September 4, 2025 • 32 mins
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup doesn't just tell stories—he's lived them. As the drumming powerhouse behind iconic Australian bands The Angels, Gang Gajang, and The Party Boys, Buzz takes us on an unforgettable journey through the electrifying pub rock scene of the 70s and 80s where the air was "thick with the unmistakable scent of beer, sweat, and pot."
Born into a musical Adelaide family in 1952, Buzz's path to rock stardom began with a father who could have been a concert pianist (before WWII trauma silenced his playing) and a mother who sang with gusto in church. This foundation, combined with exposure to seminal artists through his older brother, set the stage for his remarkable career. With characteristic humility and humor, Buzz reveals how he transformed The Angels by suggesting Doc Neeson move from bass to frontman—a decision that created magic. "You couldn't take your eyes off him on stage," Buzz explains about the charismatic Neeson, whom he considers the greatest frontman he's ever worked with.
Beyond the music that defined a generation, Buzz's story takes unexpected turns. His unique upside-down guitar playing created GangGajang's distinctive sound. His work with the Jimmy Little Foundation, promoting healthy eating among indigenous children for 25 years, reveals the depth of his character. "That's what I get up in the morning for," he shares, demonstrating how music can be a vehicle for meaningful change. Still active at 73, Buzz continues mentoring young artists as an APRA ambassador while passing his musical genes to his producer son Maxwell.
Whether you're a die-hard Angels fan or simply appreciate authentic Australian stories, Buzz's memoir "No Secrets" delivers raw insights into a musical life fully lived. The book is available now at Woolworths for $24—grab your copy and discover the stories behind the soundtrack of Australian rock.
What has Buzz Bidstrup been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cheryl Lee (00:02):
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here.
Welcome to the Still RockinPodcast where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Imagine stepping into a packedAustralian pub in the 70s and
80s the heyday of the pub rockmusic scene where the air was
thick with the unmistakablescent of beer, sweat and pot and
(00:25):
the atmosphere was electrifying.
Doc Neeson, charismatic leaderof the Angels, famously captured
this raw energy when he said Iknow you're out there, I can
smell you.
Drummer for the Angels andfounding member of Ganggaj ang
Graham.
Buzz Bidstrup was there.
His new book No Secrets, is anOz Rock memoir of music and
(00:47):
mayhem.
We spoke to Buzz in the Zoomroom at length.
What a generous and amazinghuman he is.
He's seen a lot.
Let's find out all the goss.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
go to thatradiochick.
com.
au.
Buzz Bidstrup (01:06):
Have you got an Angel shirt on?
Yeah, good on you.
Cheryl Lee (01:10):
Oh yeah, I came dressed for the occasion.
Buzz Bidstrup (01:13):
Damn.
I'm wearing a daggy old, bloodysweat top.
Actually, I'll tell you whatI've got underneath it Bogan
Mania.
Cheryl Lee (01:21):
what is that?
Buzz Bidstrup (01:23):
That was a podcast in Western Australia
about 20 years ago.
Cheryl Lee (01:27):
Oh yeah, 20 years ago.
Buzz Bidstrup (01:30):
It must have been one of the very first it was
like not so much a podcast.
You know, they just did a showfor a radio station.
Cheryl Lee (01:37):
Oh righto, yeah, they were ahead of their time,
were they?
Buzz Bidstrup (01:39):
Ahead of their time, bloody hell.
So how are you getting on?
Yeah, good, thank you, I'm inadelaide.
Cheryl Lee (01:50):
Are you?
How are you?
How nice.
That's my old hometown.
I know, I did not know thatuntil just now.
How could I not know that?
Buzz Bidstrup (01:55):
I don't know.
Are you?
Are you an Adelaide girl?
Yeah oh wow, are you going tocome along to the launch?
Well, I do actually have onecomplaint because it's a night,
you can't make it.
Cheryl Lee (02:05):
You didn't get your people to speak to my people
first.
Guess, when I leave for threeweeks in the States, oh no.
Wednesday, the 10th.
Buzz Bidstrup (02:15):
Oh goodness gracious, what a pity.
Cheryl Lee (02:17):
I was bitterly disappointed and I thought I'll
have to fly somewhere else.
It was all over.
And then your people must havespoke to my people, because
you've chucked one in November,it's at over.
And then your people must havespoke to my people, because
you've chucked one in November,it's at Avoca Beach, so I might
just have to go to Queensland.
Buzz Bidstrup (02:31):
That's the central coast of New South Wales
, just north of Sydney, but it'sa lovely beach.
Cheryl Lee (02:36):
I just have to convince the hubby that.
Buzz Bidstrup (02:38):
You need to do a little R&R in Sydney and while
you're there, just a little bitnorth, go up to Gosford.
Cheryl Lee (02:44):
I'm geographically challenged.
I thought it was in Queensland,but may as well be.
Near enough.
I'll just have to say hubby,you know how we've just spent
three weeks on the Caribbean.
Can we just pop out?
Buzz Bidstrup (02:57):
To the Caribbean of New South Wales.
Cheryl Lee (02:59):
How long have we got Graham?
Do you prefer Graham or Buzz?
Buzz Bidstrup (03:03):
I don't mind, I'll answer to either.
I'm used to people calling meBuzz, because it's just
something that's stuck.
It's stuck.
Yeah, no, I've got until.
I think we're pretty good.
I'll just have a look at whenthe next one is.
It's not until two, I think.
So I've got an hour, I think,yeah, yeah.
Cheryl Lee (03:18):
You know doing my research and I think, oh my God,
Buzz, how are we going to talkabout all of this?
Buzz Bidstrup (03:25):
I know I was just doing one with Paul Cashmere
from the Noise and I think wecovered two bands and that was
it in an hour.
Cheryl Lee (03:34):
Who knew that you have done so much, achieved so
much, been involved in so much?
I don't know where to begin Now.
I know we need to talk aboutthe book, but I don't want to
give any spoilers about the book.
I think we're just going totease people, give them a reason
to go buy it.
Buzz Bidstrup (03:49):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know, if people are
listening in Adelaide they cancome along on the 10th.
I know you can't, but othersmay want to come to the town
hall and hear my very first bandfrom 1967, Fahrenheit 451.
They band from 1967 Fahrenheit451 they're gonna play.
Cheryl Lee (04:09):
Yeah, and so are Pegasus, my band from 1972.
Yeah, it'll be fun.
Get along everybody.
I won't see you down the frontthis time, but if you go to
Evoka Beach I might.
And yeah, of Fahrenheit 451.
Something else that I learnedtoday I'm the fundraising
coordinator for support at southaustralia.
Oh, how cool.
Guess what?
Fahrenheit 451 appeared for ourmonthly fundraising lunches
(04:30):
regularly.
The last one was in April.
Buzz Bidstrup (04:33):
Wow.
Cheryl Lee (04:34):
I know right Adelaide.
Buzz Bidstrup (04:36):
So they're still playing.
Absolutely.
That just blows me out, and Idid quite a lot of work with
Support Act as well over here.
I'm a very big supporter, so Isay good on you for doing what
you do.
Cheryl Lee (04:48):
Great cause, isn't it?
Buzz Bidstrup (04:49):
Yep.
Cheryl Lee (04:50):
Roger was there.
They don't just play for freefor us every now and again to
entertain our members and guests, but they play around town a
bit too.
Buzz Bidstrup (05:01):
They do?
Yeah, quite a bit.
I saw them.
I've still got brothers and asister in Adelaide, so I get
there quite regularly.
I went and saw them play onenight.
I just turned up and stood atthe back and then when they had
a break, I went over and said,hey, roger, how are you doing?
He went what, what are youdoing here?
So yeah, it was pretty funny.
And his lovely wife, jenny.
Do you mind go back a tinylittle bit before we go forward?
Cheryl Lee (05:26):
because where do you want to go, shirley?
That's your thing.
Well, now, I know the adelaideconnection.
I was just wondering are yourparents musical?
Do you come from a musicalfamily?
Is it in your dna?
Buzz Bidstrup (05:35):
it kind of was, you know, because, um, my
parents were a bit older becauseI was born in 1952.
Right, Dad, before he went tothe war he was, he was in the in
the second world war and he wasin to brook and then Kokoda.
So he he was a volunteer likehe actually volunteered for it.
But when he came back he was sotraumatized that, although
(05:56):
before he left he was a stanfordgrade piano player who was told
he went to st peter's collegeand he was told that he could
have been a concert pianist.
He came back from the war andhe never played the piano.
We had a piano at home.
I never saw him play it.
He had reams of music in theshed and old 78s.
He was a classical music freakand what he really was was a
(06:16):
conductor.
So he knew he had all of themusic for the different parts of
the orchestra and in his lateryears he would sit and have a
couple of whiskeys and put onclassical music and he'd be
conducting and he'd be sayinghere come the woodwinds and over
here's the violins, and hewould do that.
He also had perfect pitch.
So when I started listening tomusic in the 60s he couldn't
(06:38):
listen to it because it wouldmake the hairs on the back of
his neck and he would just sortof go oh, oh, I can't listen to
that stuff.
It's all out of tune.
Mum, on the other hand, was a,was a like a church singer.
She would sing with gusto inchurch and and she and her
sisters would sit around thepiano at the farm, because my
mother's side of the family offarming types and they'd sit
(06:58):
around the piano and and singsongs.
Like you know, pack up yourtroubles in your old kit bag and
smile.
You know, do all those sort ofsongs and keep on the sunny side
always.
You know they'd sing all thesesongs, so I'd start singing with
them.
I sang in a couple of choirswhen I was younger, so that sort
of gave me a bit of an idea ofsort of different parts of
(07:19):
singing.
So I did have my brother I sayin the book my brother, who was
eight years older than me, wasinto music in the late 50s.
So Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Cash,Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, you
know all of these seminalartists that sort of people in
(07:39):
England quote as being therecords that they listened to.
So I was listening to the samethings when I was eight years
old.
So I had a beautiful, abeautiful intro into music, into
popular music, and it justcontinued on, you know.
Cheryl Lee (07:53):
If it wasn't already in your DNA, which it sounds
like it was, you also got it byosmosis as well.
Buzz Bidstrup (07:59):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Because you know popular musicwas the currency back then.
You know it was all about whatsong have you heard?
What band do you like?
All of that kind of thing.
Cheryl Lee (08:12):
Stones versus Beatles.
Buzz Bidstrup (08:14):
Absolutely Well.
I was more of a Stones guyuntil I really discovered the
Beatles properly later, you know, yeah, I loved Ringo though.
Cheryl Lee (08:21):
You mentioned one brother, any other siblings, and
did any of them also go intothe business.
Buzz Bidstrup (08:27):
Yeah, yeah, my sister, who's six years older
than me.
She played a bit of violin, notparticularly well, so that
didn't last very long.
But my brother, who's fouryears older than me, turned out
to be quite a good classicalguitar player.
Yeah, he was actually reallygood, and he just didn't
continue on.
He did for a few years but thensort of stopped playing.
I do have a funny story that Italk about in the book, about
(08:50):
because I'm left-handed.
I would pick up their guitarsupside down and I'd play them
left-handed and they'd keepsaying to me no, no, no, that's
a right-handed guitar.
You're going to play it thisway.
You know, left-handed wouldswap the strings around.
The big string would be at thetop.
I could see you've got guitarsin the back.
One day, when he was out, hetook the strings off his
beautiful Spanish guitar and putthem the other way around and,
(09:13):
of course, not knowing how to doit I think I was about 11 or 12
, and tying them up at the end,you know, like really destroying
it.
And he came back to me and hesaid I'll only tell you this
once do that again and I'll killyou.
Don't you touch my guitar.
So I used to just look at themand I go so what, what chord is
that?
And they said that's an e chord, you know.
I said I'd look at it and I'mgoing okay, you got your finger
(09:33):
there and there and there, andthen I started playing piano
when I was about 12.
I took some lessons.
They didn't last very longbecause as soon as I could go I
thought I could play piano.
So that was all I needed toknow.
But I did learn how to picknotes out of a chord on the
piano and then find them on theguitar.
That was the way that I learnedhow to play guitar upside down.
(09:55):
And I still play it upside downReally.
Yeah, one of the records likeSounds of them, the Ganga Jang
song.
There's eight of my guitars onthat and they're all upside down
.
So I hit the top strings firstand I don't really hit the
bottom strings that much becausethey're down the bottom and
they sort of work with my hi-hat.
So the little strings of theguitar go with the hi-hat and
(10:16):
that's what makes that rhythm inSounds of them.
Cheryl Lee (10:19):
And a very distinctive sound.
Buzz Bidstrup (10:21):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Cheryl Lee (10:23):
There you go slightly out of tune.
Sorry for not knowing this.
Do you have any children, andif so, have they followed you
into music?
Buzz Bidstrup (10:30):
Yeah, look, I've got one boy who's 35 now.
He is a producer.
He's very successful.
He's done all sorts of stuff inAmerica.
He lived in America for a while, lived in London for a while,
In fact.
He's going back to Japan inabout two weeks and then he's
going over to London again.
His handle is Maxwell, which isM-X-X-W-L-L, all in capitals.
(10:51):
He is really successful and Ilove watching his progress.
It's beautiful.
Cheryl Lee (10:57):
A chip off the old block.
Buzz Bidstrup (10:58):
A chip off the old block.
Yeah, yeah, and it's greatbecause he does play drums and
he's a really good drummer andhe's a great guitar player, he's
a good bass player, he's a goodkeyboard player, he's like all
round, but he makes electronicmusic, he makes house music.
Oh, wow, yeah, go figure.
Cheryl Lee (11:14):
Each to their own.
Yep, he's amulti-instrumentalist as well as
are you, so you do drums, keysand guitar.
Do you have a favourite?
Buzz Bidstrup (11:22):
Well, I think you know I love playing drums
because that's what I startedplaying, right, so I just love
playing drums.
But, as far as I think, beingout, you know it's very hard to
sit down and just say, hey, havea listen to this song and sit
down at the drums and play.
You know, I needed to be ableto play some guitar and I do
like playing the piano, and Ithink had I been a little bit
(11:44):
more, had a bit more forethoughtwhen I was 12, I would have
actually studied the piano a lotmore, because it took me
another 20 years really to getto the point when I was about 30
, when really said to myself Ineed to know more about music, I
need to know about how it's puttogether.
I need to know because Istarted producing records and
(12:06):
I'd be working with people whowere really good players, right,
I felt like a bit of a goose,you know, because I, you know
what chord is that you'replaying.
You know, have you ever triedplaying a?
You know a g, major seventh,and they go.
We are playing a g.
Oh, really, okay, cool, cool.
So you know I I needed to learnmore about how it was put
together and I did that reallyby osmosis.
(12:28):
I did that by watching otherpeople play asking dumb
questions and just you knowtrial and error.
Cheryl Lee (12:35):
I mean, apart from the obvious musical talent,
you're a multi-instrumentalist,as I mentioned, songwriter,
you've also been a musicproducer, a session player for
everybody.
Who's everybody?
Everybody wants to play withyou, don't they?
Buzz Bidstrup (12:52):
Yeah, I was lucky .
You see, I was around at a timewhen they didn't have drum
machines.
In fact, I bought the first DMXdrum machine in Australia at a
time when they needed drummersand I was just lucky I could
play in time and I could startat one tempo and I'd finish at
the same tempo.
So I got lots of gigs.
Cheryl Lee (13:09):
You've also done film music composing as well,
which I didn't know about, andtalent management.
You're a one-stop shop.
Buzz Bidstrup (13:19):
I've got a big hat rack, yeah lots of hats.
It's a massive hat rack.
Cheryl Lee (13:24):
Apart from being a member founding member in most
cases, of three of the bandsthat absolutely shaped the
soundtrack to our lives here inAustralia the Angels, the Party
Boys and Ganggajang
Buzz Bidstrup (13:45):
A nice little trio, yeah, and very, very
privileged and thankful that Iwas part of all of that.
I wasn't the original drummerof the Angels, as people would
know.
There was a guy called CharlieKing that played on Am I Ever
Gonna See your Face Again.
But I joined the band 12 weeksafter that record came out.
So I think I played on thefirst four albums.
So I think I can definitely saythat I was one of the early
founding members.
Cheryl Lee (14:03):
Yeah, absolutely, but there's so much to talk
about.
You did mechanical engineeringhere at the Uni of Technology in
the 70s, and then you went toEurope.
Buzz Bidstrup (14:14):
Look, I went over there with, I guess, open eyes,
you know, and I just thought,well, I'm just going to see
what's happening over there.
And I had a few friends whowere over there as well.
They'd made the trip.
So I looked around at as manybands as I could see, and I saw
the Sex Pistols play at theMarquee Club, I saw the
(14:34):
Stranglers, I saw Ian Durie'sfirst band, I saw all of these
different bands.
Lana Lovage had a band calledDiversions, so I saw all of
these bands.
And I saw big artists as wellNeil Young and Queen.
And I saw Queen in a 3,000seater, which was pretty wild.
I saw Little Feet and all sortsof bands and I just sort of was
(14:56):
looking around and enjoying.
You know what was going on.
But I didn't really have a lotof money and as it was in those
days, people would say, oh, youcan just get a job, you know.
So I got a job in a beddingwarehouse just near Waterloo and
it meant that I had to go thereevery day, which was a bit of a
drag, because what do you do,you know, go there every day,
come on.
(15:16):
So we, we worked out this.
The boss of the place was hereally liked australians?
For some reason probablybecause we, you know we did the
work right.
We devised a thing betweenthree of us that we would share
that job.
Way back in the 70s we wereahead of your time ahead of our
time, shared position.
So you know, I'd work for a weekand then I'd take a week off,
(15:36):
or somebody else did, and thenanother person would come in.
So we do this rotation kind ofthing.
Just when I was thinking tomyself, well, I've either got to
buy a drum kit, because thefirst thing I bought when I got
to England I bought a guitar, anacoustic guitar, which I still
have, it's right here somewherean acoustic guitar, a four track
tape recorder, four microphones, and that was it.
(15:57):
And I was thinking to myselfnow, if I want to be a drummer,
damn, I'm going to have to buy adrum kit, but then I'm going to
have to have a car to move itaround in.
So I was trying to work outwhat am I going to do?
And this band turned up inLondon called ACDC.
I'd known Bon from Adelaide.
He lived in Adelaide for awhile and I knew him Not that
(16:18):
well, but well enough that atthe end of the show at the Red
Cow, their first gig in London,I was able to walk up to him and
, much to the surprise of thepeople that were there with me,
I just said, hey, bonn, how youdoing man?
He said, hey, yeah, good, good,good, what are?
Went back to our place and, youknow, smoked a bit of pot and
(16:38):
drank a bit of whiskey, had afew laughs.
He said so what are you doing?
What are you doing?
I said I don't know.
You know I'm out of money.
I'm working at a beddingwarehouse.
He said what you're not playing?
I said no, I, you know, I don'tknow what to do.
And he said because there'sgigs everywhere, we're playing
five nights a week over there.
(16:59):
And he said that's what we haveto do.
ACDC will have to leave London,go back to Australia, do a tour
, make some money and come backagain.
So I thought, well, I was beingaway for a while and I thought,
look, I'll just go back home andsay hello to everyone.
I knew how to make a bit ofmoney quickly, which was my
uncle had a lawn mowing businessthat he was always happy to get
(17:20):
me to go and it was good.
It was cash money, right, Iwent home and I started doing
that and after I'd been homeabout I don't know three months,
I suppose Robbie Robertson, whonow runs the Theverton Town
Hall, he was my agent like wayback, you know, in the bands I
was in and he rang me up and hesaid there's this band from
Sydney, signed to Alberts, beingproduced by Vander and Young,
(17:40):
and they're looking for adrummer.
And I went wow, you know that'scool.
I said who are they?
He said, well, just come in,come in, I'll introduce you.
And I went oh really Okay.
And I walked into his office andthere was John and Rick and who
I knew as the Keystone Angels,who used to be the Moonshine Jug
and String Band.
I don't know if you rememberthis, but you're probably not
(18:02):
old enough, but the MoonshineJug and String Band were really
good, like they were a greatband, and I used to go and see
them, as many people did.
Then they decided they wantedto be a rock band, so they
became the Keystone Angels andI've got to say they weren't
very good.
I don't know if anyone saw them, but they weren't very good
because they were a jug bandplaying like 1930s jug music and
(18:25):
all of a sudden they wereplaying 50s rock and roll which
revolved around groove.
It was all about drums, bass,like it had to have groove.
No offence to Charlie King,lovely, lovely man, but he
didn't have that groove hewasn't groovy he wasn't groovy,
Doc loved him to death was not abass player, right.
(18:46):
so they didn't have a rhythmsection that worked.
So they were a bit of a joke,you know, to be honest.
So anyway, I walk into theoffice and I go oh, you guys,
you know, you know what are youdoing here?
Oh yeah, we're the band lookingfor a drummer and my, my friend
, robbie, said well, you shouldjust go and have a jam with them
.
Just go and have a jam.
You know what's it going to.
You know, just go and have ajam with them.
So I go and have a jam withthem and they're really nice.
(19:22):
I got on with them really well,you know's fine, we won't, we
won't hold you to it.
So I thought, okay, I'll go tosydney and if I don't like it, I
can either join another band orI can go back.
I had enough money saved up, Icould go back to england or I
could go to new york, because Idesperately wanted to go to
cbgb's, I desperately wanted togo and see punk bands and you
know, people like Talking Headsand all that stuff.
Right Before we left Adelaideto drive to Melbourne, to Sydney
, we had a little meeting.
(19:42):
They used to like the John Paul, george and Ringo thing which
was John, rick, doc and Charlie,and it sounded kind of cool.
But when they said Doc, rick,john and Graham, graham, graham,
you know, graham.
And I said, you know, likeGraham Nash or Graham Goldman,
you know, there's been somefamous Grahams around, you know?
I said, but what about JohnRick, dock and Buzz?
(20:03):
And they went who the hell isBuzz?
I said Buzz Throckman, that'swho I am.
You can call me Buzz Throckmanand you can say that Buzz
Throckman has joined the Angels.
I had to explain to them thatBuzz Throckman was a mythical
character that was created in astone rave in Copenhagen in 1976
.
Actually, 1975.
Buzz Throckman was thismythical character who was
(20:26):
actually a Caterpillar tractordriver with the cat hat and
stuff.
When I told them that they said, oh, that's really funny,
that's cool, that's really cool.
But what they didn't know isthat I'd gone around to Chris
Bailey's place because ChrisBailey, bass player, was my
friend before I left to go andhe said to me you won't last a
moment in that band.
(20:47):
And he said if you come back toAdelaide after leaving that
band, people will think you're aband hopper.
They'll think that you don'tcommit, you know.
You said your name will be mud.
I said, well, my name, you knowI haven't got a name anyways,
that doesn't matter, who gives ashit, you know, it doesn't
matter.
I joined the band.
Buzz Throckman joined the bandAfter we recorded the first lot
of demos, with Doc playing bassand me playing drums.
(21:09):
I had a heart to heart with Doc.
I was living at his house and Isaid, mate, I've got to tell
you, you know the bass playingthe drumming it's not working,
you know.
I said you studied drama.
You know you're an actor.
Have you ever thought aboutbeing out the front?
He said, but who'd play thebass?
I said I know who I can get toplay the bass Chris Bailey,
(21:29):
because I'd already spoken tohim about it.
So then we had a meeting withJohn and Rick and Doc and the
four of us are sitting therelooking at each other and John
says, well, if we're going toget a bass player, I should be
the lead singer because I've gota better voice.
And I said, yeah, and Johnadmits to this, you might have a
better technical voice.
But I said you don't look likethat guy.
(21:50):
This guy's six foot four.
He's handsome as hell.
He's got a beautiful voice.
Cheryl Lee (21:55):
And stage presence.
Buzz Bidstrup (21:57):
And stage presence.
So for front men?
And he said so who would we getfor bass?
And I said Chris Bailey saidChris Bailey's never going to
leave Adelaide to join us.
And I said I think he will,because I've already spoken to
him about it.
So you know, I got Chris intothe band and I must say it was
probably the best decision theyever made to do that, to put Doc
(22:18):
out the front and to get a bassplayer, because not only did we
have an amazing rhythm section,then we had a guy out the front
that was second to noneabsolutely.
Cheryl Lee (22:24):
I think you said that he is the best frontman
you've ever worked with, I think.
Buzz Bidstrup (22:30):
So.
You know because because ofwhat he bought, and the second
best was, I think, was ShirleyStrawn, who I loved.
And you know because of what hebought, and the second best, I
think, was Shirley Strachan, whoI loved, and Jimmy Barnes is a
great front man that I've workedwith.
But yeah, Doc, just had thisspecial thing.
Cheryl Lee (22:43):
The X Factor.
Buzz Bidstrup (22:44):
An X Factor.
Cheryl Lee (22:45):
Yeah, that charisma.
You just couldn't take youreyes off him on the stage.
Buzz Bidstrup (22:50):
That's it.
Yeah, and that's what you wantin a front man.
Cheryl Lee (22:53):
Exactly.
I will top and tail this with alot of this information that I
have about your history,probably getting close to using
up my time limit.
Was there anything inparticular out of all my pages
that you would like to touch onduring our interview?
Buzz yeah.
Buzz Bidstrup (23:13):
Look, I guess one of the things that I point out
in the book is that I'm so proudof all of the music work I've
done.
I mean, I'm very proud of it.
But the thing that I'm mostproud about is the work I've
done with the Jimmy LittleFoundation and Uncle Jimmy
Thumbs Up, because it'ssomething that came out of left
field for me.
I never would have thought thatI would end up doing that work
(23:35):
and it's been 25 years I've beeninvolved in that and I think
that the work that I've donethere with others to promote
healthy eating with indigenouskids in remote communities is
probably, I mean, as I tellpeople, that's what you know,
that's what I get up in themorning for, you know, I get up
in the morning, I go okay, whatcan I do now for thumbs up?
The music stuff is great.
I love making music.
(23:56):
I still make music, but what Ido for that is heart stuff,
that's yeah.
Cheryl Lee (24:02):
So important.
I take my hat off to youbecause it's easy just to sit
back on your laurels on afabulous career behind you, but
to be giving something back soimportant is yeah, yeah.
Buzz Bidstrup (24:14):
And the other thing is yeah, crediting, yeah,
and you know.
The other thing is that I usemusic to engage kids, so I'm
writing songs all the time.
Like every time I'm out in thecommunity I'm writing songs and
I love it Recording songs.
I've just been up in Uluru.
I've been recording the localMutajulu band.
I recorded 15 songs with themand I work with the school kids
(24:37):
there, the kids in the college.
We're working on the 40thhandback of Uluru, so there's a
big thing in October for that.
I'm always making music, whichis in my DNA, and sometimes I
use it to promote healthy eatingand sometimes I use it to
promote bands.
You know who knows?
Cheryl Lee (24:52):
Keep you off the streets.
Buzz Bidstrup (24:54):
Oh, it does, Cheryl Lee, but he keeps me off
the streets for sure.
Cheryl Lee (24:57):
And something else I guess you're really proud of is
you're mentoring the youngemerging artists as an APRA
ambassador.
Buzz Bidstrup (25:05):
Yeah, look, I've been doing that for many, many
years and I was also the vicechair of the Association of
Artist Managers for a long time,you know for 10 years or so.
That was another kind of waythat I get to engage with
younger musicians all the time.
I think that's something youknow.
I'm 73 now, so it's really cooljust to be working with younger
musicians and just sort of getan opportunity to pass on some
(25:30):
information, and that's both inthe APRA stuff and the
Association of Artist Managers,and now I assess grants for
touring, grants for Music NSW.
So it's like I'm constantlylistening to new music and I'm
constantly engaging with youngmusicians, which keeps me young.
Cheryl Lee (25:47):
Well, I have this theory, Buzz, that rock and roll
is the fountain of youth.
Buzz Bidstrup (25:51):
I think so, I think so it absolutely keeps you
young.
Yeah, it does.
And that's the other greatthing about music.
Hey, you know and I find alsowith my work in communities you
know it's intergenerational andit's intergender.
So you can have bands made upof old people, young people,
boys, girls, it doesn't matter.
And that's the beauty of music,it's this overall engagement of
(26:13):
different people and differentgenders.
Cheryl Lee (26:15):
Absolutely.
This book is an absolute.
Must you co-wrote the song thatis the title of the book?
Yes, No Secrets with Doc.
Buzz Bidstrup (26:25):
Yes.
Cheryl Lee (26:26):
Get onto the Google to track your copy down.
Buzz Bidstrup (26:29):
If you can get along to the book launch and say
g'day 10th of September at 6pmat the Adelaide Town Hall, and
I'm really stoked that theAdelaide Town Hall came on board
and offered me the banquet hallthere, which is a beautiful
hall, and it's next to the Rockand Roll Hall of Fame, which is
beautiful as well.
There's so many great names onthat, so I feel very, very
(26:51):
blessed to have been given thatopportunity to do my book launch
there.
Cheryl Lee (26:55):
It is a beautiful spot.
We went to a dinner there lastmonth, a luncheon there last
month and had a little tour ofthe newly created Hall of Fame.
It's beautiful there.
Buzz Bidstrup (27:06):
Yeah, it is.
When Angels Lane was dedicated.
A few weeks ago I went and hada look at the Hall of Fame and
it is a wonderful exhibition.
And yeah, good on them fordoing that.
You all work too for theSupport Act.
I might say that's really cool.
I was a big friend of Vinnie'sand of Daisy's.
I knew them very, very well.
(27:26):
They used to compare FiestaVilla when I'd play there back
in the 60s.
God damn, 60s and 70s.
They'd be the compares and weused to have so much fun.
John Vincent, he'd pick up hisguitar.
Oh God, did we have some laughs?
Cheryl Lee (27:42):
Daisy's wife, Annette, is still on the
committee with us.
Buzz Bidstrup (27:45):
Do say hello to her for me, please.
Cheryl Lee (27:47):
I will do.
Buzz Bidstrup (27:48):
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (27:48):
We have this fundraising lunch on the third
Thursday of every month, 12 ayear.
So whenever you're in Adelaideanywhere near the third Thursday
, please come along and join thecommittee table as our guest.
We would love to have you.
Buzz Bidstrup (28:01):
I would love to be there.
Cheryl Lee (28:03):
Right, well, put that in your diary.
Buzz Bidstrup (28:05):
Third Thursday.
Cheryl Lee (28:06):
Yeah, every month you have worked with everybody,
or everybody's worked with you,and I'm sure all of this is in
the book.
One that piqued my interest wasDon Walker's the Suave F#cks.
You know who's Suave?
Yeah, what did you do with theSuave F#cks?
Buzz Bidstrup (28:23):
Oh, well, I played on the first Catfish
record and I did the first tourwith Don and Charlie Owen and
Paul Burton and Dave Blightplaying harmonica.
And we did this tour and it wasthe first time that Don had
been on stage without a piano.
He was the singer and he'dstand up the front and this
(28:44):
you've got to remember, this isthe first tour that he'd ever
done where he was standing upthe front and he had this band
behind him.
That was kind of a halfrockabilly and half punk Great
band with Dave on the harmonicaand Charlie Owen's guitar, Paul
with an upright bass.
You know he was in the MilkyBar Kids, another Adelaide boy.
We did this tour and Don wentfrom being a very self-conscious
(29:09):
, shy kind of I don't knowwhether I should be doing this,
I don't know what I'm doing, Idon't know about this to being
very comfortable being the frontman and it was just wonderful
to be part of that.
Then I played on his secondrecord.
I did a couple of tracks onthat and then occasionally with
his band the Suave, every nowand again, hamish Cameron, you
(29:30):
know, can't make it or somethingand Don will ring me up and say
, hey, you want to come and playsome drums, and that's always
fun.
That's always just great to beon stage with him.
Cheryl Lee (29:39):
Except for yourself, of course.
He's my favourite Australiansongwriter he does create so
many pictures with so few words?
Buzz Bidstrup (29:50):
Yeah, yeah.
He's an amazing songwriter.
He's a funny chap.
He's got a really good sense ofhumour.
He's great to be on the roadwith.
Cheryl Lee (29:58):
Yeah, I bet you work with Bowie, the Kinks, Cheap
Trick, everybody, who'severybody in Australian music as
well.
I'm sure everybody needs to getout, get the book and read all
about it.
Buzz Bidstrup (30:10):
Well, I hope so.
You can buy it at Woolies for$24.
I reckon that's a pretty goodprice.
You know this is it everybody?
Oh, well done, Charlie.
Yep, that's it.
No secrets, yeah, and I lovethe cover and I love what you
know.
Harper Collins did a wonderfuljob with the photos.
There's some good photos inthere.
There's me when I was 14playing on In Time with Noel
(30:31):
O'Connor at the Largs Pier Hotel.
There's all sorts of greatphotos in there.
Cheryl Lee (30:36):
Thank you for writing the book.
I just got my copy so I haven'tgot onto it yet, but I'm going
to be on a big, long plane ride.
Buzz Bidstrup (30:45):
That's a good book for that, and people who
have read it say that it's nottoo hard to read.
You know, it's not too onerous,it's quite easy to read.
So it's not too onerous, it'squite easy to read.
So it has to be.
Because I'm a drummer, you knowI have to write it.
You know, left right, left,right, left, right, yeah, but,
um, yeah, I hope you do enjoy it.
People seem to be enjoying it,so that's great.
I really appreciate you doingthe interview with me all the
(31:06):
best with it.
Cheryl Lee (31:07):
I know it's going to be a great success and I look
forward to seeing you down thefront somewhere yeah, maybe at
Avoca Beach.
Buzz Bidstrup (31:14):
And do you go to Newcastle?
Did I read that that you go toNewcastle?
Geelong?
You go to Geelong, do you?
Yeah, oh, okay, yeah, beautiful.
Well, I have got some lovelyfriends in Geelong.
So thank you, Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee (31:25):
All right, you enjoy the rest of your day.
All right, I so appreciate usthis morning.
Buzz Bidstrup (31:31):
Thank you, see you, bye-bye.
You are listening to Still
Cheryl Lee (31:36):
Rockin it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
What else are we going to goout with but the song that
Graham wrote with Doc no Secrets?
And you can find details aboutthe book.
You can get it from HarperCollins.
You can get it from Woolworthsand details about the book you
can get it from Harper Collins,you can get it from Woolworths.
And details about the booklaunches across Australia on the
(31:58):
Graham Bidstrup Treehouse MusicFacebook page.
You're with Cheryl Lee.
That radio chick.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rockin it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
(32:19):
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here.
Welcome to the Still RockinPodcast where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Imagine stepping into a packedAustralian pub in the 70s and
80s the heyday of the pub rockmusic scene where the air was
thick with the unmistakablescent of beer, sweat and pot and
(00:25):
the atmosphere was electrifying.
Doc Neeson, charismatic leaderof the Angels, famously captured
this raw energy when he said Iknow you're out there, I can
smell you.
Drummer for the Angels andfounding member of Ganggaj ang
Graham.
Buzz Bidstrup was there.
His new book No Secrets, is anOz Rock memoir of music and
(00:47):
mayhem.
We spoke to Buzz in the Zoomroom at length.
What a generous and amazinghuman he is.
He's seen a lot.
Let's find out all the goss.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
go to thatradiochick.
com.
au.
Buzz Bidstrup (01:06):
Have you got an Angel shirt on?
Yeah, good on you.
Cheryl Lee (01:10):
Oh yeah, I came dressed for the occasion.
Buzz Bidstrup (01:13):
Damn.
I'm wearing a daggy old, bloodysweat top.
Actually, I'll tell you whatI've got underneath it Bogan
Mania.
Cheryl Lee (01:21):
what is that?
Buzz Bidstrup (01:23):
That was a podcast in Western Australia
about 20 years ago.
Cheryl Lee (01:27):
Oh yeah, 20 years ago.
Buzz Bidstrup (01:30):
It must have been one of the very first it was
like not so much a podcast.
You know, they just did a showfor a radio station.
Cheryl Lee (01:37):
Oh righto, yeah, they were ahead of their time,
were they?
Buzz Bidstrup (01:39):
Ahead of their time, bloody hell.
So how are you getting on?
Yeah, good, thank you, I'm inadelaide.
Cheryl Lee (01:50):
Are you?
How are you?
How nice.
That's my old hometown.
I know, I did not know thatuntil just now.
How could I not know that?
Buzz Bidstrup (01:55):
I don't know.
Are you?
Are you an Adelaide girl?
Yeah oh wow, are you going tocome along to the launch?
Well, I do actually have onecomplaint because it's a night,
you can't make it.
Cheryl Lee (02:05):
You didn't get your people to speak to my people
first.
Guess, when I leave for threeweeks in the States, oh no.
Wednesday, the 10th.
Buzz Bidstrup (02:15):
Oh goodness gracious, what a pity.
Cheryl Lee (02:17):
I was bitterly disappointed and I thought I'll
have to fly somewhere else.
It was all over.
And then your people must havespoke to my people, because
you've chucked one in November,it's at over.
And then your people must havespoke to my people, because
you've chucked one in November,it's at Avoca Beach, so I might
just have to go to Queensland.
Buzz Bidstrup (02:31):
That's the central coast of New South Wales
, just north of Sydney, but it'sa lovely beach.
Cheryl Lee (02:36):
I just have to convince the hubby that.
Buzz Bidstrup (02:38):
You need to do a little R&R in Sydney and while
you're there, just a little bitnorth, go up to Gosford.
Cheryl Lee (02:44):
I'm geographically challenged.
I thought it was in Queensland,but may as well be.
Near enough.
I'll just have to say hubby,you know how we've just spent
three weeks on the Caribbean.
Can we just pop out?
Buzz Bidstrup (02:57):
To the Caribbean of New South Wales.
Cheryl Lee (02:59):
How long have we got Graham?
Do you prefer Graham or Buzz?
Buzz Bidstrup (03:03):
I don't mind, I'll answer to either.
I'm used to people calling meBuzz, because it's just
something that's stuck.
It's stuck.
Yeah, no, I've got until.
I think we're pretty good.
I'll just have a look at whenthe next one is.
It's not until two, I think.
So I've got an hour, I think,yeah, yeah.
Cheryl Lee (03:18):
You know doing my research and I think, oh my God,
Buzz, how are we going to talkabout all of this?
Buzz Bidstrup (03:25):
I know I was just doing one with Paul Cashmere
from the Noise and I think wecovered two bands and that was
it in an hour.
Cheryl Lee (03:34):
Who knew that you have done so much, achieved so
much, been involved in so much?
I don't know where to begin Now.
I know we need to talk aboutthe book, but I don't want to
give any spoilers about the book.
I think we're just going totease people, give them a reason
to go buy it.
Buzz Bidstrup (03:49):
Yeah, absolutely, and you know, if people are
listening in Adelaide they cancome along on the 10th.
I know you can't, but othersmay want to come to the town
hall and hear my very first bandfrom 1967, Fahrenheit 451.
They band from 1967 Fahrenheit451 they're gonna play.
Cheryl Lee (04:09):
Yeah, and so are Pegasus, my band from 1972.
Yeah, it'll be fun.
Get along everybody.
I won't see you down the frontthis time, but if you go to
Evoka Beach I might.
And yeah, of Fahrenheit 451.
Something else that I learnedtoday I'm the fundraising
coordinator for support at southaustralia.
Oh, how cool.
Guess what?
Fahrenheit 451 appeared for ourmonthly fundraising lunches
(04:30):
regularly.
The last one was in April.
Buzz Bidstrup (04:33):
Wow.
Cheryl Lee (04:34):
I know right Adelaide.
Buzz Bidstrup (04:36):
So they're still playing.
Absolutely.
That just blows me out, and Idid quite a lot of work with
Support Act as well over here.
I'm a very big supporter, so Isay good on you for doing what
you do.
Cheryl Lee (04:48):
Great cause, isn't it?
Buzz Bidstrup (04:49):
Yep.
Cheryl Lee (04:50):
Roger was there.
They don't just play for freefor us every now and again to
entertain our members and guests, but they play around town a
bit too.
Buzz Bidstrup (05:01):
They do?
Yeah, quite a bit.
I saw them.
I've still got brothers and asister in Adelaide, so I get
there quite regularly.
I went and saw them play onenight.
I just turned up and stood atthe back and then when they had
a break, I went over and said,hey, roger, how are you doing?
He went what, what are youdoing here?
So yeah, it was pretty funny.
And his lovely wife, jenny.
Do you mind go back a tinylittle bit before we go forward?
Cheryl Lee (05:26):
because where do you want to go, shirley?
That's your thing.
Well, now, I know the adelaideconnection.
I was just wondering are yourparents musical?
Do you come from a musicalfamily?
Is it in your dna?
Buzz Bidstrup (05:35):
it kind of was, you know, because, um, my
parents were a bit older becauseI was born in 1952.
Right, Dad, before he went tothe war he was, he was in the in
the second world war and he wasin to brook and then Kokoda.
So he he was a volunteer likehe actually volunteered for it.
But when he came back he was sotraumatized that, although
(05:56):
before he left he was a stanfordgrade piano player who was told
he went to st peter's collegeand he was told that he could
have been a concert pianist.
He came back from the war andhe never played the piano.
We had a piano at home.
I never saw him play it.
He had reams of music in theshed and old 78s.
He was a classical music freakand what he really was was a
(06:16):
conductor.
So he knew he had all of themusic for the different parts of
the orchestra and in his lateryears he would sit and have a
couple of whiskeys and put onclassical music and he'd be
conducting and he'd be sayinghere come the woodwinds and over
here's the violins, and hewould do that.
He also had perfect pitch.
So when I started listening tomusic in the 60s he couldn't
(06:38):
listen to it because it wouldmake the hairs on the back of
his neck and he would just sortof go oh, oh, I can't listen to
that stuff.
It's all out of tune.
Mum, on the other hand, was a,was a like a church singer.
She would sing with gusto inchurch and and she and her
sisters would sit around thepiano at the farm, because my
mother's side of the family offarming types and they'd sit
(06:58):
around the piano and and singsongs.
Like you know, pack up yourtroubles in your old kit bag and
smile.
You know, do all those sort ofsongs and keep on the sunny side
always.
You know they'd sing all thesesongs, so I'd start singing with
them.
I sang in a couple of choirswhen I was younger, so that sort
of gave me a bit of an idea ofsort of different parts of
(07:19):
singing.
So I did have my brother I sayin the book my brother, who was
eight years older than me, wasinto music in the late 50s.
So Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Cash,Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, you
know all of these seminalartists that sort of people in
(07:39):
England quote as being therecords that they listened to.
So I was listening to the samethings when I was eight years
old.
So I had a beautiful, abeautiful intro into music, into
popular music, and it justcontinued on, you know.
Cheryl Lee (07:53):
If it wasn't already in your DNA, which it sounds
like it was, you also got it byosmosis as well.
Buzz Bidstrup (07:59):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Because you know popular musicwas the currency back then.
You know it was all about whatsong have you heard?
What band do you like?
All of that kind of thing.
Cheryl Lee (08:12):
Stones versus Beatles.
Buzz Bidstrup (08:14):
Absolutely Well.
I was more of a Stones guyuntil I really discovered the
Beatles properly later, you know, yeah, I loved Ringo though.
Cheryl Lee (08:21):
You mentioned one brother, any other siblings, and
did any of them also go intothe business.
Buzz Bidstrup (08:27):
Yeah, yeah, my sister, who's six years older
than me.
She played a bit of violin, notparticularly well, so that
didn't last very long.
But my brother, who's fouryears older than me, turned out
to be quite a good classicalguitar player.
Yeah, he was actually reallygood, and he just didn't
continue on.
He did for a few years but thensort of stopped playing.
I do have a funny story that Italk about in the book, about
(08:50):
because I'm left-handed.
I would pick up their guitarsupside down and I'd play them
left-handed and they'd keepsaying to me no, no, no, that's
a right-handed guitar.
You're going to play it thisway.
You know, left-handed wouldswap the strings around.
The big string would be at thetop.
I could see you've got guitarsin the back.
One day, when he was out, hetook the strings off his
beautiful Spanish guitar and putthem the other way around and,
(09:13):
of course, not knowing how to doit I think I was about 11 or 12
, and tying them up at the end,you know, like really destroying
it.
And he came back to me and hesaid I'll only tell you this
once do that again and I'll killyou.
Don't you touch my guitar.
So I used to just look at themand I go so what, what chord is
that?
And they said that's an e chord, you know.
I said I'd look at it and I'mgoing okay, you got your finger
(09:33):
there and there and there, andthen I started playing piano
when I was about 12.
I took some lessons.
They didn't last very longbecause as soon as I could go I
thought I could play piano.
So that was all I needed toknow.
But I did learn how to picknotes out of a chord on the
piano and then find them on theguitar.
That was the way that I learnedhow to play guitar upside down.
(09:55):
And I still play it upside downReally.
Yeah, one of the records likeSounds of them, the Ganga Jang
song.
There's eight of my guitars onthat and they're all upside down
.
So I hit the top strings firstand I don't really hit the
bottom strings that much becausethey're down the bottom and
they sort of work with my hi-hat.
So the little strings of theguitar go with the hi-hat and
(10:16):
that's what makes that rhythm inSounds of them.
Cheryl Lee (10:19):
And a very distinctive sound.
Buzz Bidstrup (10:21):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Cheryl Lee (10:23):
There you go slightly out of tune.
Sorry for not knowing this.
Do you have any children, andif so, have they followed you
into music?
Buzz Bidstrup (10:30):
Yeah, look, I've got one boy who's 35 now.
He is a producer.
He's very successful.
He's done all sorts of stuff inAmerica.
He lived in America for a while, lived in London for a while,
In fact.
He's going back to Japan inabout two weeks and then he's
going over to London again.
His handle is Maxwell, which isM-X-X-W-L-L, all in capitals.
(10:51):
He is really successful and Ilove watching his progress.
It's beautiful.
Cheryl Lee (10:57):
A chip off the old block.
Buzz Bidstrup (10:58):
A chip off the old block.
Yeah, yeah, and it's greatbecause he does play drums and
he's a really good drummer andhe's a great guitar player, he's
a good bass player, he's a goodkeyboard player, he's like all
round, but he makes electronicmusic, he makes house music.
Oh, wow, yeah, go figure.
Cheryl Lee (11:14):
Each to their own.
Yep, he's amulti-instrumentalist as well as
are you, so you do drums, keysand guitar.
Do you have a favourite?
Buzz Bidstrup (11:22):
Well, I think you know I love playing drums
because that's what I startedplaying, right, so I just love
playing drums.
But, as far as I think, beingout, you know it's very hard to
sit down and just say, hey, havea listen to this song and sit
down at the drums and play.
You know, I needed to be ableto play some guitar and I do
like playing the piano, and Ithink had I been a little bit
(11:44):
more, had a bit more forethoughtwhen I was 12, I would have
actually studied the piano a lotmore, because it took me
another 20 years really to getto the point when I was about 30
, when really said to myself Ineed to know more about music, I
need to know about how it's puttogether.
I need to know because Istarted producing records and
(12:06):
I'd be working with people whowere really good players, right,
I felt like a bit of a goose,you know, because I, you know
what chord is that you'replaying.
You know, have you ever triedplaying a?
You know a g, major seventh,and they go.
We are playing a g.
Oh, really, okay, cool, cool.
So you know I I needed to learnmore about how it was put
together and I did that reallyby osmosis.
(12:28):
I did that by watching otherpeople play asking dumb
questions and just you knowtrial and error.
Cheryl Lee (12:35):
I mean, apart from the obvious musical talent,
you're a multi-instrumentalist,as I mentioned, songwriter,
you've also been a musicproducer, a session player for
everybody.
Who's everybody?
Everybody wants to play withyou, don't they?
Buzz Bidstrup (12:52):
Yeah, I was lucky .
You see, I was around at a timewhen they didn't have drum
machines.
In fact, I bought the first DMXdrum machine in Australia at a
time when they needed drummersand I was just lucky I could
play in time and I could startat one tempo and I'd finish at
the same tempo.
So I got lots of gigs.
Cheryl Lee (13:09):
You've also done film music composing as well,
which I didn't know about, andtalent management.
You're a one-stop shop.
Buzz Bidstrup (13:19):
I've got a big hat rack, yeah lots of hats.
It's a massive hat rack.
Cheryl Lee (13:24):
Apart from being a member founding member in most
cases, of three of the bandsthat absolutely shaped the
soundtrack to our lives here inAustralia the Angels, the Party
Boys and Ganggajang
Buzz Bidstrup (13:45):
A nice little trio, yeah, and very, very
privileged and thankful that Iwas part of all of that.
I wasn't the original drummerof the Angels, as people would
know.
There was a guy called CharlieKing that played on Am I Ever
Gonna See your Face Again.
But I joined the band 12 weeksafter that record came out.
So I think I played on thefirst four albums.
So I think I can definitely saythat I was one of the early
founding members.
Cheryl Lee (14:03):
Yeah, absolutely, but there's so much to talk
about.
You did mechanical engineeringhere at the Uni of Technology in
the 70s, and then you went toEurope.
Buzz Bidstrup (14:14):
Look, I went over there with, I guess, open eyes,
you know, and I just thought,well, I'm just going to see
what's happening over there.
And I had a few friends whowere over there as well.
They'd made the trip.
So I looked around at as manybands as I could see, and I saw
the Sex Pistols play at theMarquee Club, I saw the
(14:34):
Stranglers, I saw Ian Durie'sfirst band, I saw all of these
different bands.
Lana Lovage had a band calledDiversions, so I saw all of
these bands.
And I saw big artists as wellNeil Young and Queen.
And I saw Queen in a 3,000seater, which was pretty wild.
I saw Little Feet and all sortsof bands and I just sort of was
(14:56):
looking around and enjoying.
You know what was going on.
But I didn't really have a lotof money and as it was in those
days, people would say, oh, youcan just get a job, you know.
So I got a job in a beddingwarehouse just near Waterloo and
it meant that I had to go thereevery day, which was a bit of a
drag, because what do you do,you know, go there every day,
come on.
(15:16):
So we, we worked out this.
The boss of the place was hereally liked australians?
For some reason probablybecause we, you know we did the
work right.
We devised a thing betweenthree of us that we would share
that job.
Way back in the 70s we wereahead of your time ahead of our
time, shared position.
So you know, I'd work for a weekand then I'd take a week off,
(15:36):
or somebody else did, and thenanother person would come in.
So we do this rotation kind ofthing.
Just when I was thinking tomyself, well, I've either got to
buy a drum kit, because thefirst thing I bought when I got
to England I bought a guitar, anacoustic guitar, which I still
have, it's right here somewherean acoustic guitar, a four track
tape recorder, four microphones, and that was it.
(15:57):
And I was thinking to myselfnow, if I want to be a drummer,
damn, I'm going to have to buy adrum kit, but then I'm going to
have to have a car to move itaround in.
So I was trying to work outwhat am I going to do?
And this band turned up inLondon called ACDC.
I'd known Bon from Adelaide.
He lived in Adelaide for awhile and I knew him Not that
(16:18):
well, but well enough that atthe end of the show at the Red
Cow, their first gig in London,I was able to walk up to him and
, much to the surprise of thepeople that were there with me,
I just said, hey, bonn, how youdoing man?
He said, hey, yeah, good, good,good, what are?
Went back to our place and, youknow, smoked a bit of pot and
(16:38):
drank a bit of whiskey, had afew laughs.
He said so what are you doing?
What are you doing?
I said I don't know.
You know I'm out of money.
I'm working at a beddingwarehouse.
He said what you're not playing?
I said no, I, you know, I don'tknow what to do.
And he said because there'sgigs everywhere, we're playing
five nights a week over there.
(16:59):
And he said that's what we haveto do.
ACDC will have to leave London,go back to Australia, do a tour
, make some money and come backagain.
So I thought, well, I was beingaway for a while and I thought,
look, I'll just go back home andsay hello to everyone.
I knew how to make a bit ofmoney quickly, which was my
uncle had a lawn mowing businessthat he was always happy to get
(17:20):
me to go and it was good.
It was cash money, right, Iwent home and I started doing
that and after I'd been homeabout I don't know three months,
I suppose Robbie Robertson, whonow runs the Theverton Town
Hall, he was my agent like wayback, you know, in the bands I
was in and he rang me up and hesaid there's this band from
Sydney, signed to Alberts, beingproduced by Vander and Young,
(17:40):
and they're looking for adrummer.
And I went wow, you know that'scool.
I said who are they?
He said, well, just come in,come in, I'll introduce you.
And I went oh really Okay.
And I walked into his office andthere was John and Rick and who
I knew as the Keystone Angels,who used to be the Moonshine Jug
and String Band.
I don't know if you rememberthis, but you're probably not
(18:02):
old enough, but the MoonshineJug and String Band were really
good, like they were a greatband, and I used to go and see
them, as many people did.
Then they decided they wantedto be a rock band, so they
became the Keystone Angels andI've got to say they weren't
very good.
I don't know if anyone saw them, but they weren't very good
because they were a jug bandplaying like 1930s jug music and
(18:25):
all of a sudden they wereplaying 50s rock and roll which
revolved around groove.
It was all about drums, bass,like it had to have groove.
No offence to Charlie King,lovely, lovely man, but he
didn't have that groove hewasn't groovy he wasn't groovy,
Doc loved him to death was not abass player, right.
(18:46):
so they didn't have a rhythmsection that worked.
So they were a bit of a joke,you know, to be honest.
So anyway, I walk into theoffice and I go oh, you guys,
you know, you know what are youdoing here?
Oh yeah, we're the band lookingfor a drummer and my, my friend
, robbie, said well, you shouldjust go and have a jam with them
.
Just go and have a jam.
You know what's it going to.
You know, just go and have ajam with them.
So I go and have a jam withthem and they're really nice.
(19:22):
I got on with them really well,you know's fine, we won't, we
won't hold you to it.
So I thought, okay, I'll go tosydney and if I don't like it, I
can either join another band orI can go back.
I had enough money saved up, Icould go back to england or I
could go to new york, because Idesperately wanted to go to
cbgb's, I desperately wanted togo and see punk bands and you
know, people like Talking Headsand all that stuff.
Right Before we left Adelaideto drive to Melbourne, to Sydney
, we had a little meeting.
(19:42):
They used to like the John Paul, george and Ringo thing which
was John, rick, doc and Charlie,and it sounded kind of cool.
But when they said Doc, rick,john and Graham, graham, graham,
you know, graham.
And I said, you know, likeGraham Nash or Graham Goldman,
you know, there's been somefamous Grahams around, you know?
I said, but what about JohnRick, dock and Buzz?
(20:03):
And they went who the hell isBuzz?
I said Buzz Throckman, that'swho I am.
You can call me Buzz Throckmanand you can say that Buzz
Throckman has joined the Angels.
I had to explain to them thatBuzz Throckman was a mythical
character that was created in astone rave in Copenhagen in 1976
.
Actually, 1975.
Buzz Throckman was thismythical character who was
(20:26):
actually a Caterpillar tractordriver with the cat hat and
stuff.
When I told them that they said, oh, that's really funny,
that's cool, that's really cool.
But what they didn't know isthat I'd gone around to Chris
Bailey's place because ChrisBailey, bass player, was my
friend before I left to go andhe said to me you won't last a
moment in that band.
(20:47):
And he said if you come back toAdelaide after leaving that
band, people will think you're aband hopper.
They'll think that you don'tcommit, you know.
You said your name will be mud.
I said, well, my name, you knowI haven't got a name anyways,
that doesn't matter, who gives ashit, you know, it doesn't
matter.
I joined the band.
Buzz Throckman joined the bandAfter we recorded the first lot
of demos, with Doc playing bassand me playing drums.
(21:09):
I had a heart to heart with Doc.
I was living at his house and Isaid, mate, I've got to tell
you, you know the bass playingthe drumming it's not working,
you know.
I said you studied drama.
You know you're an actor.
Have you ever thought aboutbeing out the front?
He said, but who'd play thebass?
I said I know who I can get toplay the bass Chris Bailey,
(21:29):
because I'd already spoken tohim about it.
So then we had a meeting withJohn and Rick and Doc and the
four of us are sitting therelooking at each other and John
says, well, if we're going toget a bass player, I should be
the lead singer because I've gota better voice.
And I said, yeah, and Johnadmits to this, you might have a
better technical voice.
But I said you don't look likethat guy.
(21:50):
This guy's six foot four.
He's handsome as hell.
He's got a beautiful voice.
Cheryl Lee (21:55):
And stage presence.
Buzz Bidstrup (21:57):
And stage presence.
So for front men?
And he said so who would we getfor bass?
And I said Chris Bailey saidChris Bailey's never going to
leave Adelaide to join us.
And I said I think he will,because I've already spoken to
him about it.
So you know, I got Chris intothe band and I must say it was
probably the best decision theyever made to do that, to put Doc
(22:18):
out the front and to get a bassplayer, because not only did we
have an amazing rhythm section,then we had a guy out the front
that was second to noneabsolutely.
Cheryl Lee (22:24):
I think you said that he is the best frontman
you've ever worked with, I think.
Buzz Bidstrup (22:30):
So.
You know because because ofwhat he bought, and the second
best was, I think, was ShirleyStrawn, who I loved.
And you know because of what hebought, and the second best, I
think, was Shirley Strachan, whoI loved, and Jimmy Barnes is a
great front man that I've workedwith.
But yeah, Doc, just had thisspecial thing.
Cheryl Lee (22:43):
The X Factor.
Buzz Bidstrup (22:44):
An X Factor.
Cheryl Lee (22:45):
Yeah, that charisma.
You just couldn't take youreyes off him on the stage.
Buzz Bidstrup (22:50):
That's it.
Yeah, and that's what you wantin a front man.
Cheryl Lee (22:53):
Exactly.
I will top and tail this with alot of this information that I
have about your history,probably getting close to using
up my time limit.
Was there anything inparticular out of all my pages
that you would like to touch onduring our interview?
Buzz yeah.
Buzz Bidstrup (23:13):
Look, I guess one of the things that I point out
in the book is that I'm so proudof all of the music work I've
done.
I mean, I'm very proud of it.
But the thing that I'm mostproud about is the work I've
done with the Jimmy LittleFoundation and Uncle Jimmy
Thumbs Up, because it'ssomething that came out of left
field for me.
I never would have thought thatI would end up doing that work
(23:35):
and it's been 25 years I've beeninvolved in that and I think
that the work that I've donethere with others to promote
healthy eating with indigenouskids in remote communities is
probably, I mean, as I tellpeople, that's what you know,
that's what I get up in themorning for, you know, I get up
in the morning, I go okay, whatcan I do now for thumbs up?
The music stuff is great.
I love making music.
(23:56):
I still make music, but what Ido for that is heart stuff,
that's yeah.
Cheryl Lee (24:02):
So important.
I take my hat off to youbecause it's easy just to sit
back on your laurels on afabulous career behind you, but
to be giving something back soimportant is yeah, yeah.
Buzz Bidstrup (24:14):
And the other thing is yeah, crediting, yeah,
and you know.
The other thing is that I usemusic to engage kids, so I'm
writing songs all the time.
Like every time I'm out in thecommunity I'm writing songs and
I love it Recording songs.
I've just been up in Uluru.
I've been recording the localMutajulu band.
I recorded 15 songs with themand I work with the school kids
(24:37):
there, the kids in the college.
We're working on the 40thhandback of Uluru, so there's a
big thing in October for that.
I'm always making music, whichis in my DNA, and sometimes I
use it to promote healthy eatingand sometimes I use it to
promote bands.
You know who knows?
Cheryl Lee (24:52):
Keep you off the streets.
Buzz Bidstrup (24:54):
Oh, it does, Cheryl Lee, but he keeps me off
the streets for sure.
Cheryl Lee (24:57):
And something else I guess you're really proud of is
you're mentoring the youngemerging artists as an APRA
ambassador.
Buzz Bidstrup (25:05):
Yeah, look, I've been doing that for many, many
years and I was also the vicechair of the Association of
Artist Managers for a long time,you know for 10 years or so.
That was another kind of waythat I get to engage with
younger musicians all the time.
I think that's something youknow.
I'm 73 now, so it's really cooljust to be working with younger
musicians and just sort of getan opportunity to pass on some
(25:30):
information, and that's both inthe APRA stuff and the
Association of Artist Managers,and now I assess grants for
touring, grants for Music NSW.
So it's like I'm constantlylistening to new music and I'm
constantly engaging with youngmusicians, which keeps me young.
Cheryl Lee (25:47):
Well, I have this theory, Buzz, that rock and roll
is the fountain of youth.
Buzz Bidstrup (25:51):
I think so, I think so it absolutely keeps you
young.
Yeah, it does.
And that's the other greatthing about music.
Hey, you know and I find alsowith my work in communities you
know it's intergenerational andit's intergender.
So you can have bands made upof old people, young people,
boys, girls, it doesn't matter.
And that's the beauty of music,it's this overall engagement of
(26:13):
different people and differentgenders.
Cheryl Lee (26:15):
Absolutely.
This book is an absolute.
Must you co-wrote the song thatis the title of the book?
Yes, No Secrets with Doc.
Buzz Bidstrup (26:25):
Yes.
Cheryl Lee (26:26):
Get onto the Google to track your copy down.
Buzz Bidstrup (26:29):
If you can get along to the book launch and say
g'day 10th of September at 6pmat the Adelaide Town Hall, and
I'm really stoked that theAdelaide Town Hall came on board
and offered me the banquet hallthere, which is a beautiful
hall, and it's next to the Rockand Roll Hall of Fame, which is
beautiful as well.
There's so many great names onthat, so I feel very, very
(26:51):
blessed to have been given thatopportunity to do my book launch
there.
Cheryl Lee (26:55):
It is a beautiful spot.
We went to a dinner there lastmonth, a luncheon there last
month and had a little tour ofthe newly created Hall of Fame.
It's beautiful there.
Buzz Bidstrup (27:06):
Yeah, it is.
When Angels Lane was dedicated.
A few weeks ago I went and hada look at the Hall of Fame and
it is a wonderful exhibition.
And yeah, good on them fordoing that.
You all work too for theSupport Act.
I might say that's really cool.
I was a big friend of Vinnie'sand of Daisy's.
I knew them very, very well.
(27:26):
They used to compare FiestaVilla when I'd play there back
in the 60s.
God damn, 60s and 70s.
They'd be the compares and weused to have so much fun.
John Vincent, he'd pick up hisguitar.
Oh God, did we have some laughs?
Cheryl Lee (27:42):
Daisy's wife, Annette, is still on the
committee with us.
Buzz Bidstrup (27:45):
Do say hello to her for me, please.
Cheryl Lee (27:47):
I will do.
Buzz Bidstrup (27:48):
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (27:48):
We have this fundraising lunch on the third
Thursday of every month, 12 ayear.
So whenever you're in Adelaideanywhere near the third Thursday
, please come along and join thecommittee table as our guest.
We would love to have you.
Buzz Bidstrup (28:01):
I would love to be there.
Cheryl Lee (28:03):
Right, well, put that in your diary.
Buzz Bidstrup (28:05):
Third Thursday.
Cheryl Lee (28:06):
Yeah, every month you have worked with everybody,
or everybody's worked with you,and I'm sure all of this is in
the book.
One that piqued my interest wasDon Walker's the Suave F#cks.
You know who's Suave?
Yeah, what did you do with theSuave F#cks?
Buzz Bidstrup (28:23):
Oh, well, I played on the first Catfish
record and I did the first tourwith Don and Charlie Owen and
Paul Burton and Dave Blightplaying harmonica.
And we did this tour and it wasthe first time that Don had
been on stage without a piano.
He was the singer and he'dstand up the front and this
(28:44):
you've got to remember, this isthe first tour that he'd ever
done where he was standing upthe front and he had this band
behind him.
That was kind of a halfrockabilly and half punk Great
band with Dave on the harmonicaand Charlie Owen's guitar, Paul
with an upright bass.
You know he was in the MilkyBar Kids, another Adelaide boy.
We did this tour and Don wentfrom being a very self-conscious
(29:09):
, shy kind of I don't knowwhether I should be doing this,
I don't know what I'm doing, Idon't know about this to being
very comfortable being the frontman and it was just wonderful
to be part of that.
Then I played on his secondrecord.
I did a couple of tracks onthat and then occasionally with
his band the Suave, every nowand again, hamish Cameron, you
(29:30):
know, can't make it or somethingand Don will ring me up and say
, hey, you want to come and playsome drums, and that's always
fun.
That's always just great to beon stage with him.
Cheryl Lee (29:39):
Except for yourself, of course.
He's my favourite Australiansongwriter he does create so
many pictures with so few words?
Buzz Bidstrup (29:50):
Yeah, yeah.
He's an amazing songwriter.
He's a funny chap.
He's got a really good sense ofhumour.
He's great to be on the roadwith.
Cheryl Lee (29:58):
Yeah, I bet you work with Bowie, the Kinks, Cheap
Trick, everybody, who'severybody in Australian music as
well.
I'm sure everybody needs to getout, get the book and read all
about it.
Buzz Bidstrup (30:10):
Well, I hope so.
You can buy it at Woolies for$24.
I reckon that's a pretty goodprice.
You know this is it everybody?
Oh, well done, Charlie.
Yep, that's it.
No secrets, yeah, and I lovethe cover and I love what you
know.
Harper Collins did a wonderfuljob with the photos.
There's some good photos inthere.
There's me when I was 14playing on In Time with Noel
(30:31):
O'Connor at the Largs Pier Hotel.
There's all sorts of greatphotos in there.
Cheryl Lee (30:36):
Thank you for writing the book.
I just got my copy so I haven'tgot onto it yet, but I'm going
to be on a big, long plane ride.
Buzz Bidstrup (30:45):
That's a good book for that, and people who
have read it say that it's nottoo hard to read.
You know, it's not too onerous,it's quite easy to read.
So it's not too onerous, it'squite easy to read.
So it has to be.
Because I'm a drummer, you knowI have to write it.
You know, left right, left,right, left, right, yeah, but,
um, yeah, I hope you do enjoy it.
People seem to be enjoying it,so that's great.
I really appreciate you doingthe interview with me all the
(31:06):
best with it.
Cheryl Lee (31:07):
I know it's going to be a great success and I look
forward to seeing you down thefront somewhere yeah, maybe at
Avoca Beach.
Buzz Bidstrup (31:14):
And do you go to Newcastle?
Did I read that that you go toNewcastle?
Geelong?
You go to Geelong, do you?
Yeah, oh, okay, yeah, beautiful.
Well, I have got some lovelyfriends in Geelong.
So thank you, Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee (31:25):
All right, you enjoy the rest of your day.
All right, I so appreciate usthis morning.
Buzz Bidstrup (31:31):
Thank you, see you, bye-bye.
You are listening to Still
Cheryl Lee (31:36):
Rockin it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
What else are we going to goout with but the song that
Graham wrote with Doc no Secrets?
And you can find details aboutthe book.
You can get it from HarperCollins.
You can get it from Woolworthsand details about the book you
can get it from Harper Collins,you can get it from Woolworths.
And details about the booklaunches across Australia on the
(31:58):
Graham Bidstrup Treehouse MusicFacebook page.
You're with Cheryl Lee.
That radio chick.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rockin it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
(32:19):
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
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