Peter, Paul & Mary

These are three of the most deightful people I have ever met - I met them three times, once to spend a whole afternoon with. A major musical influence on my life, this trio is about "unplugged music" at its very best, with delightful three-part harmonies, fluent guitar playing (6 and 12-string) by the two guys and that husky voice of Mary's!! They were made for each other. I share the same surname with Peter (Yarrow) - my research indicates we are possibly related, but quite distantly; I share the same faith with Paul (Noel Stookey), we are both born again Christians and keep in touch on a very casual basis these days. Though it was The Seekers who got me interested in listening to music and playing guitar, it was by immitating Peter & Paul that I developed the playing style I now have and it was Paul's personal encourgement during his first solo tour in the early 1970s that helped me become a better songwriter.

Though I'm a great fan of Bob Dylan, apart from the odd song like Just Like A Woman and Like A Rolling Stone, I generally find it a chore listening to his nasel voice whining through his classic lyrics, and he couldn't hold the rhythm of a song if his life depened on it. Such is not the case with PP&M - no one sings Dylan like they do. Their interpretations of his songs are simple yet powerful, and to the point, allowing the words to have maximum impact. The first time I heard Dylan sing The Times They Are A'Changin', I thought "what was that all about?"; the first time I heard PP&M sing it, the message hit me like a ten tonne truck!

The Seekers

If it wasn't for The Seekers, I would never have developed my interest in popular music, I would never have taken up playing the guitar, I would never have written a single song and I would never have fallen in love with Judith Durham's simply gorgeous dimples. The Seekers were at the peak of their popularity during my first years of employment after leaving school and they had a great influence on my music buying habits in that their folk style drew me towards other folk artists. I bought all their singles and albums and I would have bought the brand of guitars they played were it not for the fact that Matons were out of my price range. My biggest disappointment with The Seekers ocurred two months after I attended their concert at Beattie Park in Perth in 1979 when they announced they were breaking up. As soon as I found out that Judith leaving the group had caused the split, I was so furious I decided that, had I been talking to her, I would have never spoken to her ever again (I felt the same way about Dusty Springfield when I found out she was a lesbian, and Diana Ross and Lionel Richie when I found out they were never in the studio together when they recorded Endless Love).

From then onwards, every time I listened to their music I got irritated at Judith for missing the last letter off so many words of the songs she sang, and at myself for never being able to play the 12 string guitar as good as Keith Potger. I loved the two albums the boys made with Louisa Weissling - my reaction on hearing The Sparrow Song had made number one was "take that, Judith Durham!".

Favourite album: Seekers Seen In Green. I still can't figure out the hidden meaning of the title which seems a bit too clever for its own good. The songs on it are great, though - every single one of them, especially Angeline, Can't Make Up My Mind, Colours Of My Life and All I Can Remember.

Favourite song: I Am Australian. This song had done more than anything else to unite Australians as a nation and deserves every single accolade that has been bestowed upon it. No other song stirs up patriotism in us as a nation like this one.