The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 43

THE GUIDE Kate livens up old haunt In the ABC's old Countdown studio, Kate Ceberano is breathing life back into a live-music program format, peter holmes joined her. THE SOUND OF BUBSie? Since 1978, we have set ourselves the same task: to provide the music lover with High Fidelity sound at affordable prices. Into our 17th year now, the objective remains exactly the same. The real heroes of the manufacturing industry we believe are the ones who accomplish the same ideal. This leaves the toy-makers a long way behind.

No one really wants a light show in lieu of real music! AUDIO is a very different thing indeed. If you take a good look around Condi Junction, all classes of sou nd will be shown to you. Sta rt at the Bond i Road end, and you will see very aesthetically beautiful gear for megabucks at Sherwood and Kenwood at Bing Lee or Brashs all of the rack-mid i offerings at the majors (DJ, GB, Chandlers, K-Mart, Retravision, etc) and decent mid-fi at Music Room of the Pioneer Marantz Yamaha variety. We have chosen the likes of Denon, Luxman, Rotel, Acoustic Research, Krix, Sequence, QEDandJPWbecauseof their dedication toouraforcmentioned ideals. To quote just one fragment of a typical review (HiFi Choice, UK) on one of the stars from Rotel, the RCD963CD Exceptionally refined, powerfully emotive, a landmark player." Kate Ceberano and Friends owes more to the casual nature of the late-night ABC rock program from the mid-'80s hosted by Suzanne Dowling, Rock Arena.

The set is sparsely decorated, with sheets across the lounges, giving it the feel of a living room about to be painted or abandoned. Ceberano, backed by her longtime but not full-time band, starts each episode with a song, before chatting to a bunch of hand-picked guests. Each ends with a version 6f Dream a Little Dream of Me. Often, the guests will sing on thought that I'd love to do something along those lines. "Larry suggested we write it up, put it to the ABC and see what happens.

Withfn six months they agreed to give it some money, without a pilot, which is incredible, and without me having any experience. It was just me waxing well enough for them to feel confident: Oh yeah, I can do that, easy. "I got there on the first day and it was like, 'What am I doing We were writing scripts and choosing the final songs on the day." In the first episode you wonder Consult witb Felix, Cameron, Jason or Gary and let your ears be the judge! A a 1 WW MMUMWHIHtilliMilMM i The Perfect Camcorder Even hes a Colour Uieivfinder whether you ve stumbled across amateur hour at the local community station. Boom mikes keep falling into the picture (TVs great no-no) and Ceberano is seen wandering from set to set without cutaway shots. Then it dawns: this ultra laid-back style is intentional.

While Ceberano struggles a little with the format in the first episode (the lack of ad breaks means there is no chance to evaluate what has just happened and what is about to happen, you've just got to keepj moving), by the second she appears more at home. And while her interviewing style is not slick, it is genuine and fun, which, given the nature of the program, is probably more important. Most valuable, though, is the singing. Ceberano's duet with Byrne on You've Always Got the Blues is a lovely, intimate moment between two fine singers. Then there are the divine Bull sisters, Vika and WHEN Kate Ceberano wandered into the ABCs hallowed studio 31 in Melbourne late last year, a swag of glittery memories from her teenage years came flooding back.

Last October, Ceberano was there to shoot her own television program, Kate Ceberano and Friends. That was fun. But probably not as much fun as when she used to rush into studio 31 with hundreds of other teenagers in the early 1 980s to watch Countdown being filmed. Or when she first made the leap irom audience to performer on Countdown and sang Trust Me with the band that launched her face in Australia, I'm Talking. "It was tragic to walk in and see the whole studio empty," she says.

"No props, nothing. I remember my youth and going in there each week to marvel at the new props they had for each band. "You'd hang out and check out the teenagers, make friends, go to Luna Park in St Kilda afterwards. John Paul Young stands out in my mind I used to think he was such a stud. Isn't that funny? I used to think he was soooooo gorgeous.

But then, I was never into Daryl Braithwaite in those days." Were you comfortable the first time you sang on Molly's hour? "Are you kidding! I loved it. It was like Yay! you spend all your teenage years lusting after all the pop stars, and then suddenly to be among them and have a reason to be there was wonderful." Let's talk groupies. "They were always young girls," says Ceberano, more than slightly disappointed. "They're much more vocal. That was the weirdest thing.

I'm Talking didn't really have specific fans they were all ages, all sexes but young guys who were into the band were too shy much too shy to say hello. I used to get very frustrated: 'Where are my young nubiles?" It never happened." While Countdown was an hour of gaudy colour and bad moves, Willesee ARLY complaints figures from the Australian Rroadcastine Aiithnritv for 1993 show that Mike Willesee's interview with the siege children last year prompted the highest number of complaints from viewers on any one topic. Willesee's interview for the Can-gaiGrafton siege generated 58 complaints from viewers upset at him interviewing both the children and their abductors. In other complaints, the Eagle Bitter beer advertisement which showed a dog pulling a pair of jeans off a woman generated eight complaints about sexism and a documentary on Channel Seven about the male stripper group Manpower also prompted eight complaints about the 7.30 pm timeslot on Sunday. Five viewers also complained "about a comedian on Ray Martin's Midday show who had lampooned holy communion in a skit Kate Ceberano having fun.

Picture by SAGE andyciiiro their own or with Ceberano (Deborah Byrne, Vika and Linda Bull, Jon Stevens), while others (Jane Kennedy, Noah Taylor) weren't so keen to give the diaphragm a workout. "Martin Fabinyi (Regular Records MD) and Larry Meltzer the show's producer) and I were at a party, and we were talking about how necessary a music program is at the moment," says Ceberano of the program's beginning. "There's such a drought, and videos are taking over everything, replacing any sort of live concept. I Sony and Chatswood Sony Centre present the perfect Sony Handycam. The lightest (680g), most compact and innovative Handycam ever developed by Sony, the CCD-TR1 incorporates many exclusive features to ensure it's never forgotten when that special moment arises.

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Ask us today while experiencing a complete demonstration. $2299 Duty Free Chatswood Sony Centre has the only exclusively Sony Duty Free Department in Sydney and can therefore always offer the best Sony Duty Free prices around. v. b1 even less after trade-in Mi carry case duty free SONY SALES AND SERVICE Monday, January 17, 1994 3S tops complaint list Linda, helping out on a Hawaiian strum arrangement of Throw Your Arms Around Me. "I asked Deborah about being called Debbie," says Ceberano, "and she said My name's Deborah'.

Debbie came about with Young Talent Time. Calling her Deborah was weird. But it's the same with me. People call me Katie when they want to be condescending. And my mother calls me Kathyrn when she's angry." Kate Ceberano and Friends is on ABC-TV tonight at 10 o'clock.

and December 31 and submit them to FACTS in mid-January for compilation. Under the new system, complainants must now register their grievances with the TV or radio stations concerned before taking the matter to the ABA. But the preliminary figures from the ABA show that of the 560 complaints about TV in the last half of 1993, 132 were made on the basis of "taste, morality and 83 about current affairs programs, 66 about program scheduling, 65 about unsuit-ability for children, 39 about sexual behaviour, 29 about violence, 21 about racism and five about language. In radio, 23 complaints were made about "taste, decency and morality" and nine about language. SHELLEY DEMPSEY DUTY FREE SPECIAL Popular, portable Sony DISCMAN.

OOHO Lightweight with remote control, recnargeaDie Danery pack, plus Sony headphones. In the six months between July 1 and November 30, a total of 560 complaints were made to the ABA about TV shows, compared to 70 for radio. For the nearly equivalent similar period from January 1 to June 30, there were 930 complaints made about television and 166 made about radio. However, the most recent figures are incomplete, as the industry's new system of self-regulation came into force in September and the system for complaints has changed. A spokesman for FACTS, the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations, said complete figures for 1993, including complaints made in writing to the ABA and verbally to the TV or radio station, would be issued around the end of January.

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