songs, which you wouldn't have picked it at the time. Was that the case with you or were you able to go live? No, I always sang live. I was given the choice that I always sang live. Because I find that when we were, they call it lip syncing today, I mimed occasionally on television, but when you mime, it takes you just that one sort of step away from the energy level and the...

14:53
and the sort of the physicality of performing a song. You tend not to sing as hard or as loud as you would if you were singing live, and you tend to just be more laid back. And I just preferred singing live because it maintained my energy levels. Where did you film the clip for Mean Parageens? Guy and I were just talking about this before and how the camera zooms in on the girlies' backsides and.

15:20
There's all these gorgeous girls who are our age now, I'm sure. And, you know, at home, if they beautiful young things, where was that film? Is it dance floor somewhere? It was a disco in St. Leonard's in Sydney, a disco club. And we got to use it during the daytime. And as you said, the cameramen, the ones who probably had the greatest enjoyment during the filming of that clip.

15:46
because they just followed these girls around the dance floor, you know, on their tight jeans. But I've got to say, I think in terms of the attitude today in relation to things like that, I think we've gone back to the 50s. I really do, because I had a situation the other day, no names, no Pactril, where I'm putting together a show for the same people that did the hottest hot August night show. I'm putting together a show next year based on...

16:13
some of the famous album covers from the 70s. And one of these famous album covers has a girl in hot pants. And I wanted to recreate the album and name the show, a play on words on the album. And I was told emphatically by a couple of venues that no, we cannot see female butts exposed. And I said, well, they're not exposed, they're wearing.

16:40
the sort of clothes that you can see people walking down the street with in the middle of summer. You know, what's the matter with you? It's, we have gone, we are going full circle and I think we've gone back to the 50s in many ways. There's this sort of, I call it, and I don't want to get too heavy here, I call it sort of hypocritical attitudes towards things like fashion. And you'll

17:10
of the year here and yet when you want to put together a concept that uses a 70s album which sold millions of copies, they won't have it. You know, the comment that came back to me, oh, we can't have a girl's butt advertised in our venue. It's quite remarkable where we are today. And yet when you look at those albums from the 70s, those compilation albums like the Ripper 76 or whatever, and that's all it is, the sawn off shorts and the...

17:38
girls butt hanging out the back of it. Absolutely. And lucky these people who said no about that album, or that picture I submitted, said no, had not seen the Juicy Lucy album. You remember the Juicy Lucy album from the 60s? Holy doodly. Do you remember it, Kayleigh? Yes, I do. And I remember watching a clip of the, do you remember the pushback song by The Mixtures from the 70s? Yeah.

18:01
And the clip is just a girl riding down the road on a bike and she's got these tiny, tiny shorts on and the camera's just focused on her backside the whole time. And a lot of people remember the song, great song. But yeah, and I think, I thought the same thing. I thought you couldn't do that now because you'd be accused of objectifying women and sexualizing women. Sexist and all this. And this is the hypocrisy that strikes me so much today. Look, I'm all for respecting, having respect for women,

18:31
If they're going to wear that sort of clothing out on the street today, and as I said, you'll see it every day, you walk down the street, or you'll see it at night at a local club or pub or whatever, especially in summer, you'll see very skimpy outfits being worn. And it's not as if you're verbally or physically disrespecting females, it's just life. It is life, yeah. And that's what it was in the 70s. And nobody was offended.

19:00
at all. Guy and I have both got daughters so I know we've both lived through teenage girls, you know, wanting to leave the house wearing next to nothing and truth be known they look gorgeous. I mean you don't want them going out looking too skimpy at too young an age but you know they have that, it gives them that confidence, they wear these clothes that make them look beautiful and as long as they're safe I guess.

19:22
Well, if you look back at the fashions of the 50s with the dresses around the ankles or around the shins and the no shape and everything, do we really want to see our women looking like that today? No, I don't think so. This episode of the Big Sixo brought to you by Louis Carr Real Estate, helping people in the Hills District find their dream home since 1992. Ready to buy, sell or rent? Check out louiscarr.com.au for all your property needs.

20:01
bring us up to aging, which is what the podcast is all about. The big six. So 60 is a little bit of a, I'm still learning to sit with it. I turned 60 this year, so I'm learning to understand what that means. Talk to us about age and the different stages of aging in your life and, and how you felt about them and how you're feeling now. I remember when I was probably about 30 or 35, looking at my mother.

20:29
who was only at the time about 50, 55, because she was only 19 years older than I was. And I used to think, oh gosh, mum, you're really beginning to look old. And I used to look upon her as being old, basically. And then of course, when you yourself get to that stage, you think, no, I'm not.

20:53
I'm not old. And then you reject all those thoughts you had back when you were 30 and 35. And thank goodness that you do. If someone had told me then that I'd still be performing in my 70s, I would have laughed at them. I would have said, no way. And then you, you know, then you look at Tony Bennett and think, my God, he was performing into, into his 90s and performing very well. I'm not saying I'm going to be doing that, but I, I found that turning 50, I felt a bit of a, hmm.

21:22
half a century, when I turned 60, didn't worry me at all. Didn't feel much of a change. I've got to say when I turned 70, I started to think, ooh, this is a little bit nasty. And I found, and I found, and I don't think it's my imagination because I've heard a number of people say this anecdotally, that when it seems to be, and it could be psychological,

21:49
When you turn 70, your energy levels take a dive. They really do. What you could do in your mid-60s to your late-60s, I know physical-wise, I can't do in my 70s. The energy level, the stamina has gone. I can't do things for any extended length of time. Whereas I might've spent anything up to four hours in the garden.

22:16
at one time, now I'm struggling after about 90 minutes. You know, it's just the tiredness and the fatigue sets in. And I think that's the biggest difference I've found. Thankfully, touch wood, thank God, I still have my mental faculties, which I'm so, so grateful for. But it's the physicality is where I note the biggest difference. And I think I've noticed that I think you age more.

22:43
or quicker from 70 onwards. That just seems to be the thing. In your 60s, you seem to be able to hold it back. I'm holding this back. My body's not collapsing on me just yet. Nothing's heading south just yet. And then when you turn 70, everything seems to head south. What about mentally? How do you feel mentally at the different stages of your life? You kind of alluded to that.

23:11
I think since I've turned 70, I've felt vulnerable for the first ever time. Interesting. I felt that there is a time limit. I never used to worry about there being a time limit. And the way that it hits me probably hardest is when you look at where you are now and you go back 10 or 15 years and you say, oh my goodness, if I go forward 10 or 15 years, that is not a great deal of time.

23:40
And I look back at 10 years ago and it doesn't seem... I moved to Melbourne from Sydney 10 years ago, 10 years ago, and it only seems like yesterday. And then I say to myself, gosh, if I go forward 10 years, I'm into my 80s. And that's the thing, that's the sobering thought that comes in. But I think the most important thing is you need to not let that impact your thinking or your...

24:07
your psychology or whatever. You've got to try not to let things like that and just live life as you have always lived it and live it to the fullest. Because I think the moment you start letting that other side of you get on top, then you're in trouble. I mean, we're all different. We've all got different energy levels and aspirations, no matter what age. And yet there you are producing, not singing now, but

24:34
as far as these two shows, that hottest hot August night and tonight's the night, which you took on the road. Yes, I did. And I'll tell you just on the thing about you getting older is that last year I took the big orchestral show, The Rock Proms, all around the country with the full orchestra and fantastic rock band doing all the rock classics, all the rock anthems.

25:00
And I was performing on that tour and I was promoting it. And it really took a heck of a lot out of me to the point where on the very first night of the tour, which was in Brisbane, I spent the whole day organizing the sound checks and the writers for the cast and the crew and everything. And then all of a sudden I realized I had 30 minutes to get ready and go on and perform. And my brain was shocked. My...

25:29
I was tired, I was exhausted. And it was the only the first time, I can probably say ever in my career, that I lost the track in the middle of a song and didn't know where the hell I was. And it was the first time it happened. And I just put it down to just total physical and mental fatigue. And that's why when I took Pato's August Night and Tonight's the Night on tour, I didn't perform. I just promoted and looked after it that way.

25:58
If you're performing, do people still get starstruck by the fact that there's Marty Row? I think my generation does. I mean, the people that grew up with me and grew up with my music. And I have to say, you know, I'm so grateful that this is the case because without them, we wouldn't be where we are. Without them, I still wouldn't be performing today. And there's their enthusiasm and their kindness and the beautiful things many of them say.

26:26
But what it is for me is that it brings back their memories and they associate what I'm doing with a certain time in their life. And it's like the old phrase, soundtrack of our lives. I am part of their life in a way. What were they doing when they first heard Daniment Lace or they danced to a mean pair of jeans? You know, was it the first, the second or the third relationship? You don't know.

26:53
But they all have these memories and in 99.9% of the case, they're happy memories. And it's an elixir, isn't it? Yeah, very joyful for them. So if I can do that for them, I'm pleased. And that's one of the joys of still being able to work, I think, because if I start working, that part that enthuses me would be gone as well. So I get a positive payoff as well. What's the most common thing people say to you, your fans? What do they say?

27:22
The most common line is, you still got it. And I think to myself, what have I still got? What would they say? You don't look any different. I go, really? Really? But they're being very kind, you know, because I've got to look at myself in the mirror every morning, I can tell you.

27:48
When I think of what they say, you don't look any different, I think, oh, yes, you do. Do you ever look back at those clips yourself? I do sometimes, yeah, and I get a chuckle out of it. It always interests me when people say, some artists say, oh, I never look at my movies or I never look at my old clips and that. I often go back and look at them to see how bad I was at times.

28:18
You were not. But no, I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm still learning today because I'm acting as much today as I am singing. And I am still learning today. I've just completed a short film where I had a wonderful role of an aging gentleman on a cruise ship who thinks he's discovered a serial killer on this cruise ship.

28:46
We filmed it down at Dockland Studios where they recreated the whole deck of a ship on an ocean. It just looks amazing. And I was in the throes of seeing the playbacks from some of the scenes that we did. And I pick up things that I know were wrong, that I know that I didn't give it the approach or the feel for that particular set. So I'm always learning.

29:13
And that's the exciting thing of still being able to do it today is that you, every time it's like the old story, every time you walk out on stage, every time you do a new thing, you're learning. And even at my age, I'm still learning. Well, I know you do a lot of charity work as well. Fundraising. It sounds like you don't have a spare few minutes of a day when you're not actually doing something for a bloke whose energy levels have dropped after the age of 70. It's a testament to

29:42
not only what you've done in the past, but you're obviously bringing a lot of things to a lot of people now as well. I think it's good therapy for myself because I really believe that if you can remain active, if you can keep your mind active, and you do with acting because you've got to learn lines, if you keep an interest in something, I think ultimately it's a good thing for your own health. We hear so many times stories about people who can't wait till they get to retirement.

30:12
and then they retire and bingo, they're gone within two or three years. I think it's so important. And I know it's not easy for some people because of certain physical disadvantages, but I think it's important to keep yourself active, have an interest, to have something to involve yourself mentally and physically in, preferably not gardening. I think that's what we want to look at as part of the podcast is, is how do we approach aging and how do we keep our mental health good?

30:40
And obviously our physical health as much as we can as well. But with the amount of people over say 50, 60 and 70 suffering from depression and loneliness, it's something that we want to, I guess, explore a bit more on the podcast is how do you, how do you push that stuff back, you know, and, and try and remain positive when often the best of your life is.

31:03
is behind you. And I think you hit on the one of the most important words and that is loneliness. And I think I'm very fortunate I've got a loving family around me and I've been married to the same woman now for almost 50 years and and so therefore it's important that you have you have that not everybody is lucky enough to have that in their lives and and I think that's

31:31
When they're looking, you know, they're talking about this whole reinvigoration of the aged care system and all these changes they want to make. I think one of the most important issues there is the treatment and overcoming the loneliness of so many people. It's the loneliness, I think, that drives you down quicker than anything. If you don't have someone to talk to, if you don't have someone to interact with, if you don't have someone to do things with.

32:00
And we've heard so many times the great therapy of bringing a pet along to see someone, to have even to have someone. I see a lot of single people around here when I presume they're single because they're elderly and they have a pet with them. And it's wonderful actually to see them with a pet because at least that does go some of the way to relieving that loneliness. I think loneliness is a terrible thing and sadly so many people are confronted.

32:30
Marty, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast and we're going to go out with a bit of your music and I'm going to enjoy it so much because I just, it just takes me back. And I said, I'm, I'm quite flustered to meet you after having a crush on you from the countdown days. It's, it's wonderful. And thank you for the joy that you brought us through your career. Thank you. Thank you, Carly. And I hope you've still got that poster on the inside of your wardrobe. Absolutely. I practiced kissing it.

32:57
Oh, really? Don't go there. Kayleigh, don't go there again. Okay. Maybe I'll keep that for another podcast. Don't go there. Sorry. We're too far. Too far. Thanks again. The views and opinions expressed on the Big Six O are personal and reflect those of the hosts and guests. They do not represent the views or positions of any affiliated organizations or companies. This podcast is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice.

33:26
Please consult with a qualified professional for guidance on any personal matters.

33:41
So she's gonna make the scene Gonna make the scene She wears a mean pair of jeans Tell me what you mean A mean pair of jeans Oh, I see what you mean And they're oh so tight What she puts in her dancing gets to everyone What she puts into denim, well, it really turns them on, yeah