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THE CANBERRA TIMES - 24 MAR 1976 |
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Australians not |
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''Australian
audiences have been great", American singer Melanie Safka said in
Canberra yesterday. "I
was warned that Sydney audiences might be a little cool, compared to
Melbourne ones"', she said. "But they really responded, and after a while I told them that I was
expecting them to be cold. And some guy yelled out, 'That's only when we get
a cold performer up there' ". She said
the hardest thing about touring was leaving behind her two daughters, Leilah,
2½ and Jeordie, I. "I
can't do anything else", she said. "I miss them a whole lot, but it
wouldn't have been good to bring them. I wouldn't have been able to do half
of what I've done. It's best that I finish totally what I'm doing. But I'll
never leave them for that long again. "As
long as I'm working and am busy it's OK. I'm doing what I have to. I believe
deep down inside that if you spend time with your children you ,should give
them all of you. I really do believe that it's the quality; not the
quantity". Miss
Safka feels that she has survived being typecast, or classified as a
particular type of singer. "I
think it's awful that people can get frozen after one recording or one
photograph used for publicity . . . ", she said. "I haven't
had a hit for a couple of years, and I feel freer. I haven't really tried. I
can't write a hit when I want to. I write songs I feel. Some can be
commercialised, and some can't. Nothing is better than following what you
feel is right. My last two albums have been done when I was pregnant and were
very thoughtful". When it
was suggested that her newest album, 'Sunsets and Other Beginnings',
contained a more mature style of music, she laughed; "I should hope I've
grown up after all these years', she said. She will
perform at Canberra Theatre tonight. |
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