Molly: The Real Thing (2016) - full transcript

I'm Ian Meldrum,
and what you've just seen

is the opening of a new program
titled Meldrum.

We believe this show is a new
concept in Australian television

and that there's a ready-made
market for a program of this type.

We feel that a 6:30 timeslot,
preferably Saturday or Sunday night,

would be most suitable.

(THE REAL THING BY
RUSSELL MORRIS PLAYS)

How did he get that name -
Molly Meldrum?

No-one knows.
# Come and see the real thing

# Come and see the real thing
Come and see... #

Why was he called Molly?
I don't know.



I've got no idea.

Don't know.

I have no idea.

I thought maybe it was some
Australian thing.

# ..doesn't really mean a thing... #

Not a lot of people know this...
Uh... actually, I don't know either.

I don't know how
he got the nickname.

Was it through Elton John?

I don't really know how Molly
got his nickname.

He used to sing
Good Golly, Miss Molly all the time.

Good Golly, Miss Molly?
I don't know.

I didn't know his other name
was Ian.

What's a Molly Meldrum?
What is it? Is it a drink?

However he did, it stuck, and the
best nicknames always just stick.



# I am the real thing... #

He has this weird habit of rubbing
molasses all over his body

and streaking.

And it's sort of been
an embarrassing thing,

but 'Molly' ever since.

Did he get it when he was
writing for Go-Set magazine?

I had a feeling that John Paul Young
may have given that to him.

No! I'd have no idea.

I just wanna know how
you got the name Molly.

I mean, a name
that rhymes with Dolly,

and you don't look like
a Molly to me.

Stan Rofe.

Stan Rofe,
who was a disc jockey in Melbourne.

Stan came up with
the nickname Molly,

and it really... it really stuck.

(SMILEY BY RONNIE BURNS PLAYS)

MAN: Where Molly grew up,

very big on fruit, I believe.

The Shepparton area.

Ian was born on January 29 in 1943,

in Orbost,
which is in eastern Victoria.

Ian's mum and dad,
Robert Meldrum and Isobel Meldrum.

For the first three
years of his life,

Ian was brought up
by his grandmother and his mother,

his father was off at the war.
And that's the family.

Ian, the oldest, myself, the middle
child, and Robert, the youngest.

# Smiley... #

There's a wonderful shot of Ian
with all of us,

my cousin John, Dad and Mum, all
standing out the front of the house.

It looked like something
out of The Sullivans.

# Smiley, hey

# They say you're a man today... #

It was generally
a very happy childhood.

We didn't want for anything.

I remember Ian built a train out of
an oil drum and some cardboard boxes

and, you know,
we played in that for weeks.

Back in those days, war games
were very popular with kids,

'cause the war
hadn't been that long gone.

And he'd dress up... he'd always
want to be the German spy

or something like that.

We used to put, you know,
firecrackers in people's letterboxes

and blow them up,
and stuff like that.

I mean, there was always, you know,

those sorts of things
that the police were...

It wasn't as though
they were down every day,

but we kept them on their toes.

# Yesterday there was laughter
and songs to sing... #

He didn't go to school
in Orbost,

he moved... he and the family
moved to Kyabram.

When we got to Kyabram
I distinctly remember him

absolutely adoring music generally,
but the musicals of the time -

the My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, Kismet.

He just loved the whole
theatre of those things.

When your father isn't there for
the first three years of your life,

I mean, and the only people
around you

are your mother
and your grandmother,

well, she essentially
will have some effect on that.

# See the windows
of the greenhouse... #

Kyabram was too small.
It was a country town.

There wasn't a lot for him
in a country town,

with the interests that he had.

And I know when he was sent
to Melbourne by his parents,

to live with his aunties,

it was because I think they'd just
about had enough of him - I think.

I first met Ian 'Molly' Meldrum when
he was a young boy from the country

and he had those little
patches on his jacket,

and he was beginning to be
a journalist.

And he was very uni student.

One day he got on the bus
and he had his hair all dyed black,

and it was like, "Look at this guy,
he looks so different."

And everyone in the bus
is looking at him.

And so about a week later, I got
on the bus and I had a black suit,

black umbrella, black briefcase,
black socks, black shoes,

black tie and my hair dyed black.

Well, that must have
driven Ian insane.

My girlfriend and I used to
go and buy potato cakes

on the way home from school
some afternoons,

and I recall seeing this guy
would hop off the bus

and I'd say to my friends,
"Isn't he gorgeous?"

The next week he got on
with all these books

and he went to pay the fare,

and he had all the books
under his chin like this.

And the guy's taking off with
the bus, the bus is going,

he knew exactly what
he was going to do.

And he goes to hand the money
and then he goes, "Whoa,"

and all the books go right down the
bus and land in everybody's lap.

Well, he used to have this mop
of Beatles hair,

which was almost...
he was a trailblazer at that time.

He wore a red lamb's wool jumper

and navy blue cords
and desert boots.

And I just thought he was so cool.

And I found out later that
this gorgeous-looking creature

was at Melbourne University
doing law.

MAN: He started studying
law at one stage.

In fact, I think we talked
about that when he was insulting me

and knew that I was a lawyer

and let it be known that
he COULD HAVE been a lawyer

but elected not to go that way.

# See the clown who makes
the children laugh... #

My father said, "There's someone
at the back door wants to see you.

"I don't know who it is."

So I went to the back door
and through the screen,

"Oh, that's the guy on the bus!"

And he came in and
he said, "My name's Ian,"

we introduced each other,
and he said,

"Would I be allowed to
move into your house

"with your family for two weeks?"

And I said, "Look, Dad's
in the lounge room, go and ask him."

He went in and my dad said yes.

I do believe he stayed there
for nine years.

# See the mountains
made of ice-cream... #

For Ian to meet the Burns family,
but particularly Ronnie Burns,

at that stage of his life,
I think it changed his life forever.

He used to live out in the veranda,
he had his...

Well, it was enclosed.

And he lived there for years.

And he was really happy there.

Molly and I spent our misspent youth

living here together
with my parents -

my mum and dad - and my brother.

Right here in this building, and his
bedroom was just at the front here,

which is now a veranda.

The bed was probably... looked like a
camp stretcher, it was so... so tiny.

It's a very, very tiny space,
but it's just enough to put a bed

and the little wardrobe
and his little desk.

And it really was from this flat,
this building,

that the careers of many Australian
entertainers came about.

# How I wish I were
a little boy again

# Living in a child's dream... #

I had started,
with friends from school,

the original St Kilda cheer squad.

And we put our little banner up
on the fence at the MCG.

Ian came up and asked me
if he could join my cheer squad.

Well, I realised that
he was the gorgeous creature

that I'd seen
getting off the bus in Elwood,

and so I was quite overcome and I
said, "Oh, yes, of course you can."

(LAUGHS)

NEWSREEL: The Saints are in their
first grand final in 52 years.

BURNS: He had a boater hat,
he wanted a scarf,

so my mother made him a white scarf

with the St Kilda colours
at the end of it.

My mum's feelings toward Ian
were very special.

She did see him like a son,
and so did my dad,

but there was a real closeness
between them

because at the time that he came
to live in Elwood with us,

I went out to start my career.

I was out with the band
four, five, six nights a week,

and he was at home watching
television with my parents.

So, they formed
a special relationship

and, again, it was just part of
that feeling of being family.

And, you know, I'm happy
that my mum and dad did that,

because I don't know where
he would have been without that.

I do recall that Ronnie
was really... he was nice.

You know, he was just a nice guy.

I mean, but I was sort of
not a BIT in awe of him,

I was totally in awe of him.

You know, a guy playing in a band
that was opening for the Rolling
Stones, good heavens.

# Smiley

# You're out in the world today

# Smiley
You're all on your own... #

We were always going to the beach.
We used to put coconut oil on us.

There was no slip, slop, slap
in those days.

And then other people
came to the beach,

like Jim Keays from the Masters
Apprentices, and Russell Morris.

MORRIS: We would always hang out
either down at Elwood Beach

or go up to Dendy Street, Brighton.

I sort of tried to drag them
up to Dendy Street

because there was much
better-looking women up there.

# Nah, nah-nah, nah

# Nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah... #

Back then, we didn't have a plan.

We'd run into people
at the pizza shop.

BREEN: None of us drank alcohol
in those days.

Fascinating.

Times have changed.

# Hush, hush

# Thought I heard her
calling my name now... #

BREEN: In 1964,
I remember Ian telling me,

"I'm going to Surfers Paradise for
three weeks for a surfing holiday."

My boyfriend was away from me
for that time,

but he did send me
the most gorgeous postcards.

Well, I was so excited
to receive them,

and they do actually say how much he
missed me and wanted to come back.

Couldn't wait to see me,
and all the rest.

It was lovely.

# She's got love
that's like quicksand

# Only took one touch
of her hand... #

He would come and pick me up in
what he called his old Woody,

which was his amazing old Chevy car,

and I don't even know
if he had a licence.

We had a delightful relationship.

# Hush, hush... #

So, outside the front of Myer,

the lay-by loo,
he asked me to marry him.

And I remember looking at him
and just saying,

"Oh, God, darling, I think we're
having too much fun to get married!"

I can see why Ian and her
really, really hit it off.

They seem to be very like-minded.

If I'd married Ian, we'd have lasted
one year if we'd have been lucky

and that would have been that.

So, instead of which,
I didn't marry him

and we've been friends
for over 50 years.

Best friends.

# Hush, hush

# Can't you hear me
calling her name... #

I looked over there
and there was this blonde girl

with the mesh stockings
and the fancy dress

and the lippy
and all that sort of stuff,

and I wondered what Mum was doing.

She's calling out, "Ian,
come back here! Come back here!"

'Cause some guy wanted to pick up
this girl, which was Molly in drag.

I think by 1967,
I'd slightly discovered other boys

and I think Molly might have too.

And then... (LAUGHS)

..in 1968 my husband of 46 years
and I eloped.

And Molly burst into my office,
"Did you get married last week?!"

"Yes."

So, he said, "Get me a line,
I'm going to ring Aunty Edna."

So, he phoned Aunty Edna and he
said, "Sandy got married last week.

"That's it, I'm gay."

(LAUGHS)

NEWSREEL: And this is
absolutely wonderful

here at the Southern Cross,
it's fantastic.

MAN: When the Beatles arrived
in Australia in 1964,

it was just absolute mayhem.

No-one had ever seen
anything like it in Australia.

You can't imagine what it's like
here at the Southern Cross.

Everyone's going completely mad.

The police were attempting,
you know...

"We've gotta get
this car through here."

So, what Ian did was, like,
"I'm on the side of the police.

"Everybody stand back, get back,"

just so that the police would say,
"Look at this guy.

"He's really helping us. Maybe we
can take him in to see the Beatles."

I don't know what
he had in his mind.

When the Beatles came out
onto the balcony,

because Ian was at that front point

trying to hold everyone back
as he looked up at the balcony,

he got pushed underneath
to the shopfronts there.

And there was a florist
with glass windows,

and he actually went
through the glass window

and he was upset,
from what he told me,

because he couldn't see them then.
Here are the Beatles!

(CROWD SCREAMS) G'day. Welcome.

MAN: The Beatles did that -

they just turned popular music
into something

that just forced its way
into people's lounge rooms,

and he erupted as well with that.

And then rock'n'roll just...

They just introduced
this whole new feeling

about popular music in Australia.
(CROWD ROARS)

BURNS: So, this is where one of
the most memorable events occurred.

We were here for one thing,
and that was to see the Beatles.

And Molly would jump up at
every song, and he was screaming.

And a St John's Ambulance guy
came in,

made his way in through the aisle,

and said to Ian,
"I've got to take you outside.

"I don't feel safe about
the way you're carrying on."

And I said, "Look, he'll be OK.
He's in my company."

And I pulled him back down to the
chair, the ambulance guy took off

and then Ian jumped up again,
screaming like a girl.

So, I stood up to say,
"Molly, sit down,"

and I must have had
my fist clenched,

and the ushers came and they put
our arms up behind our back

and just marched us straight out
to the aisle here

and they took us down the stairs,
someone opened the door

and they literally threw us out
like being drunks in a bar.

They just chucked us outside
and we were devastated.

Then the Beatles went into Long Tall
Sally and Ian was hysterical.

NEWSREEL: In this
national newspaper,

printed every Saturday in Melbourne,

parents and oldies
have no say at all.

MAN: Molly at Go-Set, well,
first of all he was a journalist.

He was not only a student
but also, I suppose,

in many ways a teacher
of pop culture.

So why don't you go out
and buy your Go-Set for 15 cents,

and also there's the 3XY news page,

my column
and everything else in the paper.

MAN: Well, Go-Set was great for if
you were interested in music at all

because it had all the latest
gossip and pictures

and, you know, interesting stuff
about people that we were fans of.

I saw it as a very pure
magazine for the kids.

NEWSREEL: It now has 15 people
working full-time

and another 10 working part-time.

YOUNG: I never knew until later

that I was Molly Meldrum's first
interview for Go-Set magazine,

and I always wondered why
he was so incredibly nervous.

HEWETT: We had a phone call saying,

"Oh, Go-Set want to do
an interview."

We've gone, "Go-Set?!
I mean, God, that's like the Bible.

"Why do they wanna talk to us?"

You know, like, "Duh,"
sucking on our Fantas.

Um, and Ian was the one
that did the interview.

I think he must have been
17, 18, something like that.

MAN: Have you got any policy
behind your column?

I say it's a helpful column, to this
point, that even my best friends,

including myself,
will be rubbished in that column.

Molly had an interview with me
and he said,

"How do you feel about a statement
that the Bee Gees made..."

Which they never made,
I don't know where he got it from.

"..saying that, you know, Australia
never gave them the chance

"that they've had in England?"

And I said, "I can't imagine them
saying that,

"because I know how much
they love Australia,

"but if they said it,
I would be really disappointed."

So, the front page of the Go-Set
magazine the following week was,

"Johnny Young slams Bee Gees!"

And, you know, Barry and the boys
weren't very happy with me.

So thank you, Molly, for that.

In '66, '67, '68, '69,

I was totally committed
to the pop scene.

I lived the pop scene,
I ate and slept the pop scene.

BURNS: He left us in Elwood,
and there was an absence for me

because we were like brothers.

And so he'd gone away
for three months,

and then he decided he'd take
an extra three months

and come back via America.

And he went there to make his
fame and fortune, and he did it.

The rest was really history
after that.

The Beatles had founded
their own label, Apple Records.

Believe it or not, Molly was
one of the few employees

that worked there,
in promotions and publicity.

He actually lived right next to
the Abbey Road Studios,

so that smell must have
rubbed off on him.

When he went to England
he met Terry Doran,

who was the Beatles'
press photographer.

So, at a party, he says,

"Ian, I need you to come
and meet someone special."

He took him across the floor
and that was when he said,

"John Lennon, Ian Meldrum."
And Ian passed out on the floor.

So, Lennon said,
"Who the hell's this?"

They said, "That's Ian Meldrum."

And that's how
they got to know each other.

YOUNG: When I was living
in England in 1967,

I heard a knock on the front door
at about 10 o'clock in the morning.

There's Molly, and he said,

"Oh, John, John,
have you got any brandy?

"Have you got any brandy?"

And I said, "What do you need brandy
for at 10 o'clock in the morning?"

He said... And he had a little tape
recorder with him, and he said,

"I've got to do an interview
with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

"in 10 minutes and I'm so nervous

"I don't think I'm gonna
be able to push the button

"to start the tape recorder.

So, I didn't have a brandy,
I think I had a Scotch,

and I gave him some and
he calmed down a little bit

and he went and did his interview,
and it was splendid.

# Oh, baby, I love you so... #

He sent me a postcard
signed by the Beatles.

He's got a signed album
with all of the Beatles on it.

It's the White Album,
signed by all of the Beatles.

And that's rare.

# I love you so

# I can't go on... #

We've had two pop television shows -
one that ran for an hour,

which was The Go Show,
and two, Kommotion,

which ran for five nights
a week at a half-hour.

MAN: Kommotion was
basically a program

of good-looking young
Melbourne girls and guys

miming the songs of the day.

The worst mimers on
the planet, you know.

# Falling down across her arms

# Hiding all the lady's charms... #

MAN: I didn't realise that
the people that were on the TV

weren't actually singing them.

So, I was probably
a fan of Molly's, thinking,

"Oh, jeez, I like the way he sounds
like he's got a megaphone on."

I think he's had a longer career

than most of the people
he wanted to be.

HEWETT: He always had this funny
sort of dance thing, you know.

I always used to call it
the university sort of dance.

You know, it was kind of not
in rhythm, but somewhere there.

That's how Ian moves.
He does that...

Right, now here's that ever so
controversial Ian 'Molly' Meldrum.

How do you do, Tony? How are you?
Speak to the camera.

Oh, I'd like to wish everybody
a happy new year,

and I hope you had
a ball of a Christmas.

WYLLIE: Uptight was
a four-hour, live-to-air,

unrehearsed television show
on a Saturday morning at Channel 0.

I can assure you that I'll drop as
many names in 1969 as I did in 1968.

WOMAN: Not possible.

WYLLIE: Molly was quite
an eccentric person, I felt.

He was very out there. I remember
he was totally undisciplined.

Do you feel that age
has much to do with...

You want to know how old I am?

Yes, of course
I want to know how old you are.

Much younger than Carol West.
(ALL LAUGH)

On that note...

WYLLIE: I used to have to
worry about Molly.

He would sit on my left
and Youngy would sit on my right,

and they were just both waiting
for me to fall over

so they'd jump into my chair.

And I had one sick day
in four years. (LAUGHS)

I wasn't letting that chair go.

As you probably know, Barry Gibb has
returned to Australia for two weeks,

and I have Barry sitting next to me.

Welcome to the program, Barry.
Hi, Ian.

Well, first question is,

what was your main purpose
for returning to Australia?

Well, because it's
the only country in the world

where you can depend on the sun.

Uptight and Happening '70
were the ones

that I have very clear memories of.

I'll tell you what
we have got, Ian.

What have you got?
Which is always...

(STAMMERS) You surprise me
what you've...

..always good to see.

YOUNG: Suddenly in the mid-'60s,
we had this revolution,

and Molly was a part
of this revolution.

It was when we decided
we wanted to make our music,

and out of that came
the adventures of Molly Meldrum.

And now one of our biggest
records at the moment,

by Melbourne boy Russell Morris,
and he is The Real Thing.

# Come and see the real thing

# Come and see the real thing
Come and see... #

He managed the band that
I was in, Somebody's Image,

and produced our first two singles
on a four-track machine,

and did such an unbelievable job.

Molly Meldrum was
extremely interested

in the production of music,

as well as being an admirer.

Obviously he had to understand
how it was made.

And I don't think a lot of people
really know what a great producer

he actually is.

Finding someone who had that talent
was astronomical,

but that was the way it worked out.

# I am the real thing... #

What was happening in music,
all the solo artists

and all the bands were just doing
straight songs,

and Ian and I realised that
I had to do something

that was out of the ordinary.

(PLAYS OPENING CHORDS
OF THE REAL THING)

From the start...

# Come and see the real thing

# Come and see the real thing
Come and see

# Come and see the... #

It was that sort of up,
sort of vibey sort of thing,

and we didn't... we just didn't
wanna do it like that.

We needed something that was more
spacy and more sort of psychedelic.

# Come and see the real thing

# Come and see the real thing
Come and see... #

I remember when I first heard
The Real Thing, Ian said,

"Listen, John Young's played us
some songs, have a listen to them."

So John played me a number of songs,
and they were quite good.

I said, "They're pretty good,"
I said,

"but there are so many other solo
artists and these are similar.

"What we're looking for
is something different."

And Ian said,
"Play him that other song."

And Johnny said,
"No, it's not for a solo artist."

And Ian said, "Just play it to him,"
and he played The Real Thing.

And I looked at Ian and I said,
"That's what I want."

And Ian said, "Yes, I know."

And Johnny thought we were crazy.

When I wrote The Real Thing, I
didn't have Russell Morris in mind.

You know, I heard it more as
a band song, Beatle-esque.

I don't think anybody else
could have sung The Real Thing

as well as Russell has done it,
and he's made it his own.

(AUDIENCE SCREAMS)

ROWE: All John knows is that
he wrote this song

and Molly wanted it,
and it went into the studio

and about - I don't know - seven
years later it came out as a record.

The word 'budget'
meant nothing to him.

So, you know, he'd just sort of...

.."that was no good.

"Scrap it, do it again.
Scrap it, do it again."

# There's a meaning there
But the meaning there doesn't... #

Ian rang me and said,
"I've got this brilliant idea.

"We're going to make it
six minutes long."

I said, "Are you insane?
How can we do that?"

He said, "I'll put sound effects."

I said, "Ian, there's at least
three minutes of nothingness."

I said, "It will be boring."

He said, "Oh, just leave it to me.
I'll fix it."

And I was very doubtful,
but... he really pulled it off.

He was the architect
of The Real Thing.

# I am not seeing you... #

YOUNG: Molly spent so much money,

and the people from
the record company came

and listened to the unmixed stuff,

and to them it just sounded
like nonsense,

and it ran for seven minutes.

And so they said, "Molly, we're
gonna take you off the production."

Even when the EMI people
came down to hear it,

'cause they were so angry
we'd spent so much money,

Ian took the tapes,
he was terrified they'd hate it.

And he took the tapes
so they couldn't hear it.

Molly rang the record company
and said,

"I've got the master tapes here,
that we've spent a fortune on,

"and I've got a lighter,

"and if you don't give me a fax

"guaranteeing that I'm gonna be
able to finish this production,

"I'm gonna burn the master."

# Trying hard to understand the
meaning that you'll see in me... #

And they went nuts and said they had
to hear it, so we played it for them

and of course Ian was right -
they hated it.

They thought it was the biggest
load of rubbish they'd ever heard.

And they went back to Sydney and
they weren't going to release it.

So, Ian and I got in the car
and drove up to Sydney

and went to all the radio stations
and got the program managers to say,

"Yes, we will play this."

# There's a meaning there

# But the meaning there
doesn't really mean a thing... #

And, of course, the record company
was totally thrilled

because it turned out to be

one of the biggest-selling records
of all time.

# Am the real thing... #

The collaboration of Russell
Morris, Ian Meldrum and John Young

with The Real Thing, I think, was...

It was probably an incredibly
serendipitous moment for those guys.

It really was a happy accident.

It sounded like nothing else.

It just had, like,
this whole sort of world in a song.

It was groundbreaking stuff then.

It was, "Whoa, you know, wow,
they must be just tripping."

There I was, lying on the floor

and I'm going... I'm listening to
the beginning of The Real Thing

and then on and on, all this stuff,
and Molly's got all this stuff,

and I'm going...

You know, I won't say the word,
but, "What?"

You know, just... more surprises and
more surprises and more surprises,

and sort of almost orgasmic,
you know?

Sort of like lovemaking.

And then at the end...
(MIMICS EXPLOSION)

..the atom bomb.

And I... I wept. I wept.

HEWETT: What a production! Gosh!

And I didn't realise at the time,
but, I mean,

Day By Day turned out to be
just as big of a production.

Oh! What a lot of fire
in that session. (GROWLS)

# Prepare ye

# The way of the Lord

# Prepare ye

# The way of the Lord... #

MAN: Colleen Hewett's record
Day By Day took 18 months,

somewhere like that.

I mean, I pity the poor girl
if she had to just keep singing

over and over again,
which is what I've heard.

# The way of the Lord... #

The third week, I've had it
up to here with Day By Day,

because it is a repetitive,
gorgeous melody.

And the boys were so good,
their part was nailed.

And I came out,
and he kept on just...

Well, I just walked up to him
this day and I just lost it.

I went from no swearing,
no aggressiveness,

want to get on with everybody,

but he just...
I couldn't understand him.

And I've grabbed him by his big
pullover and I've just shoved...

'Cause he's only little.
I wasn't this big then, either.

I shoved him up against the wall
and I've gone bang!

(LAUGHS) He's gone, "Oh!"

Fainted down on the floor.

# To see thee more clearly... #

But you know what?

It's the biggest hit song
I have ever had.

It's the most memorable arrangement.

The whole drama of it is Ian.

Ian doesn't go anywhere where there
isn't a little touch of drama.

That's the way he works.
That's the way he loves it.

Molly was the Phil Spector
type of person from Australia.

Phil would be absolutely obsessed
and manic as well.

Obviously I have a great
deal of respect for him

because he was doing stuff.

And people have to remember
the context.

It's 1969, for starters,

and he's out there doing something
that's so off the track

of what you should be doing
in those days -

so championing bands, going
to Sunbury, you know.

This is in '69, '70,

all those early years
when no-one was doing that.

It's like the guys that
were in the bands.

You know, that was such... so wrong
to do things like that.

Now they've got courses in
primary school to be a rock star.

It's ridiculous.
I'll never forget Sunbury in '73

because Molly introduced me

to the crowd, and unbeknownst to me
said, "Make him feel welcome.

"When he comes out I want you
all to sort of light up your torches

"or your cigarette lighters
and move towards the stage."

So I come out, wondering what
I'm doing at a rock concert,

and 40,000 kids, or whatever,
all lit up their lighters

and walked towards the stage.

And I thought,
"They're coming to get me."

It was bloody Molly.

# Johnny's with a Julie

# He tells her she's his girl

# Says "I'll love you always"... #

MORRIS: He produced not only me,

he produced Ronnie Burns,
he produced Colleen Hewett,

he produced the Ferrets,
and they were all fabulous records.

# Ooh, ask no questions
and get told no lies... #

MILLER: I recorded a demo in Sydney
and I played it to him

and a couple of days later he called
me in, he was all emotional,

and said,
"We've gotta record this record.

"I'm ringing Gudinski."

There is no-one that has singly,
in my lifetime,

done more for Australian music
than Molly, nowhere near it.

Not even close to it.

# Don't fall in love

# Big mouths, bright lights... #

He had this ability to build a mix.
I've never seen anyone else do it.

It's sort of like magic.

# Can't you see they're
cheating all of you? #

He did the Ferrets record,
which came out in a brown paper bag.

I was that angry with him, he took
that long trying to get it right.

We credited it as
"Produced by Willie Everfinish",

which was a joke,
having a crack at him,

'cause we had a massive hit

and you need to, you know,
capitalise and keep moving.

# Don't fall in love... #

Cheetah, not only did they have
a massive hit in Australia

with Walking In the Rain,
it was top 10 in Germany as well.

I think as a producer,
Molly is very gifted.

I think he's got that sort of Phil
Spector, uh... connection to music.

As well as being a fan,
he can actually affect it,

he can actually change it,
he can mould it.

He knows a lot about music,

but he also knows a lot about
what connects with people

and what attaches to people.
He's a really clever man.

# Don't fall in love

# Big cars,
bright lights and bow ties... #

(COUNTDOWN THEME PLAYS)

(HORROR MOVIE BY SKYHOOKS PLAYS)

SYMONS: Pretty much every band
worth its salt,

every band that ever
recorded anything,

had an enormous amount
of television experience

that bands in the United States
or England simply didn't have

because we had this testing ground
called Countdown.

There was a couple of things you had
to do to be successful in Australia.

One of them was get your picture
in the middle of TV Week

and the other one was
to be on Countdown.

It was our version of Top Of
the Pops, so everybody popped in.

I mean, it's more of a question of

what bands didn't Molly
introduce me to.

It was a religion for us, you know.
I mean, that was our church.

That was the first time
I saw Molly in colour,

and what an eye-opener that was.

And I'll say do yourself a favour,

'cause you really must have a listen
to this album - Sports... Ah.

"Do yourself a favour" -
great catchcry -

was another Molly original
that he ripped off

out of the Marilyn Monroe-Tony
Curtis movie Some Like It Hot.

So, here I am, still this very
naive, young boy from Brisbane,

go into Molly's bedroom.

Molly's in the bed, and it was
a rather interesting negotiation

getting videos played on Countdown,

trying to be very serious
sitting on the end of the bed,

asking Molly Meldrum to please play
Simon and Garfunkel's latest video.

I don't think Australia had ever
had the amount of overseas talent

coming to Australia, and of course
they all did Countdown.

Molly knew his stuff.

He knew the questions and the songs,

and you could tell that
he cared about it.

(ON PHONE) Hey, this is
Paul Stanley from Kiss.

STANLEY: You have to remember
that interviews

and talking transcontinent

and across the oceans
was in its infancy then.

And it had the same kind
of connotations

as when you saw the astronauts
land on the moon.

(ON PHONE) Well, Molly, you know,
you've always been a pal.

You've been with us
since the beginning,

and I just wanted to wish
all the viewers of Countdown

the best for 1980.

I remember the first time
I met Molly.

It was at the Sebel Townhouse, um...

..and it was in the bar.

And he had that look in his eye...

..and I had that look in my eye,
and we went 'connect'.

And he bought me a drink.

And I believe at the time
it would have been

probably whisky and Diet Coke.

Madonna was untouchable.

No-one could get near Madonna unless
you were an uber-star yourself.

And that was Molly Meldrum.

You can be guaranteed Molly would
always mess up something -

and that was his beauty
and his charm.

He kept calling me Jane.

And I said, "No, it's Gene." He
said, "That's what I said - Jane."

We went back and forth on that
for a while.

Whether it be
the embarrassing moments

when he's interviewing
Prince Charles,

which none of us ever forget.

(CLEARS THROAT) And now we come to
the most important part of the...

MAN: Hold it, Ian. Hold it a minute.
Alright. Alright.

Could I just have one glass
of water, please?

(MIMICS MOLLY) "Jane, tell me
something..." "No, no, Gene."

"Jane." "Gene." "Jane."

You don't have one of these,
uh... teleprompters?

No.

Some of the artists when Molly just,
one listen to their very first song,

Molly would just have that instinct
and gift and feel to say,

"We're gonna break this artist
here in Australia."

And that ranges from people
like Blondie and ABBA,

who broke here in a big way,

Madonna, John Mellencamp,
Meat Loaf, Cyndi Lauper.

Of course Billy Joel

and Michael Jackson,
who loved Molly.

It was amazing every time Michael
came to Australia

he wanted to see Molly,

and Molly would always secure
that amazing interview with him.

Molly was influencing
millions of dollars.

There was absolutely no doubt
that Molly was a leader.

The fact that they put unsigned
acts on Countdown was a great thing.

I mean, Supernaut came from nowhere
with I Like It Both Ways.

Uh... be it Pseudo Echo.

My manager calls me up,
all excited, and said,

"I've been speaking to Molly and
he wants to put you on the show."

And I said, "But we don't
even have a record deal,"

and it was just a big
blur from there on.

I think within a period of a couple
of weeks, we were on Countdown.

# And I say, you say

# Weren't you listening? #

Molly's on there talking about some
cool band that's about to explode

and, you record companies, you know,
you'd better look out for them,

and I'm going,
"Is he going to say us?"

And next thing he says, you know,
"This is this band Pseudo Echo.

"You know, Australia, do yourself
a favour, check them out."

And he really, you know,
drummed it home and hyped us up.

And then it was probably
about a month after that

that we started,
you know, signing a deal.

It was great when shows
like Countdown...

..when Molly would support you.

That just gives you confidence,
I guess.

He would go on, "Do yourself
a favour," hold up an album,

and people would go to the record
store and buy that album.

It's a strange question, you know?
Um...

I mean, is there, like...
Let me start again.

(LAUGHS) I didn't understand
the question at all!

I think he had a huge impact
on my career, personally.

I think he was instrumental
in really getting me

and my image and my records,

and everything, and putting
it on a platform that said,

"Hey, this is worth taking
notice of, kids," you know.

And they did.

If you have somebody who's excited
about music, it's infectious.

So he infected everybody
with that excitement.

# Don't come in

# I'll only run and hide

# Who can it be now? #

The 100th show of Countdown
started innocently enough

and then it arrived.

It was off its head and it... it was
telling everybody it was jet lag.

Alright, now... Sherbet...

He'd flown in and then he must have
had some sort of a pill

to sort of calm him down
a little bit,

and I do believe there may
have been a vodka in there -

just one, just one vodka.

Ian Meldrum has been exhausted,
John.

Oh, he is, man. I saw him.
Completely out of his...

He's had enough, Ian,
and he's gone, so...

Molly's the guy who was
in the dressing-room

of these amazing performers.

What are INXS gonna come next?

And it might just take him to say,

"Hey, there's this really cool
new band called INXS."

Yep, he's a connector.

He genuinely wants musicians
to hear other musicians

and artists to be connected.
And, uh... I can only imagine

all those little sparks of things
that he's been a part of.

Molly connects with people
'cause he's such a dag.

And he's passionate.

But he's a big dag.

There was a little group
called Duran Duran

who were on tour
here in Australia,

and they were at a party
at his house

and he kept playing this record
I had just finished with INXS,

called Original Sin.

And they heard it,
and he kept playing it

over and over and over again.

And I know that Simon Le Bon
and Nick Rhodes,

all the guys were like going,
"What IS that?"

Like, "That's, like, the most
amazing thing we ever heard."

Um... and he said, you know,
"It's Original Sin."

Like, "Who produced that?"
"Nile Rodgers."

# Dream on, white boy
White boy... #

That was a powerful moment for them.

Something magical about INXS

and being with Molly at that moment
in their lives overwhelmed them.

Thank God, because, you know,
it's given me lifelong friends

and a group that I've made hit
records for over and over again.

# The reflex is a lonely child... #

Yo, Molly, thanks for playing
Original Sin for Duran Duran,

'cause, I mean,
that was our hook-up.

Had they not heard that
in that situation,

maybe we would have never
gotten together

or maybe it would have taken
a hell of a lot longer.

But... here it is, history. Thanks.

# Isn't that bizarre? #

Duran Duran has shot to number one
first week in on the British charts.

Which of course makes
Duran Duran very happy.

REYNE: I think it was instrumental

that Molly might have played
John Taylor the song Reckless.

He said, "That song of yours
Reckless, I love that.

"We love that song.

"Why don't you guys
come and support us

"on a tour of England and Scotland?"

I'm going, "Sure,"

but inside going...
(MOCKINGLY) .. "Sure."

And we ended up touring
with Duran Duran

when they were probably
the biggest band,

when they were at the peak of
their Duran-ness.

# Don't be so reckless

# Throw down your gun... #

And I think that Molly
was instrumental in that.

So, thank you. Thank you, Ian.

We did this little secret gig
called the Singing Budgie,

and Michael Hutchence
was in the audience,

and we just started
seeing each other.

Molly was there, and he was
in the middle of the audience

just willing me to do well.

Mr Meldrum, this is my mother.

How do you do, Mrs Mitchell.
Hello.

I would have been nervous
meeting Molly for the first time

because he's Molly.

I mean, that's it.

But perhaps he was more nervous
than me because he had to act.

And that's quite a talented daughter
you've got there too, Mrs Mitchell.
Yes.

Molly was that keen on the Minogues,
became friends, became consistent.

# Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh... #

DANNII MINOGUE: Molly has been
such a champion for my family.

His passion for music is one thing,

his passion for pop music
is ridiculous.

And I guess he saw that we loved it
too and we wanted to do that.

He's supported us and pop music

through times when
'pop' was a dirty word.

# Better the devil you know... #

My friendship with Molly
just grew over time,

but I have to say he was such
a strong supporter in the beginning,

and the beginning for me
was very successful

but not a lot of critical acclaim
whatsoever.

Just kind of this
fresh, naive success.

So, to have his support
was fantastic,

and I think... I don't know,

he kind of took me under his wing
a little bit

and it really developed into
a mutual respect

and a love and a friendship.

He defended me all the time.

And that, for me, is something
that I've never forgotten,

I've never forgotten.

And I just thought,
"Wow, what a man."

He's always been
unbelievably supportive

and even probably when he shouldn't
have been, in the early days.

They said only the prime minister
could ever have a hat.

So, I'd like to present you
with a Molly's hat.

(LAUGHS)

Molly, at the end of the day,
is everybody's friend.

Unless you're trying to steal
his hat. Then you're dead.

(MAN SHRIEKS)

And every time I see someone
in Australia with a hat on

I think, "Maybe it's Molly!"

Yeah, Lindsay Fox gave him the hat,
which is a bit of a poor effort

when you think about
how many trucks he's got.

Why didn't he give him a big truck,

a big shiny truck that
he can drive around in?

MAN: The famous hat
that he has today...

Yes. I bought for him in Aspen.

He argues about that.

That's where it started. Yes.

# And high on the hill
looking over the bridge

# To the MCG... #

PAULA FOX: I remember when
he arrived in the helicopter,

and as he got out
he flashed a browneye.

(LAUGHS)

It wasn't attractive.

Oh, looking at Molly's backside

is something that
I wasn't interested in.

# I go in leaps and bounds... #

Every Christmas, Molly goes over
to the Foxes and sits down.

Not only Christmas, probably
Boxing Day, New Year's Day.

Like, quite often Molly will just
be, like, you know, the extra kid.

He had 17 Christmases with us,
and Nana Peele used to come.

Mrs Peele was my mother, and he just
gravitated towards my mother.

And she adored him.

And he'd come round
and have dinner with Mum

and she'd make him
a lovely home-cooked meal.

So, she was only in a little house

and he was around the corner
in a little house as well.

LINDSAY FOX: Molly would turn up
there at any time

and jump into bed with
this 75-year-old woman.

And this was just
a regular occurrence

as a kid would jump into
bed with his mum or dad.

And this must have
gone on for 10 years.

Do you think your mother
interfered with him?

I don't think so.
(INTERVIEWER LAUGHS)

I don't think so. He's terrible.
God.

# I remember... #

He took her out one night,
which was interesting.

He got her out of bed
at about 11 o'clock at night

and he took her to a nightclub.

And they went into the city and he
got out of the car to do something

and the car took off down the hill.

So, she didn't go nightclubbing
with him again.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SYMONS: Hey Hey was
always a battleground.

It was everybody picking on
everybody else,

and Molly got his fair share.

I mean, right from the outset,

if he thought a band was good,
we would pooh-pooh the idea.

They sort of took the piss
out of Molly on Hey Hey,

but, at the same time,
they knew how important he was.

And it was all,
you know, like, I mean,

really they took the piss out of
everybody on Hey Hey It's Saturday.

He definitely had an impact
on Powderfinger's career

through that really mainstream
kind of medium.

Watch out for her.
She is absolutely sensational.

I remember playing him my demos

in the very early stages
of my writing career,

where his opinion was something
that I valued very, very much.

It took a lot of guts for me
to kinda step up and go,

"Oh, excuse me, Molly, I know you
get a lot of demos and stuff,

"but this is my band and, you know,
if you could take a listen..."

I played my 14 12-year-old demos
to Molly and we spoke about music,

and he just was... absolutely knew
that I was gonna be doing music

and just completely supported
that from day one.

(I'M STILL STANDING
BY ELTON JOHN PLAYS)

That was a lot of fun, and that's
when he got involved with Elton John

and those kind of people.
# Happy birthday, dear Elton... #

Yeah, it totally makes sense that
Elton and Molly were friends.

Totally.

Archibald Prizewinner Wes Walters

painted an incredible
portrait of Molly,

and Elton John bought it
for him at auction

and it stands proudly in Molly's
house to this day.

# Your blood like winter
freezes just... #

OK, I've been to a few
parties with Molly

and I can't really talk about them.

(LAUGHS) As simple as that,
you know.

(LAUGHS)

When Molly's in party mode

it's probably best if
you're in party mode as well.

And I think Ian obviously was
a lot worldlier than we were

and, you know, let us pretend that
we were the hard men of rock'n'roll

when I think he was actually
living harder that us.

I think he rode a Harley-Davidson
through my house one time.

# I'm still standing
better than I ever did... #

DANNII MINOGUE: He's in a limo
going up to the Dandenongs,

winding around the roads,

and, of course, Molly's having
a few drinks on the way.

Molly says to the driver,

"I need to stop and get out
'cause I need to go to the toilet."

He stands up,
he's got his daks around his ankles,

he's having a whiz and falls
off the side of the mountain!

Tumbling down between all the trees
in the Dandenongs. "Aarggh!"

Swearing like anything.

# I'm still standing

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

I think when one got invited to
Ian's parties it was like "Wow!"

He showed us his cowboy tattoo
on his bum.

(LAUGHS)

SAYER: Michael Chugg had
a birthday party in Phuket,

and Molly was there.

Out he comes
dressed as Marilyn Monroe.

It was...

Let's just say it was disastrous
and great in equal measures.

The ugliest Marilyn Monroe
I've ever seen in my life.

# Passionate kisses

# Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me... #

We had a housekeeper come in,

and we forgot to tell her that Molly
was having a sleepover.

So, she's working away
in the kitchen, down comes Molly

simply wearing just the hat
and pink budgie smugglers

that looked like a serious mankini.

# Ooh, ooh, ooh

# 'Cause I'm on fire when you... #

So, everybody is cheering
at his house, another party,

and he presents me
with a present of this.

And he's standing there hugging me
and he's, like, "Check this out!"

(LAUGHS) And all of a sudden
this gorgeous woman walks on

and starts singing Born To Try
and dancing,

had way better legs than me -

and just, like, legs 11 -
and I was just...

It was the first time I'd ever been
given a drag queen as a present.

# Passionate kisses... #

FANNING: Molly has a passion for
pretty much everything in his life,

whether it be music, Egypt, vodka...

(LAUGHS) ..or the spa.

We are on camera, so some things
we will take to our graves,

but let me just say it was fun,

and whatever you think happened
at the parties, it was worse.

I can picture Shane Warne
and Molly Meldrum in the spa.

That's probably...

..it's a little disturbing,
but yeah.

Um, Moll's hand has been on my leg
plenty of times,

um... but it wasn't in the spa, no.

I might have had my hand on
someone else's leg in the spa,

but it wasn't Molly's hand on mine.
# Kiss me passionately... #

GUDINSKI: At the Melbourne Town Hall

they've got portraits of kings
and queens of Moomba.

I tell you, the photo of Molly, it
looks like he had a monster night.

It looks like he had no sleep
whatsoever, ruffled and fluffled.

CANHAM: You know that movie,
Peter Sellers, The Party?

(LAUGHS) The elephant scene in that
often reminded me of Molly's house.

Ian will, once he starts,
you just disappear,

because if he happens to
get tired along the way

he's gonna pick a fight with you.

He would always stand up for himself

and he would always
stand up for his friends.

So, wouldn't take a backward step.

I think he did get into
a couple of little punch-ups.

We had a massive blue out at the...

And we got out of the car
and we were swinging at each other,

and there was mud,
he was sinking in the grass,

and two cars pulled up
and said, "Can you not...

"Can you stop picking on Molly!"
He was picking on me.

I think my wife knocked him out
one night.

You know,
she punched him in the chin

when he was having a fight
about his label with Michael.

So, I've actually grabbed him,
I've shaken him.

I remember shaking him

and I've pushed his head
right in the microwave.

You cannot shut a microwave door
with someone's head in it.

We'd been invited to a party
at Molly Meldrum's house,

and just being a young
kid down here...

We had to dress up. It was a
dress-up party, an Egyptian theme.

# One way or another
I'm gonna find ya... #

The Egypt thing with Molly
is pretty incredible.

'Cause that was one of the things,
when we went to his house

to do an interview,
that I suppose I expected

to see a lot of music
memorabilia there.

I mean, you are navigating
around pyramids and sphinxes

and stuff there more than anything.

It's incredible. It's really
beautiful, the collection of stuff
that he's got.

It's incredible.

The interior of his home
made a real big impact on me,

'cause all Egyptian everywhere.

And it was like,
"Oh, my God, this is amazing."

Apparently he walks round his house
in his pharaoh's robes.

But I haven't seen that.

I'm surprised he hasn't
pulled the house down

and just built a fuckin' pyramid.

He was probably into bandage.
(LAUGHS)

When he was escorting Lady Diana
during Rocking the Royals,

she said, "I want to go back
to your house."

So, he comes back to the house

and his assistant's there
preparing lunch

for, you know, just Molly
really, and he then says,

"Oh, please welcome to our house
Lady Diana."

And the girl sort of said
something like,

"Oh, yeah, and I'm a monkey's
uncle," you know!

Completely... And that is...
that is the tone of Molly's home.

Yeah, look, I think we might have
both featured

on the front of his fence at various
stages throughout our careers.

What's more bizarre is what's
on the other side of the fence.

His house is just... it's an absolute
museum. It's a freak show.

(HOWZAT BY SHERBET PLAYS)

VIZARD: You could have an interview

where Molly's about to break

the most significant rock'n'roll
story in history,

but Molly, sitting on that story,
would be distracted

if there was a change
to the St Kilda line-up.

# Howzat... #

GUDINSKI: Only Molly would do
the outrageous

and run onto the Junction Oval

to give the St Kilda captain
Alan Morrow advice.

RIEWOLDT: The first time I met him
was at the St Kilda
Team of the Century.

You know, there were a lot of St
Kilda Football Club legends there,

but for me and a few of
the other young guys,

we just made a beeline for Molly.

And I wanted to meet him as opposed
to all the footballers in the room.

COMMENTATOR: It's taken by Breen!

It's a... point.

GUDINSKI: When I was very young,

St Kilda won the only grand final
they'd won in 100 years,

and the true story was
that Molly passed out

when the scores were level,
30 seconds to go,

and missed St Kilda
kicking the winning point.

There's the siren!
St Kilda have won it!

When the siren sounded, we all went
up hysterically and he fainted.

# Howzat... #

GUDINSKI: How he got into the
dressing-rooms was beyond me.

Drinking champagne with St Kilda's
captain Darrel Baldock,

what a hero.

I was the president at the football
club there from about '79 to '86,

and Molly was a standard feature.

And he'd draw more attention

than the footballers
running out of the race.

# Howzat

# You messed about... #

WARNE: I think it's quite funny
that Molly paints his fence

in all the different things.

Especially I like it
when he does the Saints.

It's great about the Storm too.

But when the Ashes are on,

that's sort of when
the real cricket comes in

and Molly does his fence
in Ashes stuff,

Aussie flags,
all those sorts of things.

And, no, he's brilliant.

I think he was, like, one of the
guys who championed rugby league

in Melbourne, and he was one of
the first guys that really brought,

you know, more and more people
to the game.

So, you know, I think rugby league
owes him as well.

You know, he's always been
our number one supporter,

and a very loyal supporter at that.

Molly has a wicked sense of humour.

That's another thing we connect on.

He's got a great sense of humour.
He's a funny bastard, you know.

Molly's funny by being Molly.

He's funny because
he's a unique one-off.

He's funny 'cause he's eccentric.
He's funny 'cause he wears a hat.

And he's funny because he's
doing a review of an artist

and he's brought the wrong records.

Some people tell jokes,
some people construct scenarios,

some people do one-liners,
Molly doesn't do that.

Molly is funny 'cause he's Molly.

And one day at the Melbourne Cup,
when we'd had quite a big day,

I looked over at Molly and someone
had offered him some chips,

and before you know it
he grabbed one

and he went to light it
like a cigarette.

Oh, I loved playing Molly.
He was my favourite.

He's just, like, true blue,

um... Aussie icon legend, you know.

He's a bloody ripper, you know.

He's a very, very bright man,
you know.

And, regardless of people thinking

that he can't string
two words together,

that is not the case.

Even when Molly's had a few...
he still makes a lot of sense.

GUDINSKI: I think a lot of people
didn't realise

till he had that incredible success
for charity on Millionaire.

I think that really showed
how intelligent Molly was.

(TOTAL CONTROL BY THE MOTELS PLAYS)

Molly and Michael Gudinski
have a sort of...

They love each other,
they've done great things together.

They've been through
thick and thin together,

they've seen the best
and the worst of each other.

# Looking counterclockwise

# Knowing what could happen... #

KYLIE MINOGUE: You can't talk about
Molly without talking about Michael,

because they're like brothers,

or like two little old ladies
bickering.

For no reason,
Ian started screaming at Michael

and accused him of something

and picked up papers and threw them
in his face and then stormed out.

And I walked out and I said,
"That wasn't Michael's fault."

And he said, "Yeah, I know."

He said, "I was tired. I needed to
pep myself up." (LAUGHS)

# Over you... #

GUDINSKI: We had a label
together with Molly,

Melodian Records, which we started.

And that's the respect
that we had at Mushroom for Molly,

was to create his own label,
and out of that came Peter Andre.

Now, people don't know this -

he didn't want any credit
for it at the time -

the song was called Mysterious Boy.

Now, Molly changed that lyric
to Mysterious Girl. Say no more.

# Mysterious girl
I wanna get close to you

# Oh, baby, baby... #

Peter supported Madonna.
There was like a natural...

I'm getting goose bumps actually,
talking about that thing.

It's true, he changed that word,
which was a critical word,

and when you think about Molly,

you think he would have been happy
with the word 'boy', wouldn't you?

But Molly was thinking.

Now, Ian, you've had
your finger on the pulse of...

I beg your pardon?

SAYER: Molly's sexuality...

Let's not forget that a gay man
working in television

in the '70s and '80s would have got
thrown straight out of the room.

It's a sex that you've never
experienced before?

I find this very hard to believe.

(GIGGLES) Now,
let's control ourselves.

Your reputation precedes you,
Mr Meldrum.

I know.

Molly is not given enough credit

for being the first out gay man

in Australian media.

REYNE: Molly, just he way
he just embraced,

was completely open and proud
and straight-up,

and it's brave now, but to be brave,
you know, in the '70s!

Seriously brave.

Some girls do...
and some girls don't.

GAVIN WOOD: Well, what do you do?
Oh, please, Gav.

Ian was engaged a couple of times
to lovely girls.

But they just never worked out,

and, you know, so what?

Neither did my three marriages!
I mean...

On the last Countdown tour,
we got married.

He said he was going to
go straight for me

and he proposed to me on stage.

It was lovely. I still have the
ring. I didn't give it back to him.

There's another side to Molly
that people, you know,

obviously don't see, and that's
what a wonderful parent he can be.

I mean, he's got Morgan.

GUDINSKI: In the mid-'80s,
Molly adopted the baby

of a very good friend of his, Jan.
His name is Morgan.

GOODREM: I would have just turned 14
when I first met Molly.

It was at a Christmas party -
HIS Christmas party -

at his wonderful Egyptian house.

Then I was sitting at the bench
around the corner in his house,

and I was just sitting
there by myself,

'cause there were a lot of
adults there, obviously,

and Morgan, his young son,
who was about the same age as me

came up and sat on the bench
next to me.

And we kind of got chatting
and chatted away kind of all night.

So, I found someone my age.

And all of a sudden Morgan and I
just became really great friends.

And really then, that was
the start of me becoming

a part of Molly's family
on a really family side,

it didn't really become music first.

And when he first heard those early
songs in demo form of Delta's music,

he just knew that was
something special.

Because we had such a personal
family relationship

I've been able to ask him
questions throughout my life.

INTERVIEWER: Was it important to you
for Molly to be proud of you?

Yeah, very much so.

Sorry, that's a really hard one.
The way that hits me.

Um... yes.

Yeah, sorry, sorry.

Um... yeah.

(STAMMERS) It's, um... it's... it's...

Sorry.

Yes, it's been really important for
Molly to be proud of me doing music.

Um...

You know, uh... I guess when people
really support you and care

and, um, uh...

..when they really take the time
to listen and care

and talk you through the different
chapters that you go through,

you value that.

And I've only ever wanted to
make him proud as an artist

and as an adult.

Morgan's almost 30 now,
and he's looked after him,

he's brought him up,
and now Morgan's got a child,

so Molly gets to be a grandpa.

I rang him
and the phone didn't answer.

So, I thought, "Oh, he's
in the backyard doing something."

So, I rang Joe the gardener,
and Joe answers the phone.

He says, "Yeah, I'm just
in the shed out the back

"and Molly's come down from
the roof to answer your call,

"and he missed it,
he's gone back up."

And I've gone, "Oh, right, OK, well,
I'll speak to him later."

And then straightaway,
within seconds of us talking,

he just yelled through the phone,

"Molly's just fallen off the roof.
He's hit his head.

"Call an ambulance."
NEWSREADER: Molly's fight for life.

Family, friends and celebrities
rally for a favourite son.

MILLER: In 2011,
we were all just sitting around

preparing for the onslaught of
family and everybody for Christmas,

and we heard that Ian was seriously
ill after falling off the ladder.

VIZARD: Mate, what are you
doing for Christmas?

What's your plan of attack?

MOLLY: I'm leaving to go
to Bangkok next Tuesday.

(ON RECORDING)
And then I'm going to Phuket

and staying there for a month.

INTERVIEWER: Tell us
about that day in December 2011.

Molly was a regular guest
on my radio show.

It was the weekend before Christmas
and Molly came in to have his chat.

Molly and I were talking about
how important your health is.

And then that night Molly had been
in a horrible, horrible accident.

My phone started to ring
and it was the media.

And the first call I just answered
naturally, without thinking,

and they said, "We've heard that
Molly's had a horrific fall."

And I've just all of a sudden...

I think that was the moment
when I went,

"Oh, holy shit, this is serious."

I got a call from Yael.

Yael, you know, was crying.

She said Ian had had a fall,

come to the Alfred
as quick as you can.

My wife and I went straight there

and we were met
by the doctor's there

and we went into
a sort of a side room.

He was... he'd just arrived,

and I guess within about half
an hour I was in there to see him.

He was obviously unconscious,
he was in a very bad way.

It was a very distressing moment.

What happened, he tried to climb up
with his mobile phone,

his bloody cigarettes,

and you can't climb a ladder
with those in your hands.

And he lost... and he fell.

But what he did as he came down,
he collected the ladder,

which was not on a 45-degree pitch,
it was more like a 70-degree pitch,

and so as he went down,

every part of his body hit
those rungs of the ladder.

So, his jaw, his shoulder,
his rib cage, his elbow,

his legs, his knee, all of that.

And then, he said, "The only thing
I can't remember was
the concrete at the bottom."

It's a waiting game,

so certainly not out of the woods
by any stretch of the imagination.

Molly's still in an induced coma,

and I suspect that's gonna be
the case for a number of days.

# Your arms are warm

# They make me feel... #

COHN: The surgeons came in and said,

"Look, we have to do
emergency surgery on his head."

And as soon as they said that,
I just fell apart,

because it was, like, "What?"

I can't begin to tell you the shock.

Like, um, even now
I don't like talking about it.

It was just awful, awful.

It's horrible when your friends
get sick and you think,

am I not gonna see them again?

You know, I really need to tell them
a lot of things, you know.

It was like a family member
being unwell.

You know, it's really,
really tough times.

It was so...

..disturbing to think that...

..he mightn't survive.

Of course you fear the worst,
and, uh...

..oh, I just felt for him,
like everyone else, yeah.

The thought of someone like him

losing his life to an accident
like that was, um... heartbreaking.

And I followed it every day.

He wouldn't have had the accident,
but what he did,

it was getting close
to four o'clock.

And I dropped in and we were
sitting around and he said,

"Listen, I need you to take

"the Vanessa Amorosi masters
to Sing Sing."

Yeah, it wouldn't
have probably happened

if he hadn't have asked me

to take those master tapes
to Sing Sing.

# I'm in chains

# I'm in chains

# I'm in chains... #

I'd just joined Twitter and I
suddenly saw Molly's name trending,

and I thought, "Well, what's..."

You know, normally that's
not such a good thing.

Mum called me on the phone and,
yeah, it really rattled me.

Then it seemed to be it was
a life-or-death situation,

and this all happened
over maybe about 12 hours.

I told Elton, I told Mick Jagger and
that as well, and they were, like,

"Oh, my God," you know,
"Please pass on our best to Molly."

I think I went through the
"He'll be absolutely fine, right?"

Like, you know, absolutely fine.

Like, I couldn't stomach that
he wasn't gonna get through that.

We're really concerned for his life.

I mean, this is
a life-and-death matter.

Here he was perfectly well yesterday

and here he is today
fighting for his life.

COHN: Brian and I went
and saw him before his operation.

We looked at each other, and
there was just that moment of...

We could see the man
was fighting for his life.

He was fighting for each breath,
and I thought,

"You can't get rid of him
that easy. No way." Sorry.

Throughout it all, my prime concern
was for Ian Meldrum,

it wasn't for Molly Meldrum.

It was for Ian Meldrum, my brother.

And I think that's how
it had to be treated -

treated as someone in your family
who's in an hour of need

and, therefore,
you've gotta respond to that need.

The doctor that operated on Molly
was a friend of Lindsay's,

and they were quite concerned.

They fought really hard
to save Molly's life.

He did a magnificent job.
That surgeon was sensational.

# Any minute now

# My ship is coming in... #

Why were you up a ladder, Moll?

# I keep checking the horizon

# And I'll stand on the bow

# And feel the waves come crashing

# Come crashing down

# Down, down on me... #

Fans of Molly Meldrum
are being told to be patient

as they wait for news
on the music guru

who fell from a ladder at his home
on Thursday night.

Luckily, he survived.

And I think he still
suffers a bit of pain

with the problems that he had.

I know he's got lots of plates
and that in his leg.

KLEMENS: I got a phone call from,
I think it was his brother,

if I remember, saying,
"Look, there's a little issue.

"Molly's actually escaped."
I said, "Escaped from what?"

And he said, "Escaped from..."

I said, "Well, escaped
from hospital?!"

So, he'd had enough
and he'd walked home.

I could feel that Molly
was up to something.

Not only was he busting
to get out of hospital,

he was asking me questions
about the location

when he crosses the road
to go into his physio, etc.

When he went to rehab, he just
turned and started walking home.

He's a, you know, bastard,
he won't stay in hospital.

You know, they turn their back
and he keeps going for walks,

and trying to walk home.

So, he wanted to be
in his own house.

So, at that point I realised

he maybe still be sort of
recovering, but he was gonna be OK.

The escape was great
because the escape was him saying,

"I'm ready to come home now."

And then I just used to
cook some food

and go over and sit with him
and talk to him.

HAY: I think he has incredible
intestinal fortitude

and he has a great constitution.

Very strong. Like, he's physically
incredibly strong.

SLATER: The first time I saw Molly
after the accident was at a game.

We'd just narrowly
beaten our opponents,

and I was sitting on the field,
you know, waving to the crowd,

and I just seen the hat
up in a stand,

and above the hat was his hand

waving a purple and white scarf
around.

So, you know, it was a great moment.

You just won't find a better
person on this planet.

WARNE: He's always got along well
with my mum and dad, my brother.

He gets along great
with my children too.

So, you know, a true friend
knows your family,

you know, they know your parents,
they know your children,

they know... they've shared
some experiences with you too.

JACKMAN: When Molly met my son,
my son was about six,

and he's really into nature.

And he was just... I watched him,
he was watching my son,

who was off sort of in the garden,
and we were in a group talking,

and he just sort of went off
and just...

I looked over and just realised
he'd been hanging with Oscar

for I don't know how long.

And at the end of the day, he took
off his hat and gave it to Oscar.

And Oscar... to this day,
has that hat, treasured that hat.

And that really... It's so weird.

Oscar went through a period
where he hadn't worn the hat

for a couple of years,

and he put it on one morning
and he wore it to school.

And that was the day that Molly had
that tragic accident, when he fell.

You know, he is,
he's a good friend of the family's

and a great friend of mine.

As a parent, when you see someone
outside of all the hullabaloo

and drinks and meeting,
when you see them walking over

and just hanging with your kid,
that's why people love Molly.

That's why I love him.

He's great friends with my wife,

and she's done him up a painting
of him and Ziggy,

his little dog, and the hat, so...

# Say goodbye # Say goodbye... #

His whole kind of thing
was bringing the music

and the bands to the people,

but for us
he was just as kind of famous.

I think Molly has always been
the ambassador of rock'n'roll.

And hopefully every country
has a Molly Meldrum.

The people that he's been able
to interview,

which nobody else could get -

you know, the biggest acts
in the universe -

Molly had 'em because of his love
of music and the industry

and the people in the industry.

He was the voice of Australia,
as far as music went, in the UK.

Molly's always been obsessed
with music

and new bands that are coming up,
and still is.

You know, very rarely
do you get people

where that enthusiasm and interest
and energy keeps going.

Once Molly was out of hospital,
it wasn't too long

before he found a great
new artist - Sarah Rzek -

and recorded and produced
a great new single for her.

# And your eyes are closing down
on the day. #

A good friend of mine
in the audience tonight.

I've known this guy
seems like all my life.

Put your hands together
for Molly Meldrum.

Come on, guys.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

What a character.

I like to feel my life has been
more colourful with him in it.

Thank you, Molly.

I don't think I've met anyone
that dislikes Ian.

It's, like... it's just
the way it is.

If you were in the trenches, Molly
would definitely be one of the guys

that you'd say, "Rightio, Moll,
I want you next to me, mate."

And you know what? He would be too.

People that have been around
for 40 years or more -

you know, the Stones,
Rod Stewart, Madonna,

you name 'em - they know who he is.

And they know what
an influence he's been.

(CHEERING)

Wanna say a few words?

I love you too.

AUDIENCE: (CHANTS) Molly! Molly!
Molly! Molly! Molly!

Molly is very highly regarded
worldwide

by the heads and moguls
of record companies,

television people
and the artists themselves.

I know, for instances,
over the years

where Rod Stewart would only
do one interview for the world,

and that was Molly.

I've come from warm sheets
to do this interview,

You know that, don't you?
I realise that, yes.

And you've come up well
after the party last night.

Four hours' sleep.
Pardon? How many hours' sleep?

About four.

You went to bed at seven.
It's now five.

Seven. Well, it took me
five hours to get ready.
I see.

Molly... he started so early
that he sort of like,

he became synonymous
with television.

It was sort of like, you know,
if Brian Henderson wasn't on

or Molly wasn't on, then there's
something wrong with television.

He was one of the original heads
that turned up.

Molly Meldrum's life and times

is something that all Australians
should be proud of mostly

and should celebrate
in true tradition.

And I think that is putting
a smile on my face,

I know that would be
putting a smile on Ian's face.

Molly would give you his soul. He's
just an amazing, generous person.

There's just so much in his heart
that he loves to give. Mm.

Jeez, I'm lucky he's not straight,
he might have run off with you.

(LAUGHS) I don't think so.

Lindsay.

I've known Ian 'Molly' Meldrum
for 47 years.

47 bloody years -
can you believe it?

And our relationship today's
no different

to what it was 47 years ago.

I'm very proud to be his mate.

I'd like to kill him
more often than not,

but I am very proud
to be Molly's mate.

CROWD: (CHANTS) Molly! Molly!
Molly! Molly! Molly!

MORRIS: He will be embarrassed,

but he'll be proud
about the documentary.

He'll think,
"Oh, why do people fuss over me?"

But he'll be really proud
that it's been done.

Molly will hate the fact that he had
no control over this documentary.

Molly will love the fact that it
covers all aspects of his life.

He'll get embarrassed about people
talking so highly of him.

But deep down he'll love
the recognition, and he deserves it.

Wow.
It feels good being Molly Meldrum.

Greetings, Molly.
Do yourself a favour.

Do yourself a favour.
Do yourself a favour.

This is a big hat to fill.
Do yourself a favour.

Cheers, mate. Hats off to you.

Love ya, Moll.
Love ya, Moll. Mwah.

We love you, Molly. We do.

Thanks, Moll.
Do yourself a favour.

Do yourself a favour.
Love you, Molly.

Um... uh... uh...

This is what's under his hat.
This is what's under MY hat.

Long may you wear it.
You are the real thing.

Do yourself a favour.

Good on ya, son.
You want to do what?!

Thanks, Moll.
Good on ya, Molly.
Mwah!

Love ya, Molly.
You're the best, mate.

I'm so sorry I didn't accept
your hand in marriage.

Love ya, Moll. Thanks, Molly.

Do yourself a favour.

F Troop.
We take our hats off to ya.

We love you down
at the Melbourne Storm.

Thanks, Moll. I'm feeling
very Brokeback Mountain.

This hat's too big for me.
Wear it proud.

The world's a better
place with you.

Molly Meldrum, we love you.

Thanks, Ian,
for making my life a joy.

Love you, Molly. Go, Saints.

What are you? Amazing!

I think this is looking
good on me, Molly.

Now I'm wearing the hat.

You are the real thing.

Here I am again,
talking about you, lovey!

Do yourself a favour, Molly.

You're the best.

I'm not Molly Meldrum.

Molly, last time
you said farewell to me...

To you. (LAUGHS)

That is shocking!

Oh, Lindsay. Oh, you can't do that.