Australia produced many international stars who developed highly significant overseas careers in vaudeville and variety. The usual pattern was to start out on the amateur stage in Bendigo or Toowoomba (or elsewhere) before finding their way into professional entertainment, especially in Melbourne or Sydney.  Sometimes they were discovered by visiting performers who suggested that going to London or San Francisco might provide opportunities to be heard by much larger audiences. From English and North American stages, many launched recording careers, making records in, for example, England, the USA and Germany; recordings that carried their voices home. This presentation will examine the careers of some of the most successful Australian vaudevillians, at home and abroad. It will be lavishly illustrated with their records. Many of the great pioneering names of Australian recorded performances have left substantial numbers of discs and cylinders. People such as Leonard Nelson (‘Goodbye Melbourne Town’), Hamilton Hill (‘Goodbye, Dolly Gray’ which became ‘Good Old Collingwood, Forever’), Florrie Forde (too many ‘great’ hits to mention), Billy William’s (‘When Father Papered the Parlour’ and much else… the best recorded voice of the acoustic period’…?) and many more. Where would Canberra Reps’ Old Time Music Hall and other evocative evocations of the late 19th and early 20th century have been without them.

Session to be presented by Jeff Brownrigg.