LAST CONCERT - 27th November 2011
It was a very Happy Christmas party for our last show of the year. Geoff Williams, MC for the day, began with a Happy Christmas wish for everyone then sang a verse of the Belrose song after the band introduction.
John Fitz on drums, Peter Eliot on rhythm guitar, George Siedlecki on bass guitar, Mike Tyne on pedal steel and Alan Ford on lead guitar formed the Belrose Boyz backing band and were augmented on this occasion by Carl Sullivan.
Mike led the Boyz in a great instrumental version of “Baby Blue” to kick off and George kept things rocking along with “Dance the Night Away” and “I Fought the Law”. Peter Eliot contributed a stirring interpretation of “Sally Was a Good Girl” and “Drivin’ My Life Away”. Carl Sullivan gave us one of his best with “Highway 40 Blues” before Alan rounded out the set with “Sea of Heartbreak”, “Streets of Baltimore” and a conclusion of Duane Eddy’s “40 Miles of Bad Road”. Beaut start to the show fellas!
Rosalie Mackay returned to give the large contingent of eager linedancers their steps for the day and found lots of takers for this popular part of the show each month.
It was very encouraging to see the number of dancers dressed in Christmas attire, with shirts and skirts of red, green and white with matching hats and accessories, topped off with streamers, sparklers and decorations. Top effort from all. Thanks, it looked like a happy Christmas party and it was.
The first performer for the day was the beautiful Amelia Richards who has grown up before our eyes as a talented singer as she has appeared over the years at Belrose. This young lady is destined for an exciting future as she enters tertiary education to confirm her musical background. Accompanied by her own guitar Amelia began with a solo presentation of a George Sich song “All I Remember” and won the audience with her sweet vocals. The band joined Amelia to get everyone’s feet tapping with the McClymont’s hit “Kick It Up”. Then to pay tribute to Dolly Parton’s visit to Belrose (oops – not yet folks), Australia, and with a story of Amelia’s impersonation of Dolly Parton at the recent Tooleybue Festival, Miss Richards knocked us out with “Jolene”. Other songs in the very enjoyable set included “Change My Tune” (her own composition), “Today I Started Loving You Again”, “Country Roads”, “Don’t Rock The Jukebox” and, after calls for ‘more’, Amelia obliged with the popular dance number “Bootscootin’ Boogie”. Thanks Amelia and good luck at the Uni.
One of the most popular artists to appear at Belrose is Dianne Lindsay with her husband Peter Simpson. On this occasion they were accompanied by Marcus Green on his special acoustic bass guitar. Peter’s superb country style guitar picking complements Dianne’s unique vocals. As a leading exponent of Australian Bush Ballad music, Dianne thrilled the audience who remained seated and silent during her performance. The set began with “Rainbow Round My Memories”, “Butterfly Memories” and a special request of Smokey’s “Old Khancoban. From her new album of “Rick and Nel Carey Favourites”, Dianne and Peter sang “Lookin’ Back to See” and “Came The Day” before Geoff Williams joined Dianne to sing the Reg Lindsay part in the delightful “Country All The Way”. After a lively version of Tex Morton’s “Droving Days” there were calls for ‘more’, so we enjoyed “Move It On Over”. With Dianne’s wonderful performance and this excellent showcase of Australia’s heritage, we were left in no doubt that bush ballad music is alive and well and likely to endure wherever country music is performed. Thanks Di, Pete and Marcus.
As yet another time when we can appreciate how fortunate BCMC is to have so many top line artists appearing on our stage, we sat back and enjoyed the fabulous talents of the great Alby Pool. Alby chose a very mixed program of songs from his six albums and with his trusty Tomkins guitar, pure country vocals and leading the Belrose Boyz to their best ever sounds, this was a most enjoyable, indeed memorable performance. It was ‘lucky us’ as Alby began with “Lucky Me” followed by a super version of George Jones’ “Good Year for the Roses”. Other great country songs performed in his own inimitable style by Alby and the band included “Friend Don’t Drive Friends”, “Got a Funny Feeling”, “The Chair”, (especially loved by Alby’s fans), “Too Many Pockets”, “I Never Go Around Mirrors” and “This New Heartache”. The crowd didn’t want Alby to stop so Alby gave them “Your Old Flame”, “One Step at a Time” and “Uptown Downtown”. Good on you Alby – WOW!
Rosalie’s team of In Line Boots, in their stunning outfits performed a demonstration dance to the absolute delight of everyone in this very appropriate Christmas concert to “Better Than Leaving”. Brilliant work ladies!
Geoff picked up his guitar to join the Boyz and after requests last show for ‘more Roy!’ , offered his version of “Too Soon to Know” and they had no sooner launched into “Aussie Jingle Bells” with Deb Kennedy-Holmes providing her tin tinabulation accompaniment, then Santa Claus arrived bringing great cheer, happiness and goodies. The old gentleman had been invited by his very good friend Bob Gray, who knows him very well. Santa did the rounds and took note of the many requests, but kept going anyway. Terie Gray had ‘put together ‘ a beautiful Christmas Cake and Santa did the honours by cutting the cake. He wished everybody a very Merry Christmas before departing for his next engagement at this busy time for him.
Then to complete this special show with a Christmas sing-a-long, Geoff Williams sang a beautiful tribute to all our fighting personnel, especially those currently engaged in conflict and those who have died. Accompanied only by his own Maton, Geoff sang the very moving “Christmas 1915” to a silent auditorium. The band and the artists joined Geoff for “Pretty Paper”, “Father Christmas Taught Me to Yodel”, “Silver Bells” with Amelia, and “Blue Christmas” with Al Ford. Carl sang “Jingle Bell Rock” and Peter Eliot’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” put smiles on everyone’s faces. Alby, Dianne, Peter and Amelia all helped in a lively linedance version of “Silent Night” then EVERYONE joined the fun with the Christmas finale and the usual muso solos, concluding with John Fitz and his scintillating solo on the skins. WOW! What a Show!
Happy Christmas and see you in February. Special thanks to dancers, artists and musicians and of course the BCMC audience. On the fabulous February concert in 2012 we will have Michelle Litte, The Rough Diamonds, Maura and Twice As Good. A great day for the ladies!
Many thanks again to all who helped make it another beaut day.
Thanks to all concerned – what fun it was!! Thanks heaps!!!COMING UP IN FUTURE SHOWS
(SUBJECT TO CHANGE – CHECK THE COMING UP PAGE ON THE WEBSITE
FEBRUARY 26TH 2012
MICHELLE LITTLE
THE ROUGH DIAMONDS
MAURA
TWICE AS GOODMARCH 25TH 2012
FRANKIE DAVIDSON
CHRISTIE LAMB
MIKE WHITE
TANYA JOHNSTON
THE SIDE SHOW
It’s a big congrats to Danny Turner for this show for a couple of reasons. First of all he won the raffle again and took the elephant over the dinner. The dinner was snatched up by Barbra Mapstone without question. Thanks to the Dish for their dinner for two and Belrose Bowling Club for the wine to go with it. Thanks also to Alby Pool and Dianne Lindsay for their CD prizes and special thanks to everyone for the support.
It was a pleasure to note the effort with Christmas decorations and outfits that so many chose. Danny’s outfit was a real stand-out as he was resplendent in his black and white gear – great shirt, white hat and matching white boots, smart belt. WOW! Good on you Danny!
LOST – John Dempster reported the loss of his Cannon Camera which he left on the sill of the window on the Eastern terrace at the October concert. Please contact the club, Geoff Williams (9979 7131) or John (0415 796 029).
The crew that travelled away on the country music cruise all had a beaut time and said the performers e.g. Beccy, Amber, Gina, Adam and others were all very friendly with Amber promising to keep us in mind for the May show next year which is our 10th anniversary. We have a special day currently in planning – more details next time.
Barbara Dunstan and some of her Gold Star Dancers also went on an Elvis ocean cruise recently. It was short but fun. In fact they only arrived back on shore today and raced straight to Belrose for the concert.
Peter Eliot and Alan Ford put a lot of effort into ensuring the music at this show was good as they prepared charts for all songs for the musos and coordinated the program with the artists. It all paid off – well done!
Peter does concerts in retirement homes and other places, but he said the best show he ever did was recently at St Stephen’s Kindergarten in Belrose. He said the kids were wonderful and responded in fine fashion to his songs. He did not do “Grandma Got Run Over” etc.
There was a table in the audience from the Rotary Club of Neutral Bay where Geoff is still a member. They were happy to sell some raffle tickets for the Dr Chris O’Brien cancer fund and appreciated those who bought tickets. Wayne Bensley and his wife Noni and Vicki Rhodes have been regular attendees of our shows recently but this party even included the current president Colin Croll and his wife Judy.
The Grays, Terie and Bob, are an excellent team along with their normal duties of artist secretary and sound respectively. Terie sees that we have a Christmas Cake, lollies and decoration, which are obviously enjoyed by members due to the speed of consumption of these goodies, and we all value Bob’s long and very close association with Santa.
Radio Northern Beaches is currently seeking information from listeners in a simple survey. If you listen then you can help us by completing the survey on www.rnb.org.au and you can also listen to your favourite country programs online.
Amelia Richards was anxiously awaiting the results of her HSC but if her music result of 95% (wow) is any indication, then she shouldn’t have too much to worry about. Best wishes Amelia.
Carolynne Pitt’s lovely young niece, Shayla, had a great time talking to Santa. She told him of all the things she would like him to bring her at Christmas and each time she added a big “AND………..” so that her list would still be going if the old gentleman didn’t have to get his boomers going home to the workshop. If he manages all of Shayla’s presents, someone will have to visit the bank.
Geoff’s son Paul was originally scheduled to be at this show but in his role as Conservatorium Director, Paul was performing the bass lead in Handel’s “Messiah” in Goulburn Cathedral.
Don’t Forget
· Sign in at the front desk if you are not members of Belrose Bowling Club.
· Pay for membership at the bar and apply to join BCMC
· Please consider others and the performers by limiting discussions during acts, thank you.
· Please donate a gold coin in the tin for cancer research when picking up a copy of this newsletter. Thanks
Check out each show in the following:
Ø The notice board at the Bowling Club
Ø The diary in the Manly Daily
Ø Various radio programs including:-
Radio Northern Beaches 88.7 FM and 90.3 FM
Barry Williams – Saturday 11.00am and Wednesday 2.00pm
Geoff Williams – Saturday, High Noon
Des Simmonds – Sunday 1.00pm
Deb Kennedy-Holmes – Saturday 1.00pm
2SER 107.3 FM
Barbara Morrison – Saturday 5.00am - 8.00am Entertainment Guide
Today’s Country 94.1 FM
Gig Guide with Kaza – Monday & Wednesday 9.00am – 11.00am
Saturday Night Country ABC 702 AM
Felicity Urquhart – Saturday 10.00pm – 2.00am
Ø Other community radio stations including 2RRR, WOW FM, 2KA Cool Country 1476AM.
Ø Our website www.belrosecountrymusicclub.org.au
The aim of Belrose Country Music Club is simply “to enjoy country music and foster talent”.
All artists on each show are pre-booked and are usually arranged well ahead. Each program is arranged by Geoff Williams and performers are invited to contact him on (02) 9979 7131 to arrange for an audition and/or booking.
We are proud to say that many country artists have gone on to bigger things and others have appreciated the opportunity to present their talents to an appreciative audience. Many do well with their product sales. Video recordings of each show are available for purchase.
If you enjoy our shows, please keep coming, bring others with you, and tell your friends. It is very important for us to have good audiences – it makes the Bowling Club happy and gives the performers the support they need. A very special thank you to those who never miss (or hardly ever) – we love you!
There were several enquiries for membership of our club. It’s very easy really: 1. just join Belrose Bowling Club ($10 social member); 2.see BCMC secretary for a name badge. Both BBC and BCMC need you!
We aThe Bowling Club is always happy to see good crowds at our shows which they generously support with the venue, equipment, vouchers for the artists and a close link with our committee. The BCMC is a sub-club of the Bowling Club and a prerequisite of BCMC membership is membership of the Bowlo – so join up folks! They need you, and we need them!
BCMC receives brochures, news and details of other country music clubs, like Bathurst, Central and South Coast, Macarthur – it’s good to see how they operate. Both the Parkes and Canberra CM Associations are conducting big festivals in October. For details and information, talk to Geoff.
To be a proud member of our Belrose Country Music Club, all you have to do is join the Bowling Club who still support BCMC in many greatly-appreciated ways, then if you want a name badge, see our secretary. The secretary also prints this newsletter which is available at each show for a gold coin donation to cancer research. Thank you for your support.
If you know any prospective performers, please refer them to Geoff Williams who arranges the concert each month. There are some vacancies later in the year.
We also appreciate any comments you might have, or ideas to enhance and improve the shows or keep up audience numbers. You can hear our concerts promoted on the following radio stations:
- Jenni Vee on 2RRR (Ryde)
- Barbara Morrison 2SERFM (Sat 5-8am)
- Today’s Country 94.1FM
- Saturday Night Country ABC (10pm-2am Saturdays)
- Radio Northern Beaches (see story above)
The concerts are also in the Diary of the Manly Daily and sometimes an article as well. Plus, the details are always posted on the noticeboard of the Bowling Club.
HELP PLEASE. Before each show can go ahead, the auditorium, stage and P.A. system have to be set up. If you are able to help with this, it would be greatly appreciated and shouldn’t take a few volunteers very much time. Please let Geoff or John Clement know if you can help. Thanks members.
SSSSHHHH. It’s great to have such a happy atmosphere at our shows, but sometimes people like to sit and just listen to the music. Loud talking is a worry and if you really need to have a conversation, please consider others and move outside or somewhere that doesn’t stop others from enjoying the show. It’s discourteous to the performers who all do their best without any payment. Many thanks.
If you need to check out when our shows are on, here’s a list for you to look for. The programme is on our website at belrosecountrymusicclub.org.au, and is also on the noticeboard at the Bowling Club. Various media outlets also give us good coverage. These include:
Radio Northern Beaches 88.7 and 90.3FM (11am Saturdays with Geoff Williams and 4pm Sunday with Des Simmonds)
2SER 107.3FM (Barbara Morrison Saturdays 7am)
ABC Saturday Night Radio with John Nutting 10pm to 1am
Manly Daily – in The Diary the Saturday before each concert
Ring the Bowlo or one of our committee.
It’s always the LAST Sunday of the month from 2pm to 6pm.
Gentle reminders (once again):
* Thanks for thinking of others in the audience who want to listen to the performers. If you need to talk, please keep it low or move to somewhere that won’t spoil the enjoyment of others.
* The club’s policy is not to reserve tables in advance. If you get there early, please leave a bag or jacket on your table, not just a coaster with ‘reserved’ scribbled on it, if you go to the restaurant or pokies, etc until the show starts.
* Please sign in at the door if you are not a member and members should ensure that all your guests do so too. Membership application forms are always available at the front desk, so if you come regularly, join up – it’s only $5.50.
* For the sake of all concerned, it is important that we keep up the good crowds. If you can bring others to enjoy the afternoon, everyone stands to gain.
HOW IS THE RAFFLE MONEY USED?
Good question, and we have a good answer: Sponsorship of artists.
The Belrose Country Music Club aims to foster talent as well as enjoy country music and helping artists attend music festivals and travel to perform is one way to promote their performance expertise.
In the past the BCMC has provided sponsorship to John Loveridge (twice) to offset some costs of his participation in country music festivals, to Danielle Blakey for her tour to Europe with the Australian jazz band, to Dean Johnston for his prize winning visit to WA and to The Brothers 3 for their award winning visit to Tamworth in 2011.
So, if you’re a member of the Belrose CMC and have sung, played or danced at our concerts, you may qualify for some of our funds to further your career. You need to address your application to The Secretary, BCMC, c/- Belrose Bowling Club. Please include your itinerary, estimated costs, then throw yourself on our mercy!
The Bowling Club are very generous in allowing the BCMC to photocopy this newsletter on their equipment. However, it was originally stipulated that a donation of a gold coin be given for the newsletter, with the proceeds going to cancer research. We used to raise quite a few dollars in this way but newer audience members may not realize that this is the case and not many coins are being donated now.
It’s an honour system, so no-one will know if you do or not, but you’ll feel so much better if you do….
That’s All Folks - - - See Y'all Next Month !
To become a member of BCMC, you just need to join the Bowling Club, then register as a member of our country music club. There are name badges available at a small cost – most members have one but they are optional. It is essential that you have membership ID with you at our concerts or sign in at the foyer desk. The club is always under close scrutiny and penalties are severe. Thanks all!
See You All Again Next Month !!
