Australian born singer/songwiter, TV & radio presenter, actor and entertainer.
When i was five years old i received my first
CD (yes, i'm that young). Aside from this being my introduction to the world of
digital music and the first time I had the fascination of pressing a number on a remote control and having a song spring to life on the stereo, the album rocked my world. It was "Feathers, Fur or Fins" by Don Spencer.
Entertaining children wasn't where Don Spencer began and he didn't end there - he went on to do an extraordinary amount of charity work that earned him the Heart of Variety Award for services to
charity, but let's start at the beginning.
Don burst onto the british
pop scene in the early 60's, recording
Fireball XL5, the theme song to the series of the same name. He made three national tours with
The Rolling Stones and other tours with
The Four Seasons,
The Hollies, and
Marianne Faithfull.
His TV career began as the presenter of his own teenage pop show, Gangway!, introducing artists like and including
The Animals,
Tom Jones,
Cilla Black and
Engelbert Humperdink. He also worked with master comedian
Ronnie Barker and appeared on Barker's long running series Lets Face It with Ronnie Barker.
A household name in Australia, Don Spencer has had a great career in entertaining children. His dozens of gold and platinum albums include Feathers Fur or Fins, Don Spencer's Australian Animal Songs and Don Spencer's Australia for Kids. He also hosted
Play School both in Australia and England simultaneously for 17 years. He is currently arranging a series of children's concerts in the US.
The New York Times dubbed him 'The
Crocodile Dundee of Kids Music' - a comment I am sure was
intended to be a compliment, in a two page spread on the Australian entertainer.
As an adult entertainer Don Spencer's career has been varied and successful. As a children's entertainer, he's an absolute legend. These two qualities make him one of the most versatile and well known performers
Australia has produced.