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Friday, 7 March, 2014
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Glam gang serving up ‘eye candy’ at Motor City festival By NOEL MURPHY
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LOOK, UP IN THE SKY, IT’S THE GLITTER GANG: Band members Dahl Murphy (Mickey Blitz), Grant Whiteside (Barry Glitter), Dave West (Bobby Dazzler), Jon Gilchrist (Stevie Knievel) and, at front, Anthony Roberts (Marsha Brady), who chose his stage name when the two L letters dropped off his Marshall amplifier.
GLAM ROCK’S glory days of big heels, makeup, leather and high volume are alive and well thanks to Geelong musical institution The Glitter Gang. By day the band’s members are steady middle-aged citizens beavering away in IT, marketing and labs. But since 1992 they’ve been hitting local stages as other-wordly rock gods Barry Glitter, Stevie Knievel, Bobby Dazzler, Mickey Blitz and Marsha Brady in a welter of spacesuits, flares, brutish open chests and 747-wing collars. The band will again reprise the hits of ’70s icons like The Sweet, KISS, ELO, Skyhooks, Status Quo, ABBA, Sherbert, Hot Chocolate and Gary Glitter on Sunday at Geelong’s inaugural Motor City Music Festival. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” admits frontman Barry Glitter, also known as Grant Whiteside. “I don’t think glam rock takes itself too seriously at all even though there’s some fantastic music and musicians. “Really, it’s all about having fun. It’s a bit of theatre.” Whiteside said the timeless appeal of glam rock had earned The Glitter Gang a new generation of followers in their 20s. “Lots of them have been brought up on mum and dad’s music – they know every word of the songs.” The band has been a popular regular at the Barwon Club hotel for over two decades but otherwise maintains a relatively low profile, playing just the odd other weekend gig and depending on the members’ mums to repair their costumes. Whiteside promised “a bit of eye-candy for the cougars” at the festival. Other punters are advised to attend for the music.
Jostling begins over ‘critical’ Bellarine, Geelong
We’re in ‘hot seats’
By NOEL MURPHY
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There are major seats up for grabs and that’s why I’m working so hard in the run-up to the election because the election may hinge on it. “It’s vital both parties understand that the mayor is fighting for sustainable jobs, infrastructure and economic growth and capitalising on private-public investment for the future of Geelong.” Labor’s South Barwon candidate, Cr Andy Richards, said the mayor’s high profile meant he would play a key role in ensuring both sides of politics took Geelong seriously.
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and Bellarine would be the seats to watch. “I think they’ll be critical although there are some seats in Melbourne’s sandbelt that people will be watching, too.” A steady procession of state Liberal politicians have visited Geelong in recent months, appearing at numerous photo opportunities with Mayor Darryn Lyons. Cr Lyons said Geelong was “absolutely crucial to either the Liberals or Labor winning office”. “I think Geelong is vital.
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WARRIORS WIN 20TH TITLE SPORT
GEELONG is shaping up as the central battleground for this year’s state election, according to political observers. They said the region’s manufacturing jobs crisis, two marginal seats and the high profile of its mayor combined to put Geelong front and centre of Liberal and Labor political campaigns. The lower house seats of Bellarine and Geelong, both Labor but with notionally-reduced margins following boundary changes, were critical to power in Spring Street, they said.
Deakin University politics lecturer Geoffrey Robinson forecast a “strong focus on Geelong seats”. “Geelong proper, you’d have to see as improved for Labor by redistribution but the Liberals might think, ’We have Ian Trezise retiring, that gives us a bit of a chance’. “With Lisa Neville in Bellarine, since Whittington and St Albans are out with the redistribution it’s now notionally Liberal, so expect attention there particularly.” Ms Neville agreed Geelong
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“My view would be that the council and the mayor take a bipartisan approach to the state election process,” Cr Richards said. Labor’s Geelong candidate, Christine Couzens, hoping to replace retiring Labor incumbent Ian Trezise, said the region “certainly at the state level has the potential to tip the Government”. A jobs plan commitment would be the key as displaced workers became anxious and cynical about their prospects, she said.