NEWS/UPDATES

December 2008

Merry Christmas to all Wendy Saddington fans, and thank you everyone who has helped out with this site in some way in 2008 (in particular Peter Maloney, Barry McKay, Des McKenna) - your help was much appreciated, thank you! UPDATE: Here's Wendy singing a live cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" for ABC-TV's 1975 program, Radio With Pictures. Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA   UPDATE: Here is a photo I received from Wendy fan Peter Maloney who shot the pic at East Sydney's The Blue Cockatoo theatre restaurant in the late 80s - Wendy had been playing a gigs there with pianist Peter Head.

October 3rd, 2008

Here are the updates for October 3rd, 2008: 1) Added a 1975 article from the Melbourne's The Sun newspaper featuring Wendy, titled: "Back Again - First Lady of The Blues". Thank you to Mark Hohmuth for kindly sending me this article - much appreciated! 2) Added another two memories/stories about Wendy from back in the day courtesy of a then freelance photographer (Rik) for the January 1970 Ourimbah Festival. To read this piece, please visit the "Stories/Memories" page - my apologies for the delay, Irene and Rik. 3) Added four photos of Wendy courtesy of Australian photographer Harley Parker. The following four photos have now been added to the "Photo Gallery" page/section: I) Wendy at Lobby Lloyds Benefit concert, 2006. II) Wendy at Festival Hall, circa mid-70s. III) Wendy at Festival Hall, circa mid-70s. IV) Wendy at the Thumpin' Tum, 1971. Many thanks Harley, much appreciated! 4) Added a sample MP3 of Loka Nunda's 2008 "Soul Lover Wendy Saddington", featuring Wendy on guest vocals. This is now available to listen to on the "Discography" page - I hope you're of with this, Loka! :) 5) Added a new page regarding a musician Wendy once worked with back inthe early 70s named Jeff Crozier (aka Geoff Crozier, Jeff Krozier, The Mad Magician, High Priest of Magik). New page: "Jeff Crozier". 6) Added the following live dates to the "Live History" page (courtesy of Paul McHenry’s "Australian Made: Wendy Saddington" article for ‘it - The Australian Record Collectors Magazine’ magazine of 1997 (issue 20): - 1996, Melbourne - Wendy supports the Finn brothers (Neil and Tim) in a couple of concerts in Melbourne. - 22/2/96, Espy Hotel, St. Kilda backed by Aniseed. 60s/70s covers (inc. Jimi Hendrix's "Fire"). - Late 80s/early 90s, Sydney - Radio Triple J gig with Leo de Castro and Jeff St. John. - 1993, Sydney - Wendy with her band and guitarist Harvey James of Sherbet. - 27/3/85, Melbourne Ormond Hall - "Electric Ballroom" with the Dingoes, Jo Jo Zeps Falcons and Dutch Tilders. - 1973, Sydney's Whiskey Au Go Go. - 27/5/73, Manly Silver Screen - with Doug Parkinson's Life Organisation group (who played 1940s big band jazz). - 1973, Sydney - Wendy performed with guitarist Mick Liber as a duo in Sydney in 1973. - 1972, December, Sydney - Bungool Festival with Spectrum and La De Das. - August 1972, Melbourne Town Hall supporting The Band of Talabene. - September 1972, Sydney Town Hall supporting Matt Taylor and The Band of Talabene - Support on UK group Manfred Mann's Earth Band Oz Tour. Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne (Aztecs and La De Das). - April 1971, Melbourne Palais Theatre with various Chain members. 7) Some thoughts regarding Wendy's cover of Sixto Rodriguez' "I Think of You" as featured in the feature film Home Song Stories: danielandhisorchestra - www.verygoodplus.co.uk/ - July 27th, 2008: "I was sat watching the Home Sung Stories (sic) the other night when the beauty of the music became more captivating than the beauty of the film. A Wendy Saddington track "I think of you" played over a montage and hit the spot... Really recommend the film, by the way - an Aussie production, rightly won a few awards, don't know how much exposure it got abroad." 8) Here is a interesting (though sadly negative) piece of old history involving Wendy, taken from infamous Australian punk band, The Thoughts Criminals, official website at: www.thethoughtcriminals.com.au/: "A memorable show featuring the band dismembering an effigy of Wendy Saddington, filled with raw meat which was then thrown at the audience, earned the band a certain notoriety, not least because the show was a benefit for Wendy, an old hippie, who had fallen on self inflicted hard times. Ironically Wendy's mum used to feed the band at her legendary late night spot, Oddys, but our heroes always knew how to bite the band that fed them - and finished up the proceedings with a friend dressed as Australian actor Leonard Teale reading the immortal Australian poem "Wendy of the Overdose" to the tune (sic) of "Clancy of the Overflow"." The Thoughts Criminals consisted of (between 1977 - 1981): Roger Grierson, Rocking Rique Lee Kendall (aka Matt Black), Bruce Warner (aka Kit Identity), Stephen Philip (aka Vivi Sector), Roger Grierson, John Hoey, Bruce Warner, Ken Doyle (aka Derik Wapillspoon) and breifly, Mark Kingsmill (aka Jim Boots)). The Thoughts Criminals Discography: "Hilton Bomber" (EP), "Food for Thoughtcrimes" (EP), "Speed Madness and Flying Saucers" (LP), "Edge of Time / Equidistance" (7" Single).

July 19th, 2008

Here are the updates for July 19th, 2008:   Added the following Go-Set Magazine article scans to the following various pages:   1) "Go-Set Says Goodbye To Wendy" article (May 1970) to page: "Article – 1970" 2) "Wendy and Wazzie Caught In The Act" article (April 1971) to page: "Article – 1971" 3) "That Tool Shed" article (July 1972) to page: "Article – 1972"   Also added to the "Photo Gallery" page:   1) A front cover scan featuring Wendy from a February 1970 issue of Australian music magazine, "Magazine - The Picture Paper" - Volume 1. No.1. 2) A radio 3XY ad for the 1971 Melbourne, Australia production of the musical HAIR. Wendy's image (verified) was used in this promo ad. 3) A magazine scan of Wendy and Morris Spinetti (Teardrop).   My thanks to Peter M. for kindly sending me these excellent scans. Much appreciated!

July 14th, 2008

Here are the updates for July 14th, 2008: 1) On June 23rd 2008, Wendy Saddington Band MK. II drummer Des McKenna kindly sent me the following further memories of his time working with Wendy - my apologies to Des for not adding this sooner: "Interesting rock yarns, the first time this Wendy Saddington Enrec band started was in Feb 1986, Mick Liber and Angelica was friends with Wilbur Wilde and I and I used to hang out at Wilbur's house after Hey Hey Its Payday. They asked me if I wanted to join a new band and -------------I said no ---------sorry thanx, but I was too busy. Then they told me it was to be a reggae band cos they new I loved reggae music. I said --'no again sorry' I was already happily in 3 other reggae bands. Then they told me they were working with Wendy Saddington and I said, we'll see you tomorrow at my house at 1pm. I set up my drums in the lounge room, Mik and Angelika set up 1 small amplifier each, Wendy plugged in a $30 microphone and started wailing and I got a shrill in my spine, pins and needles!!! The band locked in ON FIRE!! We gigged that weekend; thirty old rock fans came out of the walls the see and hear the mighty Witch of Pitch." 2) Added a brief bit about Wendy by noted Australian musician Rose Bygrave to the "Stores/Memories" page. Thanks Rose, and my apologies (again) for not adding this sooner. 3) Added another Go-Set Magazine Wendy article scan to "Go-Set Gallery" page.  4) Added another gig date Wendy played with the group Aniseed, circa 1996 at the Esplanade (aka The Espy) Hotel in St. Kilda, Melbourne.

June 30th, 2008

It's been awhile, but here are a couple updates: Firstly, if anyone wishes to subscribe to this fan site to receive update notifications, please visit the newly added "Subscribe" page. When there is an update on WENDY SADDINGTON - LIFE IS A LONG SONG I will send you an e-mail notification. This way you never miss an update. 1) Added a youtube.com-hosted video of Carrol Jerrems 1978 short film "Hanging About", which features an unknown Wendy Saddington song, to the "Filmography" and "Video" pages. I don't know whether this tune Wendy sings is a cover or an original; so if anyone has any idea, please let me know, thanks. 2) Added a live recording of Wendy singing a cover of Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's classic, "Stand By Me" with Peter Head live at the Civic Hotel, Sydney in 1990. 3) Added a review of Wendy's unreleased 1986 ENREC Studio recordings by famous Australian author and The Melbourne Times AFL columnist Colin Talbot (aka Traven Colins) to the "W.S. Band" page. Thank you to Des McKenna for kindly passing on this review. 4) Added to the "Live History" page a scan of a street poster for a gig from the early 70s Wendy played with Blackfeather, Jeff St. John & Friends at Sydney Town Hall. 5) Added a story/memory by an Elliot Gordon Union member about a Canberra gig from back in the day that features Wendy, courtesy of EGU's Ray Grieve. 6) Added a scan of the official sheet music to Wendy's 1971 hit, Looking Through A Window, and a scan of an 8-track tape copy of the 1971 Wendy Saddington & Copperwine's Live LP to the "Photo Gallery" page. 7) Added a couple more links to drummer Des McKenna's websites to the "Links" page.

May 24th, 2008

Here are the new updates for May 24th, 2008:   1) Added to the "Discography" page, information about a 1984 album by the Hare Krishna Band titled, Where To Now? Wendy appears on this album singing lead on five tracks ("Hypocrite Heaven", "Funny Money Blues", "3 Minutes To Midnight", "Gopinatha", and "Redemption Song"), and is credited on here as, 'Gandharvika dasi'. The album was recorded in Auckland, New Zealand in 1984. An mp3 sample of the track, "Gopinatha" is now available to listen to on the "Discography" page. Also added more information (and a sample mp3 of The Wendy Saddington Band Mk.II's cover of "Stand By Me") about the unreleased album by Wendy and band (Des McKenna, Mick Liber, Angelika Booth, Rose Bygrave, and Javier Fredes), recorded at ENREC Studios, Tamworth in 1986. Information and sample mp3 courtesy of Des McKenna.   2) Added a photo below of Wendy by renowned Australian photographer Carol Jerrems (1949-1980). This image is taken from the book, A Book About Australian Women (Outback Press 1974). This photo has been exhibited a number of times over the years, most recently at the Aust Centre Photography in Sydney and the Art Gallery of NSW. Wendy also contributes to the soundtrack of a short film by Carol titled, Hanging About. This short can be found in the special "Extras" section of the 2005 DVD release of the Carol Jerrems documentary, Girl In A Mirror.

May 9th, 2008

Here are the new updates for May 9th, 2008. 1) A couple days ago, Barry McKay from www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/ sent me around 20 or so Go-Set magazine articles featuring Wendy Saddington, which I have now added to the site in the various "Articles" pages, and the new "Go-Set Gallery" page. Complete scans of the "Wendy Saddington Takes Care of Business" articles will be added to the "Go-Set Gallery" next week. Many thanks to Barry for kindly sending me even more Go-Set magazine photocopy scans - it is much appreciated.  Also added various updates to the site, such as further additions to the "Live History", "Discography, "Filmography", "Stories" pages. 2) Added a downloadable MP3 of Wendy's "Looking Through A Window" b-side, "We Need A Song" to the "MP3 Downloads" page. Also added sample MP3s of Wendy's "Five People Said I Was Crazy", and "Live The Life" to the "Discography" page. 3) A new page titled, "Video" has now been added to the site. Here, you can view five different videos featuring Wendy. Many thanks to Barry McKay for the two GTK videos featuring Wendy - it is much appreciated.

April 26th, 2008

1) First things first... the name of this site will be getting changed very soon as wendysaddington.com is no longer an option. 2) Go-Set magazine researcher and friend of Wendy's, Barry McKay (www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts), contacted me yesterday with a bunch different articles featuring Wendy Saddington, these include: - Four video clips about Australia's first music magazine, Go-Set, two of which feature Wendy Saddington. The first video features Wendy being interviewed (which can be watched below), and the second video has Wendy seated a table with the rest of the Go-Set crew, which I shall upload soon The other two videos not featuring Wendy will be added to www.youtube.com next week. - A document Barry put together in 2000 for an ABC programme, that features 20 "Wendy Takes Care of Business" columns for Go-Set magazine, ranging from 22/11/69 to 27/6/70. Also included in this document are a few quotes from Wendy taken from other GO-SET articles, including an article titled "What is Trucking" and a Vietnam moratorium Day 1970 article titled "Plastic Wombats". In Barry's Wendy Saddington and Go-Set document, he also includes a mention about Wendy receiving criticism from Melbourne commercial radio about not being qualified to run the agony aunt column - "Wendy Takes Care of Business". - A custom-colorized pic for a promo show Barry does for community radio - http://au.geocities.com/itstimecharts/ - A pic of Wendy on the front cover of Go-Set, from 6 Sept 1969. - Scans of two Go-Set "Wendy Takes Care of Business" agony aunt columns, and a Go-Set article featuring Wendy from circa late 1973 / early 1974.  *Barry met Wendy in Melbourne between 2002-2003 and got to know her as a friend when she was living with the Hare Krishna's earlier this decade. Many thanks to Barry for kindly sending all this great stuff - it is very much appreciated. 3) I have also included a Wendy & Copperwine's gig ad from an old go-set, and a scan of a photocopy of an old flyer of a Wendy gig at The Roundhouse. Uni. NSW, courtesy of Peter Maloney - many thanks Peter. 4)  I plan to add Wendy's "Looking Through a Window " b-side, "We Need A Song" to the "Mp3 Downloads" section very soon, along with a track from the Wendy Saddington & The Copperwine Live 1971 album.

April 21st, 2008

Hello and welcome to the Wendy Saddington fan site. This non-profit site will be updated with further information regarding Wendy's career when possible. If anyone has any Wendy Saddington information, pics, or stories that they would like to share, then please send me an email to let me know. Thank you to everyone who has helped provide information, stories, and pics for this site in some way - is very much appreciated.