Excellent Australian cartoonist and comedy singer Rolf Harris is 80 today. I remember watching Rolf's Cartoon Time every weekened, a great artist who draws the character's and would always encourage participation with his classic catchphrase: "Can you tell what it is yet?"
He also invented novelty instruments like the Wobble Board and pioneered obscure ones like the Stylophone.
Posted by P a u l (Member # 1022) on :
He's a really nice chap. I have had the pleasure of meeting him on numerous occasions, and he lived about two miles from my house.
In fact, our band worked with him a few years back - he was switching on the town christmas lights, and once he'd done that and a few songs, we came on and played a 40 minute set.
No tribute will be complete without a mention of his seminal work - Stairway To Heaven, performed on Didgeridoo and Wobble Board......
Posted by LoverswithCassie (Member # 7794) on :
I remember when Andrew Denton had his programme "Denton" on Channel 7, then Robert Plant and Jimmy Page appeared on it to perform "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport," as payback for Rolf covering Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven."
Does anybody recall that episode from "The Goodies" where Rolf was spoofed? Posted by P a u l (Member # 1022) on :
It was called "Scatty Safari"
Here's the wikipedia summary....
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When they lose their main attraction, Tony Blackburn, the Goodies have to come up with another star attraction to replace him in "The Goodies *Star* Safari Park".
After considering and rejecting other big-time show names, they eventually decide on Rolf Harris. According to the "Observers Book of Stars", Rolf Harris is an all-round entertainer whose natural habitat is Australia.
The Goodies' arrival in Australia is marked by photos of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge — also seen are a kangaroo, koalas and kookaburras. The Goodies go into the "Pom's Outfitters" shop and reappear with cork hats — Bill's hat still has the bottles attached to the corks.
Noticing headlines in a newspaper stating that Rolf Harris had been seen in the Outback, the Goodies go there in search of their quarry (to the strains of "Waltzing Matilda").
When they get Rolf Harris back to their safari park in England, he is unhappy. Graeme comments that there used to be thousands of Rolf Harrises all over Australia, but that there were probably only a half dozen left now – "it was the beards they were after". However, there was another Rolf Harris in captivity, in the Moscow Zoo, which Graeme had arranged to have delivered to the safari park in the hope that they would breed — and, a year later, in the "Rolfus Harriscus" enclosure, a baby Rolf Harris can be seen. All goes well until the Rolf Harrises escape from the safari park. The Goodies are upset at losing their latest star attractions, and are also very worried — Rolf Harrises used to be all over Australia, and they were prolific breeders.
Another year has passed, and England is overrun by millions of Rolf Harrises who proceed to make life uncomfortable for other people by their actions — including frightening small babies in their prams, taking over television broadcasts and completely dominating some sports teams. The Rolf Harrises also constantly splash paint everywhere (even onto people) and sing "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", accompanied by wobbleboards.
An anonymous Queen makes a proclamation — whosoever could rid England of the Rolf Harrises could marry her eldest son (Prince Charles), or receive a thousand OBEs. The Goodies dress like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and play didgeridoos. It works and soon all of the Rolf Harrises follow the Goodies to the other side (ITV - rival tv network), where they are shut in, forever, never to be seen again ..... except for one; as in the original children's tale, one "crippled boy" could not keep up with the other children and avoided their fate, here represented by Rolf Harris' popular children's character Jake the Peg, who has three legs.
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