Coordinates	23°51′17″N46°08′20″N
name	Molly
director	John Duigan
producer	William J. MacDonald
writer	Dick Christie
starring	Elisabeth ShueAaron EckhartJill Hennessy
music	Trevor Jones
cinematography	Gabriel Beristain
editing	Humphrey Dixon
distributor	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released	October 22, 1999 (USA) | runtime 102 mins
country
language	English
followed by	}}

''Molly'' is a 1999 romantic comedy-drama film about a 28 year old woman with autism who came into the custody of her neurotic executive brother. The film was directed by John Duigan and written by Dick Christie, and stars Elisabeth Shue, Aaron Eckhart, and Jill Hennessy.

Plot

Elisabeth Shue plays the title character, Molly McKay, a 28-year-old woman with autism who has lived in an institution from a young age following her parents' death in a car accident. When the institution must close due to budget cuts, Molly is left in the charge of her neurotypical older brother, Buck McKay (Aaron Eckhart), an advertising executive and perennial bachelor. Molly, who verbalizes very little and is obsessed with lining up her shoes in neat rows, throws Buck's life into a tailspin as she runs off her nurses and barges into a meeting at Buck's agency naked.

When Buck consults Molly's neurologist, Susan Brookes (Jill Hennessy) suggests an experimental surgery in which genetically modified brain cells are implanted into Molly's brain. While Buck initially balks at the suggestion, he finally consents to the surgery and Molly makes a gradual but miraculous "recovery", speaking fluidly and interacting with others in a "normal" way. Buck begins taking Molly to social events, like a production of ''Romeo and Juliet'', a baseball game, and expensive dinners. However, after a few months, Molly's brain begins to reject the transplanted cells and she begins to regress into her former state. Both Molly and Buck must accept the eventual loss of Molly's "cure" and her regression to her previous state.

While Buck initially rejects Molly and sends her to another institution, in the final scene of the film, Buck accepts Molly's autism and vows to remain in Molly's life by creating a room for her at his home that looks just like the room she had at the institution.

Base story

The story was based on the novel ''Flowers for Algernon'' which involved a man with a developmental disability who is treated with a similar surgery and becomes a genius, but he soon regresses.

External links

Category:1999 films Category:American films Category:1990s comedy-drama films Category:English-language films Category:1990s romantic comedy films Category:Films directed by John Duigan Category:Films about autism Category:Fictional characters on the autistic spectrum

de:Molly (Film) es:Molly (película) fr:Molly (film, 1999) it:Molly (film) zh:親親小妹

Coordinates	23°51′17″N46°08′20″N
name	Ariel Pink
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ariel Marcus Rosenberg
birth date	June 24, 1978
origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
genre	Psychedelic popNoise popLo-fiOutsider musicFreak folkAvant-garde music
instrument	Vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion
occupation	Musician
years active	1996–present
label	Paw Tracks, Human Ear Music, UUAR, Manimal Vinyl, 4AD
associated acts	John Maus, R. Stevie Moore, coL, Lilys, Holy Shit
website	arielpink.com }}

Ariel Pink (born Ariel Marcus Rosenberg; June 24, 1978) is a Los Angeles-based recording artist who is sometimes associated with the freak folk scene.

Biography

Ariel Pink was raised in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles, attending Beverly Hills High School and later the California Institute of the Arts. In high school, Pink was a fan of such Gothic rock acts as Christian Death, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, and The Cure (whom he cites as his favorite band). He started writing songs "around age 10" and has recorded over 500 songs on hundreds of cassette tapes since 1996.

Pink produces and plays almost all of his own music, and is noted for creating drum sounds using primarily his mouth, and sometimes his armpits. His home recording technique gives his music a very lo-fi sound, to the point where new listeners may mistake the era of his music. Pink's influences range from R. Stevie Moore--friend, mentor, and "father of home recording"—to Michael Jackson.

Aside from his music, Pink creates and sells semi-abstract and surreal grotesque drawings which can be viewed at his unofficial website.

Pink married Lisa Daniels in July 2002; they divorced in 2005. He currently lives with fellow artist Geneva Jacuzzi.

Career

From 2000–2002, Pink collaborated with fellow Los Angeles recording artist coL, which resulted in each being featured on one another's albums. In the summer of 2003, Pink passed a CD-R on to New York based band Animal Collective after being introduced by mutual friend and occasional collaborator Jimi Hey (All Night Radio, Indian Jewelry, Beachwood Sparks, The Rapture) at one of their shows. Unbeknownst to Pink, Animal Collective had recently started their own record label, Paw Tracks. Animal Collective member Josh Dibb remembers: Several weeks later they contacted him to sign him on Paw Tracks. Pink became the first musician on the label aside from the members of Animal Collective. The next year, the label reissued ''The Doldrums'', an album which had been originally recorded in 1999. Since then, Paw Tracks (now co-owned by Carpark Records) has released two other reissues of Pink's previous recordings, ''Worn Copy'' and ''House Arrest''.

Pink has gradually caught the attention of media sources around the United States as well as internationally. As most of his albums are self-made, many of them have never been heard by fans. Almost all of Pink's albums which have been commercially released come from his recently released "Haunted Graffiti" series and are thus the best known.

Pink's solo tours have generally been met with much negativity, primarily because his music was never intended to be performed live for commercial audiences. As he explained to LA Weekly:

In 2006, Pink's collaboration with Holy Shit front-man Matt Fishbeck led to the release of ''Stranded at Two Harbors'' .

After initially playing shows with pre-recorded music, Pink later employed the efforts of Gary War, Robert Robinson (Sore Eros), Tim Koh (White Magic), and John Maus while touring. In 2008, Pink formed a new band with keyboardist/guitarist/backing vocalist Kenny Gilmore, drummer/vocalist/guitarist Jimi Hey, and guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neill (Ethnik Klensr, The Samps, Nite Jewel), who became known as Haunted Graffiti. Drummer Aaron Sperske (Beachwood Sparks, Lilys) has since replaced Jimi Hey, and guitarist Joseph Kennedy has replaced Greif-Neill. Consistent touring with a fixed band lineup has led to a much more accessible and musically tighter show for concert goers.

In July, 2008, Haunted Graffiti toured with Chairlift. In March 2009, Haunted Graffiti toured the US with Cryptacize and in April 2009 with Vivian Girls; the tour culminated in a performance at Coachella.

In November 2009, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti was signed to 4AD records. He released a new mp3 single "Round and Round" in March 2010, marking a studio quality departure from his former lo-fi recordings. 4AD released it as a 7" single, backed with "Mistaken Wedding". A new album, ''Before Today'', followed on June 8, 2010. ''Before Today'' was recognized by Pitchfork in their "Best New Music" category. The album includes some new versions of songs released on previous records, notably "L'Estat (acc. to the widow's maid)", "Round and Round" (formerly titled "Frontman/Hold On (I'm Calling)") and "Beverly Kills".

In December 2010, Pitchfork named "Round and Round" the number 1 song on their list of The Top 100 Tracks of 2010. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti have been chosen by Animal Collective to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that they will curate in May 2011.

Discography

Albums

''The Doldrums'' (2004)

''Worn Copy'' (2005)

''House Arrest'' (2006)

''Lover Boy'' (2006)

''Ariel Rosenberg's Thrash and Burn: Pre'' (2006)

''Scared Famous'' (2007)

''Underground'' (2007)

''Odditties Sodomies Vol. 1'' (2008)

''Before Today'' (2010) (#163 U.S.)

References

External links

Ariel's Official Website

Ariel Pink haunted house (created by R. Stevie Moore)

Human Ear Music: Ariel and friends' label

Paw Tracks

You Can Not Move In With Ariel Pink...

Bad Vibes with Ariel Pink

Ariel Pink interview live Ola's Kool Kitchen Radio23

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Psych folk musicians Category:New Weird America Category:California Institute of the Arts alumni

de:Ariel Pink pl:Ariel Pink sv:Ariel Pink

Coordinates	23°51′17″N46°08′20″N
Name	Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Alt	Upper body shot of a smiling man in a cowboy hat and black leather jacket. He is wearing a black T-shirt with a gold design which is mostly out of shot. In the background are people behind a barrier fence.
Birth name	Ian Alexander Meldrum
Birth date	January 29, 1946
Birth place	Orbost, Victoria, Australia
Other names	Molly MeldrumWillie Everfinish
Known for	''Countdown'' compere
Employer	7 Network
Occupation	music critic, journalist, record producer, musical entrepreneur, author
Home town	Melbourne, Australia
Partner	Rui
Footnotes	}}

Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM (born 29 January 1946) is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer (including as Willie Everfinish), and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent co-ordinator, on-air interviewer and music news presenter on the now defunct popular music program ''Countdown'' (1974–1987) and is widely recognised for his trademark Stetson hat, commonly mistaken for an Akubra, which he has regularly worn in public since the 1980s.

Meldrum has featured on the Australian music scene since the mid-1960s first with his writing for ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974), a weekly teen newspaper, then his tenure with ''Countdown'' and subsequent media contributions. He produced top ten hits for Russell Morris ("The Real Thing", "Part Three Into Paper Walls"), Ronnie Burns ("Smiley"), Colleen Hewett ("Day by Day"), Supernaut ("I Like it Both Ways") and The Ferrets ("Don't Fall in Love").

Meldrum hosted the Australian leg of Live Aid in July 1985, Oz for Africa, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia, for ''service to the fostering of international relief and to youth'' in January 1986. Meldrum has earned a reputation as a champion of Australian popular music both in Australia and internationally, his contributions have been acknowledged with an Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Award for "Special Achievement" in 1993, and the "Ted Albert Award" in 1994 at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Awards. Music journalists, Toby Creswell and Samantha Chenoweth describe him as "The single most important person in the Australian pop industry for forty years" in their 2006 book, ''1001 Australians You Should Know''.

Early years

Ian Meldrum was born in Orbost, Victoria in 1946, he was shifted around during childhood, he grew up with his grandmother in Quambatook, where he attended the local school alongside future country music artist, John Williamson, and he also stayed with a series of aunts. He was raised with a religious Church of England background, his later years of schooling were in Melbourne, initially intending to become a disc jockey, Meldrum then started a law course at University of Melbourne. By 1964, he had moved in with the family of his close friend Ronnie Burns—his two week stay became nine years—who is a noted Australian 1960s pop star first as a member of The Flies and then as a solo artist.

During The Beatles' tour of Australia in June 1964, Meldrum was captured by TV cameras climbing atop the bonnet of their car shortly after arrival at Melbourne airport. Later, he and Burns were ejected from The Beatles' Melbourne concert for being "too enthusiastic". While on a surfing holiday at a Victorian coastal resort in Lorne in 1964, Meldrum met and became friends with teenager Lynne Randell, who became a pop star in the mid-1960s and later worked as Meldrum's personal assistant in the 1980s. Meldrum began his music career as a roadie for his friends' band, The Groop, which had early performances in Anglesea.

''Go-Set'' years: 1966–74

''Go-Set'' was a weekly pop music newspaper started in February 1966 by Phillip Frazer and his Monash University mates. Meldrum started writing for the paper in July 1966 after befriending editor Frazer, his first story was on Burns, "Ronnie Meets the Barrett Brothers". Soon he was writing a weekly gossip column, and regular feature stories, he continued until the paper folded in August 1974. By social networking and building a list of industry contacts, Meldrum was able to cover many facets of the local scene, his gossip columns informed not only general readers but also other musicians and according to Frazer was the major reason people continued reading ''Go-Set''. His gossip columns' writing style tended to be "freeform ramblings, always in the first person, and nearly always concerning aspects of the music scene with which he had been involved". It was during this period that Meldrum was given his nickname, "Molly", by his friend and fellow ''Go-Set'' writer Stan Rofe, a Melbourne radio DJ, it first appeared in print in 1968. While working for ''Go-Set'' he became editor and compiler of its monthly offshoot, ''Gas'', which was aimed at younger teen girls and was first published in October 1968 with a feature on The Monkees, its last issue was in March 1971.

The Groop had landed a recording deal with CBS Records, Meldrum followed them to Armstrong's Studios, in late 1966, to learn about the recording process. He learned production and engineering techniques from studio owner Bill Armstrong and in house engineer/producer, Roger Savage. Meldrum became involved with a number of artists releases, including The Masters Apprentices' August 1967 single, "Living in a Child's Dream", Somebody's Image's first three singles, "Heat Wave" (September), "Hush" (November) and "Hide and Seek" (April 1968). Besides producing, he was also Somebody's Image's manager from early 1967 and formed a friendship with lead singer, Russell Morris.

''Kommotion'' was a teen-oriented daily pop music show, which had premiered in December 1964 on ATV-0, later Channel Ten, it included performers miming to the latest overseas hits. In August 1966 producer, David Joseph, was fired and most of the cast walked out in support. Al Maricic took on the production of ''Kommotion'' with Meldrum reporting for ''Go-Set''. Maricic asked Meldrum to join the show, originally declining, he was convinced by Frazer who reasoned it would be good for ''Go-Set''. Meldrum's repertoire included miming to Peter and Gordon's "Lady Godiva", The New Vaudeville Band's "Winchester Cathedral" and George Formby's "Why Don't Women Like Me?". Episodes of ''Kommotion'' were directed by Rob Weekes, fellow mimers included Grant Rule, Denise Drysdale and Maggie Stewart—who later married Burns. Meldrum's stint with ''Kommotion'' ended in January 1967 after Actors Equity banned the practice of miming other artists' work. He moved on to another ATV-0 music show, ''Uptight'', hosted by Ross D. Wylie, which was broadcast for four hours on Saturday mornings with live bands.

From January 1968, Meldrum relocated to London, reporting in ''Go-Set'' on The Groop's efforts to break into the United Kingdom market; and on the rock music scene. While there Meldrum extended his networking to the international scene, including meeting Apple Records executive, Terry Doran, who introduced him to his idols, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. His writing style in ''Go-Set'' developed a 'camp' form. Meldrum returned to Australia to attend his mother's funeral in May.

In September, he became the manager and producer of Morris, both had quit with Somebody's Image. Meldrum produced Morris' first solo single, a Johnny Young-composed song "The Real Thing". Young had written the song for Meldrum's friend Burns, but when Meldrum heard Young playing it backstage during a taping of the TV pop show ''Uptight'', he determined to secure it for Morris, reportedly going to Young's home that night with a tape recorder and refusing to leave until Young had taped a "demo" version.

In collaboration with Armstrong's house engineer John Sayers, Meldrum radically transformed "The Real Thing" from Young's original vision of a simple acoustic chamber ballad backed by strings, into a heavily produced studio masterpiece, extending it to an unheard-of six minutes in length (with encouragement from Rofe) and overdubbing the basic track with many additional instruments, vocals and sound effects. To achieve this, they used the services of his friends from The Groop as the backing band, with contributions from vocalist Maureen Elkner, The Groop's lead singer Ronnie Charles, guitarist Roger Hicks from Zoot—who played the song's distinctive acoustic guitar intro—and arranger John Farrar. The single is reported to have cost A$10,000—the most expensive ever made in Australia up to that time—and features one of the earliest uses of the studio technique known as "phasing" on an Australian recording. "The Real Thing", released in March 1969, became a national number one hit for Morris in mid-year and is widely considered to be one of the finest Australian pop-rock recordings. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "The Real Thing" as one of their Top 30 Australian songs of all time. "The Real Thing" was followed by a second number one hit, "Part Three Into Paper Walls", with Meldrum producing, he now encouraged Morris to promote "The Real Thing" with a tour in the United States but Morris disagreed and they separated in late 1969.

Meldrum also produced several other hits—including Burns' top ten single "Smiley" in December 1969—while continuing to write for ''Go-Set'' and a variety of magazines. Meldrum made his first of many visits to Egypt and by December, had travelled on to UK, and through Doran, began working for Apple Corps as a publicist, which enabled him to score a scoop interview with Lennon and Yoko Ono, in which Lennon first revealed publicly that The Beatles were breaking up. Meldrum left UK in 1970 to travel to US, reporting on the Los Angeles and New York music scenes and further establishing contacts.

After returning to Australia in late 1970, Meldrum continued writing for the music press, including ''Go-Set'' as well as venturing back into television as a music reporter on ''Happening '70'', hosted by Wylie, on ATV-0; then a short-lived TV children's show, ''Do It''; followed by ''Anything Can Happen'' on Channel Seven where he met producer Michael Shrimpton and reunited with Weekes from his ''Kommotion'' days. In October 1971, Elton John toured Australia for the first time and all concerts were exclusively reviewed by ''Go-Set''—Meldrum had met John in London and they formed an enduring friendship. By September 1972, Meldrum was assistant editor for ''Go-Set'' working with national editor Ed Nimmervoll who had started at the paper in 1967.

Meldrum produced the soundtrack for ''Godspell - Original Australian Cast'' including the hit single, "Day by Day" for Colleen Hewett in 1972. He remained with ''Go-Set'' until its last issue on 24 August 1974. Most of his work was typed up by his secretary, Glenys Long, with Meldrum pacing the office as he dictated—sometimes typewriters were thrown or a person was shoved inside a filing cabinet. After ''Go-Set'', Meldrum wrote columns for ''Listener-In TV'' and then ''TV Week'' as their rock music reporter.

''Countdown'' years: 1974–87

In 1974, Shrimpton and Weekes were meeting at the Botanical Hotel in South Yarra, formulating the concept for a new weekly pop music show aimed at the teenage market and decided they needed a talent scout, Meldrum walked in and was given the job. The trio approached the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), with their idea based on the British show ''Top of the Pops'' and on ''Kommotion''. ''Countdown'' premiered on 8 November, with Meldrum as the show's talent coordinator. He did not originally appear in the series, which had a different guest host each week. Shrimpton decided an editorial was needed, so Meldrum provided a weekly Rock Report from mid-1975 which was renamed "Humdrum" by guest host John Paul Young, and by year's end he had become the face of the series. "Humdrum" saw Meldrum provide a visual form to his ''Go-Set'' gossip column, he would interview celebrities, detail events and new releases for the week. Joining Shrimpton and Weekes as a producer was Rule, also from ''Kommotion''.

Originally broadcast weekly, at 6:30pm on a Friday evening for 25 minutes, ''Countdown'' was fortunate to have begun just before the introduction of colour television in Australia in March 1975. Equally crucial to its success was the move in January to the 6pm Sunday timeslot, with the show being extended to 60 minutes. Its reach was further enhanced by the fact that a midday Saturday timeslot was used to repeat the previous week's show. The combination of the ABC's nationwide reach, the novelty of colour broadcasting and the show's dual timeslot enabled ''Countdown'' to reach an unprecedented number of viewers. It soon became the most successful and popular music program ever made in Australia and exerted a massive influence on Australian music over the next decade. The advent of colour TV also coincided with a major change in the direction of Australian popular music, and it was vital in making national successes of bands such as Skyhooks and Sherbet. ''Countdown'' benefited from the fact that it appeared just as the music video genre was taking off. Indeed, the show was instrumental in popularising the use of purpose-made promotional videos—which had previously only been a minor part of pop show programming—and its extensive use of film-clips and videos by both established and emerging overseas acts (who at that time toured Australia only rarely) made ''Countdown'' an important venue for breaking new songs and new groups. Meldrum produced, ''Supernaut'', the debut album for Western Australia's Supernaut in 1976 and its related hit single, "I Like It Both Ways".

One new group Meldrum broke nationally was The Ferrets, he had them signed to Mushroom Records and started producing their debut album ''Dreams of a Love'' on 19 July 1976. After nearly a year, production was still incomplete, so The Ferrets took over (assisted by recording engineers Tony Cohen and Ian MacKenzie) and completed on 15 August 1977 with Meldrum attributed as Willie Everfinish. Meldrum had carefully crafted their first single's A side "Lies" taking weeks but the B side "Don't Fall in Love" was rushed in three hours. The Ferrets premiered on ''Countdown'' and used "Don't Fall in Love" which reached #2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Many customers wanted a copy of The Ferrets' album, however there was concern at Mushroom Records as Meldrum had not organised an album cover: a white hand stamped cardboard sleeve was issued with a promise of the album artwork to follow.

The series is credited with giving early exposure to, and generating breakthrough Australian hits for, a number of major international acts including ABBA, Meat Loaf, Blondie, Boz Scaggs, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Michael Jackson, sometimes years before they became international stars. Meldrum made many overseas trips and became personally friendly with many of the top pop and rock stars of the period, enabling ''Countdown'' to gain international exclusives. Meldrum's on-screen performances were sometimes criticised for rambling and incomprehensible commentaries and interview questions. When giving album reviews he would often hold the album awkwardly in front of camera with the lights glaring off the surface making it difficult to see the cover. In an early "Humdrum" segment, Meldrum told viewers to "Go out and buy it" when reviewing an album, Shrimpton was furious, ABC policy prohibited direct endorsements and so "do yourself a favour" became Meldrum's catch phrase recommendation.

In the early 1980s, Midnight Oil was scheduled to appear on an episode of ''Countdown'', but on the day of the show they were "bumped" from the line-up. ''Countdown'' required artists to mime their songs during 'live' performances, Midnight Oil and manager Gary Morris insisted they perform completely live and have their sound engineer supervising—neither side backed down. According to Shrimpton, the band had arrived late for rehearsal, and due to the show's very tight schedule and budget there was a strict policy that latecomers were not allowed to appear, and as such they were told they could not perform that day. In response, the group declared that they would never appear on the show, a promise they faithfully kept.

After Randell's marriage had failed, she returned to Australia in 1980 and became Meldrum's personal assistant until 1986. On 13 April 1980, the ''TV Week''/''Countdown'' Rock Music Awards for 1979 were broadcast as a revamped version of the previously existing ''TV Week'' King of Pop Awards with the 'King of Pop' title replaced by 'Most Popular Male' and 'Queen of Pop' replaced by 'Most Popular Female'. ''Countdown'', with Meldrum organising the ceremonies, presented music awards during 1980–1987, initially in conjunction with ''TV Week'', they were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.

The following year, on 16 March 1981, Meldrum co-hosted the 1980 awards ceremony with international guests Suzi Quatro and Jermaine Jackson. Big winners were Cold Chisel with seven awards, which were not collected; they performed the last live number, "My Turn to Cry", to close the show and then trashed their instruments and the set. The performance was seen as being directed at ''TV Week'', ''Countdown'' and Meldrum as being hangers-on. Sponsors ''TV Week'' withdrew their support for the awards and ''Countdown'' held its own awards ceremonies thereafter.

In February 1985, after Meldrum was announced as King of Moomba, he quipped "I was at the cricket the other day and the boys in Bay 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground were all yelling out 'Moomba' and 'hail the king'... not to mention a few 'hail the queen'". On 13 July, Meldrum compered the 1985 Oz for Africa concert—Australian leg of the global Live Aid program running for four hours—which was broadcast in Australia on both Seven Network and Nine Network and on MTV in the US. During December, he used his industry contacts to organise a charity single for research on Fairy penguins, he produced the recording of a cover of Lennon, Ono & Plastic Ono Band's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by The Incredible Penguins with Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo), Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), John Farnham, Venetta Fields, Bob Geldof, Steve Gilpin (ex-Mi-Sex), Colin Hay (Men at Work), Hewett, Jim Keays (ex-The Masters Apprentices), Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & the ) and Chris Stockley (ex-Axiom, The Dingoes). On Australia Day 1986 Meldrum was made a Member of the Order of Australia for ''service to the fostering of international relief and to youth''.

In 1986, Shrimpton, Rule and Meldrum created another series, ''The Meldrum Tapes'', for ABC with an international or local artist interviewed in depth for 55 minutes—eventually 24 shows were made—which were later broadcast by MTV.

Meldrum was noted for several on-screen gaffes, although the most "famous" of all never actually appeared on screen. In a much retold incident, a clearly anxious Meldrum gushed during an interview on 13 November 1977 with Prince Charles , "I saw your Mum in London in a carriage!" to which the Prince icily replied, "Are you referring to Her Majesty the Queen?" Although this incident is often related by Meldrum in interviews, it was never broadcast.

Despite such episodes of ineptitude, Meldrum became a major star in his own right and was a champion of local talent and regularly used the show to pressure radio stations to play more Australian music. As a result of his efforts, ''Countdown'' was in a position to make overnight hits with songs and performers it featured, and through the late 1970s and early 1980s it was a key factor in determining the direction of Australian popular music.

The final episode of ''Countdown'' aired on 19 July 1987, followed by the 1986 ''Countdown'' Awards, Meldrum appeared at the end of the show wearing his cowboy hat. He saluted the music industry and fans, then bared his shaved head in imitation of Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett and expressed regret that they had never appeared on the show.

After ''Countdown''

After ''Countdown'' finished its run, Meldrum and Amanda Pelman, Mushroom Records executive, formed the Body Beat and Melodian labels, they signed Peter Andre, Jo Beth Taylor and Indecent Obsession. Meldrum presented a regular music segment, titled "Molly's Melodrama", for the popular Australian variety show, ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' from 1988. He travelled extensively, conducting interviews for the segment; one of these was a one-on-one with each member of The Rolling Stones.

Meldrum attended the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Music Awards on 29 March 1988 as a presenter. A fracas developed between band manager Gary Morris, accepting awards for Midnight Oil, and Meldrum. Morris felt that foreign artists such as Bryan Ferry should not present awards to local artists and made fun of Ferry's deliberately crumpled suit. Meldrum objected to Morris' disrespect to Ferry and he and Morris became embroiled. In 1993, Meldrum received an ARIA 'Special Achievement Award' for services to the music industry.

According to Google Books and Angus & Robertson, Meldrum co-wrote his autobiography, ''Some of My Best Friends Aren't: The Molly Meldrum Story'' with journalist Jeff Jenkins in 2000, published by Random House Australia. However, ''The Age'' reported on 4 June 2007 that the book had still not appeared.

A televised roast, in 2003, for the openly gay Meldrum, ''Molly: Toasted and Roasted'', was characterised by Meldrum as a "gay bashing" due to its excessive homophobic slurs. ''Footy Show'' star Sam Newman received boos from the audience during his speech. Meldrum became a judge on 2004's ''Popstars Live'', a reality program on Channel Seven, alongside fellow judges, Christine Anu and John Paul Young.

Meldrum's trademark cowboy hat headwear, enthusiasm for popular music, and sometimes incoherent interviewing style remain well known. By visiting Egypt over 27 times since 1969, he has become an amateur Egyptologist and collector. That his extensive general knowledge extended beyond popular music was perhaps less well-known until, as a contestant on a celebrity edition ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', he won $500,000 for a charity, the equal biggest win on the Australian version of the program until October 2005, although he only got the $500,000 by phoning a friend, Red Symons of Skyhooks fame. He appeared on the fourth series of the Australian version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' in 2006, where he dressed as a pharaoh to dance to "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles—he was voted off after the first round. He was also on an episode of ''Deal or No Deal'' (Dancing with the Deals) on 13 February 2006.

Meldrum is a prominent supporter of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL).

In September 2006, Molly's interview with Prince Charles on Countdown was listed at #41 in TV Week's 'Top 50 most memorable moments on Australian television' list. Molly made a cameo appearances in ''Remembering Nigel'' (2007) and ''Ricky! the movie'' (2010). Meldrum is listed as coauthor of Jeff Jenkin's 2007 book ''Molly Meldrum presents 50 years of rock in Australia'' where he provided comments on various Australian rock acts from 1958 to 2007. During September–October 2009, Meldrum appeared in ''Hey Hey Its Saturday'' reunion specials on the Nine Network despite working for rival Seven Network. In early December, Meldrum interviewed UK singer and ''Britain's Got Talent'' runner-up, Susan Boyle. After signing with Seven to continue on ''Sunrise'', ''Weekend Sunrise'' and ''Sunday Night'' he was unavailable for the 2010 season of ''Hey Hey It's Saturday''. In February, Meldrum was appointed King of Moomba – his second appointment – with Kate Ceberano as Queen of Moomba.

Personal life

Meldrum has a younger brother Robert, who was involved in alternative theatre, and had a cameo role on Joe Dolce's one-hit wonder "Shaddap You Face" video-clip as an accordion player. A second younger brother, Brian, is a successful racing and golf journalist and editor. Although one of the first openly gay TV stars in Australia; according to Meldrum, "I had girlfriends. I was engaged a few times", one engagement was to Joy. Since 1986, he has lived in Richmond in an Egyptian-themed house, Luxor: his long-term partner, Rui, is a chef.

Bibliography

Note: As of 4 June 2007, the existence of this book is disputed.

References

;General Note: [on-line] version is an excerpt from Chapter 2: There's a meaning there but the meaning there...

;Specific

External links

Interview MP3 extract of Molly Meldrum taken from Interviews Archive

Countdown Website

Lauren Bergman Management article

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian media personalities Category:Australian music critics Category:Australian music journalists Category:LGBT musicians from Australia Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:Television personalities from Melbourne