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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    The download version includes snaps from the Revenge recording sessions plus some professional photographs taken by Mary Martin, and informative pages from the CD booklet.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 AUD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    17 track album by Robert Childs Elastic Band includes booklet with all lyrics and photos of band members.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Revenge via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 100 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 AUD or more 

     

1.
Spunk Patrol 05:27
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SPUNK PATROL (Words and Music - Robert Childs) My name is Samantha I live in a slum I play with my panther But it's not much fun My friend Lady Mary and I We go to the pool We lie there half naked And try to act cool Spunk Patrol Spunk Patrol Spunk Patrol Spunk Patrol I don't like whackers I don't like punks I'm only happy When I'm looking for spunks Adrian's lovely With powerful thighs Wayne hypnotises With his chocolate eyes Clarissa's a tart, though The way she hangs out We know what she's doing She leaves little doubt Spunk Patrol ... looking for spunks We went to the disco The music so loud Barry was loathsome He danced with a cow Darryl danced with me And late in the night He touched me so gently And said I was tight Spunk Patrol ... looking for spunks Spunk Patrol Spunk Patrol Spunk Patrol Spunk Patrol ...
2.
Sugar Addict 04:47
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SUGAR ADDICT (Words and Music - Robert Childs) In the night I lie awake With this uncontrollable desire In the night I feel the ache My belly burning fire In the night I feel the pain Chewing at my inner core In the night I'm unrestrained Crucifed at the kitchen door Sweeten me Sweeten me Sweeten me Sweeten me I'm a sugar addict I'm a sugar addict I'm a sugar addict Too far gone to care In the day I feel the same I sit and feed my want Sugar goddess, syrup queen I worship at your font High priest of sweetness help me Satisfy this emptiness Light my candle, burn my wick Smell the sweet smell of excess Sweeten me ... I'm a sugar addict ... Too far gone to redeem Come to me candyman Let me kiss your honey lips Sacrifice my body turning Like a pig upon a spit Let me suck your sugarcane As you spray me with your soda pop Squirt your nectar down my throat It's impossible to stop Sweeten me ... I'm a sugar addict ... too far gone to save My life is meaningless Without my sugar fix Mainlining in my veins My holy grail my phoenix My life is an endless chain From jelly bean to jujube In despair and in decay Resurrected by a sugar cube Sweeten me Sweeten me Sweeten me Sweeten me I'm a sugar addict I'm a sugar addict I'm a sugar addict Too far gone to scare Sweeten me Sweeten me Sweeten me Sweeten me I'm a sugar addict I'm a sugar addict I'm a sugar addict Too far gone to fear
3.
Americana 03:14
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AMERICANA (Words and Music - Robert Childs) Intro: There's our children gaggling at the corner Faces fixed, their futures glow so bright Clutching spray cans, pens and permanent markers You might ask them what their game is Colouring in a picture of the stars and stripes Graffiti vandals tag upon our heritage Their symbols meaningless, their idiotic verbiage Splashed along the roads, slashed across the landscape Is it any wonder from the culture they ape? Chorus: Americana/A double burger with a sesame bun Americana/Apple pie, a coke and fries, guaranteed in 30 seconds Americana/Take away or stay if you can find a seat From Disneyland to Rundle Street The tawdry giveaways, inanities and crass cliches The gaudy colours that they flash in arrogant display The scrawled absurdities around the car park Who can wipe the stain of that indelible mark? Chorus: Bridge: What's the legacy we leave our children? What's the future we bequeath to them? How will history judge our unique story? Will it be a splendid vision which Some clown's defaced with a yellow M? I watched the service televised on National 9 Embalmed in styrofoam, cremated on prime time Our identity wrapped in bread And the epitaph on the neon tombstone read: Chorus: Niagara Falls to Rundle Street From Oklahoma to Rundle Street From Central Park to Rundle Street From Hollywood Hilton to Rundle Street From Disneyworld to Rundle Street
4.
Folding My Way To The Moon 04:30
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FOLDING MY WAY TO THE MOON (Words and Music - Robert Childs) If I had a piece of paper And folded it 40 times It'd stretch past the moon What an incredible climb A simple piece of paper Just think of the money we'd save Such a simple solution In this high technology space age Chorus Folding my way to the moon Folding my way to the moon I could try for the stars in the sky But my ambitions never reach that high Give me a cool and starless night On some natural satellite I could sing off key And play almost in tune Folding my way to the moon I've seen other planets Other worlds and asteroids I can't pretend I know them all But some of them I'd avoid On some it's what you own Others it's what you seem I just do whatever I can And dream my possible dream Chorus Some people find excuses Recriminations and regrets But the world still spins around And the sun still sets So I take a piece of paper And try another rhyme Pluck up another melody And store them up for folding time If you never try it You'll never know what it's like To be a paper mountaineer Having the fold of your life Chorus
5.
Tree 04:37
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TREE (Words and Music - Robert Childs) Tree You've offended the rules of the time You've grown too close to that great power line And your roots have grown down and invaded the earth And now the people are saying that that's more than you're worth They'll lop you and chop you and bend you to their ends And if they're not satisfied they'll start it all again They did it to me, in fact they still do They did it to me and they'll do it to you Tree You've offended the people again You've grown out of control and extended a limb Too high for their ladders, too close to their homes And now you're dropping your leaves on their gutta percha gnomes They'll bring on their axes, bulldozers, chainsaws They'll rip you and chip you and clip you to your core Remove you from the highways for the great motor car And if they can't kill you that way they'll try phytophthora Tree Were there really so many of you And did the people really have such a clear view Now you stand here solitary and bare The wind buts your limbs the people just stare Petty individuals collectively small Decide you've become uneconomical Tree They're united in fearing you most I suppose you can see that it's their kind of growth Tree You've offended the rules of the time You've grown too close to that great power line And your roots have grown down and invaded the earth And now the people are saying that that's more than you're worth
6.
We're All Frogs 04:05
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WE'RE ALL FROGS (Words and Music - Robert Childs) The world is a festering cesspit swamp Society's the slime that we're swimming on They chop off our legs and feed us to their dogs They open our bodies because we are frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We dive into drains, we live in their sewers In order to hide from their scalpels and skewers Our bodies preserved, which they gape at agog It's formalin-justice because we are frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs They study our habits, monitor our coitus They treat us like rabbits and they try to exploit us We leap into ditches, we hide under logs, We suffer oppression because we are frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs Limnodynastes tasmaniensis, Litoria tyleri or L. wotjulumensis, Rheobatrachus that lives in the bogs, Bufo marinus - Yes! We are all frogs. We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs We're all frogs.
7.
I Apologise 02:23
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I APOLOGISE (Words and Music - Robert Childs) I come home sometimes So full of anger And all I do is criticise I know how I hurt you I never mean to Lady I apologise Sometimes I put you down With a look of disdain My contempt undisguised I have ny excuses For treating you that way Lady I apologise Many of us Hold too much back We find it hard to explain Our lives pass With little done We smile and hide the pain But then you tell me You're feeling lonely And there's that look in your eyes! I haven't told you lately How much I love you Lady I apologise Lady I apologise
8.
Living In a House 06:54
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LIVING IN A HOUSE (Words and Music - Robert Childs) There were all those splits and fights Days of anger and heavy nights We were all doing our best to express All that frustration and loneliness The Fabulous Four at Centennial Hall Dylan and the Band at the Palais Royal Karl Marx and Mao Tse Tung Ginsberg chanting at the Town Hall with his harmonium Our fathers tried to draft us We disobeyed them and the media laughed at us I can't recall everything that was done I can only perceive what we've become Living in a house at West Lakes With a catamaran and a colour TV Living in a Spanish villa With a Japanese garden A Monstera And a rubber tree Shocks to the system, blows to the heart The big build up and the tearing apart Condemning the world from Victoria Square With desperate words and songs of despair The heroes and villains on our monochromes Assassinated in our three bedroom homes We watched in amazement at the visions of gloom From the edge of the grave to the man on the moon Elements of con and the supersellout The obscenity of life and death so clearly acted out I sit here numb, I can't move my feet It seems so obvious who suffered the defeat Living in a house at West Lakes With an automatic kitchen and a colour TV Living in a Spanish villa With a Japanese garden A Monstera And a rubber tree Meditating in the midst of a storm Three a.m. embraces on a moonlit lawn Levels of consciousness, layers of truth Transcendental arguments washed down with vermouth We sat in a circle and held each others hands We tried to change our lives with our alternative demands The rain fell upon us and the bitter winds moaned As we divested ourselves of everything we ever owned Naked ideals beginning to wake Caught with a power as the ground began to shake I don't know what I feel, I can't even ask how To learn the truth about where we are now Living in a house on the Gold Coast With a bedroom of possessions and a burglar alarm Living in a Mexican ha?enda With a bottle of tequila And a coconut palm There was hate in my heart and a fear in my gut As the wind blew behind me. My defences were cut. Here I was just another fat calf Solving everything with a cynical laugh I tried to stay cool, I tried to stay out of view I closed my shell on people and quickly withdrew I sat here alone and never said very much Drew back from that reality that I dared never to touch With too much kidding and too little thought There I was convinced that I could never be bought So was it a surprise when I had noone else to blame And I finally discovered that I was the same Living in an old farmhouse Watching all the neighbours build their redbrick shrines Living in a kind of suburb With bigger backyards And fewer powerlines The neighbours come in and the neighbours go out They keep to themselves their roles never in doubt Maybe you can see them there washing the car Free from depression and paranoia They're daily routines completely mapped out for them From indescribable contentment to irrepressible boredom Maybe you can see them out there in the street Keeping their values distinctly discreet We look out our windows and the neighbours look in Their faces familiar, their destinies grim We look in our mirrors and the neighbours appear We can hardly suppress "What am I doing here?" We lie in our beds while the wind blows our drapes And we try to distinguish the many fugitive shapes We lie in our beds, roll over and fart Living in a house that's falling apart Living in a house at West Lakes With a pair of silver shoes And a washing machine Living in a state of anaesthesia With a Ficus decora And the disco scene Living in a house Living at a bend Living in the world Following a megatrend Living life so breezy What fool ever said Life was never meant To be Easy?
9.
Revenge Of The Teenyboppers 02:41
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REVENGE OF THE TEENYBOPPERS (Words and Music - Robert Childs) I am 14, going on 12 I am totally concerned with myself I'm the same as any other adolescent Omnipresent, pubescent and incessant I hate you Why don'tcha give me all you've got I'm so free Why do you tie me in a knot Gimme a wine And another gobstopper This is the Revenge Of the T-T-T-Teenybopper There are rules teenyboppers observe Demand as a right what you don't deserve Behave unreasonably, always deride Fight continually, belch with pride I hate you Why don'tcha give me all you've got I'm so free Why do you tie me in a knot Gimme a wine And another gobstopper This is the Revenge Of the T-T-T-Teenybopper Teenyboppers bounce off the walls Teenyboppers smash through the doors Up and down the chimneys, up and down the stairs Teenyboppers invading everywhere! The jungle of birth, the desert of life Spawns the ancient sacrificial rite Elders on the altar of the new Stonehenge Mutton to the slaughter - Teenyboppers Revenge I hate you Why don'tcha give me all you've got I'm so free Why do you tie me in a knot Gimme a wine And another gobstopper This is the Revenge Of the T-T-T-Teenybopper.
10.
Yours Sincerely 04:10
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YOURS SINCERELY (Words and Music - Robert Childs) Dear Kate I masturbate And I think I'm going blind I swing on the chandeliers and peer into the lights And nothing seems to be unkind Those thousand watt bulbs are hot to the touch But my sister makes me go on and on I remain your frustrated and confused Big Brother John Dear John I remember you I picked you up when I was twenty two You were nice and warm and good for a laugh But right now I suggest you take an ice long bath There are so many things a young person can do If you persist I'm sure you'll pull through If this doesn't work blame your mother but clear me Yours sincerely Kate Sempreri Dear Kate Am I too late? Last night I had this heavy scene My boyfriend came kissing my shame Kate, the thrill was so obscene I think I'm pregnant but I don't know for sure Please tell me Kate I need an instant cure I'm helpless and desperate, I just don't know how to go on Signed our desperate lover John Dear John (my son) I remember you I picked you up in the zoo You were in the monkey cage with an elephant You looked so romantic with that tropical plant I know a surgeon who can give a cure But the most important thing is to always think pure You can always count on me, dearie Yours sincerely Kate Sempreri Dear Kate I'm thirty eight And I think I'm going mad My lover is unfaithful, my ten year old daughter's on the pill And I've passed the best years I've ever had And now my sister's writing in the national press What I think's an obscene and pornographic column I don't think I can take very much more of this Your Concerned Parent of Eight Father John Dear John (I'm getting warm) I agree with you I'm thoroughly sickened by the things that people do Let's swing into action let's show people we can see Uphold the family and the monarchy I can understand your life is like a kettledrum (Haven't you ever heard of Valium?) Please write again and don't fear me Yours Sincerely Kate Sempreri
11.
Sixshooter Serenade 02:37
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SIXSHOOTER SERENADE (Words and Music - Robert Childs) Ahm gonna be a cowboy with a price on ma head Ahm gonna hold up a bank n shoot the customers dead Ahm gonna ride outa town n fill the sheriff fulla dread M sixshooter cn take awl the fame Ahm gonna hold up a stagecoach with a sword off shotgn Ahm gonna rob all the wimin ntil ahm sure that they're undone Ahm gonna get me sm finery n have me sm fn M sixshooter cn take awl the game Ahm gonna get me a filly n filler full a hot lead N when shealays down besida me ahm gonna go back to bed Ahm gonna be a famous cowboy n a great movie star Ahm gonna own a lil island offa Madagascar haha Ahm gonna play ma guitar beneath the stars n letya awl know who ah are M sixshooter cn make it awl the same But ahm afraid that ahve fergottn ya name
12.
Jesse Presley's Lament 03:53
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JESSE PRESLEY'S LAMENT (Words and Music - Robert Childs) You had all the breaks You had all the luck You were the king With a big hunk o' bucks A home on the boulevard Worldwide fame A good ol' country boy In gold lame Heartbreak Motel I can hear you dying Heartbreak Motel on the radio Heartbreak Motel I can catch you, watch you suiciding Heartbreak Motel on the video The desk clerk's in the swimming pool And the switchboard shut at nine The FM country station Resumes its subtle whine Can't stop this eating emptiness I can't help getting fatter I've been so long on loneliness It doesn't seem to matter Heartbreak Motel I can hear you dying Heartbreak Motel on the radio Heartbreak Motel I can catch you, watch you suiciding Heartbreak Motel on the video Fear and loss Destiny and Fate That echo in the body That I impersonate Perhaps we're in heaven Perhaps we're in hell Or perhaps we've turned to dust And brother that's just as well But in some possible world In some freezing motel room I can watch the life and death Of our dear mother's womb Heartbreak Motel I can hear you dying Heartbreak Motel on the radio Heartbreak Motel I can catch you, watch you suiciding Heartbreak Motel on the video
13.
On Their Way To God 03:25
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ON THEIR WAY TO GOD (Words and Music - Robert Childs) In the name of the Allah In the name of the Lord In the name of the Buddah In the name of the Virgin In the name of Jesus In the name of Jehovah In the name of Mr Jones From Jonestown, Guyana They're On Their Way To God (x 4) They worship their Madonnas They practise their hymns Chant their superstitions And enunciate their sins But the sin of omission In which noone ever delves Is their own mortal sin Of not believing in themselves They're On Their Way To God Say a prayer for the Saviour Put a bullet in the child Say farewell to the devil To keep the pact of suicide They're On Their Way To God Sackcloth and ashes Damnation and hellfire Self flagellation Until the day they die If it's a question of creation Their answer's quite odd Who could put their faith In a Man-created god? They're On Their Way To God
14.
Adios Amigos 03:49
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ADIOS AMIGOS (Words and Music - Robert Childs) You see that man down there, Pancho, riding the stagecoach They say he's the President, but he's a cowboy just like us He's riding the stage into that blind ravine He's headed for an ambush, there's a gun at every rock You and I know we're the good guys, fighting evil men Restoring law and order with our trick shots and lassoos You and I know we should warn them, but the stage has gone too far So there's nothing we can do - just remount and ride away Adios amigos, see you soon amigos We're heading for the mesa where the mountains touch the sky Adios amigos, see you soon amigos We'll see you on the delta by and by You see out in the distance that trail of ragged warriors Loaded up with weapons that could destroy the cavalry You see that band of soldiers with their carbines and their gatling guns They're following that crazy man - there's going to be a war Once we would have mounted our paint and palomino Once we would have settled this without a smoking gun But you and I have grown old, and our aims no longer true So, Pancho, listen very well as we ride into the sun Adios amigos... You see that wagon train with its fine ladies and kind gentlemen Searching for horizons they've been promised by that man He's sold them a tale about prosperity and happiness But they're headed for the desert and the edge of no man's land You and I are old, my friend, and our horses very weary Many years ago we might have saved them from their fate But the night is coming fast and the distances impossible Saddle up, Pancho, because you know it's too late Adios amigos...
15.
Call The Police 05:43
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CALL THE POLICE (Words and Music - Robert Childs) Your safety is due to a big man in blue I learned that from my drinking cup I know it must be true because a big man in blue Arrested me and locked me up. He said it was for my own protection And how can I doubt his word? My momma told me all about law and order And this is what I heard Chorus Call The Police Call The Police I know I'm asking for the world But I just want some peace Call The Police You're made to feel a fool when you break elementary rules You'd like to rip'em up and start again But you're kept back inside to learn the rules of homicide With a cut to the back of the hand. The temptation is short, the crack of shattering chalk Is the only whimper heard. Life can be fine, it's a wavering line That's rubbed out on the learning curve. Chorus The first rule I learnt was to never get burnt By the hellfire family Who fill you with hope in their visions of utopia And chain you to your misery But if you try to kill the children of evil With their heads full of ideals and dreams The mafia in your mind whispers it's a crime And the demon in your spirit screams Chorus And all I want to do is just indulge myself And all I want to do is just indulge myself And all I want to do is just indulge myself It's for your own good the images harped In their visions of the fruits of life It's for your own good the voices in me chanted As I indulged my family and wife It's for your own good the man in blue said As they dragged me through the doors of the cell They meant that much to me I just had to set them free As their lonely voices yelled Chorus And all I got to do is just indulge myself And all I got to do is just indulge myself And all I got to do is just indulge myself The mind police control you The heart police attack Image police dispense disease Like a nymphomaniac Memory cops can shoot on sight Planning cops can maul But the fashion squad They think they're god And they're the worst of all Call The Police Call The Police I know I'm asking for the world But I just want release Call The Police Call The Police I know I'm asking for the world But I just want relief Call The Police Call The Police I know I'm asking for the world But I just want some peace.
16.
I Can't Bear To Tear Myself Away From You 04:36
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I CAN'T BEAR TO TEAR MYSELF AWAY FROM YOU (Words and Music - Robert Childs) We could stay this way forever Our arms and legs entwined Skin to skin upon a naked bed oblivious to passing time We could stay like this together Locked in each other's clasp Sealed inside our loving, yearning Bodies sticking fast Chorus I can't bear to tear myself away from you The pain a simple kiss creates The agony as our flesh separates Stick us both together With a rubber band And a dab of glue I can't bear to tear myself away from you I could find the trail on your skin That leads me to your past Hand in hand revealing Each one's ever changing path You could find the roads we travelled And the rivers we've explored We take that stream of memories In wave on wave of more Chorus I was thinking of the time we met It's an intimate photograph The glow of your affection The warmth of your loving laugh I was thinking of the time we've spent The pleasure and delight The captivated ache of lovers Moaning in the naked night I was looking through the window Listening to you sigh I thought that you were sleeping With your hand upon my thigh I thought that you were sleeping When I heard your loving call Lip to lip and eye to eye And bound to each others soul Chorus
17.
Rock'n'Roll Cover Band 05:53
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ROCK'N'ROLL COVER BAND (Words and Music - Robert Childs) That's enough original music That's enough selfindulgent rhyme The promotor says he knows What's best for his shows The people just want to have a good time If you want to get a better audience You have to play what the people know They don't want to hear it It if they haven't ever seen it Playing on their videos Chorus I play casinos I play the front of the hotel bars But I only sing songs That were written by people In England and America And I'm paying off a secondhand Rickenbacker bass Which I'm learning to play left hand In my Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties Rock'n'Roll Cover Band First I play a rock'n'roll medley Then the latest hits of sixty nine Only three chords And one syllable words Which I slur with a rockabilly whine My agent says I'm doing fantastic It's just what the audience needs And he's dressed me for the night I look absolutely right In my floral shirt and hippie beads Chorus Bridge I had a song of my own So I gave it a try But my manager took me aside Demanding why, why, why, why, WHY My manager rang up my agent Who spoke to an A&R man Nothing is final But there's a chance of vinyl And maybe aluminium But my publicist says I need a bunch of new songs She knows just to whom she can talk So my repertoire is coming All the way from London Except the ones who come from New York Chorus I play the Beatles I play Elvis Presley and Stones Abba and Soul Even Billy Joel As long as it's nothing of my own And I'm paying off a secondhand Rickenbacker bass Which I'm learning to play left hand In my Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties Rock'n'Roll Cover Band Coda Please please me (Rock'N'Roll Cover Band) I want to be your man (Rock'N'Roll Cover Band) Please release me (Rock'N'Roll Cover Band) I want to say that I did it my way I'm down (Rock'N'Roll Cover Band) Way down (Rock'N'Roll Cover Band) Downtown (Rock'N'Roll Cover Band) Trying to get it all together now All together now Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, YEAH!

about

Robert Childs wrote his first song when he was about 10 years of age. He continued writing songs over many years and made a couple of demo albums before he founded SCALA (Songwriters, Composers And Lyricists Association) in 1987. Subsequently, Robert played his songs solo for a few years before other musicians joined him and encouraged him to record some of his songs. The result was his debut album Revenge (with the Robert Childs Elastic Band) released in 1994.

Shortly after that the band went in different directions, literally, in some cases and Robert Childs found himself a solo artist again.

The download version of "Revenge" also includes photos of the Elastic Band consisting of happy snaps from the recording sessions and others from a photo session with professional photographer, Mary Martin.

credits

released April 20, 1994

All songs by Robert Childs.
Recorded between 26 January 1992 and 24 January 1994 at The Sound Workshop, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, South Australia.
Engineered by Geoff Prideaux.
Produced by Robert Childs and Geoff Prideaux.
Mastered by Neville Clark at Disk-Edits.
Booklet design - Synergy Design and Marketing.

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Robert Childs Australia

Robert Childs wrote his first song when he was about 10. He founded SCALA (Songwriters, Composers And Lyricists Association) in 1987. He was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for his services to music in 2004 and was inducted into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame in 2019. ... more

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