22 I GEELONG ADVERTISER, THURSDAY 10 MAY 2012
THE CHARTS
AUSSIE SINGLES
www.geelonginfo.com
Freedman ready for a chat and a song
ALEX OATES
1. Whistle - Flo Rida
2. Call Me Maybe -Carly Rae Jepsen
3. Payphone - Maroon 5
Ft. Wiz Khalifa
4. Lego House - Ed Sheeran
5. Sitting On top Of The World
- Delta Goodrem
6. Starships - Nicki Minaj
7. Never Let Me Go
- Florence + Machine
8. Earthquake - Labrinth
Ft. Tinie Tempah
9. So Good - B.o.B
PUNTERS eager to see Tim
Freedman reunite with The Whitlams
will have to wait a while yet.
But if you’re keen to catch the
renowned singer live, keep next
Thursday night free.
Freedman will perform the first of a
string of concerts at Beav’s Bar ahead
of a national tour that stretches five
months and lands in country towns,
regional and capital cities Australiawide.
It has been more than six years
since Freedman’s last Geelong
performance, which he delivered with
The Whitlams.
‘‘I’ve only ever brought the band
along, so it will be much different this
time,’’ said Freedman, who yesterday
launched his national tour Fireside
Chat – an evening of grand piano,
sweet melody and pointed opinions.
Tim Freedman
‘‘When I play on my own, it gives me
a chance to talk and tell a few stories.
It’s an old-fashioned night around the
piano to tell a few tales.’’
Already renowned as a raconteur
between songs, Freedman will link the
tunes together with some extended
yarns such as ‘‘how I learned to stop
worrying and hate Triple J’’ and ‘‘why
Caroline Overington described my
father as a Jewish accountant in The
Age’’.
Best known as the lead singer/
songwriter of The Whitlams, an ARIA
Group of the Year, with a string of
gold and multi-platinum albums,
Freedman expects the group – Jak
Housden (guitar), Warwick Hornby
(bass guitar) and Terepai Richmond
(drums) – to begin a new chapter in
the not-to-distant future.
‘‘We will play again in a year or two,’’
Freedman said.
‘‘We formed 20 years ago but we
haven’t played for over a year. The
others are keeping busy – they’re in
demand – and I’ve been mixing it up
since 2002.’’
Freedman’s first themed solo tour
in 2005 coincided with the launch of
the DVD The Whitlams Years
1992-2004 and told the story of the
band’s early days. His second tour
grouped his songs from across the
albums according to which girlfriend
they were written about.
It is no surprise that Freedman’s
solo performances have become as
popular as his four-piece band shows.
The Whitlams’ success has always
been about the emotional clout of his
songs, which is laid bare when the
rock adornments are removed.
Freedman released his solo debut
album Australian Idle in late 2011 and
toured with his new band The Idle.
The album is an unabashedly joyful
70s piano-pop outing, and the first
single was a remake of Billy Field’s
You Weren’t in Love With Me, which is
enjoying extensive airplay nationally.
Tickets for next Thursday night’s
performance are available from
Beav’s Bar on 5222 3366 or
www.oztix.com.au
alex.oates
@geelongadvertiser.com.au
Flap is
headed
for
Torquay.
10. Shut Up & Kiss Me
- Reece Mastin
AUSSIE ALBUMS
1. Up All Night - One Direction
2. 21 - Adele
3. Blunderbuss - Jack White
4. + - - Ed Sheeran
5. Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones
6. El Camino - The Black Keys
7. Ultimate Hits - Bob Seger
8. Drinking From The Sun
- Hilltop Hoods
9. Hits - Seal
10. Bangarang EP - Skrillex
CLICK PICK
VILLAGE VICTORY
VILLAGE People star Victor
Willis has scored a major legal
victory after a California judge
dismissed a lawsuit aimed at
blocking the singer’s bid to
reclaim the rights to more than
30 of the disco group’s tunes.
Singer/songwriter Willis, who
portrayed a traffic cop in the
band, left the line-up in 1979
and transferred his rights to 33
tracks, including Y.M.C.A. and
In the Navy, to his publisher.
However, after experiencing
a change of heart, the singer
last year invoked a US
copyright provision, which can
be activated after 35 years, and
filed suit to win back
ownership of the tunes.
His publicist Linda Smythe
said of the ruling: ‘‘To say this
decision will send shock waves
through the record industry
(as) artists (are) seeking to
take back their copyrights is an
understatement.’’
ALEX OATES
PANORAMIC sunset views spanning
the ocean.
It’s the perfect setting for the
release of a new album, according to
Flap frontman Eamon McNelis.
‘‘It’s going to be great playing
during sunset,’’ McNelis said.
‘‘I’ve heard it’s an incredible view.’’
Flap will unveil A Great Day For
The Race at Torquay Bowls Club later
this month – one of a dozen gigs
during their national tour.
Hot, brassy, and explosive, A Great
Day For The Race is the newest
installment in a journey that began
when Flap formed during an informal
jam at the 2007 Port Fairy Folk
Festival.
Musically corner-stoned by
McNelis’ pivotal trumpet, Jess
Guille’s dulcet vocals, slinky upright
bass and watertight drums, A Great
Day For The Race sets up a riot of
colour and rhythm right from onset.
From the jaunty gypsy Charlestonesque groove of opening track The
Boogieman into the gospel leanings of
Apocalypse, the plea of Solitude and
the funereal strains of Flee As A Bird
– the new record is a ‘‘raucous, sweet,
frivolous, frenetic and deliciously
irrepressible affair’’.
Their second album to date, A
Great Day For The Race was recorded
at Melbourne’s Sing Sing studios,
mixed by Adam Rhodes and
mastered by Ross Cockle.
‘‘It’s been a few years in
development, and I think it’s an
album that shows the depth of that
time,’’ McNelis said. ‘‘It’s still a fun
album, but there are moments of
heartbreak, and even of poetry.
‘‘You know when you go to a kid’s
birthday party, and they’ve got pony
rides? You know they’re gonna have
everything else, too. Well, on this
album we’ve got a wobbleboard,
which is sort of like the pony ride of
the music world.’’
McNelis warned, however, that A
Great Day For The Race, which took
the best part of a year to produce,
could the last of the band’s records.
‘‘We might be reaching the end of
the album period,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s an expensive thing and we’ve
been putting something together one
song at a time. There might be
something by the end of the year but
it might be another single.’’
to convey his request.
PETA said an average of
15 animals died a month at
the zoo in Surabaya, the
capital of East Java
province.
‘‘Your ministry called for a
change at the Surabaya
Zoo, but no improvements
have been made,’’ Morrissey
was quoted as saying in the
letter.
■ Flap will perform at Torquay Bowls Club
on Sunday, May 27.
For tickets visit www.torquaybowls.com or
call 5261 2378.
alex.oates
@geelongadvertiser.com.au
Sheeran leaves US tour
Zoo deaths anger
BRITISH singer Morrissey
has urged the Indonesian
Government to close down
a zoo in the country’s
second largest city after a
spate of animal deaths, the
group People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals
(PETA) says.
Morrissey, who was due to
perform in Indonesia today,
has sent a letter to Forestry
Minister Zulkifli Hasan
Flap have become festival
favourites across the country having
torn it up everywhere from Port Fairy
to Woodford, Falls, Adelaide Fringe,
Apollo Bay, Melbourne Jazz, Rainbow
Serpent, the National Folk Festival
and many more.
A fiery yet charming ensemble
featuring horns, guts, words and
skins, Flap have been described as
music that is both old and new, a
rambunctious collage of 1920s jazz,
English folk, gypsy brass and
Trinidadian calypso.
Ed Sheeran
BRITISH singer Ed
Sheeran has pulled out of a
North American tour with
Snow Patrol in order to
return to England ‘‘due to
personal reasons’’.
The A Team singer has
been opening for the group
on their current tour of the
US and Canada.
In a series of posts on his
Twitter page, he writes:
‘‘Sorry to announce that I
have to miss the last four
days of the Snow Patrol
tour, have to get back to
England, but I’ll be back in
June and Sept (sic). Hope
everyone understands, lots
of love . . .
‘‘So sorry to cancel, have
to get home for personal
reasons.’’
Sheeran will be
performing in Australia in
July and August.
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