Speaker 1: James Young is one of the most unforgettable people you'd
Speaker 1: ever hoped to meet. He lives and breeds rock and
Speaker 1: roll as the owner of Melbourne's Cherry Bar, and lives
Speaker 1: unapologetically large, from his bespoke Elvis inspired suits and magnificent hats,
Speaker 1: to his unabashed passion for food and as general zest
Speaker 1: for life. He's a father of three sons, but he
Speaker 1: takes very seriously and he's been with his partner, Miranda
Speaker 1: since nineteen eighty seven. That's thirty six years in counting.
Speaker 1: She very quickly enforced a two point thirty am curfew
Speaker 1: for her new party loving boyfriend. Let's see if he's
Speaker 1: still the same. Welcome to the Christy Cars, James Young.
Speaker 2: Oh Christy, what a pleasure to see you and to
Speaker 2: be here now.
Speaker 1: This curfew that your wife put in a is that true?
Speaker 2: One hundred percent true? Have to be home by two thirty.
Speaker 2: I the actually own a few bars in Melbourne, to
Speaker 2: whom have a twenty four hour license or five am
Speaker 2: plus has never been there when they've closed, And because
Speaker 2: I always leave it too to be home by two
Speaker 2: thirty and either my staff are as fearful of Miranda
Speaker 2: as I am, or they just don't like me because
Speaker 2: I get the tap on the shoulder at ten past two,
Speaker 2: say just reminding you, James, you've got to be home
Speaker 2: by two thirty. Now, occasionally I make the mistake, but
Speaker 2: I always pay for it because people make mistake of
Speaker 2: saying these once in a lifetime opportunity. I'll call your
Speaker 2: wife and explain everything is going to be all right,
Speaker 2: and then I save their lives by saying, don't make
Speaker 2: that mistake. Don't be the one to call so And
Speaker 2: you know the people that I work with, to be honest,
Speaker 2: people will get burnt out. They go out on Friday
Speaker 2: nights and they come back on Monday, and they do
Speaker 2: it for six months. Not only will they burnt out
Speaker 2: in six months, they won't recover from that for three years.
Speaker 2: If you get home at two thirty, you can get
Speaker 2: up on six hours sleep at eight thirty and function
Speaker 2: like a normal human being.
Speaker 1: No, you cannot.
Speaker 2: She can push you push it to three thirty, and
Speaker 2: you're as useless as an astray on a motorbike. You
Speaker 2: have to be down by two thirty.
Speaker 1: I just think it's astounding to me. Who my favorite thing,
Speaker 1: my favorite place in the world is my bed.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's a great place.
Speaker 1: I not yes. I can't fathom the pride that you
Speaker 1: are expressing by saying that you've never been at a
Speaker 1: place at five am when it closes. Like for me,
Speaker 1: strike that reverse it. I'm generally gone from places by
Speaker 1: five pm and in bed.
Speaker 2: Well, can I just say the only thing I love
Speaker 2: more than coming home after a great night of partying,
Speaker 2: having seen live music and being up till two thirty is,
Speaker 2: of course, going to bed at eight thirty on a
Speaker 2: Tuesday or Wednesday night sneaking off. I don't think we
Speaker 2: can make it through another episode of Jack Reacher. It's
Speaker 2: forty three minutes long. I think we're gone. And the
Speaker 2: thing that Marinda doesn't like, which I suppose helps, is
Speaker 2: I can fall asleep in half a second any time
Speaker 2: of the day, and I could drop it drop for
Speaker 2: you right now. Really, I could drop it.
Speaker 1: You give you ten minutes, but that's because you're out
Speaker 1: until three am talking shit with people.
Speaker 2: Well that's why you have to be home by two
Speaker 2: thirty as well, because once it gets to tow we've
Speaker 2: talked and half shit. I'm just repeating myself after to
Speaker 2: quick cover at all bases. No, there's no need to
Speaker 2: be out out just repeating yourself. There's unnecessary withdrawals of
Speaker 2: three hundred dollars from Grade Tom. You just do not
Speaker 2: need that.
Speaker 1: James. Do you think that you have a personality disorder?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? All the good rues do. If you're not living
Speaker 2: on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
Speaker 1: It's an extraordinary love of people and music that you
Speaker 1: have dedicated your life to.
Speaker 2: Well. I do love like music, I mean as I
Speaker 2: say to Miranda, and it's a pity that I'm not
Speaker 2: into stamp collecting or book collecting because I happened to
Speaker 2: be addicted to live music. It wasn't my choice, and
Speaker 2: I just if I don't see live music a minimum
Speaker 2: of twice a week. And I'm not talking about big
Speaker 2: concerts necessarily with the Rolling Stones in a cyzy I'm
Speaker 2: talking about new up and coming band Ardvark from Melbourne
Speaker 2: and Willie j and the Bad Books playing at the
Speaker 2: gym in front of seventeen people. Have to see it
Speaker 2: minimum twice a week, or I go a bit cookoo.
Speaker 1: Do you play anything yourself?
Speaker 2: Well, needless to say, ha, Chris. Of course, if you
Speaker 2: were having an eighteenth birthday party in the Mount Waverley
Speaker 2: grim Waverley area the summer of eighty three eighty four.
Speaker 2: You were calling on Nervous Rex with me on lead
Speaker 2: vocals and everything else I could play, so the alto
Speaker 2: saxophone and the harmonica, and we had some original songs.
Speaker 2: The first song that I wrote the lead sing of
Speaker 2: Nervous Rex.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, what was the bad call? Did
Speaker 1: Nervous Rex have two x's on the end?
Speaker 2: No, just the way? But it was orix's in t
Speaker 2: Rex And Yeah. My first song was Criminal Ways, and
Speaker 2: I look back to myself as a tough seventeen year old.
Speaker 2: My version of Criminal Ways would have been stealing a
Speaker 2: mustic from the local duck shop. And I wrote an
Speaker 2: instrumental on the harp back Beaches of Lawn.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 2: But we were covering the stones and the sex pistols
Speaker 2: and the doors and the monkeys. It was. It was
Speaker 2: a lot of fun. And I even did Muddy Waters
Speaker 2: because I wanted to play the alto sacks. We even
Speaker 2: did I'm a Man. We passed twenty one at the time.
Speaker 2: I was seventeen, but I had to be able to
Speaker 2: play Me, Me Me on the sacks. But af we
Speaker 2: came to the end of that fantastic summer where we ruled.
Speaker 2: My green Paisley shirt ruled the summer of eighty three
Speaker 2: eighty four, and I came to my band and broke
Speaker 2: their heart when I said, look, sorry, I was born
Speaker 2: in musical taste. I'm shit, your shit wear shit. Someone's
Speaker 2: offered me three hundred dollars for the Alto saxphone up
Speaker 2: a brushes at Chadsten There's a three and one stereo.
Speaker 2: It's got a turntable, tape deck and.
Speaker 1: Tuner for the f in the road James.
Speaker 2: So I said, I am going to sell that sex
Speaker 2: and I am going to use my gift for music
Speaker 2: to not have to listen to myself and to appreciate
Speaker 2: and spread the good word of others.
Speaker 1: Speaking of appreciation of music, is there a genre or
Speaker 1: a style that you do not understand or are you
Speaker 1: an equal opportunity employer.
Speaker 2: A good grid. I'm not a big fan of jazz.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have said and the scat sort of sort
Speaker 2: of stuff, you know, but your tastes still evolved out there.
Speaker 2: I didn't like country and Western music at all when
Speaker 2: I was a teenager and now I absolutely love it
Speaker 2: for the songwriting. I wasn't very open minded to reggae
Speaker 2: music when I was younger. Really now I.
Speaker 1: Thought everyone went through the Bob Marley and the Whaleless Summer.
Speaker 1: For sure, of.
Speaker 2: Course, But but now I understand understand. You know, punk
Speaker 2: music like the Clash, it actually came from the sounds
Speaker 2: of reggae. So you educate yourself knowing. My joke about
Speaker 2: jazz is apparently they're coming out with a compilation of
Speaker 2: the greatest hits of jazz on one side of a
Speaker 2: seven inch. But I almost have attracted to rock and roll.
Speaker 2: And when I went and saw like hip hop stuff
Speaker 2: or techno stuff, which didn't like much when I was younger,
Speaker 2: I realized that even for me, the concept of rock
Speaker 2: and roll, it's not necessarily sound. It's an attitude. So
Speaker 2: if you walk into a tent set the splendor in
Speaker 2: the grass music festival and there's ten thousand people jumping
Speaker 2: up and down with.
Speaker 1: A fresh Hell for me, Fresh Hell.
Speaker 2: For me, it's a group. Huh, Chrissy, I want to
Speaker 2: be a part of this excitement and sharing the positive energy.
Speaker 1: We could not be more different and yet in love.
Speaker 1: What are we going to do well.
Speaker 2: You know, some people treat their body like a temple.
Speaker 2: I treat mine like a portloo at a music vest.
Speaker 1: Speaking of pop music, I've got to ask because I
Speaker 1: am a late onset Swifty Yes, Taylor Swift, Why slash Ann.
Speaker 2: Yes, why slash An? Yes? Sorry, I actually am am
Speaker 2: be careful here. I don't listen to Tata enough. I'm
Speaker 2: very happy for I cannot believe how phenomenally successful she
Speaker 2: is because to sell out two mcg concerts in a
Speaker 2: nanosecond and they're impossible to get. So I've got my
Speaker 2: youngest son, Sammo, who's now twenty three. Yes, his girlfriend
Speaker 2: Carl She said I couldn't. I had nine laptops going,
Speaker 2: I couldn't get a ticket, And I of course say
Speaker 2: stand back time to impress the children. I'll be getting
Speaker 2: you Tata tickets. Not a problem in the world. No
Speaker 2: one's ever said no to James Young. Someone said no,
Speaker 2: she is that big, you can't. You cannot buy tickets
Speaker 2: to see. That's how phenomenal she is. And I will
Speaker 2: say that people need to understand. So all ships rise
Speaker 2: with the tide. So I'm always supporting the entire scene
Speaker 2: by supporting other venues with perceived competitors. Yes, let's create
Speaker 2: a great scene. And the bigger I think I understand
Speaker 2: that some younger venue owners might not understand is never
Speaker 2: criticize your Tata's or your Billy Joel's or your Harry
Speaker 2: styles because the ripple effect they create. Like someone could
Speaker 2: even do a tour that doesn't work. What didn't work
Speaker 2: for you worked for the Cherry bar on Little Colin
Speaker 2: Street in particular, because the crews the road cruise, the
Speaker 2: international road crews who are here for six days setting
Speaker 2: up those shows. They stay in the city. We've got
Speaker 2: a very late license. We're walking distance from their hotel.
Speaker 2: They're no fuss. They don't need a red velvet rope.
Speaker 2: They spend their money and they can't believe that the
Speaker 2: venues open that late. Even one or two drink cartters.
Speaker 2: It's like you just solve the Da Vinci code. They've
Speaker 2: never seen it more in their lives.
Speaker 1: How much did the drink cars worth? By the way,
Speaker 1: they're only.
Speaker 2: Ten, Well, you give them a few. But what happens
Speaker 2: then then is not only they drink heavily, they tell
Speaker 2: the rest of the world about your bar. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: they're back in two months because of the here with Tata.
Speaker 2: That doesn't mean they're with Tata forever. They're back with
Speaker 2: slipknot in two months time, because their job internationally is
Speaker 2: to tour coross th in big shows. So my answer
Speaker 2: is I'm in love with Data and her ticket sales
Speaker 2: for selfish reasons, but I do love a good pop.
Speaker 2: When the Rolling Stones broke my heart and canceled a
Speaker 2: show in Las Vegas, when I was there with nine
Speaker 2: hardcore rock and roll fans, they couldn't believe it when
Speaker 2: I said, we're going to Britney Spears and we're buying
Speaker 2: tickets in the brit pit. I want to be down
Speaker 2: the front, right under the spearmeister. And I read and
Speaker 2: I absolutely loved the theatrical show that she put on
Speaker 2: in Vegas. It was breathdays, like saying a musical where
Speaker 2: like one truly one song, it's an aquarium, she's underwater,
Speaker 2: there's water all over stages, swimming creatures. Next song, she's
Speaker 2: in out of space with rockets and she's on a
Speaker 2: cowboys scene with on horses and go, how are they pulling?
Speaker 2: That's why that show could never ever tour, And it
Speaker 2: had a not quite the spear, but I had a
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty degree screen and it was breath
Speaker 2: takingly impressive. Obviously she didn't she mind everything. Who cares
Speaker 2: it's a theatrical show.
Speaker 1: That is a really great question that you raise. How
Speaker 1: important is it that live music is live, be.
Speaker 2: True to the genre, who represent If you're a rock
Speaker 2: and roller, like the Sex Pistols, for example, it's an
Speaker 2: old example, or the Rolling Stone, they're all dead. They're
Speaker 2: never dead to me. You've got to play rock and
Speaker 2: roll life. But if your show is a theater show,
Speaker 2: particularly it's in Vegas, you can you can crimp a bit.
Speaker 2: And let's well, let's talk about bands. It might expect
Speaker 2: something better. For so Motley Crue, who toured recently. Now
Speaker 2: when I hear that there's a guitarist supporting the guitarist underneath,
Speaker 2: or if I'm hearing that there's a vocal track in
Speaker 2: Paul Stanley's ear from Kiss to help him hold the
Speaker 2: note on his last tour, I don't have a problem
Speaker 2: with that. Make the show as good as you possibly
Speaker 2: can and give the audience you know what they want,
Speaker 2: which is a fantastic show if you want to. If
Speaker 2: you saw Motley crue without any backing or help in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. They need help. They do need every
Speaker 2: piece of help that they can may I saw an.
Speaker 1: Interview recently with I think it was Tommy Lee, and
Speaker 1: he said that at times in his career he was
Speaker 1: drinking a certain amount of vodka every day, and it
Speaker 1: was an American measurement which nobody understands. So I went
Speaker 1: straight to Google. It turns out, in one sitting on
Speaker 1: one day and then to do it again the next
Speaker 1: day in the day after that, he was drinking seven
Speaker 1: liters of straight vodka a day.
Speaker 2: That's not healthy.
Speaker 1: No, it's not healthy. What's the most that you've ever
Speaker 1: put away in one sitting?
Speaker 2: That's a little bit unfair. I think on a younger days,
Speaker 2: on the summer holidays, it would be possible to put
Speaker 2: away nearly onely a day, maybe one leader a day.
Speaker 1: And when would you start?
Speaker 2: I never start until the yard arm. It's twelve, so
Speaker 2: twelve noon pretty easy when you're getting up at eleven
Speaker 2: fifty five.
Speaker 1: Turned into how Tommy Lee, are you? Have you ever
Speaker 1: hooted a horn on a boat with your penis hi slash?
Speaker 2: I haven't, I mean, I haven't. I couldn't start a
Speaker 2: jelly bean box.
Speaker 1: Have you ever slept with Pamela Anderson?
Speaker 2: I've not. Did have a crash on Pamela when I
Speaker 2: was younger.
Speaker 1: Who didn't I still do? She's magical, Yes, she is,
Speaker 1: and what you know?
Speaker 2: And they taught us that two plus two equals five
Speaker 2: when it comes to celebrities and personalities and world attention.
Speaker 2: There's still i mean their world world known names.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely absolutely. It's time for you to tell me
Speaker 1: your surprising story.
Speaker 2: James Young, thank you for that fabulous intro. Christ I'm
Speaker 2: loving talking to you again. Okay, the story I was
Speaker 2: going to tell does relate rock and roll, and does
Speaker 2: relate to Cherry Bar, and it relates to a huge
Speaker 2: pop star who taught me a lesson, And the story
Speaker 2: relates to Lady Gaga and Cherry Bar.
Speaker 1: Stephanie German Otter, I believe her real name is.
Speaker 2: And what a fabulous performance she is, and this is
Speaker 2: the story is. I can't believe she.
Speaker 1: Was a punish at school, though, was she? Yeah? An
Speaker 1: actor that went to school with her at one of
Speaker 1: those sort of fame style schools in New York City
Speaker 1: said that even at lunch time, she would be singing
Speaker 1: and people just be rolling their eyes, going, I just
Speaker 1: want to eat our fucking sand. Which can you shut
Speaker 1: up for a minute, Gaga.
Speaker 2: I think I was a punish at school, but hopefully
Speaker 2: just to the teachers and the parents more than the
Speaker 2: friends you make. But Gaga, this story is like, I
Speaker 2: can't believe it's already more than a decade since has happened.
Speaker 2: But as often happens, the international stars in town and
Speaker 2: the crew are at Cherry Bar and they're enjoying the
Speaker 2: fact that Cherry Bar is open, and I'm developing a
Speaker 2: relationship with the You know, this is fun. Sometimes you
Speaker 2: end up getting invited to a state tour or stand
Speaker 2: behind the desk and all this kind of stuff, But
Speaker 2: mainly you're just enjoying the fact that they're there and
Speaker 2: keeping your bar busy.
Speaker 1: How fun. If it wasn't happening so late, I'd be
Speaker 1: totally into that.
Speaker 2: Yes, Unfortunately it does sort of. The conversation really picks
Speaker 2: up around midnight.
Speaker 1: But what would my fit bit sleep ap have to
Speaker 1: say about that? I'd never live it down.
Speaker 2: And put one of those on my wrisk. What happened
Speaker 2: was this, It's near July the fourth, which is a
Speaker 2: very significant date for the Americans fourth celebrations and Independence.
Speaker 2: And I get the call from the guy I've been
Speaker 2: liazing with, Robert. He says, hey, listen, Gago has decided
Speaker 2: that short notice, this is on the Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Did they call her Gaga?
Speaker 2: Yes, that's what has decided at short notice, that she
Speaker 2: was to have a party a July the fourth Independence
Speaker 2: Day party. We were thinking, which is tomorrow Wednesday. We
Speaker 2: were thinking we'd love to have it at Cherry Bar,
Speaker 2: and she might actually pop up and do it. Do
Speaker 2: a song, nothing too big. We understand small stage vacations,
Speaker 2: and it won't take. And I said, so that's It's
Speaker 2: a lovely offer, rob But I do have to two.
Speaker 2: I've got an existing booking tomorrow Wednesday, and I never
Speaker 2: ever cancel existing lookings. It's a band called Jackson Firebird.
Speaker 2: There are two piece blues band from mill Dura and
Speaker 2: they're coming down from mill Dura. Two boys in the
Speaker 2: flannel shirts.
Speaker 1: But they do know an acoustic version of poker Face.
Speaker 1: If that's any assistance, I.
Speaker 2: Said, I'll tell you what. If Gago can be off
Speaker 2: stage by nine, we can manage it. And the mill
Speaker 2: Dura Jackson Firebord guys can come on at nine point thirty,
Speaker 2: and he said, I reckon, that's workable because she doesn't
Speaker 2: want to late.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: So then I get a call back a bit later,
Speaker 2: it says and he says, hey, listen, this is on
Speaker 2: the Wednesday. It's all a little bit hard with the timings.
Speaker 2: We think we're going to go to the North Coott
Speaker 2: Social Club. And I say, fine, fine, makes sense to me,
Speaker 2: go for it now. In the back of my mind,
Speaker 2: you need to understand, you need to un to stand
Speaker 2: Chrissy that I get these calls all the time, and
Speaker 2: seventy five percent of the time these things don't happen.
Speaker 2: I've had this year. I've had post Malone say loves
Speaker 2: die Bars wants to come to Cherry Bar. I had
Speaker 2: descend the map of the bar. We had to have wristbands,
Speaker 2: we had he was going to come through the rear exit,
Speaker 2: so the rear lame way entrance to the back of
Speaker 2: Cherry never happened before. Get it already, surprise surprise to
Speaker 2: no one, didn't even turn tired, didn't make it.
Speaker 1: So it happened with me Netflix.
Speaker 2: He was and in this beautiful room, and so I said,
Speaker 2: I understand no problems at all. And then that that night,
Speaker 2: that Wednesday afternoon, I think I got a call from
Speaker 2: Sasha French, who was the producer for a show with
Speaker 2: our friend Kate Langbrook, and said, I hear that gargas
Speaker 2: playing at Cherry to night. I said, no, no, no, that's
Speaker 2: not true. It's moved to the North Social Club. But
Speaker 2: I'll be very surprised if she performs the song. I
Speaker 2: go to bed. It's a nice early night. You would
Speaker 2: have loved it.
Speaker 1: Three in the morning.
Speaker 2: If I get up and I'm going to the bathroom,
Speaker 2: it's quite early at five thirty six am. And I
Speaker 2: look at number one. It was a thinking It was
Speaker 2: a thinking moment, and Sasha says, shush. Sasha sends me
Speaker 2: a texture with a photograph of Gaga performing on stage
Speaker 2: at the North Social Club, and I look at not
Speaker 2: at your venue, not at my venue, because I pushed
Speaker 2: her there. So so I publish a one line post
Speaker 2: on the Cherry Facebook which says world's most credible booker
Speaker 2: or world's greatest idiot knock back Lady Gaga, thinking she
Speaker 2: would and she performs at North can Social Club. That
Speaker 2: then I just send it out and I go back
Speaker 2: to bed. And then because Gaga at that time is
Speaker 2: the biggest artist in the whole world and they're all
Speaker 2: looking for a different angle. It was Joe Roberts from
Speaker 2: The Age who spoke me first and said, there's a
Speaker 2: bit of traction on this post. And then she wrote
Speaker 2: a little article online at the Age which exploded, and
Speaker 2: then suddenly it was absolutely everywhere, to the point where
Speaker 2: the Mirror newspaper in London not on line, the newspaper
Speaker 2: read the PA ran the page three story. Barmie bar
Speaker 2: owner says, nah to Gaga was the head was the headline,
Speaker 2: and getting I'm getting emails from artists like in North
Speaker 2: in America saying you don't know who I am, but
Speaker 2: I'm just writing to tell you you are my hero.
Speaker 2: This would never happen in North America. No one in
Speaker 2: the world would ever knock back an international artist because
Speaker 2: they had an existing, existing book. And then I'm I'm
Speaker 2: turning up on Spanish television where it's the news, it's
Speaker 2: the news and someoney go cherry bar lady Gaga, James
Speaker 2: junk idiot. So so then what then what happens is
Speaker 2: if I had I just think this would be an
Speaker 2: interesting part of the story. Had I put Gaga on
Speaker 2: on that Wednesday night, I believe the bar would probably
Speaker 2: take in about seven grand more than it would normally
Speaker 2: take on a Wednesday. That weekend at Cherry that Friday
Speaker 2: and Saturday, we took thirty five thousand more than when
Speaker 2: normally take And I had Jackson Firebird locked in for
Speaker 2: a residency, The Unknown two Piecemeal, Duror Blue.
Speaker 1: I'd already forgotten their name.
Speaker 2: Yes, well they got it. They got to deal with
Speaker 2: EMI Records, a major label, game my deal, and the next.
Speaker 1: Four weeks God's work here at.
Speaker 2: The Cherry Residency. Cherry Residency, the place was packed to
Speaker 2: see this band, Jackson Firebird, who of course came out
Speaker 2: with T shirts with Garga references. So that that's the
Speaker 2: fascinating part one. But wait, year hear the Gaga Part
Speaker 2: two of the of the James Young Because remember I
Speaker 2: never said no to Lady Gaga. It's not like I said.
Speaker 2: Part of the innuit. There was an inny window of
Speaker 2: the stories. Are not rock and roll enough? Yeah, absolutely not.
Speaker 2: She's rocking. Of course, she's rocking rough.
Speaker 1: The newspaper's got you wrong. I can't believe it.
Speaker 2: So almost exactly two years later, precisely twenty five months later,
Speaker 2: Lady gargas in town and the biggest I mentioned before
Speaker 2: about the start saying they're coming, and they don't come.
Speaker 2: The biggest stars they never tell you they're coming. So
Speaker 2: in the past, when Axel ros and guns and Roses
Speaker 2: have turned up, Yallic has turned up, Neil Young has
Speaker 2: turned up, they never tell yourself.
Speaker 1: Quickly do you get from your house in the in
Speaker 1: the leafy suburbs to your bar when Colin calls you
Speaker 1: and says, Axel just walked in.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's amazing. You know the flight times. If the
Speaker 2: uber wages over one minute, I'm sorry, I'm driving the
Speaker 2: speeding fines. But Lady Gaga turned up to Cherry by herself,
Speaker 2: no security, no bodyguard, no entourage. No I'm not I'm coming,
Speaker 2: give me my private room and wait for this. She
Speaker 2: stayed at the bar for five and a half hours,
Speaker 2: never going into the rear vip so called cocktail bar area.
Speaker 2: She danced on the stage with everyone who wanted to.
Speaker 2: And I've shown you the picture she danced on the
Speaker 2: Cherry bar, and I know for one her atitude was
Speaker 2: James Young, I'm going to leave my footprint, both literally
Speaker 2: and metaphorically on your bar. If you're gonna tell Gaga
Speaker 2: not welcome at Cherry Bar and she's prancing around on
Speaker 2: the bar, will I will say that two years ago
Speaker 2: when that when the incident happened and Gaga had moved
Speaker 2: on to Perth, they got a call from my Roger Field,
Speaker 2: who was the CEO president of Live Nation. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: rings me and says James, why am I to dinner
Speaker 2: with Lady Gaga? And all she's doing is talking about
Speaker 2: who's James Young? What's happening at Cherry Bar? So it
Speaker 2: obviously stuck in her call it two years earlier. But
Speaker 2: the great thing about Gaga's appearance was, for one thing,
Speaker 2: she loved the bar, she loved DJ Mermaid who was djaying,
Speaker 2: and she was making the most impressive rock and roll
Speaker 2: song requests. So yes, she wanted a see DC, but
Speaker 2: she didn't want thunderstruck. She wanted squealer. No one requests
Speaker 2: squealing You're going deep cuts? What else did she request?
Speaker 2: Our judas priest? You know, it was very impressive how
Speaker 2: she knew a rock and.
Speaker 1: Roll anything else more. I love this.
Speaker 2: I have to have to look into it because I
Speaker 2: can't remember. It's a while back. But it was impressive,
Speaker 2: it was obscure, and she loved dancing to it. And
Speaker 2: she was, what about.
Speaker 1: Roger vadouas you better get used to it? Did she ask?
Speaker 2: There's a bang jeneral, Louis, Louise, Louise, I love you,
Speaker 2: I love you, Louise Louise.
Speaker 1: I love you, I love you, Aula, that's the best
Speaker 1: part of thank you.
Speaker 2: But then Gaga, right, and she's getting very drunk. Well,
Speaker 2: obviously we would mind her responsible service of alcohol. What
Speaker 2: does she drink? But she was just smashing anything she wanted.
Speaker 2: I think she was you know, she was doing the
Speaker 2: suburban and coke. She was drinking. But here's here's the point.
Speaker 2: When she left Cherry bart And I had to keep
Speaker 2: this out of the paper at the time because I
Speaker 2: didn't want to appear that Cherry was irresponsible at service of alcohol.
Speaker 2: She was wearing like stockings and she was probably lightly dressed.
Speaker 2: I would say that she looked like she was in
Speaker 2: her lingerie with rip stockings. She crawled up a CDC
Speaker 2: lane on her hands and knees to the top of
Speaker 2: the lame way. Again, it's like that's seen from the ring.
Speaker 2: To get this terrifying it is to get into her
Speaker 2: current leaf. And then her first post in the morning
Speaker 2: was thank you Cherry Bar Melbourne for the greatest hangover
Speaker 2: of my life, you know. And then she posted these
Speaker 2: pictures which I copied and posted and people said inappropriate
Speaker 2: those pictures sort of from underneath of her dancing up
Speaker 2: on the she posted them. I just buffer these are
Speaker 2: her words, not mine. So basically, Gaga is one of
Speaker 2: the greatest, most rock and roll definitive checkmate James Young
Speaker 2: and Cherry Bar came back all by herself and left
Speaker 2: that footprint, so God bless her. She's one of the
Speaker 2: most rock and roll people you will ever deal with
Speaker 2: or have the pleasure of bumping into or seeing perform
Speaker 2: on the face of planet.
Speaker 1: Has she toured Australia since then.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure that she has. I'm actually keen to
Speaker 2: take it to the next step, which will be I've
Speaker 2: got one Cherry Bar denim jacket with the kind of
Speaker 2: the biky cherry bar thing stitched into it left and
Speaker 2: I want to present it present it to her. I
Speaker 2: really just complete the circle. I'm relieved to be a
Speaker 2: small dinner day followed.
Speaker 1: Of course, I'm relieved to hear that that is the
Speaker 1: next step, because given her previous appearance at Cherryber, I
Speaker 1: thought the next sep would be that she dies there.
Speaker 1: She's escorted out in a body bag. It's time for
Speaker 1: you to ask me anything, James.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay, all right, there, I was thinking. Given that
Speaker 2: Cherry Bar is probably probably known to be honest as
Speaker 2: a pickup venue, people go there, you know, they go
Speaker 2: to it to meet people, hopefully, and many people. Dave
Speaker 2: Hughes found his wife at Cherry Bar. Many people have
Speaker 2: found their wife at Cherry Bar. Well. Many people have
Speaker 2: been married at Cherry Bar. They've asked me to perform
Speaker 2: celebrant duties because they'd like to complete the circle. Many
Speaker 2: people actually, I think, conceived in the Cherry handicap talis
Speaker 2: as well. But my question to you is this, I'm worried.
Speaker 2: I'm interested in the future of late night bars in
Speaker 2: terms of how people meet one another, how people find romance.
Speaker 2: As we've moved towards an age of tinder, and you
Speaker 2: tell me harmony, whatever the others are called. Do you
Speaker 2: think you in your grinder in your experience, in your experience,
Speaker 2: did you think you found more satisfying relationships the old
Speaker 2: way of fumbling around at the after work parties or
Speaker 2: going to bars, or the new technology way. And do
Speaker 2: you think one or the other is going to become stronger?
Speaker 2: Moving forward from tooth twenty four.
Speaker 1: You and I have known each other a very long time,
Speaker 1: and I think that that question is for someone not me.
Speaker 2: Is that right?
Speaker 1: I am the least romantic person that you would ever
Speaker 1: hope to meet. I don't even think I believe in love.
Speaker 1: Yes you do, I don't think I do. Come on, no,
Speaker 1: I'm currently you can't.
Speaker 2: Sing love songs like you sing love songs without feeling them.
Speaker 1: I think you can. And I have never been good
Speaker 1: at meeting people or understanding if anyone is into me.
Speaker 1: I haven't really felt that into too many people. Maybe
Speaker 1: I'm asexual. I don't know, but I get joy and connection,
Speaker 1: and you know what I imagine love must feel like,
Speaker 1: because I do love music and love songs. I love that,
Speaker 1: but those feel come from other places for me, Like
Speaker 1: I've just learned how to make Italian crostily right, and
Speaker 1: it was like a full body high when I pulled
Speaker 1: it out of the deep fryer. Or sometimes when I'm walking,
Speaker 1: I get.
Speaker 2: That, Okay, let's yes, amazing. Where do you find love?
Speaker 2: Where do you find I absolutely love cooking and I
Speaker 2: have to barbecue and it's azzy bloke thing to say.
Speaker 2: I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1: That to me is pure happiness. I just haven't Obviously,
Speaker 1: I don't dabble in the technology romance things. I would
Speaker 1: have no interest in that. If I'm going to be
Speaker 1: on my phone picking things, I like to be on
Speaker 1: Amazon or Bunnings or Kmart. I like to pick glasswere
Speaker 1: I just swipe left on food storage containers. That's my
Speaker 1: idea of heaven.
Speaker 2: I see, because I think that's probably the heart of
Speaker 2: my question is in musical terms, we talk about a
Speaker 2: digital and I love the analog recordings of the seventies.
Speaker 2: When I listen, when I listen to the Steve Miller band,
Speaker 2: I think music has never been recorded better than this.
Speaker 2: There's a warmth, there's a spaciousness.
Speaker 1: And do you know what I can hear in my
Speaker 1: head that do do Doo and it goes yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2: It's just incredible.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to remember Steve jo. But the my point
Speaker 2: there is so I'm thinking old school analog is better
Speaker 2: than the new school digital. And then so's my question
Speaker 2: is I feel that that in terms of finding love,
Speaker 2: But let's talk about it in terms of cooking practices.
Speaker 2: Same thing is are the old ways better than the
Speaker 2: new ways? Do you know? Are you cooking with the
Speaker 2: new thermo blasting because I reckon fire or think we're
Speaker 2: going back to fire? I think we're going back to
Speaker 2: primitive and vinyl? Yes, well, yeah, y, it's interesting.
Speaker 1: I think. Do you know Gary Jeannetti, I know the name.
Speaker 1: So he's a very grumpy American and he was the
Speaker 1: first person I ever heard say that the olden days
Speaker 1: were shit and childhood in the eighties was rubbish and
Speaker 1: nobody had anything to do and now is much better.
Speaker 1: And I agree with him. I tell my kids all
Speaker 1: the time, I'm like, you understand that Christmas holidays meant
Speaker 1: never ending backgammon and dancing to Whitney Houston's album in
Speaker 1: the living room. That was it. None of this. I'm
Speaker 1: going to pop down and see a movie. I'm going
Speaker 1: to you know, I've got my own travel, I can
Speaker 1: go anywhere. I can pay for anything. There was none
Speaker 1: of that. It was terrible, But I do believe that
Speaker 1: cooking was better in the old days. I can't work
Speaker 1: out a thermomix. I can't do it. And because I'm
Speaker 1: such a dag my pastimes are all very daggy. I
Speaker 1: like to read books, yes, I mean, who knew.
Speaker 2: I studied law, but I also have a Bachelor of
Speaker 2: Arts with honors in English. And I'm a little bit
Speaker 2: disappointed in myself because at the age of twenty one,
Speaker 2: I was the best read human being on earth. Old English,
Speaker 2: Middle English, Renaissance literature, literature, a Romantic in Victorian literature.
Speaker 2: I'd read Milton Shakespeare, not Milton the Monster, like that
Speaker 2: show as well, Paradise last year, Samuel College, and just
Speaker 2: loved pulp fiction, so of Raymond Chandler and Dasher Hammett
Speaker 2: and just books. And now I'm embarrassed. I moveing from
Speaker 2: books to magazines and now it's things on your phone,
Speaker 2: and now to.
Speaker 1: Feel shamed about that, that's great, that's it's moving with
Speaker 1: the times. Yeah, and it's still information. You're still collecting thoughts.
Speaker 2: And distributing you We had something to talk.
Speaker 1: About nextund what's in the bum bag? Right?
Speaker 2: What's in the bum bag?
Speaker 1: Open up the bum bag? James Young and talk about
Speaker 1: what's inside.
Speaker 2: It opened that up the right way? Oh? Can we please?
Speaker 2: Who is the king?
Speaker 1: Who is it?
Speaker 2: The King? Elvis Aaron Presley? I love him? Actually? Why well?
Speaker 2: I love it Elvis Presley for a number of reasons.
Speaker 2: Firstly because he represents one of the four architects of
Speaker 2: rock and rolls Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and
Speaker 2: the Killer Jerry Lee Lewis, who created this. I personally,
Speaker 2: I feel so lucky that in the whatever it is
Speaker 2: sixty thousand odd years that human beings have been on earth,
Speaker 2: that I'm alive during the fifty year period, that rock
Speaker 2: and roll is alive, because it's the most important thing
Speaker 2: in my whole life, and I love it more than
Speaker 2: anything else. And this man, and also just for the record,
Speaker 2: the greatest looking human being who has ever walked the planet,
Speaker 2: male female, question and the greatest head of hair, the voice,
Speaker 2: and the generosity. Why is it the Delvis Presley when
Speaker 2: he came into money, would go to Cadillac Display a dealership,
Speaker 2: and anyone who's daydreaming about owning a Cadillac, he would
Speaker 2: buy them all Cadillacs. So all the six families just
Speaker 2: looking at these cars. Everyone gets one. How comes since
Speaker 2: then in the mid fifties, no one's done that. Anyone
Speaker 2: else could do it. They never have because I don't
Speaker 2: have his heart, his care for people of the same ilk.
Speaker 1: There's a resurgence of interest in Elvis. There was the
Speaker 1: Baz Luhrman film, and then there's the new Priscilla sort
Speaker 1: of prospective coming out. But yes, yes, do you feel
Speaker 1: like everyone's getting on the bandwagon of your sweet boyfriend.
Speaker 2: I'm very happy for people to discover Elvis. And I
Speaker 2: think the reason why Elvis will always endure is because
Speaker 2: even though the Colonel was a manipulative manager and to
Speaker 2: make money, he put him in those twenty one Hollywood films.
Speaker 2: I believe like no other artist in the world has
Speaker 2: got twenty one movies, and every single Saturday afternoon, somewhere
Speaker 2: on some couch somewhere in the world in Germany, there's
Speaker 2: a thirteen year old girl falling in love with Elvis. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and those films, which may not be Francis Ford Coppler masterpieces,
Speaker 2: I believe they're pop art. They're like Andy Warhol, Liechtenstein,
Speaker 2: the Colors, the Movement, their birthday put on clam bake.
Speaker 2: I can't take my eyes off it going Look what
Speaker 2: she's wearing. Look at that top? Oh my god, where
Speaker 2: is that shirt? Who took that? Where is Elvis's shirt?
Speaker 1: Look at Ann Margaret's amazing pointy busies. Look at them,
Speaker 1: look at the fever love titties.
Speaker 2: And go to the bar. You know those bars? Why
Speaker 2: don't we recreate those amazing outdoor.
Speaker 1: Bars, oh the ticky bar, wherever they go?
Speaker 2: And the performance from Elvis Addie Carmes is like, forget
Speaker 2: about it, forget about it.
Speaker 1: I'm going to let you go. But if you had
Speaker 1: to choose one and only one favorite Elva song, what
Speaker 1: is it?
Speaker 2: I know it's hard. I probably would go with the
Speaker 2: anthemic American trilogy. I do, I do do like glory?
Speaker 1: Hell oh yes, it looks like he's just about to die. Yes,
Speaker 1: God doesn't he feel it? Oh my god, he feels
Speaker 1: it almost as much as you are. My favorite is
Speaker 1: Suspicious Mind.
Speaker 2: Well, that is a fantastic choice and absolutely fantastic, fantastic,
Speaker 2: unusual double ending at the at the end of that song.
Speaker 2: But and who you probably know who was the English
Speaker 2: band who covered covered it?
Speaker 1: Funny Uncannnibal? Yes, yes, well, the lead singer rolland Gift.
Speaker 2: Yes, rolland Gift. They had a couple of songs, didn't
Speaker 2: they But they did well. Anyway, you've done well. I
Speaker 2: love Elvis. Elvis has done well. And you know, visiting
Speaker 2: Graceland was one of the greatest thrills of my life.
Speaker 2: I remember by staying at the Wilson World Hotel, which
Speaker 2: is directly opposite Grace Slam, and I couldn't sleep at night.
Speaker 2: I was so nervous about about meteorite hitting Earth. Between
Speaker 2: when I went to sleep and when I was on
Speaker 2: the eight am tour and I went across and I
Speaker 2: touched the wall. There was a security guy. They caught
Speaker 2: the wall of LaVey you write things on it.
Speaker 1: I bought this from Graceland. I made it. I made
Speaker 1: the pilgrimage myself on my own and I wept the
Speaker 1: whole way there, and I wept the whole way through
Speaker 1: the house.
Speaker 2: And got the two aeroplanes, the Lisa Marie. The aeroplane
Speaker 2: is there and you walk up and you see things.
Speaker 2: This is the thing. We're lucky that we're Australian, Chrissy,
Speaker 2: because I'm not a member of the Elvis Presley fan Club.
Speaker 2: Because the people who love Elvis that much, they're a
Speaker 2: bit too mono focus. They're actually odd. We have the
Speaker 2: beauty of distance where we can enjoy the kitschness. We
Speaker 2: can laugh at both Elvis and his fans and still
Speaker 2: love absolutely everything. When you're on the Lisa Marie and
Speaker 2: you see a giant, king sized bed with a with
Speaker 2: a green with green blankets, later a joint gold seatbelt
Speaker 2: across the middle of.
Speaker 1: It, he knew how to live. He knew how to live.
Speaker 2: I want a gold seatbelt on my king sized bed.
Speaker 1: As do you, James, and you certainly know how to live.
Speaker 1: You have embraced every second of it.
Speaker 2: Has been wonderful talking to you, wonderful thing. You look fantastic,
Speaker 2: and this show is going to be wonderful. When to
Speaker 2: get on some decent guests exchange