Ah Well, Nobody’s Perfect – The untold stories
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley November 19, 2016
Author Molly Meldrum with Jeff Jenkins
Distributor: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781760294427
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: November 2016
Website: http:/www.allenandunwin.com
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After his last book, it seems that in a life that has been full to overflowing with ‘events’, there may not have been much more to tell, but just like in the real life of Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, there is always just one more thing to do, one more thing to remember, one more undertaking to consider.
In this very personal look at the many and varied phases of a life that has been lived very much in the public arena of the Australian Pop Industry, ‘Molly’ offers a peek into the other side of the man, the man who is a loyal and true friend, a man who has soft spot for the strangest things and a man who, while not always believing in himself, still managed to set benchmarks in a new and burgeoning industry that are still there today, some 30 years.
In the many, many pages of this latest book, through the anecdotes of the people who have known and loved him over the years, his very real personality is there for all to see and enjoy. Once again a very public forum and one that will ensure the genuine respect he has earned will continue to live on.
Whatever his faults and as he will tell you, there are many, he has always lived life by his own completely impossible standards. His passion, his love of the music industry, his almost obsessive love for his footy team, St Kilda and the Australian cricket team beggars belief, but in true ‘Molly’ fashion, once he adopted you well, there were no boundaries.
He has interviewed Pop Royalty for many decades numbering the likes of Elton John, Madonna, David Bowie, amongst his friends, and has been responsible for the success of many Australian and New Zealand pop groups.
Beatle John Lennon granted him an interview, choosing him from many others, calling him the ‘Aussie Cobber’. During this interview Lennon stated in a roundabout manner, that the Beatles were disbanding. In true style ‘Molly’ was so overwhelmed to be interviewing John Lennon, he had no idea he had just broken the biggest story of the Music World.
Perhaps this more than anything else gives and indication that under the completely dysfunctional way he appears to live his life, when it came to his work, his lifeblood and his passion, his focus was complete.
This passion and focus led him into becoming a record producer, responsible for creating such hits as “The Real Thing’ for Russell Morris, which in the end turned out to almost have a cast of thousands, before the recording came together with the magic that sent to it to the top of the charts in just a mere eight weeks, which back in the ’60’s was no mean achievement by an Australian singer.
With Molly Meldrum’s life, you can simply go on and on and on, and as you read the many lovingly given anecdotes one thing become clear; throughout the laughter and the tears, the frustration and the rage, he is a much loved, respected and adored member of the Australian Music Industry and the Australian public as well as the many, many music icons who owe their success, in no small manner, to the way he believed in them over the years.
Enjoy this wonderfully funny, irreverent walk down memory lane with the man who broke all the rules, enjoys his life to the utmost and never, ever gives in or up, when he on the track of what he considers to be ‘The Real Thing’, wherever or whatever that may be, at any given time.