For more information, email
can be sent to Fran
Hart at: bpd@tiac.netThe following is an account and transcript of a presentation and short interview with David Gates on Australian TV. This was supplied by Gary Hartman of Australia and I thank him so much for providing it.
David Gates is still in OZ and last night, Monday 30 September, he made an appearance as a presenter at the ARIA awards here in Australia (Sydney, I think). ARIA stands for Australian Rock Industry Awards and is considered very prestigious as the awards are voted by fellow rock industry people; in other words their peers.
Chris Isaacs hosted the show. ( Isn't he an American? If so, why he is hosting an Aussie Show? I thought we had a few stars of our own!) Anyway, Chris introduced both David and a guy called Richard Wilkins who used to host the Aussie version of MTV. Here is what they said...
RW: Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, great to be here and a great
pleasure to welcome David Gates, from Bread, the legend, to Australia. What do you say
(audience applause).
DG: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
RW: I've gotta ask you on behalf of everybody here and everybody at home. Those wonderful
songs, 'If', 'Make it With You' and 'Baby I'm a Want You' - did you ever get the girl?
DG: I got the girl long before I wrote those songs but you will not believe how it
happened. She and I were in our last year of High School together. She's going steady with
this other guy and I gotta have this girl. So I wrote a song for her, put her name in the
title, recorded it, paid for 500 records to be pressed, took them to the record stores,
took 'em to the radio stations and got that record to number 1 in my home town. She had no
choice! She dumped him and we've been married ever since. (laughter/applause)
So guys - just write a song for the girls.
RW: Well, the songwriter gets the girl. Nothing's changed. Of course many other people
have been married to your music over the years. Must be a pretty neat feeling.
DG: My songs are probably responsible for a couple of million kids out there.
RW: Keep up the good work David.
DG: Thank you.
David and Richard then presented the award for Best Australian Country Release.
David didn't perform. He was dressed formally in a dark country style suit and hat.
His talk was more formal than that of the Midday Show last Friday. I think he knew what the question was going to be and he had an answer prepared.
My thanks to my 13 year old son Scott. Being a child of the 50's, I had no interest in the ARIA Awards at all, so I was watching a movie. Scott was watching the ARIAs in another room. He dashed in and wanted to know who that dude from 'that' group was. After a bit of detective work I figured out he was referring to Bread and David Gates. He then told me that he was pretty sure that David was going to be presenting an award after the ad break.
Most recent update: Wednesday, March 10, 1999
For more information, email can be sent to Fran
Hart at: bpd@tiac.net