Thursday, October 9, 2014

POPULAR WARTIME SINGER PRESENTED WITH MOONSTONES



 
 Athletic  Australian radio and dance band star ,  Peggy Brooks , sang  this  song  during  WW11, expressing  the  hope for  an  end to  hostilities . Peggy had  been an amateur cycling  champion in  younger  days. She started her career at 15 as a dancer , attracted attention  whistling , and  made  an  early tour of  Queensland.
 
A lead singer in the  pioneering  Smoky Dawson Australian country  music show, she  also  performed  in Canada and  was  actively  involved with the ABC.
 

A   Digger in Palestine sent her a  gift of moonstones in appreciation  for many hours of  listening to her sing .  Often  she was described as Melbourne's  auburn haired  sweetheart of song . This  worn  copy  of   sheet  music , copyright  1941 ,  was  unearthed   in  Townsville . It  bears  the   faded  trade stamp of  an  East Ingham  newsagency-The United Press-stationers and  Golden Casket agents . Another  point of  interest is  an advert   for  the Bob Dyer  album of  Hill Billy songs  which  lists  10 titles, one  Dreamy  Australasian Moon . A  large American , Dyer and  his Australian  wife , Dolly, became  big  in  the  popular early  TV  quiz   series , Pick A Box , in which Barry Jones emerged as  a celebrity contestant ,  later the  prominent  ALP politician.  The Dyers   had a  large cruiser  in  Sydney  and  both  went  in  for  big game fishing .  After retiring to  the  Gold  Coast, they  went  after  Marlin .