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Hello and thanks for joining us. A lot to talk about in a short time this morning. The federal government is coming to take over our lives and spy on us. A lot of the numbskulls with little intelligence truly believe there's a new world order with one government or dictator coming to eventually rule the world. It's hard to believe these idiots are out there, but you are, and it's difficult to understand how people acquire the stupidity they do. I'm always amused when these people expound their Dr. Strangelove views on this stuff. If you're ugly, you can get a facelift. If you've broken your arm, you can have that fixed. If your heart is failing, you can get a heart transplant. Got a headache? Take a pill. Suffer from erectile dysfunction? No problem. But you can't fix stupid. This particular issue arose over the federal government's $43 billion plan to split Telstra into smaller chunks and take over control of Australia's antiquated phone system. The copper wiring controlled by Telstra is in dire need of an upgrade. Australia having one of the poorest telephone infrastructures in the world. So we really need to start the process to fix it. Furthermore, Telstra is simply stealing from their customers, imposing ridiculous fees and charges on them, which is sending the Australian consumer broke and making Telstra rich at our expense. So it's time the government stepped in to do something about salvaging the phone system. I was speaking with a friend of mine in Sydney only a few days ago, and I said, Paul, given the federal, and I was joking with this, given the federal government's intent to start the $43 billion fix by replacing the phone lines across Australia, the new world order idiots will grab this with gusto and claim the government's taking over their lives. They'll not only control the phone line network, but in doing so will leaves drop on Australians. And there goes our privacy. Do these deadheads really believe Julian Gillard cares anything about two old biddies in Woi Woi having a Sunday chat about really not much at all? Yet these nuts will start expounding this stuff and boring us to death with their idiotic delusions, because that's really what they are. They're simply delusional. You'd have to wonder how their silly minds work. The lines need to be replaced. They've needed fixing forever. And now's the time. How can you read any more into it than that? God save me. You can't fix stupid. And that's what these new world order nuts are. They're idiots. Gay marriage. Labour doesn't want it. The Liberals are lily-livered and don't want to touch it. It's an issue no political party really wants, so the Liberals are gaily handing it off to the Greens in the hope that they'll take care of it, which they're likely to do in picking up the mantle for the gays and lesbians for what I would think are pretty obvious reasons. The leadership of the Greens being pretty passionate about this. The Independents, needless to say, are likely to go along with the Greens because in a hung parliament, which incidentally is an unfortunate choice of terms given the subject matter, a hung parliament, the Greens and Independents are pretty drunk with power. All men, after all, are created equal and I agree gays and lesbians deserve to enjoy the rights that we all do, but I'm continually astonished and never understood why gays and lesbians feel the need to stand up and punch the air proclaiming loudly to the world they're straight. I've always scratched my head in astonishment, bewildered as to why they feel the need to make the announcement publicly. When did you last hear anybody standing up and punching the air proclaiming that they're straight? Who gives a damn? I don't care. Do you? Does anybody? And I know the argument is that they need to draw attention to discrimination and I understand that, but I would have thought the solution to be more obvious than shouting to the world and annoying the hell out of us all. Something like 70% share the view that what anybody does in the privacy of their own home is nobody's business and don't care one way or another and over 90% don't care at all. So why do you gays think anybody cares what you do? You just annoy the hell out of people and do your cause more harm than good. As for securing and protecting your rights, don't you realise that the people in a position to help you and make the decisions in government you need made on behalf of the members of the gay and lesbian community wear suits and business attire are respectable people with a relatively conservative outlook, as do the majority of Australians. So I'm suggesting that you be a little more formal in your lobbying to those in government who can help you make those legislative changes you need changed to secure the rights you deserve. Continually having university students represent you in protest does nothing more than piss people off. Don't you get that? And the only thing you're doing there is damaging your own cause. You're shooting yourself in the foot, really. The gothic look with black shirts and jeans, studded belts, 27 earrings in each ear, pink and green mohawk haircuts that look as though they haven't been washed for three weeks, nose rings, make-up and black pixie boots do nothing to help your cause whatsoever. Why is it that university students always think they're saving humanity? Well, maybe just a bit. The minority extremist fringe of university students is nothing more than an embarrassment. I am mystified as to why the Australian press is so fixated with Julian Gillard's clothing choices and sense of adornment. The silliness of this fixation is just staggering. Are we that simple-minded that the press and the media generally believe this should do nothing more than waste our time with discussion? The saddest part about this is that the gossip mongers actually do care. It's the back-fence mentality that we talked of earlier. Two old fuddy-duddy busybodies maliciously gossiping over the back fence. The press thinks Julian Gillard looks frumpy and needs a makeover to have her looking a little more stately. I suppose we want our politicians to look the part in representing us, but is that our biggest issue in life? For heaven's sakes, get a life.
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It's a great pleasure to welcome all the way from Branson, Missouri, in the United States, Glen Camp. Hello, Bob Reed. How are you doing? Hi, Glen. It's good to hear your voice. You well? Yeah. You were one of the first artists to hit the charts with in the late 60s and through the 70s. When you think back on all those hits, you must deem it an absolute privilege and enjoy a real feeling of incredible pride. And I'm sure it just never goes away that you were the vehicle that introduced those wonderful songs to the world. I never thought of it like that. But I am very, very blessed to have recorded them. You know, by the time I get to Phoenix or Wichita Lineman, Rhinestone Cowboy, Galveston, it's just, uh, they're standard songs and they're... Yeah, all those fabulous Jimmy Webb songs. He's a great writer and I think still touring. Do you still see Jimmy Webb? I've got to call him. I've been trying to get a hold of him, but he's been in Australia. And before that, he was in England, I think. He's traveling the world, playing piano bars and singing his songs, you know. It's amazing. Jimmy wrote Up, Up and Away and MacArthur Park. He also arranged MacArthur Park. Jimmy's a great talent. Well, and many people are not aware that you worked as a session player before your first hit, By the Time I Get to Phoenix. You did some stuff with the Beach Boys for a time. You did some Sinatra sessions. You played on some amazing hits that represent landmark times and all of those wonderful memories for the Baby Boos. Oh, yeah. They did a survey of the top 100 single records, you know, period. And luckily, Wichita Lineman came in 49th, but I had played on 18 of those records. You know, the Righteous Brothers, the Sinatras, you know, the Beach Boys, the Jan and Dean, and that stuff. I couldn't believe it, you know, what a time period that was through the 60s. I grew up on every kind of music because whatever radio station we could get in Arkansas on a battery radio out in the middle of nowhere down there. That's what we listened to, and that's what kind of molded my music. If it was a country station, that was the clearest we listened in. If it was a big band station, you know, a pop station, we'd listen to it, you know. And I grew up on, you know, the big band music, the Sinatras. I grew up on Cajun music we would get out of Louisiana and the country stuff that you would get from WSM in Nashville. Yeah, you did some Sinatra sessions. Did you know Frank well? Yes, I did. He was wonderful. I had the pleasure of spending a weekend at his house in Palm Springs, and it was interesting to see everything that he does and how really, really awesome he was. It was so interesting just to go down there and spend a weekend in Frank Sinatra's Christmas tree house on the 17th fairway at Tamarus Country Club in Palm Springs, and he was a Next year, I'm going to play in his golf tournament because Barbara called me this year, and I couldn't make the tournament. He has one every year, you know, in honor of Frank, and he had it. She kept it going, but it was an experience I'll never forget, you know, to get up and go have breakfast with Frank Sinatra and staying at his place. That was, to me, that was big stuff, man. That me going to the inauguration of the president, I mean. Was Sinatra good to work with? Yeah, Frank was. Was he a tough taskmaster? I'll never forget one time down there when somebody wrote that unauthorized biography on him and just said a whole bunch of stuff that wasn't true. He was so mad for about a month, you know, I said, boy. John Wayne in the last vote from the Screen Actors Guild was voted Actor of the Century, and rightly so. I just love John Wayne. I imagine when you won that role in True Grit, you felt a lot of different emotions ranging from great terror to total excitement. It must have been one of the great experiences of your lifetime, working with one of the icons of the movie industry. I gave him the push he needed to win the Oscar, you know. Says you modestly. That was the only Oscar John Wayne won, and he had to have, obviously he didn't have anybody in the past to give him that push he needed. He had, I know the movies before that, I know he worked with Frankie Avalon and Fabian and Rick Nelson, but he didn't have the push he needed, you know, from Ward Bond and all those great guys to win the Oscar. It's either that or I made him look so good in True Grit that he won the Oscar. But that was, you expressed it. Sometimes it was just terror, and sometimes it was just the joy beyond your imagination. I had to pinch myself. I couldn't even remember my lines because I'm riding on this horse beside John Wayne. Yeah, was John Wayne good to work with? Oh yeah, he was marvelous. If John Wayne told you a hog weighed five pounds, wrap it up, you know. Yeah, you know, I miss him. I was such a huge fan, and still am, but when he died back in 1979, I must admit it brought a tear to my eyes. I just thought he was wonderful. You know, we were expecting it from Duke because, you know, he'd been on the news, and I did, I shed some tears over it. But you know, like you said, I did. I had to pull my car over on the side of the road, and I cried when in the morning somebody's, and the way they put it on the news was so harsh, you know. When Elvis died, I was driving into Channel 5 there in Los Angeles, and I just pulled through the gate, and the guy said, did you hear that Elvis died? He said, it's no wonder, you know, fat as he was, or something like that, and it shocked me, and I turned the radio on, started listening, and I just pulled it over, even before I went back and parked my car, I just pulled it over to the side of the building and sat there and cried for, I don't know why, I just, I had worked with Elvis, I'd done sessions with him and hung out with him. He was awesome. He was way too young.
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Glenn, you were instrumental in introducing some great people to the world on your television show, The Good Time Hour, back in the late 60s and early 70s. Eric Clapton, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray. You're still involved with younger talent. Alan Jackson, for example, owes you a vote of thanks, and more recently, Brian White. I love Brian White. He's just, he's a fabulous little singer. And Alan Jackson is so recognizable. I think Alan is probably as country as anybody out there. I don't know that what's labeled country music today is country, particularly over the last 20 years. There's been a revolution in country music. How do you see today's country, and is it fair to compare it with past eras of country music? I like the country music of the earlier, the George Jones, the little Jimmy Dickens. Yeah, do you? Yeah. It's not so cut and dried and molded, you know. Everything sounds alike, nearly. Basically, it's the same musicians doing the sessions. Rarely does a guy go in and cover his band. They're just, you know, they use the guys that do the sessions like we were doing in the 60s in Los Angeles. Yeah, I love Shania, for example, but I don't know that much of what Shania does is country. No, I'm trying to figure out which country it is. She looks good. She could be country. She could be anything. She's good to look at. She's good to look at, and she writes good, and she sings good. So, God bless her. You're still touring, and I imagine the audience is still demand that you do all the old favorites. Oh, yeah, definitely. We'll do them again. Glenn Campbell, good to talk to you, and it's just fabulous to hear your voice. Okay. What a nice man. Glenn Campbell spoke to us from Branson, Missouri, where he owns a theater. Branson is one of the entertainment centers of the Southern United States, from where he took the time to call us and say hi. Glenn Campbell. You're listening to The Bob Reid Radio Show. You know how intimate we've been in the phone this last while back, Bob? Yes, Mary. Well, I'm pregnant. Which members of your crew beamed down this morning? You don't see them. Well, I know that. You being the queen, only you can see them. Yes, I'm well aware of that. But I do suggest that her fight should not be with the government, but with the medical profession, the higher up ones of which surgeons and so on are grossly overpaid. Why would you suggest skilled surgeons are grossly overpaid? Well, they just are. I mean, think of the bills she was just saying she's got. That doesn't give me any insight as to why you think they're grossly overpaid. You saying, look at the bills, doesn't tell me anything, Veronica. Of course it does. Are you saying bodies are the only things that matter? So surgeons are clever at mending bodies. So how much should they be paid? Well, I think they should be paid as a government servant, like a teacher, a policeman or a nurse. Are you serious? Absolutely serious. Are you saying then you get lousy teachers, lousy policemen, lousy nurses? You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Big money does not necessarily attract the best people. Think about it. Veronica, I'm not suggesting for one minute that what you're saying doesn't have some merit. Although I would suggest very little. No, money doesn't necessarily always attract the best people. There are some people who just have a genuine and sincere passion for what they do. But generally, broadly speaking, in this life, the rule of thumb is you get what you pay for. This is why these young fellows escape and re-offend. Reduce so you can understand the authorities making the decision to let this criminal out of prison to go to a funeral in Western Australia. Well, I can't. That's a privilege of freedom. It's one of the privileges you forgo when you commit a criminal act and are put behind bars. You forgo your freedom. And this is just another glaring example as to why our criminal justice system is such a disgrace. We're carried away with too much of what I call this new age psychology by thinking we have to be humanitarian. And there's no doubting we do. And we have to be compassionate. Well, I suppose to a degree we should be as well. But these people weren't compassionate when they perpetrated these violent crimes in the first place, were they? So why are they entitled to freedom? I would suggest they shouldn't be. Hello? You know how we have four days off? For sick leave? Yeah. I think it might be three days, isn't it? Well, they say that apparently just about every employer takes eight days a year off. That isn't that sad. Well, we all take sickies. I mean, I've done it. You don't feel sick and you take a sickie. Yeah, why do you do that? I don't know. The good old Aussie attitude. Well, I suppose so, yeah. That you feel a god-given right to have a sick day. Well... Without being sick, I'll just take a day off and rob my employer. What a little goose you are. What an irresponsible little slimebag you are taking the job you have for granted and abusing the privilege of having a job in these times of high unemployment. You should be ashamed of yourself. There are plenty of people out there who are struggling to put food in their family's mouth tonight who'd love to have your job. Your attitude is just an insult to them. Go away and grow up.
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Hello? Yeah, I don't want an argument with you. Yeah, why should we argue? The only reason we would argue is if you say something silly. I just want to complain about all these people going on about the flag debate, because we're going to inherit the Japanese flag. I mean, they're buying out half the country, aren't they? Well, I don't know that they are. If we didn't take advantage of the wealth people from other countries can input into our economy, we wouldn't have the financial benefits we do and the lifestyle most of us enjoy in a country like Australia. Where would you prefer to live? North Korea? Well, you tell me how. Well, let's take Toyota, for example. Where would our motor industry be and where would our unemployment level be without the billions, repeat, billions of dollars a company like Toyota has invested in Australia over the last 50 years or so that they've been here? Toyota has just invested $420 million of capital into this country that will put many Australians back into the workforce. Well, I think the government should put restriction on these Japanese investors, because they're eventually going to overtake the country and... Oh, don't be ridiculous. You are being silly now. In fact, you're being downright stupid. You reckon I should send all the Japs back? Call the Poms back? Yeah, well, how about we get rid of you and send you back as well, huh? Just before I go, on a personal note, Port Lincoln and the Eyre Peninsula lost a wonderful lady this past year. Jill Parker was a personal friend whom I'd known for those 21 years since I was last living in Port Lincoln. We kept in touch over the years, and in fact, I spoke with her not long before she passed away about a year ago. Jill knew her health was in trouble, but saw a couple of bright spots, and we all thought and hoped Jill would be fine. She wrote me a letter last year, which I didn't keep. I wish I had, because I would have treasured that letter, knowing what I know now. Jill served on the Port Lincoln Council for a very long time. She was your deputy mayor for many of those years. She loved Port Lincoln and the Eyre Peninsula. And because she was an accomplished professional photographer, when you were struck by the devastating bushfires a few years ago, Jill produced and published a book that took readers on a journey through the catastrophe and devastation. It was really an historical record of the fires, capturing all the drama, and some of the joy too. The book showed some of the little animals that were saved, and it was very uplifting. She sent me a copy at the time, and it was nothing short of a work of art. Jill was a skilled and incredibly talented artist. In council, she worked extremely hard for you, the people of Port Lincoln and the Eyre Peninsula, and achieved a lot on your behalf over the years. She was, with a group of others passionate about, and I don't think it's unfair to say, at least I hope not, almost solely responsible for the restoration of the Civic Theatre. I know there were a lot of people involved with that project over time, but Jill was a driving force behind the theatre restoration. She used to call me on the air occasionally back then, to add her two cents worth on the issues she cared about, because callers to the program were anonymous. I called her 1641, which were the last four digits of her home phone number. But Jill had such a distinctive voice, I don't think I was fooling anyone who knew her. I know this time of the year must be particularly difficult for Jill's family, Caroline and her husband Harvey and their kids, Alison Parker and her family, and Jill's son Andrew with his family. I just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. Last year, you as a family were in the midst of what was happening to Jill, so this is really the first Christmas without Mom and your kid's grandmother. I know you miss her as I do, and the people of Port Lincoln as well. Jill, I love you, and I just miss you a lot. Well, it's been just wonderful spending this last hour with you. I just hope it's not another 21 years before we catch up. I miss you a lot. I hope you've enjoyed the program as much as I've loved presenting it for you. Thank you for listening, and happy 25th birthday, 5CC. And Jill Parker, I miss you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
