No. 2: Doug Parkinson
Doug Parkinson is a fuzz-haired, gravel-voiced singer and politician. A mainstay of rock musicals, he has performed in Ned Kelly, Buddy and the Tasmanian Legislative Council.
Doug was born in Hobart and, later, in Collaroy, New South Wales. He fronted various Sydney bands while studying economics at the University of Tasmania. In 1969 competing interests in finance and funk synthesised when Paul Lennon’s brother offered him the song “Cheap Prudence”. Doug, unconvinced by the lyrics, used economic theory to prove that prudence was quite expensive. The reworked tune, “Dear Prudence”, was a smash.
Still torn between budgets and boogie he paid his dues in clubs and discos while working for the Shop Assistants Union in Canberra and Newcastle. His involvement in Labor politics deepened. “The blues at night and the reds during the day” he is famously never quoted as saying. His wife, Susan, fell for his imposing, bear-like stage presence in Sydney. He courted co-wife Desney while being a much smaller man in Wollongong.
Follow-up singles – such as the title tune from controversial musical “Hair” – failed to chart, but when Channel 10 devised a series set in a suburban shopping centre the rockin’ shop assistants’ unionist was the obvious choice to provide the theme. The fondly remembered “Arcade” was Australia’s most successful soap opera: so succinct were its characterisations and plotting that it only needed thirty episodes, unlike the flabby “Neighbours”.
Next came a part in rock opera “Tummy”, the tale of a rotund Tasmanian premier who becomes deaf, dumb and blind to his constituency. While holed up in a penthouse suite bankrolled by a on-line gambling company, he becomes the Powerball Wizard. This was closely followed by a stint in “David Bartlett, Superstar”.
In 2010 he staged his own production. “Dig the Diggers” tells of an ambitious legislative councillor who attempts to secure a Monday public holiday for Tasmanians whenever Anzac Day falls on Sunday. He rushes the bill through immediately following an impassioned plea by a ex-digger to celebrate only on the actual day. Lack of prudence costs him dearly. Crowds walked out during the tragic final number, “There Goes My Sleep-in”. Critics were scathing, questioning the credibility of Tasmanians forgoing a day off.
These days Doug Parkinson sings “Hair” ironically.
Earlier on TT: No 1: Brett Whiteley, HERE
