Bob Hudson (singer)

Robert Hudson (born 1946) is an Australian singer, radio presenter and archaeologist. His satirical narrative, "The Newcastle Song" (March 1975), topped the Kent Music Report singles chart. He also wrote and recorded, "Girls in Our Town", which was covered by Margret RoadKnight in January 1976 and Judy Small in 1982.

Bob Hudson
Birth nameRobert Hudson
Born1946 (age 74–75)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
OriginNewcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
  • Comedy
  • folk
  • country
  • jazz
Occupation(s)Singer, radio presenter, archaeologist
Instruments
Years active1968–1980
Labels
  • M7
  • Larrikin
Associated acts

Biography

Robert Hudson was born in Sydney in 1946 and grew up in Grafton.[1] He attended Newcastle Teacher's College during the mid-1960s.[1] He started working as a geography teacher but switched to psychiatric nursing and then general nursing.[1] In the late 1960s he also began performing as a solo folk and comic singer. He was the lead singer in the Electric Jug Band, which played at the Star Hotel, Newcastle during the early 1970s – the site of the Star Hotel riot in September 1979.

Hudson had joined the Teen Angels by 1973 with Jean Lewis and Roy Ritchie, which performed "vintage rock'n'roll and doo wop songs."[2][3] He was a member of a touring revue, Rock 'N' Roll Refugees, alongside, John J. Francis, Alan Luchetti, Margret Roadknight and Glenn Cardier.[4] With fellow folk musician, Graham Lowndes, he co-wrote music for plays presented by the Australian Free Theatre Group.[2] Hudson described his musical influences as Chad Morgan, Phil Ochs and Jon Hendricks.[4]

He teamed up with ABC musical director, record producer and song writer, Chris Neal, to record an in-concert album, The Newcastle Song, in 1974.[2] From August 1974 he was performing a concert-drama of the same name with "actors, Arthur Dignam and Jane Harders" and "jazz pianist Judy Bailey, brilliant young composer/guitarist Roy Ritchie,... rock and orchestral bass player Dave Ellis and singers Graham Lowndes, Starlee Ford and Bobbie Gledhill."[5] The title track, "The Newcastle Song" (March 1975), was trimmed down from the ten-minute album version for the single, which topped the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for four weeks.[2][6][7]

Hudson, with Neal, co-wrote and recorded a response song, "Rak off Normie", which was covered by Maureen Elkner and became a top ten hit for her in mid-1975.[2][7][8] At the Australian Radio Records Awards of October 1975 Hudson won Record of the Year for The Newcastle Song and the New Talent Encouragement award.[9] Another album track, "Girls in Our Town", was a top 40 single for RoadKnight in January 1976.[2][3]

Other albums by Hudson are After Me Cat Left Home (1975) and Party Pieces (1980).[2] Hudson was one of the original on-air team at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) rock radio station 2JJ (Double Jay, now Triple J) in 1975,[10][2] and later presented Music Buffs' Talk Back Show, with Glenn A. Baker, on the ABC radio station 2BL. Hudson also worked on ABC radio's international news desk.[11]

In the 1980s he was involved in the publishing of a book about Australian language[12]

Hudson completed a PhD in archaeology at the University of Sydney and conducts research on ancient Myanmar (Burma).[13]

Discography

Albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart
positions
AUS
[14]
Newcastle Song
  • Released: 1974
  • Format: LP
  • Label: M7 (MLF-083)
 6
After Me Cat Left Home
  • Released: December 1975
  • Format: LP
  • Label: M7 (MLF-102)
 -
Party Pieces
  • Released: 1980
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Larrikin Records (LRF-058)
 -

Singles
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Year Title Peak chart
positions		 Album
AUS
[14]
1974 "The Newcastle Song" 1 Newcastle Song
1975 "Waltzing Matilda Rock" - After Me Cat Left Home
"After Me Cat Left Home" -
1977 "The Girls in Our Town" / "Who's Your Friend?" - Newcastle Song

Other singles
List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
AUS
[15]
"The Garden"
(as Australia Too)		 1985 22

References
General
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2010. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
  • Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara; Paul McHenry (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1.[16] Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
Specific
  1. "Life Style". The Canberra Times. 50 (14, 197). 15 October 1975. p. 16. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia. Note: includes a photo of the artist.
  2. McFarlane, 'Bob Hudson' entry. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. "Fzomp (nee Tharunka-XL5) Interviews Boistrous Bob: Bob Hudson". Tharunka. 19 (25/26). Sydney. 8 November 1973. p. 23. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Rock 'N' Roll Refugees". Tharunka. 19. Sydney. 5 October 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Kirk Gallery". Tharunka. 20 (17). Sydney. 7 August 1974. p. 11. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. Spencer et al., (2007), "Hudson, Bob" entry.
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  8. Hudson, Bob; Neal, Chris (1975). "Rak off, Normie!". Leeds Music. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  9. "He never let a chance go by". The Canberra Times. 50 (14, 195). 13 October 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 8 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia. Note: Includes a photo of the artist receiving an award.
  10. Page 110 with portrait Veitch, Alan; Veitch, Alan; Atterton, Margot (1984), The Illustrated encyclopaedia of Australian showbiz (1st ed.), Sunshine Books, ISBN 978-0-86777-057-5
  11. Baker, Glenn A., 1952-; Hudson, Bob (1986), Bob Hudson & Glenn A. Baker present antipodean atrocities : dubious ditties, patriotic pap and enthusiastic excesses that made Australia [great] grate, ABC Records, retrieved 9 February 2017CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Hudson, Bob; Pickering, Larry (1987), The first Australian dictionary of vulgarities & obscenities, David & Charles, ISBN 978-0-7153-9054-2
  13. https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-bob-hudson/8463392
  14. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 143. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 22. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.
  16. "Who's who of Australian rock / compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
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