Crazy 'Bout The Way We Move

Ross Wilson is a man who needs little introduction; an enduring presence spanning 40 years, his 1971 number one hit Eagle Rock is merely the tip of the iceberg of his achievements as a solo artist, producer and the frontman of Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock. He talks to Time Off about the proposal by national insurance company Apia to tour the country with three of his oldest Melbourne muso buddies.

“Putting on a tour, it's the biggest capital gamble you can do; it's all about bums on seats and selling tickets – it's pretty hard work, so to get someone to underwrite the tour, it's a blessing really,” Wilson admits. “It's being properly publicised and [they're doing] all the things that you can want to make a tour successful, and that's all we really care about – presenting our music, havin' a good time. The fact that we'll all be working together for the first time, all four guys, even though one or two of us have worked together on and off and we've known each other personally for a long, long time, we've never all been on the stage at the one time like this is gonna be, and I think it's a pretty big deal…”

Having played gigs in three states in just the week prior, Wilson is all too familiar with the work it takes to tour; he's more than happy to team up with Apia, and he's realistic about the over-50 market they're looking to tap into.

“When you say Apia – Australian pensioners insurance, it's like, 'Oh, okay'. Hey, but what about, how old am I? Do you know how old I am – have you looked at Wikipedia?” Wilson playfully prods before proudly stating his age of 65. “Their audience, they've grown up with me. I'm still full of vigour and creativity and I presume the people that Apia represent are the same. Just because you retire or get a pension doesn't mean you stop living your life; these days you go off and you cash in your super and you have a fuckin' great time!”

One only has to look at the shared history of Wilson, Reyne, Braithwaite and Camilleri to know this is a tour worth catching, for young and old.

“Well, Mondo Rock, when I first started, Aussie Crawl got signed to the same label as us back in the late '70s and we used to have them supporting us on the first tour that they did, so that's how long I've known James Reyne – the youngest of the mob. And the rest of us are about the same age; Joe and I started off in Melbourne around the same time – I produced his first albums. Daryl, when Daddy Cool did their first tour in New South Wales, Sherbet were new and they were the support there as well; we go back a long way and there's a lot of cement there you might say. We all respect each other and I really like what the other guys do – they're all excellent at what they do…” Wilson enthuses. “We went on Sunrise and we all sang harmonies together. We were all like, 'Gee, this is great!' This is a secret, but there are quite a few lead singers that can't do harmonies very well I've discovered – the guys in the band do the work for that – so it's gonna be a lot of fun. We're gonna play our own sets and then we're gonna do some stuff together towards the end of the night, and I think it might be a bit of a revelation.”