Gurus, Birdman Shine At Hall Of Fame

Radio Birdman were one man short when they took to the stage as the final act at the July 18 ARIA Hall of Fame ceremony at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.

During rehearsals that afternoon, keyboard player Pip Hoyle got the news that his 20-year old son died unexpectedly after a short illness, and rushed back to his family in Sydney. Still, the band’s blitzing renditions of punk classics "New Race" and "Aloha Steve And Danno" received a standing ovation from the 500 guests.

Earlier, they were inducted by Daniel Johns of Silverchair who said the band may have originally split a year before he was born, but their songs still resonated for kids of his generation as they grew up.

The event began with two songs from the Hoodoo Gurus, who will team up with Birdman for a joint tour in the southern spring.

R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcon reunited for two of their biggest hits.

Folk trio The Waifs dressed up in 1940s gear for an Andrews Sisters style rendition of Frank Ifield’s country yodeling hit "I Remember You." Ifield had three No. 1 hits in Britain in the ‘60s and had The Beatles open for him. His career ended in the 1980s after his lungs collapsed.

Jimmy Barnes recalled that while a teenager wanting to be a singer "I realised I needed homegrown heroes," adding that the songs Brian Cadd wrote in his ‘60s bands The Groop and Axiom felt to him as equal as those by his heroes Ray Charles and Hank Williams. Cadd was joined onstage by alt-country folk act The Audreys and pop band Thirsty Merc’s Rai Thistlethwayte for his two songs.

Impresario Harry M. Miller, while inducting U.S.-born soul diva Marcia Hines, recalled he hired her on the spot while in Boston auditioning for the Australian run of "Hair" in 1970. At the time no one, including the 16-year old Hines, knew she was pregnant. During the show, they had to increasingly hide her behind the backing band as her tummy expanded. Miller also cast her in "Jesus Christ Superstar" as the world’s first black Mary Magdalene.

Hines was later joined for a rendition of "I Got The Music In Me" by Connie Mitchell of dance/soul act Sneaky Sound System and two members of Blue King Brown.