Lee Gordon Presents

With special guest:

• Jeff Apter
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

It is hard to discover who the real Lee Gordon was but Jeff Apter provides a whirlwind tour of this extraordinary life in his new book Lee Gordon Presents. We know Lee Gordon arrived for the first time in Australia in September 1953. We know he left for the last time in 1963 before he died alone in a London hotel at the age (probably) of 40. Not much is certain about his real name, his date of birth and why this brash American decided on making Australia his home. But in the ten years he lived in Australia he revealed himself as a force of nature.

Lee Gordon must have been a charming personality. He prevailed upon a whole host of the most successful entertainers in America to make the long trip to Australia and perform in sometimes primitive venues such as the Sydney Stadium. Those entertainers who fell under his spell included Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and the list goes on.

At first Australian audiences were wary that the stars would not really be performing. They thought that when the time came they would be presented with a film or perhaps impersonators but when the stars kept coming Lee Gordon had some hugely successful tours.

There were also some disasters. Bob Hope was not a good act to perform in the Sydney Stadium which had mainly been used for boxing and wrestling matches. And sometimes Lee Gordon was ahead of the curve such as when he tried to introduce roller derby which would be a hit years later.

Another area where he was ahead of his time was drive in diners. The first one in Australia built by Lee Gordon lost a lot of money. But the failures would not stop Lee Gordon. He made lots of money and spent it just as fast. There is an interesting story about Elvis Presley. Lee would have given anything to get him to tour Australia. This extended to leaving $100,000 cash in a briefcase with Elvis’s manager Colonel Tom Parker. But even though Elvis was interested the Colonel had immigration concerns which meant this wheeler and dealer stopped Elvis touring outside of the USA.

Beside the fascinating stories behind these early days of the entertainment industry in Australia Jeff Apter explores the cultural impact on Australia that we still feel today. Every page of this book proves a discovery and who better to tell us about it than our regular guest Jeff Apter.

Jeff Apter

Jeff Apter has spent a lifetime soaking up great music, Jeff has written more than 30 biographies, many of them bestsellers, and his work has been published all around the world. His subjects include Keith Urban, AC/DC, the Bee Gees, Jon English and Johnny O’Keefe. He was on staff at Australian Rolling Stone for several years and has worked as a ghostwriter with ARIA Hall of Famers Kasey Chambers and Richard Clapton. Jeff’s new book is about Lee Gordon, a true pioneer not just in Australia’s musical story but in many other ways as Australia has transformed itself from a cultural backwater.

Song selection by our guest: Cry by Johnny Ray

Podcast (mp3)