Newspaper Mama Revisited: Peter Combe in focus.
Yesterday afternoon, I had envisioned myself belting out the lyrics to all the childhood favorites I once danced to in the living room, while watching the joy light up the faces of my husband and son. I had planned to be at the Peter Combe concert at The Gov, scheduled for 3:30 PM SA time, and had even arranged to review the event for ‘Parenting-Prattle.’
But life had other plans. Instead, I found myself sweltering in the heat, under the whir of a barely functional fan, cradling my sick baby in my arms. Back and forth I rocked, exhaustion creeping in, wondering when I might steal a moment of rest.
So rather than uploading a review of the concert today, I am instead (partly to not disappoint the people I promised, and partly I am sure to torture myself) taking a closer look at that legendary children’s performer: Peter Combe (pictured below).
When you think of children’s music today, names like ‘The Wiggles’ and ‘Hi-5’ probably come to mind. But before them, in the 1980s, there was Peter Combe. Often dubbed ‘Australia’s first pop star for children,’ Peter is widely credited with single-handedly starting the phenomenon that The Wiggles now dominate.
With Verses and lyrics like:
The postman came on a Friday
And put a letter
And a frog
And a mouse
And a spider
And a snail in the letterbox
Put a letter and a frog and a spider and a snail in the letterbox
The postman never ever came again
He was fired
And he was told
That he was a very silly boy
(Lyrics to -The Silly Postman, one of my personal favourites )
It is no wonder that Combe both enraptured children and amused adults to the extent that he was awarded 3 Arias, and many of his albums went -gold-, and then -platinum-. The titles of Peter’s career are long and varied, but just a few of the popular ones remembered by his now adult aged fans include Spaghetti Bolognaise (and more songs for little kids) released in 1985, Toffee Apple released in 1987, and Newspaper Mama released in 1988.
Today, Peter has taken his musicianship and memories back to the stage in his Newspaper Mama: Revisited tour. A testament of his versatility and strength of appeal over time, many of these shows have been adult only, with only a couple (including the one I missed) allowing all ages.
His music is certainly the type that I intend to use while raising my son!
info sourced from a variety of websites, including but not limited to petercombe.com and wikipedia