Peter Combe
| Peter Combe | |
|---|---|
Combe performing in July 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Peter Charles Combe |
| Born |
20 October 1948 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Genres | Children's |
| Occupation(s) | Entertainer, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, ukulele |
| Labels | ABC |
| Associated acts | Juicy Juicy Green Band |
| Website | petercombe |
Peter Charles Combe (born 20 October 1948) is an Australian children's entertainer and musician. He has had 22 releases, including seven gold albums and two platinum. At the ARIA Music Awards he has won three trophies in the category, Best Children's Album, for Toffee Apple (1988), Newspaper Mama (1989) and The Absolutely Very Best of Peter Combe (So Far) Recorded in Concert (1992) and two additional nominations (Chopsticks (1990) and Little Groover (1996)). His best-known tracks are "Toffee Apple", "Spaghetti Bolognaise", "Mr Clicketty Cane", "Juicy Juicy Green Grass" and "Newspaper Mama". His Christmas Album (November 1990) reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 50.
Peter Charles Combe was born in Adelaide on 20 October 1948 as the third of four children. His early influences from the 1950s were the Springfields, he learned to harmonise from an early age. He was inspired by folk singers of the 1960s including Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. He formed a folk group and taught himself guitar. Later he became fascinated by the Beatles and Billy Joel.
By 1969 Combe was a primary school teacher and in the early 1970s he was a specialist music teacher. He taught Junior school music at Prince Alfred College in the late 70's He started writing songs for his students and in 1973 he wrote his first 'operettas' for them. One of the early ones, Bows Against the Barons, is based on Geoffrey Trease's novel of the same name, relating the legend of Robin Hood. The song, "Robin Hood's Dream", appeared on his 1988 album, Newspaper Mama.
In 1975 Combe moved to Sydney and aspired to be the next Paul Simon. There he appeared in the rock musical, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. He taught at inner Sydney primary schools, performed in pubs and clubs as a singer-songwriter. He wrote a children's musical, Frederick WhatsHisName & his TwoLegged Six String Guitar, which provided the track, "Spangle Road". Another of his musicals is based on Norman Lindsey's book, The Magic Pudding.
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