Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musician
What happens when the final siren sounds and the spotlight shifts from the football field to the concert stage? Former AFL champion Richard Champion reveals his remarkable transformation from Brisbane Lions stalwart to Jimmy Barnes tribute vocalist in this captivating conversation.
Born in rural South Australia and drafted to Brisbane in 1988, Richard's journey through professional football was marked by loyalty during the club's darkest years. But beneath the tough exterior of the number one guernsey-wearing defender lay an unexpected talent that would blossom in his post-football life. He shares how team footy trips became his first stage, with teammates pushing him to perform after a few beers, unknowingly laying the groundwork for his musical future.
The conversation weaves through his rich tapestry of experiences – from winning $30,000 for his football club with a Jimmy Barnes impersonation to his daughters' initial embarrassment ("How cringe!") when he joined his first band just three years ago. Now performing with "Flame Trees Barnes Forever" alongside the Australian INXS Tribute Show, he brings Cold Chisel classics to audiences across the country, including a recent performance at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
What sets Richard Champion apart from the stereotypical rock star is his professional approach to performance. While his bandmates might request specific alcoholic beverages backstage, his non-negotiable is coconut water – "I am a cheap buy," he jokes, explaining how alcohol affects his vocal performance. This blend of entertainment professionalism, sporting discipline, and genuine passion for music paints the portrait of a man who's found a fulfilling second act after the applause of the football crowd faded.
Whether you're a sports fan, music lover, or simply appreciate stories of reinvention, Champion's journey from footy boots to microphone stands as testament to embracing new passions at any stage of life. Tune in to hear how this AFL legend is still rocking it in ways he never imagined.
What has Richard Champion been up to lately? Let's find out!!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
That Radio Cheek, cheryl Lee here.
Welcome to the Still Rocking itpodcast where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Today we catch up with57-year-old AFL champion Richard
Champion from Kadena on theYork Peninsula.
He was a solidly built andtough back man and he wore
(00:24):
number one guernsey for Brisbaneand was a Bears stalwart
through some of the club'sdarkest years, a poster player
in an era when the club had sofew.
When the club moved to the GoldCoast, growing their fan base,
champion became a cult figure,endeared by Bears fans, was best
clubman several times andbecame a local celebrity with
(00:46):
his jimmy barnes impressions.
When it became apparent thatthe bears would make the finals
for the first time in 1995,richard wept openly a sign of
his endurance as a playerthrough tough times.
He's got lots of feathers inhis cap.
I hope you enjoy our chat withRichard Champion.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
(01:09):
go to thatradiochickcomau.
You're with Cheryl Lee, thatRadio Chick, and I'd like to
welcome into the Zoom room today, fresh back from Vietnam,
richard Champion.
Thanks for coming, richard.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Hello Cheryl Lee, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, well, thank you you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm good.
I'm rested from Vietnam,although I wasn't so rested a
couple of days ago because Iflew overnight and got zero
sleep on the plane on the wayhome.
But I'm back to normal now.
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, that's good, because I'm still totally jet
lagged from getting back from LAthe other day.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, well, you had a little longer than me in the
plane, but regardless, it's niceto go away, isn't it?
But it's always nice to return.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yes, was that a paying gig for you or did you
just go to play golf?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I did have a hit of golf, but I do a lot of hosting
and do a lot of emceeing, sothat was my role over in Vietnam
with the surfacing company, Ithink.
The last three years we've beento Hawaii, philippines and
Vietnam, which have been nice,and apparently I've got a job
for life, so I'm looking forwardto seeing where the next one is
.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Lucky duck.
Richard, you've got so muchhistory I don't know where to
begin.
We've only got half an hour.
Let's start at the beginning.
Shall we Born in Kadena?
I did not know that.
Born in South Australia.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Some children have to decide between sport and music.
Was that the case for you, ordid you find music later?
How did you come to be asporting hero and a musician?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
oh, wow.
Well, the musician thing comereally late and I'm talking
about three years ago, but I'vealways loved it.
So sport sport was always firstplayed.
Sport as a kid playedeverything.
So I was a pretty goodbasketballer and baseball player
actually.
So I could have potentiallysort of chosen a couple of
sports.
But footy was my first love.
So footy was always thepriority and got the opportunity
(03:00):
to play in the AFL during thatwhen I was younger.
And then I've always lovedfooty.
But where the music thing comefrom was actually on footy trips
.
Now you may or may not haveheard that some boys go pretty
wild on footy trips, but my wildwas have a few beers and then
get pushed up on stage by myteammates and forced to sing a
song with the current bandthat's up there on stage.
(03:22):
So I said, okay, I can do that,and everyone's got a go-to
right, Everyone's got a go-tosong that they know they can
pull off and know that theywould enjoy performing it, and
Cold Chisel was it for me.
So I'd get up there and sing asong.
And everyone loves music.
We're singing in the car, we'resinging in the shower.
Anything that's popular is whatI love.
So my love of music has alwaysbeen there, big Michael Jackson
(03:46):
fan back in the day.
And then it was only like threeyears ago where our current
manager, sharon, used to liveacross the road and then she got
in touch and said hey, duringCOVID we want to get some stuff
happening here in Queensland andsome guys that I'm currently
working with, a lot of theirband members, are stuck in
lockdown in Melbourne and Sydney.
So let's form a band band whichwas the Filthy Animals, and
that was about three years ago.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Let's go back to the beginning.
You certainly could have been abasketballer because you
definitely have the height forit.
You grew up in country SouthAustralia and then ended up
coming down and playing forWoodville here.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, no, I was so country boy, so it was a big
move to move to Adelaideinitially.
I know it was only an hour anda half down the road, but that
was a big move to move away fromhome and live with a couple of
teammates and had a couple ofgreat years at Woodville.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
How old were you when you came to town?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
16 initially.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, that's young.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So, yeah, it is young .
When you think about it nowI've got two daughters of my own
and to think that they wouldmove out of home at 16, you
think, gee, that's a big call.
I didn't think anything of it.
Actually, it makes you grow uppretty quick, it makes you be
independent very quick.
So I didn't mind that and youknow what.
You're only an hour and a halfdown the road.
Essentially, you can alwayssort of go back.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I did sort of after 40 seasons, like you're washing
home to mum.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, exactly which is the best right Washing and
ironing.
I hate those things.
Yeah, that's how that kickedoff.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
How did you go from Woodville here in South
Australia to the big boys, thebig league in Brisbane?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Well, I was drafted in 1988.
You know, when you're draftedin AFL, you've got no choice but
to go to that team that you'redrafted to right.
You've got, no, no choice butto go to that team that you're
drafted to right.
So I was happy.
I thought, oh, brisbane seems anice place, and and back in
those days in in the early 90s,they're actually located on the
Gold Coast.
So I thought, oh, that soundsgood, that sounds nice, I like
that.
So for the first couple ofyears I actually didn't go.
(05:38):
The club was privately owned atthat stage and it looked like
that, um, that the club may foldany minute yeah because the
private ownership was owned byChristopher Scase at the time
and he just moved to Spain andhe was in trouble financially
and I thought oh my god issuesyes, what am I getting myself in
in for here?
So I actually postponed mydeparture for two years, and
(06:01):
then the third year I ended upgoing and and that was the year
that the Crows come into play inAdelaide I sort of chose to
stay with Brisbane, so went upthere and started my career
there.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Time for a song.
I reckon Richard said he was abig, big fan of Michael Jackson.
I'm a big, big fan of MichaelJackson.
I'm a big, big fan of Eddie VanHalen.
Let's play, beat it MichaelJackson featuring Eddie Van
Halen.
Then we're back to speak somemore to the AFL music legend
(06:37):
that is Richard Champion.
All these years later you'restill there, so I guess that's
home for you now.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
No thoughts of returning back to little old sa
well, I always had in mycontract for the first, for
eight out of the first 10 yearsit was always written in my
contract that the club was topay my airfares and transport of
the cars relocation back hometo Adelaide.
It was always in there until thelast two years and I thought
(07:13):
you know what?
This isn't a bad place up here,after all.
It's beautiful weather, it'sgot a great climate, my kids are
here.
Now I've got work here and Ithought no, actually I'm
probably going to stay now, butright up until that stage it was
always I was always going to goback home.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So the girls are true Queenslanders.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I think so.
I mean, all of our family areback in SA still, so all of
their cousins, all of theiraunties and uncles are all back
there.
So they've actually missedgrowing up with their cousins
and they're pretty close,considering that they're a
couple of thousand miles away.
Yeah, I think they're prettyentrenched here, and I think we
are now too.
You're banana benders now.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
How old are the girls ?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
They're 27 and 24.
They're both teachers.
The youngest just qualifiedthis year, so she's out in the
big world earning her own money,which is great.
That saves mum and dad's bank.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, did either of them follow into the family
business of playing footy,because I've got a couple of
nieces who play footy up inQueensland, or are they
interested in?
Oh, that's Barnsley asking meto do backing vocals.
Sorry about that.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Of course it is.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Let me turn that off Did they call you into music.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, no, they love their music, but they do love
their sport.
So they love netball andbasketball.
Now, the younger one inparticular she was a very good
basketballer in fact still is.
So she went to the States on ascholarship for basketball, but
that was during COVID.
So unfortunately she had a fouryear contract which only lasted
a year because COVID sort ofshut down the program over there
(08:49):
.
She was based in California, soshe come back.
Then she waited 12 months.
Then she decided well, I've gotto start my career here again.
So she started her degree inteaching, she started playing
basketball here and then shesaid oh, you know what, I
wouldn't mind a break.
So she played two years of AFLfooty here, yeah, and now she's
(09:09):
gone back to basketball again.
So she's playing NBL one here,which is a pretty high
competition.
So she's playing basketball.
The oldest one's playingnetball with two teams, and they
love their sport.
They love their music, but onlysocially, yeah.
But funny story about myyoungest they were embarrassed
when dad come home and saidguess what?
kids.
I'm joining a band.
They said, oh my god, dad, howcringe, how embarrassing, how
(09:30):
embarrassment.
All my friends will see you, mygod, what anyway?
It wasn't to the third gig,come around.
It was just locally down at um,at a couple of suburbs, away at
a pub, and we've done the firstset and I've come back down off
stage and the youngest one goes.
That was less shit than Ithought it would be that's a
bonus right, that is a massivewin coming from your kids, right
?
so that was their introductionto uh, to me joining the band
(09:53):
well, they're obviously bothtall, like you they are.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
They're both around six foot, yeah for those that
don't know before we sort ofmove on to the main reason that
we're here you were the numberone Guernsey for Brisbane,
congratulations, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
The fans loved you and I think they loved you on
the field and off because, likeyou said, you were just ready to
get up and give it a go, andgrab the mic and sing a song and
entertain them with your JimmyBarnes impressions.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, well, that was again.
That was something that wassort of naturally derived from
footy trips and doing that sortof thing.
So when Channel 7 had thecompetition on one of their
footy shows for every team toenter someone or a few of their
players into a talentcompetition, I joined up and
ended up winning $30,000 for afooty trip by doing a Barnsey
(10:44):
impersonation, and it sort ofgrew from there that I could
hold a note, essentially, andthat's where this whole thing
grew from, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
You've got a lot of feathers in your cap
professional speaker, master ofceremonies, tv presenter, radio
AFL, all all of that.
But the most important thing isthat you now sing for a band
called it's called flame treesbarns forever.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
obviously that's the new sort of tribute show that
I've joined, but uh yeah, thefilthy animals was the first
band that that I was asked tojoin, so that's still along.
That's a bit of a rotationalsort of scenario there, it's a
bit like the Party Boys, isn'tit?
Yes, yeah, that was the idea ofit, so I was the original lead
(11:33):
singer there and then it's sortof grown into this monster
that's just sort of continuingto pepper around and there's a
lot of people sort of joined init now, which means I probably
get less gigs than I would like.
I just enjoy performing, so themore I could get involved in
that the better.
So hence this other opportunityto come up with the Cold Chisel
Tribute Show, and I joined that.
(11:53):
Now this is with the guys fromthey're called the Australian In
Excess Tribute Show.
So amazing musos, veryprofessional.
They've got a great show oftheir own and this is an
addition to when they needanother option in their theater
shows that they do that.
I do the the cold chisel showthat is how I saw you, so yeah,
still rocking that podcast withthat radio chick, cheryl lee.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Well, I think it's time for an in excess song, and
I've chosen never tear us apartbecause of its footy connection.
Even though it's Port Adelaidehere in South Australia, they've
adopted that as theirunofficial song, and then we're
back to hear all about Richardand Della Comer.
This is Andrew Farris andyou're with that radio chick,
carol Lee, don't ask me what youknow is true, don't have to
(12:43):
tell you.
I just noticed that the filthyanimals are coming to our town
on the 3rd of August, but you'renot joining them that time.
We'll have to wait another time, will we?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I know, I know.
I was a bit disappointed withthat.
I would have loved to have cometo Adelaide, come to my
hometown.
But yeah.
So it's just a bit random howit works out who gets a gig at
the time and who's available too, because you know, most of the
musos sort of play for otherbands as well.
So it depends on who'savailable at the time, who's
done some gigs before and sortof sharing it around.
So it's a bit of luck of thedraw.
(13:15):
Yeah, I hope it goes well downthere.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Well, we'll hope we'll see you next time they
come to our town.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That would be great.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I'll put in my order.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Please do.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I actually interviewed Del during the play
for the telly and then raced outto the Bridgeway.
Are you familiar with theBridgeway?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yes, yes, the filthy.
Oh yeah, did the filthies playthere?
I think we did.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I probably did yeah play there.
I think we did.
I probably did yeah, it soundslike a filthy venue.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
So I raced out there and interviewed Ross Wilson for
the telly and then was racingback to the entertainment centre
to see Del being, an Adelaidegirl, of my vintage Cold Chisel
and Jimmy Barnes.
You know I'm like oh, damn it.
I'm going to miss this tributeband probably the first half.
Oh well, it might be a goodthing, because you know you
don't muck around with.
Jimmy or Chisel right.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
You probably didn't notice, but halfway through a
cassette, hubby and I raced inand sat down in the front row
and then I'm like, oh mygoodness, they're not as shit as
I thought.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, you just never know what you're going to get.
But yeah, hopefully you enjoyedit.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh, I absolutely enjoyed it.
I was the one dancing.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I didn't realise, but so you followed Delacombe's In
Excess show as the support notjust for us in Adelaide but all
over.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
So it started off.
We did a Filthy Animals gig inCaloundra on the Sunshine Coast
up here in Queensland, which iswhere Del lives.
So Del come to our show.
I think he might've played justa couple of numbers there and
he saw me perform a couple ofchisel songs and he's gone.
Oh my God, this is exactly whatwe've been looking for as an
addition to our show that we do.
(15:00):
So he came and chatted to mestraight away.
It took about six or eightmonths to sort of work into it
and then have an opportunitywhere we could sort of put it
into a couple of shows.
And we did that and it's stillrelatively new actually.
Yeah, we've got another I thinkthree, another three gigs
booked in by the end of the yearup in sort of northern
Queensland, sunshine Coast Bundyand Rocky.
So we're doing a few shows upthere before the end of the year
(15:23):
and we got some actual footagefrom the Adelaide Entertainment
Show.
So now we can start promoting alittle more and hopefully we
can do some more work.
But I enjoy working with theguys.
Del's a great performer,they're terrific guys to work
with, great musos and hopefullywe can do some more around the
place.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It was so good.
You do a great when you comeback on the stage with Del at
the end and do Good Times.
It's like being at theAustralian Made Tour all those
years ago.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, it's just a good suit, isn't it?
Like they were the two originalartists who sang that, yeah,
and it just makes sense to dothat.
So I think the way that weallocate our show out in regards
to the songs and the sets thatwe do, it works well.
So we do that and then the guyscan do their encore.
So, yeah, I enjoy it.
(16:17):
I reckon we can really sort ofgrow it from where it sort of
just started.
That was our first sort ofserious show in doing that, so
we're all a little bit nervousbecause we all hadn't done it in
a theatre before, we'd onlysort of done it at a pub.
So to incorporate the wholetheatre experience, that was our
first time and the guys hadn'tplayed the songs for about 12
months and we didn't have timeto rehearse.
(16:38):
So for it to go as well as itdid, we were very happy.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
It was all right on the night.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Let's have that song now.
Good times.
This is Jimmy Barnes andMichael Hutchence from In Excess
, and then we're back to chatsome more to Brisbane Lion Life.
Member for his 10 years ofloyal service to the club.
Afl champion Richard Champion,club afl champion richard
(17:18):
champion, I think de la coma areheading off overseas after
these gigs, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
yeah, I think he's got an american tour happening
yeah he has.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
So have you got any plans to perhaps just take your
show out and about?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Well, I mean I think obviously it's the Chisel one's
more so Australian.
The InXS one is moreinternational, so I think
there's more scope from aninternational perspective to do
that.
The Chisel one is moreAustralian orientated so I feel
that it is better suited here.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Oh, absolutely.
But have you got plans whilethey're away to do a little like
pub tour gig or something tokeep?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Oh, I don't.
I mean, I'm sort of leaving itup to them.
I'm just saying hey, yep, ifthey reach out and say are you
available for this date, andI'll go yep, I'm in, I'm in, I'm
in, I'm in.
So I'm not pushing it myself.
You know I have to work aroundtheir schedule more so.
Plus, I've got all those otherthings you mentioned going on.
So I'm commentating the footyon the weekends for Triple M,
I've got another little TV showcoming up later in the year.
(18:20):
I'm doing a lot of emceeinggigs.
I've just got back from Vietnam.
As we coast later in the yearI'm interstate doing things.
so everyone's busy yeah, sowe've just got to try to fit
these in where we can, andaustralia is pretty small, so
you don't want to sort of doubleand triple up on things too
much.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So it's um you don't want to get overexposed exactly
yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
You want to just yeah .
That's exactly right, so it'sum.
You have to manage these thingsas you go talking about tv.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
You competed in the channel seven's program.
It takes two and mentored bythe wonderful wendy matthews.
How was that?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
yeah, it was a great experience.
It had been done overseas, itwas the first time it was done
in australia and I was contactedby channel seven and said um oh
, you're a ex-footballer, canyou sing?
And I said well, you know,that's up for you to decide.
I can come down and audition ifyou like.
So we did and they said yep,we'd love to have you on board,
which was great, but you know,just meeting and working with
(19:19):
those other artists GuySebastian was involved in that,
in that first series as well.
So we've we've become friendsboth born in South Australia.
Wendy Matthews was a greatmentor for me.
Wendy.
Wendy sort of kept to herself alittle more.
You know she's still out theredoing her thing as well.
Oh God, we've met David Hobson,obviously the opera singer.
He loves his footy, so we goton famously.
(19:40):
We've made some lifelongfriends actually through that
show.
I think it was 13 episodes andit was filmed down in Melbourne.
So we travelled a lot.
It was a big commitment but itwas lots of fun that filmed down
in Melbourne.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
so we travelled a lot .
It was a big commitment but itwas lots of fun.
That holds very fond memories.
Well, we've got Wendy Matthewscoming here soonish with the
fabulous Caprettos.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Oh, okay, I haven't seen the guys before.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
They're a super group , A bit like the Filthy Animals.
They've got Dave Gleason.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Oh yes.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, speaking of which, gleon was in this show as
well.
So Gleeson and myself werebasically the the social
managers of that tv show, so wewere out having a good time
after every episode.
So yes, so Gleeson and myselfwere pretty much running the
social activities oh, I'msurprised you survived.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
I know me too and you keep up with him I didn't I
didn't try.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
He lives in adelaide now yes, yep, I think he's in
the adelaide hills way, isn't it?
Yes?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
so it's got him and ray thistleweight from thirsty
market russell yes morris justretired from it and, okay, daryl
braithwaite was in the originallineup, but he's retired as
well, and joe camilleri has justjoined them.
Jack jones from southern sunshas been in the lineup from the
start and wendy's coming alongwith them.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
So that'll be.
Oh brilliant, geez, there'ssome talent there exactly, I
called it dave's boy band I loveit still rocking the podcast
with that radio chick cheryl.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Apart from the quintessential Jimmy Barnes song
, Australia's true nationalanthem, which we'll play at the
end, I know that this next song,Ride the Night Away, is one of
Richard's favourites to sing andwe'll be back to speak to the
Brisbane Bears slash BrisbaneLions heroes straight after this
(21:29):
.
It's.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Jimmy Barnes.
Here You're listening to CherylLee.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
I got something baby on my mind.
It's tearing me up inside.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
What else does Richard Campion like to do in
his very, very limited by thesounds of it spare time?
Hobbies.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
You may have noticed that I've got my little golf
marker here on my cap anddressed in a light blue shirt,
which I don't normally wear.
So I am currently in my golfattire, which I've just come
back and had a hit of golf today.
So Wednesdays is golf day.
I'll play on Saturday as well.
So I'm a member out atBrookwater, which is a nice sort
of Greg Norman design coursenot far from home here in
(22:09):
Brisbane.
So I love my golf.
Probably addicted is the bestway to describe it, but I'm
starting to want to travel alittle bit more now.
Obviously, work's busy, butevery day, every week's
different with what I do forwork.
So I'm enjoying the variety ofstuff that I do in life at the
moment and just trying to liveevery day, have fun, and music's
part of that.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
That's what they say, isn't it?
Enjoy what you do, and youdon't work a day in your life
100%, so that sounds like whatyou're doing.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Totally agree.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
I'll ask you one more quick question then I think I
must let you go, because you'rethis big rock star, right?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
What is your non-negotiable in the green room
that you've got to have oryou're?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
not okay.
So this, this isn't going tosound very, very rock and roll
at all.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Shirley coconut water oh, that is not rock and roll
it's so not rock and roll.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And you know the reason why because everyone's
got oh, I need, I need gin, um,I need um.
Well, yeah, yeah, cc.
And dry is um brett, williamWilliams from the Choir Boys,
that's his go-to.
Our keyboard player is Rosé.
Beers is another one, a certaintype of beer.
So everyone's got their littlevice.
(23:21):
But if I drink alcohol before Igo on, it really messes with my
voice, so I have to give myselfevery opportunity to be able to
sing as best I can.
So I don't normally drinkalcohol before I go up and
perform.
So it's just, I'll have somecoconut water, please.
I am a cheap, I am a cheap buy.
So um once we finish, no notdrinking vodka no, he tends to
(23:45):
that and I don't know whether hestill does that.
But um no, I.
I watch him him pretty closelynow and he's also got three
backup female singers to hitthose high notes for him but, I
haven't, unfortunately.
I'm pretty much on my own, soI've got to try to get there by
myself, and alcohol doesn'tallow me to do that.
So mind you, I'll make up forit after the gig, but before the
(24:06):
gig it's pretty much a noalcohol zone for me.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
That's fair enough, and you know I asked dell the
same question yeah his answer'seven less rock and roll than
yours oh, what's, what's dell'sa schemer oh, there you go.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
See see, we're just professionals.
Now, shirley, that's how we'reup, that, that's how the new age
, new age rock stars.
I see see, mick Jagger's justgot engaged to a 37-year-old
girl, right, so there's hope forus all still.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Good on you.
I'm so glad that you'reenjoying all your activities,
and it's a yes from me.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Excellent Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
You can go on the other way.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Yes, your chair has turned and I'm happy with that,
thank you.
No, look, I really appreciateand I know you sent me some
video afterwards.
It was, as I said, it was ourfirst theater gig, so we're only
going to get better, um andimprove from here on in.
So I'm really proud and honoredand happy to be involved with
these guys and uh, and branchingout and doing a couple of
little different things, becauseI do love my music and I'm glad
(25:08):
you had a good time and thankyou for jumping on board and
having me on board with thepodcast here as well.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Thank you for coming and having a chat and being so
generous with your time.
I look forward to either seeingyou with Barn's Chisel, Flame
Trees or Filthy Animals orsomething here in Adelaide and
I'll be down the front.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Good girl, I appreciate it.
Thanks very much, cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Thank you, enjoy Adelaide and I'll be down the
front.
Good girl, I appreciate it.
Thanks very much, cheryl Lee.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Thank, you enjoy the rest of your day.
See you guys.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
We're going to go out with what should be Australia's
national anthem.
Working Class man from theWorking Class man album by Jimmy
Barnes, Richard Champion's alltimetime favourite song to sing
Working hard to make a living,bringing shelter from the rain.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatradio chick.
(26:02):
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rocking it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
That Radio Cheek, cheryl Lee here.
Welcome to the Still Rocking itpodcast where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Today we catch up with57-year-old AFL champion Richard
Champion from Kadena on theYork Peninsula.
He was a solidly built andtough back man and he wore
(00:24):
number one guernsey for Brisbaneand was a Bears stalwart
through some of the club'sdarkest years, a poster player
in an era when the club had sofew.
When the club moved to the GoldCoast, growing their fan base,
champion became a cult figure,endeared by Bears fans, was best
clubman several times andbecame a local celebrity with
(00:46):
his jimmy barnes impressions.
When it became apparent thatthe bears would make the finals
for the first time in 1995,richard wept openly a sign of
his endurance as a playerthrough tough times.
He's got lots of feathers inhis cap.
I hope you enjoy our chat withRichard Champion.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
(01:09):
go to thatradiochickcomau.
You're with Cheryl Lee, thatRadio Chick, and I'd like to
welcome into the Zoom room today, fresh back from Vietnam,
richard Champion.
Thanks for coming, richard.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Hello Cheryl Lee, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, well, thank you you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm good.
I'm rested from Vietnam,although I wasn't so rested a
couple of days ago because Iflew overnight and got zero
sleep on the plane on the wayhome.
But I'm back to normal now.
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, that's good, because I'm still totally jet
lagged from getting back from LAthe other day.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, well, you had a little longer than me in the
plane, but regardless, it's niceto go away, isn't it?
But it's always nice to return.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yes, was that a paying gig for you or did you
just go to play golf?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I did have a hit of golf, but I do a lot of hosting
and do a lot of emceeing, sothat was my role over in Vietnam
with the surfacing company, Ithink.
The last three years we've beento Hawaii, philippines and
Vietnam, which have been nice,and apparently I've got a job
for life, so I'm looking forwardto seeing where the next one is
.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Lucky duck.
Richard, you've got so muchhistory I don't know where to
begin.
We've only got half an hour.
Let's start at the beginning.
Shall we Born in Kadena?
I did not know that.
Born in South Australia.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Some children have to decide between sport and music.
Was that the case for you, ordid you find music later?
How did you come to be asporting hero and a musician?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
oh, wow.
Well, the musician thing comereally late and I'm talking
about three years ago, but I'vealways loved it.
So sport sport was always firstplayed.
Sport as a kid playedeverything.
So I was a pretty goodbasketballer and baseball player
actually.
So I could have potentiallysort of chosen a couple of
sports.
But footy was my first love.
So footy was always thepriority and got the opportunity
(03:00):
to play in the AFL during thatwhen I was younger.
And then I've always lovedfooty.
But where the music thing comefrom was actually on footy trips
.
Now you may or may not haveheard that some boys go pretty
wild on footy trips, but my wildwas have a few beers and then
get pushed up on stage by myteammates and forced to sing a
song with the current bandthat's up there on stage.
(03:22):
So I said, okay, I can do that,and everyone's got a go-to
right, Everyone's got a go-tosong that they know they can
pull off and know that theywould enjoy performing it, and
Cold Chisel was it for me.
So I'd get up there and sing asong.
And everyone loves music.
We're singing in the car, we'resinging in the shower.
Anything that's popular is whatI love.
So my love of music has alwaysbeen there, big Michael Jackson
(03:46):
fan back in the day.
And then it was only like threeyears ago where our current
manager, sharon, used to liveacross the road and then she got
in touch and said hey, duringCOVID we want to get some stuff
happening here in Queensland andsome guys that I'm currently
working with, a lot of theirband members, are stuck in
lockdown in Melbourne and Sydney.
So let's form a band band whichwas the Filthy Animals, and
that was about three years ago.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Let's go back to the beginning.
You certainly could have been abasketballer because you
definitely have the height forit.
You grew up in country SouthAustralia and then ended up
coming down and playing forWoodville here.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, no, I was so country boy, so it was a big
move to move to Adelaideinitially.
I know it was only an hour anda half down the road, but that
was a big move to move away fromhome and live with a couple of
teammates and had a couple ofgreat years at Woodville.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
How old were you when you came to town?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
16 initially.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, that's young.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So, yeah, it is young .
When you think about it nowI've got two daughters of my own
and to think that they wouldmove out of home at 16, you
think, gee, that's a big call.
I didn't think anything of it.
Actually, it makes you grow uppretty quick, it makes you be
independent very quick.
So I didn't mind that and youknow what.
You're only an hour and a halfdown the road.
Essentially, you can alwayssort of go back.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I did sort of after 40 seasons, like you're washing
home to mum.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, exactly which is the best right Washing and
ironing.
I hate those things.
Yeah, that's how that kickedoff.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
How did you go from Woodville here in South
Australia to the big boys, thebig league in Brisbane?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Well, I was drafted in 1988.
You know, when you're draftedin AFL, you've got no choice but
to go to that team that you'redrafted to right.
You've got, no, no choice butto go to that team that you're
drafted to right.
So I was happy.
I thought, oh, brisbane seems anice place, and and back in
those days in in the early 90s,they're actually located on the
Gold Coast.
So I thought, oh, that soundsgood, that sounds nice, I like
that.
So for the first couple ofyears I actually didn't go.
(05:38):
The club was privately owned atthat stage and it looked like
that, um, that the club may foldany minute yeah because the
private ownership was owned byChristopher Scase at the time
and he just moved to Spain andhe was in trouble financially
and I thought oh my god issuesyes, what am I getting myself in
in for here?
So I actually postponed mydeparture for two years, and
(06:01):
then the third year I ended upgoing and and that was the year
that the Crows come into play inAdelaide I sort of chose to
stay with Brisbane, so went upthere and started my career
there.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Time for a song.
I reckon Richard said he was abig, big fan of Michael Jackson.
I'm a big, big fan of MichaelJackson.
I'm a big, big fan of Eddie VanHalen.
Let's play, beat it MichaelJackson featuring Eddie Van
Halen.
Then we're back to speak somemore to the AFL music legend
(06:37):
that is Richard Champion.
All these years later you'restill there, so I guess that's
home for you now.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
No thoughts of returning back to little old sa
well, I always had in mycontract for the first, for
eight out of the first 10 yearsit was always written in my
contract that the club was topay my airfares and transport of
the cars relocation back hometo Adelaide.
It was always in there until thelast two years and I thought
(07:13):
you know what?
This isn't a bad place up here,after all.
It's beautiful weather, it'sgot a great climate, my kids are
here.
Now I've got work here and Ithought no, actually I'm
probably going to stay now, butright up until that stage it was
always I was always going to goback home.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So the girls are true Queenslanders.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I think so.
I mean, all of our family areback in SA still, so all of
their cousins, all of theiraunties and uncles are all back
there.
So they've actually missedgrowing up with their cousins
and they're pretty close,considering that they're a
couple of thousand miles away.
Yeah, I think they're prettyentrenched here, and I think we
are now too.
You're banana benders now.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
How old are the girls ?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
They're 27 and 24.
They're both teachers.
The youngest just qualifiedthis year, so she's out in the
big world earning her own money,which is great.
That saves mum and dad's bank.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, did either of them follow into the family
business of playing footy,because I've got a couple of
nieces who play footy up inQueensland, or are they
interested in?
Oh, that's Barnsley asking meto do backing vocals.
Sorry about that.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Of course it is.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Let me turn that off Did they call you into music.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, no, they love their music, but they do love
their sport.
So they love netball andbasketball.
Now, the younger one inparticular she was a very good
basketballer in fact still is.
So she went to the States on ascholarship for basketball, but
that was during COVID.
So unfortunately she had a fouryear contract which only lasted
a year because COVID sort ofshut down the program over there
(08:49):
.
She was based in California, soshe come back.
Then she waited 12 months.
Then she decided well, I've gotto start my career here again.
So she started her degree inteaching, she started playing
basketball here and then shesaid oh, you know what, I
wouldn't mind a break.
So she played two years of AFLfooty here, yeah, and now she's
(09:09):
gone back to basketball again.
So she's playing NBL one here,which is a pretty high
competition.
So she's playing basketball.
The oldest one's playingnetball with two teams, and they
love their sport.
They love their music, but onlysocially, yeah.
But funny story about myyoungest they were embarrassed
when dad come home and saidguess what?
kids.
I'm joining a band.
They said, oh my god, dad, howcringe, how embarrassing, how
(09:30):
embarrassment.
All my friends will see you, mygod, what anyway?
It wasn't to the third gig,come around.
It was just locally down at um,at a couple of suburbs, away at
a pub, and we've done the firstset and I've come back down off
stage and the youngest one goes.
That was less shit than Ithought it would be that's a
bonus right, that is a massivewin coming from your kids, right
?
so that was their introductionto uh, to me joining the band
(09:53):
well, they're obviously bothtall, like you they are.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
They're both around six foot, yeah for those that
don't know before we sort ofmove on to the main reason that
we're here you were the numberone Guernsey for Brisbane,
congratulations, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
The fans loved you and I think they loved you on
the field and off because, likeyou said, you were just ready to
get up and give it a go, andgrab the mic and sing a song and
entertain them with your JimmyBarnes impressions.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, well, that was again.
That was something that wassort of naturally derived from
footy trips and doing that sortof thing.
So when Channel 7 had thecompetition on one of their
footy shows for every team toenter someone or a few of their
players into a talentcompetition, I joined up and
ended up winning $30,000 for afooty trip by doing a Barnsey
(10:44):
impersonation, and it sort ofgrew from there that I could
hold a note, essentially, andthat's where this whole thing
grew from, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
You've got a lot of feathers in your cap
professional speaker, master ofceremonies, tv presenter, radio
AFL, all all of that.
But the most important thing isthat you now sing for a band
called it's called flame treesbarns forever.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
obviously that's the new sort of tribute show that
I've joined, but uh yeah, thefilthy animals was the first
band that that I was asked tojoin, so that's still along.
That's a bit of a rotationalsort of scenario there, it's a
bit like the Party Boys, isn'tit?
Yes, yeah, that was the idea ofit, so I was the original lead
(11:33):
singer there and then it's sortof grown into this monster
that's just sort of continuingto pepper around and there's a
lot of people sort of joined init now, which means I probably
get less gigs than I would like.
I just enjoy performing, so themore I could get involved in
that the better.
So hence this other opportunityto come up with the Cold Chisel
Tribute Show, and I joined that.
(11:53):
Now this is with the guys fromthey're called the Australian In
Excess Tribute Show.
So amazing musos, veryprofessional.
They've got a great show oftheir own and this is an
addition to when they needanother option in their theater
shows that they do that.
I do the the cold chisel showthat is how I saw you, so yeah,
still rocking that podcast withthat radio chick, cheryl lee.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Well, I think it's time for an in excess song, and
I've chosen never tear us apartbecause of its footy connection.
Even though it's Port Adelaidehere in South Australia, they've
adopted that as theirunofficial song, and then we're
back to hear all about Richardand Della Comer.
This is Andrew Farris andyou're with that radio chick,
carol Lee, don't ask me what youknow is true, don't have to
(12:43):
tell you.
I just noticed that the filthyanimals are coming to our town
on the 3rd of August, but you'renot joining them that time.
We'll have to wait another time, will we?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I know, I know.
I was a bit disappointed withthat.
I would have loved to have cometo Adelaide, come to my
hometown.
But yeah.
So it's just a bit random howit works out who gets a gig at
the time and who's available too, because you know, most of the
musos sort of play for otherbands as well.
So it depends on who'savailable at the time, who's
done some gigs before and sortof sharing it around.
So it's a bit of luck of thedraw.
(13:15):
Yeah, I hope it goes well downthere.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Well, we'll hope we'll see you next time they
come to our town.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That would be great.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I'll put in my order.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Please do.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I actually interviewed Del during the play
for the telly and then raced outto the Bridgeway.
Are you familiar with theBridgeway?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yes, yes, the filthy.
Oh yeah, did the filthies playthere?
I think we did.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I probably did yeah play there.
I think we did.
I probably did yeah, it soundslike a filthy venue.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
So I raced out there and interviewed Ross Wilson for
the telly and then was racingback to the entertainment centre
to see Del being, an Adelaidegirl, of my vintage Cold Chisel
and Jimmy Barnes.
You know I'm like oh, damn it.
I'm going to miss this tributeband probably the first half.
Oh well, it might be a goodthing, because you know you
don't muck around with.
Jimmy or Chisel right.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
You probably didn't notice, but halfway through a
cassette, hubby and I raced inand sat down in the front row
and then I'm like, oh mygoodness, they're not as shit as
I thought.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, you just never know what you're going to get.
But yeah, hopefully you enjoyedit.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Oh, I absolutely enjoyed it.
I was the one dancing.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I didn't realise, but so you followed Delacombe's In
Excess show as the support notjust for us in Adelaide but all
over.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
So it started off.
We did a Filthy Animals gig inCaloundra on the Sunshine Coast
up here in Queensland, which iswhere Del lives.
So Del come to our show.
I think he might've played justa couple of numbers there and
he saw me perform a couple ofchisel songs and he's gone.
Oh my God, this is exactly whatwe've been looking for as an
addition to our show that we do.
(15:00):
So he came and chatted to mestraight away.
It took about six or eightmonths to sort of work into it
and then have an opportunitywhere we could sort of put it
into a couple of shows.
And we did that and it's stillrelatively new actually.
Yeah, we've got another I thinkthree, another three gigs
booked in by the end of the yearup in sort of northern
Queensland, sunshine Coast Bundyand Rocky.
So we're doing a few shows upthere before the end of the year
(15:23):
and we got some actual footagefrom the Adelaide Entertainment
Show.
So now we can start promoting alittle more and hopefully we
can do some more work.
But I enjoy working with theguys.
Del's a great performer,they're terrific guys to work
with, great musos and hopefullywe can do some more around the
place.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It was so good.
You do a great when you comeback on the stage with Del at
the end and do Good Times.
It's like being at theAustralian Made Tour all those
years ago.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, it's just a good suit, isn't it?
Like they were the two originalartists who sang that, yeah,
and it just makes sense to dothat.
So I think the way that weallocate our show out in regards
to the songs and the sets thatwe do, it works well.
So we do that and then the guyscan do their encore.
So, yeah, I enjoy it.
(16:17):
I reckon we can really sort ofgrow it from where it sort of
just started.
That was our first sort ofserious show in doing that, so
we're all a little bit nervousbecause we all hadn't done it in
a theatre before, we'd onlysort of done it at a pub.
So to incorporate the wholetheatre experience, that was our
first time and the guys hadn'tplayed the songs for about 12
months and we didn't have timeto rehearse.
(16:38):
So for it to go as well as itdid, we were very happy.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
It was all right on the night.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Let's have that song now.
Good times.
This is Jimmy Barnes andMichael Hutchence from In Excess
, and then we're back to chatsome more to Brisbane Lion Life.
Member for his 10 years ofloyal service to the club.
Afl champion Richard Champion,club afl champion richard
(17:18):
champion, I think de la coma areheading off overseas after
these gigs, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
yeah, I think he's got an american tour happening
yeah he has.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
So have you got any plans to perhaps just take your
show out and about?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Well, I mean I think obviously it's the Chisel one's
more so Australian.
The InXS one is moreinternational, so I think
there's more scope from aninternational perspective to do
that.
The Chisel one is moreAustralian orientated so I feel
that it is better suited here.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Oh, absolutely.
But have you got plans whilethey're away to do a little like
pub tour gig or something tokeep?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Oh, I don't.
I mean, I'm sort of leaving itup to them.
I'm just saying hey, yep, ifthey reach out and say are you
available for this date, andI'll go yep, I'm in, I'm in, I'm
in, I'm in.
So I'm not pushing it myself.
You know I have to work aroundtheir schedule more so.
Plus, I've got all those otherthings you mentioned going on.
So I'm commentating the footyon the weekends for Triple M,
I've got another little TV showcoming up later in the year.
(18:20):
I'm doing a lot of emceeinggigs.
I've just got back from Vietnam.
As we coast later in the yearI'm interstate doing things.
so everyone's busy yeah, sowe've just got to try to fit
these in where we can, andaustralia is pretty small, so
you don't want to sort of doubleand triple up on things too
much.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
So it's um you don't want to get overexposed exactly
yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
You want to just yeah .
That's exactly right, so it'sum.
You have to manage these thingsas you go talking about tv.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
You competed in the channel seven's program.
It takes two and mentored bythe wonderful wendy matthews.
How was that?
Speaker 2 (18:59):
yeah, it was a great experience.
It had been done overseas, itwas the first time it was done
in australia and I was contactedby channel seven and said um oh
, you're a ex-footballer, canyou sing?
And I said well, you know,that's up for you to decide.
I can come down and audition ifyou like.
So we did and they said yep,we'd love to have you on board,
which was great, but you know,just meeting and working with
(19:19):
those other artists GuySebastian was involved in that,
in that first series as well.
So we've we've become friendsboth born in South Australia.
Wendy Matthews was a greatmentor for me.
Wendy.
Wendy sort of kept to herself alittle more.
You know she's still out theredoing her thing as well.
Oh God, we've met David Hobson,obviously the opera singer.
He loves his footy, so we goton famously.
(19:40):
We've made some lifelongfriends actually through that
show.
I think it was 13 episodes andit was filmed down in Melbourne.
So we travelled a lot.
It was a big commitment but itwas lots of fun that filmed down
in Melbourne.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
so we travelled a lot .
It was a big commitment but itwas lots of fun.
That holds very fond memories.
Well, we've got Wendy Matthewscoming here soonish with the
fabulous Caprettos.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Oh, okay, I haven't seen the guys before.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
They're a super group , A bit like the Filthy Animals.
They've got Dave Gleason.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Oh yes.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, speaking of which, gleon was in this show as
well.
So Gleeson and myself werebasically the the social
managers of that tv show, so wewere out having a good time
after every episode.
So yes, so Gleeson and myselfwere pretty much running the
social activities oh, I'msurprised you survived.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
I know me too and you keep up with him I didn't I
didn't try.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
He lives in adelaide now yes, yep, I think he's in
the adelaide hills way, isn't it?
Yes?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
so it's got him and ray thistleweight from thirsty
market russell yes morris justretired from it and, okay, daryl
braithwaite was in the originallineup, but he's retired as
well, and joe camilleri has justjoined them.
Jack jones from southern sunshas been in the lineup from the
start and wendy's coming alongwith them.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
So that'll be.
Oh brilliant, geez, there'ssome talent there exactly, I
called it dave's boy band I loveit still rocking the podcast
with that radio chick cheryl.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Apart from the quintessential Jimmy Barnes song
, Australia's true nationalanthem, which we'll play at the
end, I know that this next song,Ride the Night Away, is one of
Richard's favourites to sing andwe'll be back to speak to the
Brisbane Bears slash BrisbaneLions heroes straight after this
(21:29):
.
It's.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Jimmy Barnes.
Here You're listening to CherylLee.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
I got something baby on my mind.
It's tearing me up inside.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
What else does Richard Campion like to do in
his very, very limited by thesounds of it spare time?
Hobbies.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
You may have noticed that I've got my little golf
marker here on my cap anddressed in a light blue shirt,
which I don't normally wear.
So I am currently in my golfattire, which I've just come
back and had a hit of golf today.
So Wednesdays is golf day.
I'll play on Saturday as well.
So I'm a member out atBrookwater, which is a nice sort
of Greg Norman design coursenot far from home here in
(22:09):
Brisbane.
So I love my golf.
Probably addicted is the bestway to describe it, but I'm
starting to want to travel alittle bit more now.
Obviously, work's busy, butevery day, every week's
different with what I do forwork.
So I'm enjoying the variety ofstuff that I do in life at the
moment and just trying to liveevery day, have fun, and music's
part of that.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
That's what they say, isn't it?
Enjoy what you do, and youdon't work a day in your life
100%, so that sounds like whatyou're doing.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Totally agree.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
I'll ask you one more quick question then I think I
must let you go, because you'rethis big rock star, right?
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
What is your non-negotiable in the green room
that you've got to have oryou're?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
not okay.
So this, this isn't going tosound very, very rock and roll
at all.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Shirley coconut water oh, that is not rock and roll
it's so not rock and roll.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And you know the reason why because everyone's
got oh, I need, I need gin, um,I need um.
Well, yeah, yeah, cc.
And dry is um brett, williamWilliams from the Choir Boys,
that's his go-to.
Our keyboard player is Rosé.
Beers is another one, a certaintype of beer.
So everyone's got their littlevice.
(23:21):
But if I drink alcohol before Igo on, it really messes with my
voice, so I have to give myselfevery opportunity to be able to
sing as best I can.
So I don't normally drinkalcohol before I go up and
perform.
So it's just, I'll have somecoconut water, please.
I am a cheap, I am a cheap buy.
So um once we finish, no notdrinking vodka no, he tends to
(23:45):
that and I don't know whether hestill does that.
But um no, I.
I watch him him pretty closelynow and he's also got three
backup female singers to hitthose high notes for him but, I
haven't, unfortunately.
I'm pretty much on my own, soI've got to try to get there by
myself, and alcohol doesn'tallow me to do that.
So mind you, I'll make up forit after the gig, but before the
(24:06):
gig it's pretty much a noalcohol zone for me.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
That's fair enough, and you know I asked dell the
same question yeah his answer'seven less rock and roll than
yours oh, what's, what's dell'sa schemer oh, there you go.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
See see, we're just professionals.
Now, shirley, that's how we'reup, that, that's how the new age
, new age rock stars.
I see see, mick Jagger's justgot engaged to a 37-year-old
girl, right, so there's hope forus all still.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Good on you.
I'm so glad that you'reenjoying all your activities,
and it's a yes from me.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Excellent Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
You can go on the other way.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Yes, your chair has turned and I'm happy with that,
thank you.
No, look, I really appreciateand I know you sent me some
video afterwards.
It was, as I said, it was ourfirst theater gig, so we're only
going to get better, um andimprove from here on in.
So I'm really proud and honoredand happy to be involved with
these guys and uh, and branchingout and doing a couple of
little different things, becauseI do love my music and I'm glad
(25:08):
you had a good time and thankyou for jumping on board and
having me on board with thepodcast here as well.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Thank you for coming and having a chat and being so
generous with your time.
I look forward to either seeingyou with Barn's Chisel, Flame
Trees or Filthy Animals orsomething here in Adelaide and
I'll be down the front.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Good girl, I appreciate it.
Thanks very much, cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Thank you, enjoy Adelaide and I'll be down the
front.
Good girl, I appreciate it.
Thanks very much, cheryl Lee.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Thank, you enjoy the rest of your day.
See you guys.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
We're going to go out with what should be Australia's
national anthem.
Working Class man from theWorking Class man album by Jimmy
Barnes, Richard Champion's alltimetime favourite song to sing
Working hard to make a living,bringing shelter from the rain.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatradio chick.
(26:02):
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rocking it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
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