Television
As a high school student, I was in several television advertisements and because of my Crispy Fries performance, was fortunate enough to be cast as one of the seven children, 'Pip', in the ABC’s version of Ethel Turner's classic Seven Little Australians. This was filmed in Sydney and Canberra between January and May 1973.
Following this, in 1974, I was given the lead role of ‘Michael’ in one episode of the ABC’s Out of Love series (Where Did All the Magic go?) with actor Peter Gwynne as my father. He had also played my grandfather in Seven Little Australians.
In 1977 I was one of the leads in the ABC’s Drama: Going Home. This was one of several shows from the Out of Love Series released that year.
I performed many ‘50 worders’ in soapies: ‘Sons and Daughters’, ‘Home and Away’, ‘Prisoner’ and ‘Police Rescue’ and did several commercials.
In the late 80’s I worked in children's television, writing and performing a dozen songs on call for: The Ridgey Didge Show. This was syndicated nationally.
Radio
In my teens, on the back of my performance in Seven Little Australians, I did quite a few radio commercials, two of which were with John Laws.
In the late 1980s into 1990 I attended The Max Rowley Academy and did several professional radio reads stemming from this.
In the mid-1990s my voice and background music were and, as far as I know still is, used extensively for Success on Hold, a company that provides ‘holding’ music for clients on the phone. Both voices and musical backing were recorded in my studio.
In 2006 I wrote and produced a one-act play Stooge – The Anti Scrooge, a black comedy reversal on the A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. In this, a positive, lovely man is visited by three ghosts who show him what everyone has been saying behind his back and he ends up bitter and cynical. I later rewrote this as a radio script and recorded it in my studio with two other voice actors (Bryan Cutler and John Micallef) in 2017.
Also, at this time I rewrote The Adventures of Poofter Moth and Bludger Fly, a one-act play I had written several years before for radio and recorded it in my studio with another voice actor (and Drama teacher) Bryan Cutler.
Between 2012 and 2015 I recorded audio book versions of my six science fiction novels (See Novels)
Also, at about this time I recorded audio book versions of two short stories: A Trip on LSD and Malloy’s Floppy.
Now I am finishing up with Drama teaching I am looking to do more voice work and backing tracks.
Stage Plays
In 1995 I wrote my first musical comedy for stage: Pirates, Parrots and Penguins. This is a gentle pantomime, which has proved the most popular of my plays so far, having been played by over 20 casts in Australia and New Zealand. In it a one-legged pirate, with a parrot and a penguin, falls in love whilst taking the Tasmanian princess home on his ship.
Seven other musical comedies followed:
Ponsemby's Castle (1996) An upper-class twit, who has cut down all his forest (except for three (talking) trees must contend with a French man; an Australian female greenie, a witch and four twits, among others.
The Gods Show (1997) The Roman Gods plan to take over Mount Olympus from the Greek Gods but Jesus, in cricket gear (helmet with halo) saves the day.
Songs from the Bunker (1998) It is April 29th, 1945 and a doppelgänger is about to take the fall for Hitler. Fortunately, the Nazis turn out to be the cast of The Sound of Music.
Wayne Kerr High (1999) Miss Winterbottom plans to take over a school full of misfits. A soapie played in episodes on four stages around the audience.
Once Upon a Space Time (2000) A spaceship approaches Proxima Centauri with only eight passengers left on board. They have no idea why the 500-year journey began. Includes 20 plus minutes of large screen video.
The Land of Dreams (2000) A one-act play for primary school students. This contains songs from two earlier plays and a few extra.
Dodge City (2001) A sheriff with a drinking problem is now in charge of Dodge City, after Wyatt Earp’s departure. While love is in the air for some, the town is threatened by a nasty gunslinger.
Apart from all these plays premiering at Windsor High School across these years, Ponsemby's Castle, The Land of Dreams and The Gods Show have all been played by several casts over the years.
In all, these plays contain 85 songs.
Eight songs from these plays have received musical awards:
From Pirates, Parrots and Penguins - The Leopard Seal’s Song - Top Ten Finalist - Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest (Songs for Children).
From Ponsemby's Castle – I am an Australian - 1995 - First Prize - South Pacific International Song Contest (Novelty/ Comedy).
And - The Insurance Man won’t pay my Dad his Money – 1995 - Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest (Australiana).
From The Gods Show - The Genetic Disorder Song – 2000 - Award of Merit Finalist - Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest (Wacky Trax).
And Preacher Man – Award of Merit Finalist 1997 - South Pacific International Song Contest (Pop).
From Wayne Kerr High – Finally I’ve Found a Man who Can Dream – 1999 – Certificate of Achievement Finalist Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest (Ballad).
From Dodge City – Ready to Roll – Top Ten Finalist - 2001 - Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest (Country).
And - The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men – 2001 – Certificate of Achievement Finalist - Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest (Country).
From the album Songs for Young People – Winnie the Pooh and the Heffalump – 1998 – Top Ten Finalist - Australian Songwriters’ Association National Song Contest.
In 2005 I also wrote a one act play: Stooge – The Anti Scrooge, a reversal of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A naïve and optimistic boss is visited by four ghosts who show him what was and is happening and will happen if he continues to trust his employees. In the end he sacks them all for taking advantage of him. In 2005 it was performed at Windsor High School. In 2016 I rewrote it and recorded it as a radio play.
Screenplays
I have written three screenplays and two sit-com pilots:
The Cutting of Keys (Romantic Comedy) 115 pages – A young woman takes advantage of a writer’s absence of several months. She cuts the keys to his house and masquerades as his sister. He returns early but instead of retribution he pretends to be the writer’s twin brother. Romance ensues, until the truth is revealed.
Strange Planet (Action/Science Fiction) 128 pages – Strange Planet defies the Law of Inertia. It spins without carrying objects around with it. One peaceful civilisation has drilled into it and is mining diamond, when another belligerent civilisation arrives and hovers beside the spinning mountains.
1978 (Family/Comedy) 120 pages - Jimmy is a good student but his dad doesn’t like his friends or his choice of a musical future. The exploits of four high school boys and the story of two rival bands as the New Wave hits Australia.
The Cutting of Keys made it to the quarterfinals of the American-based PAGE Screenwriting Awards Competition. 1978 reached the second round (top 20%) in 2012 in a field of nearly 6,000 entries.
The Room, a pilot for a sit-com about problem teachers awaiting disciplinary action, written in 2014 (frequent very coarse language) was then revisited and rewritten as radio and television scripts (2016). So too was The Adventures of Poofter Moth and Bludger Fly, which was originally written as a sit-com episode.
Novels
The Screenplay for Strange Planet was originally written as a novel in 1993 and titled The Stargate Project.
In 2007 I self-published my first novel titled: I.Q. It is the story of a future world in which people can buy, sell, and gamble their intelligence. The I.Q. Trilogy is made up of:
Book One – Beyond the Great Wall 77,400 words
Book Two – A Vile World 88,000 words
Book Three – One Jumped Out of the Lion’s Mouth 105,000 words
People wanted to know why Sydney is called Corporate City in 2290, why it has a ten-storey wall around it and how the I.Q. system came into being, so I wrote - the DNA Trilogy prequel:
Book One – DNA 71,000 words
Book Two – R.E.M. 75,000 words
Book Three – The Book of Levi 42,000 words
These deal with the reasons for the war in 2059 and the subsequent civilization in Sydney, 2074 and the beginning of the I.Q. Era in 2171.
I have recorded an audio version of all these six novels.
Lately, under a pseudonym, (2014/15 and 2019) I have written four episodes that make up a very rude comic novel. (93,345 words) about a young man from the Western Suburbs of Sydney who discovers one day that he has two brothers; is heir to tens of millions of dollars and that the pheromone wipes in the local pub work.
To accompany the novel, I have written and recorded an accompanying 33 humorous and satirical songs.
Short Stories
Hewie the Garden Spider Meets the Queen - 1990 - A tiny garden spider gets trapped in Bob Hawke’s suitcase and ends up meeting the queen in London.
A Trip on LSD - 1989 – As the title suggests. (Also recorded as an audio book.)
Malloy’s Floppy - 1994 - Malloy is addicted to reality porn. His angry wife ties him up and he ends up being raped by other players in a pornographic world. He plans revenge on his wife and tries to reboot his floppy. (Also recorded as an audio book.)
Songs, Songwriting and Backing Tracks
In the mid-80's I formed my own band: Your System. I was lead singer and bass player. We played rock music, mainly my songs, around the Sydney circuit. We released a single which charted at 20 on the Independent Charts and for which we made 500 different covers, done by students at Canley Vale High School. This story was picked up and broadcast on: Simon Townsend’s Wonderworld.
I also worked as a solo artist playing covers and originals and as a bass player three nights a week with Shaky Dave and the Knee Tremblers.
In the second half of the 1980s I wrote a few jingles for radio and wrote the music to Clive Clayton’s poem: The March of the ALH for The Australian Light Horse Association. We recorded this and performed the march with them at the Opera House and at The Lancer Barracks in Parramatta.
In the mid 80s I gained sixth place (finalist) in The Pater Awards for: The Leopard Seal’s Song (Children’s Section).
I did some performances on an afternoon time talent show called: The Have A Go Show and became a regular resident stand-in for the show when acts dropped out. This gave me a chance to play my original songs on a national show (I won it three times and judged it once).
In 1988 I was made a writer full member of APRA (The Australasian Performing Rights Association).
I performed in a hard rock band: The Bridge, playing bass, from the mid to late 80s. We regrouped as a Led Zeppelin Cover Band: Stairway to Zeppelin in 2002-3.
Between 1989 and early 1992 I worked as a solo performer around the Sydney circuit. I played guitar and sang originals and covers to my own backing tracks, recorded on an Ensoniq SQ-80.
In 1992 and 1993 I sang and played electric guitar in the four-man cast of Baby I Like It - a series of songs and sketches performed two or three nights a week in Pendle Hill’s, Bawdy Bill’s Rock 'n' Roll Theatre Restaurant.
In 1993 I moved from 8-Track reel to reel (R-8) and 8 channel Fostex desk on to Pro-Tools which I still use to this day. I wrote and recorded many songs and, including some of my earlier work, now have twenty-three albums which are placed on various platforms through Songcast.
McDonald’s used one of my many backing tracks for the McDonald’s National Breakfast Day Morning Cheer Competition in 2015. Their crews across the Asia Pacific danced to my tune in a company competition.
My background music and my songs are streamed and used extensively around the world (over three million streams between September and November 2020). My children’s and educational songs and my Rime of the Ancient Mariner songs seem to be particularly popular.
I continue to write and record songs in a variety of genres, providing vocals and full accompaniment, and have now almost 300 registered works with APRA.
I got a Tesla Battery has made it into the semi-finals (top nine percent) of The International Song Contest (February 2021).