Mike Jackson (Australian entertainer)
| Mike Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 November 1946 Fishtoft, Lincolnshire, England |
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Children’s Entertainer, Recording Artist, Songwriter, Radio Show Host |
| Instruments | Anglo concertina; Autoharp; Bandoneon; Bodhran; Bones; Hammered Dulcimer; Harmonica; Hurdy-gurdy; Jaw Harp; Kazoo; Melodeon; Mountain Dulcimer; Ocarina; Spoons; Ukulele; Vocals |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Associated acts | Mike and Michelle Jackson, Colonial Experience, Pageant, The Higgins Municipal Bush Band, Mike Jackson and Peter Hayes, Mike Jackson and Thom Jackson |
| Website | www |
Mike Jackson OAM is an Australian children's entertainer, recording artist, songwriter, radio show host, and author. He is perhaps best known for his version of Bananas In Pyjamas and appearances on ABC Television.
Melbourne-based Mike Jackson (born in Fishtoft, nearBoston, Lincolnshire, UK) immigrated to Australia in 1970 as an assisted migrant with wife, Lynn on board the P & O ship, SS Himalaya.
The pair settled in the Sydney suburb of Mosman and there, at the Elizabeth Hotel Folk Club in the centre of town they rediscovered the folk music Mike had grown up with through his Grandfather’s singing and playing.
Having taught himself harmonica in high school and acquired a taste for comic songs from his grandfather and the radio, he branched out onto other instruments and acquired a reputation for being able to get a tune out of almost anything.
In 1972 the pair moved from Sydney to Canberra with Mike’s work as a salesman and their interest in folk music grew as Mike began regularly playing at sessions and singing and playing at Folk Clubs. This was the same year Mike Jackson performed his first professional gig at The Dan O’Connell Hotel in Melbourne suburb of Carlton.
Mike Jackson began hosting and presenting the radio programme, The Lark in the Morning on Canberra public radio station 2XX FM, a programme which continues to run to this day. During this time he founded Pageant.
1974 was the year Mike Jackson cemented his status as a recording artist and regular Radio Show Host. He performed his first solo Main Stage Concert performance at a National Folk Festival, performed as a backing musician on the Larrikin Records album Man of the Earth, and Pageant released an eponymous album of unaccompanied harmony songs.
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