I'm excited! We are at the pointy end of work on my memoir "One of a Kind - The Adventures of Cleo from Go-Set Magazine. My editor Mike Gee, a dual Walkley winning journalist and broadcaster is doing a stellar job getting us close to print. My brilliant Publicist Dianna O'Neill is the very same teenager who wagged sport every week to hang with me at the Go-Set office in the late 60s.

I just love good karma and serendipity.

Launching in Tamworth 2025, on Sunday 19th January 12pm at the Press Basement Bar on Marius Street.

My heartfelt thank you to Mal Norton and everyone involved in the Dusty Boots Annual Awards Festival held in Narromine June 8. I am humbled and honoured to accept an Award for Services to the Australian Country Music Industry. I arrived in Tamworth in 1974, staying for 26 years. They were some of the best days of my life immersed in country music. I'm so incredibly grateful for this acknowledgement. 

The festive season is upon us once again and I would like to thank all those who continue to keep my music alive on radio programs around the globe. I've stepped sideways for a time to write my memoir, which is still a work in progress. Starting at my family's migrations from Italy in the 50's, working for Australia's first pop magazine Go-Set in the 60s, Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Records in Sydney and London in the 70s, moving to Country Music Capital Tamworth in the 70s, 80's and 90s, and then to Mullumbimby in the 2000s. There are many epic stories to tell and I hope it will be ready in 2023. Check out the many videos on this website and also my You Tube channel.

Meanwhile, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas in the folds of your family and loved ones, and a Happy and Healthy 2023. Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all. Love and Happiness to you. Clelia

From my upcoming memoir of my former life in the late 60s

The ever increasing sales and popularity of the magazine meant we needed more feature writers, but more to the point, we needed more room for the ever expanding staff. Hence the move to 7 Myrtle Street, Crows Nest, a spacious North Sydney suburban cottage with 5 rooms and a small kitchen out the back. Two new writers joined the Go-Set team, musician and journalist Greg Quill (of Country Radio/ “Gypsy Queen” fame) and the very erudite and knowledgeable Michael Edmonds. 

The head honchoes of Melbourne Go-Set wanted the magazine to be more current and relevant to the changing music scene coming through from the UK and the US. The teenybopper image needed an upgrade to cover the more serious and progressive music. A lift out called CORE was introduced promoting bands like Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, The Band, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, The Who as well as blues, soul, psychedelic rock, acid rock, surf rock, and anything left of centre. This is the area where Greg and Michael excelled bringing musical intelligence to the magazine and appealing to a more informed reader. 

Donnie Sutherland was a hoot to work with, always bringing hilarious tales of his dubious weekend happenings at the horse races, his DJ adventures at the discos and dances which led to a new female love interest every week. He would dictate his column to me as I typed and corrected spelling and grammar as we went along. Sydney Publicist Dianna O’Neill remembers Donnie chasing her around my desk one time when she wagged school to come hang out at the office. Needless to say she had a very short sports uniform on and was a little cutie pie. Bad boy Donnie! 

The other one who always caused a huge kerfuffle when he visited the Sydney office was Molly Meldrum. He was managing Russell Morris who was killing it on the charts and in the music venues all over Australia with hit after hit. The Real Thing, Hush, Wings of an Eagle – Russell was unstoppable, and a lovely human being as well. Molly had to be the centre of attention of course and wreaked havoc with his entourage in tow. The loud hysterical laughter, weird wonderful stories and risqué camp jokes were highly entertaining, but it was impossible to get any work done with Molly around. Molly was a one off personality – “what you see is what you get” as the nation saw when he fronted Countdown in later years. Thankfully he is still with us....God love him! 

Back in the late 60s I was known as Cleo from Go-Set Magazine. This is a new episode of my adventures back in the day. Taken from my upcoming memoir.

I often hitched a ride back to Orange to see my family. Hitching a ride home is exactly what I was doing in November 1968 when I got a lift with pop band The Executives. Normie Rowe, Dinah Lee and the Execs were headlining a big show in Dubbo. I was leaving the troupe in Orange where they were to pick up Normie who had flown in, then continue to Dubbo. Lead singer of the Executives Gino Cunico who was driving the van and road manager John Swiney had just changed positions, putting me in the middle seat and John in the left passenger seat. Gino said he was doing 50 mph when an oncoming semitrailer taking up most of the road had forced him into the gravel where he lost control of the vehicle and we ploughed head on into the embankment, overturned and finished upside down in a ditch. We were lucky to be alive. The van was a complete write off and most of the $4,000 worth of equipment badly damaged.

First on the scene after rescue crews arrived to extract us from the van was Normie Rowe, who had been waiting for his ride to Dubbo just up the road from the accident site. He helped gather and salvage the damaged equipment. My heart went out to John Sweeney who in the left passenger seat suffered horrendous facial injuries and was in hospital for a very long time. There but for the grace of God go I. In the middle seat I had the full force of the weight of the van full of amps and PA equipment hit me squarely in the back causing terrible problems for years. Gino and I were checked out thoroughly in hospital and sent home with a few bandages on our scratches. Kind souls rallied to get Normie and Gino to Dubbo where the show did go on.

A strange coincidence that only a few years later my cousins Nicki and Brian Turner purchased the property at the exact location where the van had crashed, only 2 kms from Orange. They built their magnificent home and started Turner’s Vineyard there. Whenever I drive past that spot, I am reminded of this close call and say a little prayer for John with a thankful heart to have survived.

I’ve stepped sideways for a while to write my memoir. Back in the late 60’s I was known as Cleo from Go-Set (Australia’s first pop magazine) moving on to WEA Records in the 70’s in Sydney and London. There are wonderful stories involving some of the world’s most famous bands who toured Australia, including this one: 

HANGING OUT WITH MY BUDDY BON SCOTT from 1968: 

The Valentines arrived in Sydney from Perth, making big waves claiming “We’re better than the Zoot”. They also used the pink jump suits as a trademark look and with two lead singers they were very infectious. The effervescent larrikin Bon Scott and Vince Lovegrove were so entertaining, they amassed a great following in no time. How could anyone not love Bon? He and I became great mates and my girlfriends and I would often go to Newcastle for their gigs at Bus Stop Disco as part of their crew. Bon was such a sweetheart and wonderful support to me when I had my heart broken by a boyfriend who took off with a French bimbo. I will never forget his kind heart. We caught up again in London years later when I went to visit Fraternity who had won the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds. I have a photo somewhere of the boys lined up on the couch in front of a wall of empty Fosters beer cans. Aussie Aussie Aussie! 

In 1974, I moved to Country Music Capital, Tamworth and one year later this happened: 

Tamworth Town Hall was becoming a regular venue for touring bands. Our local music journalists with the Northern Daily Leader, Peter Cochrane and Greg McDonald let me know that AC/DC were coming to town. I was so excited at the possibility to see Bon again after our last meeting in London. AC/DC were touring their smash hit albums “High Voltage” and “TNT”. I was hoping to have a quiet coffee and catchup with him. I was breastfeeding around the clock at the time and mostly in an exhausted baby haze. After a few garbled and confusing messages, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. Bon wanted me to go to the show and drinks at the after show party. If there’s one thing I am saddened about, it was this! I never saw Bon again. 

Watching from afar at how massive AC/DC became globally was inspirational. Bon passed away in 1980 at 33 years old. The official report of the Coroner concluded that Bon had died of “acute alcohol poisoning” and classified it as “death by misadventure”.

WARNER/ELEKTRA/ATLANTIC – WEA RECORDS

The world’s biggest band at the time was coming to tour Australia. Early 1972 saw Led Zeppelin arrive for a concert tour of Australia and New Zealand. The news press, media & TV channels were in a frenzy wanting to get interviews and photos of the band. Excitement was also building in the office when we heard the boys were coming to visit us in person. Robert Plant, John Bonham and Jimmy Page arrived and were so very charming and social with everyone. Robert prowled around the office like a lion king. He stopped point blank when he saw me at my desk typing something or other. In a flash he launched himself onto a chair in front of my desk and leaned over the top of my typewriter halting 2 inches (4cm) in front of my face. “Hello there” he purred “I really think you should come out with me tonight”. What could I say? We were all aware of his reputation, but diplomacy as a record company executive meant that I should say yes. However Jimmy Page then asked me if I knew where he could borrow an Australian Maton acoustic guitar as he’d heard they were very good. I contacted my former Go-Set journalist Greg Quill who was more than happy to lend Jimmy his Maton. Not wanting to go to their hotel on my own, my bestie Ronnie came with me to deliver the guitar to Jimmy. 

We entered the hotel room only to be rushed at by John Bonham who picked me up and swinging me into the air a few times. Robert grabbed Ronnie on the boob and said “very nice”, at which she jumped back in shock. Jimmy Page apologized to her for their bad behavior. He was such a gentleman. 

The concert at Sydney Showground was truly amazing and drew 28,000 fans, though some thought it was more like 38,000 as lots of people climbed the fence causing a stampede. Zeppelin played for 3 hours straight to the adoring audience. Ronnie and I took our seats in the top tier of the jam packed showground and the Lenard PA struggled to keep the sound above the noise of the screaming fans. 

My son Daniel, a mad Zeppelin fan, hearing this story years later said “Dang Mum, do you mean there’s a chance Robert Plant could have been my father??” You gotta laugh! 

It's been quiet in my music world due to stepping sideways to write my memoir. Back in the Day, late 60's, I was Cleo from Go-Set, Australia's first pop music magazine. Here's a little story of how Keith Lamb from Hush used his ample charms to persuade me to go out with him....I was 21, he was only 19. 

Did that make him my "toy boy" or am I "the cougar"? 

As cheeky as he was cute, Keith Lamb waltzed into the office with his band members of the newly formed Hush, who came from Seven Hills, a way out west Sydney suburb. He was one of the funniest people I’d ever met, in fact if stand-up comedy had been a thing back then, he would have killed it! He could recite complete Pete & Dud (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore), the two Ronnies (Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker) and Spike Milligan skits word for word, keeping us all in stitches. He was a charming one! He kept asking me out, but I was hesitant as he was 2 years younger than me. Eventually I relented. Apparently as my girlfriends commented – we should all have a “toy boy” at least once in our lives. If only for a short time Keith kept me entertained. Here’s a letter asking me to go clothes shopping with him for a Hush photo shoot. 

LOVE LETTER No 1, Vol 63 …copywright res R (from Keith Lamb/Hush 1971) 

Dear Clebo, 

Due to the fact I’ve had many complaints from people concerning my stage dress, as a result of these remarks I draw reference to a certain statement which was made many times by yourself personally, so therefore, would it be possible for you to accompany me into Sydney on Saturday morning so that we can make certain purchases of items of clothes (attire), Andy statement “what do you want a tyre for?” 

Please, please, please, please come, as I have to cancel my piano lessons (how to avoid a falling piano whilst being strapped to the floor). 

Truly yours, 

Humbly mine, 

My mistake, your fault 

Em – Em – Oh I know, 

Bye Bye 

Keith 

PS Can you please come shopping on Sat. morning …thank you.. 

Hush’s star was on the rise and they soon became the hottest glam-rock act on the circuit and the rest is history. Keith eventually found the love of his life and I was invited to the wedding, which of course was a marvelous shindig and the party music incredible to say the least.

Unprecedented devastating floods have sparked a national emergency in my hometown pf Mullumbimby, in Northern NSW as well as of towns and cities in Queensland and southern New South Wales, which are now looking like a war zone! The local community pulled together bravely and were nothing short of inspirational, often risking their own lives to save neighbours. Living on the Brunswick River, our farm was inundated, but thankfully we are lucky compared to most as we still have our home. We continue to clean up which will take a long time. Thank you for your kind concerned messages.

Last Cheaters Waltz has the honour of having the longest run on the Country Songs Top 40 Chart at 24 weeks! Thank you Australian country radio for your amazing support!

Last Cheaters Waltz available to country radio on:

Blue Shamrock Music - www.blueshamrockmusic.com (Australia) Stephen Brady

Hillcrest 97  www.hillcrestcd.com (Canada/Europe) Ross Allen