Wendy Saddington
| Wendy Saddington | |
|---|---|
Saddington performing, May 1970
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Wendy June Saddington |
| Also known as | Gandharvika Dasi |
| Born |
26 September 1949 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 21 June 2013 (aged 63) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Blues, soul, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, music journalist |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1967–2013 |
| Labels | Festival |
| Associated acts | The Revolution, James Taylor Move, The Beaten Tracks, Chain, Copperwine, Teardrop, Shango, Blues Assembly, Jeffrey Crozier Band, Wendy Saddington Band, Peter Head |
Wendy June Saddington also known as Gandharvika Dasi (26 September 1949 – 21 June 2013) was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 to September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column, and as a feature writer. Saddington had Top 30 chart success with her 1972 solo single "Looking Through a Window", which was written and produced by Billy Thorpe and Warren Morgan of the Aztecs. After adopting Krishna Consciousness in the 1970s she took the name Gandharvika Dasi. In March 2013 she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, and died on 21 June, aged 63.
Wendy June Saddington was born on 26 September 1949. Her father was Henry Saddington and her mother was Connie Evans. Saddington was their only child and she grew up in Melbourne. Henry was a bus driver and Connie was a raincoat maker. At 13 she bought her first record, Stevie Wonder's With a Song in My Heart. After leaving school Saddington was a typist for a private detective, "just divorces and stuff like that". She quit after he objected to her dress sense and did not allow her a day off for Melbourne Show Day in September.
She attended a club venue in Carlton, the Love In, which had two singers and she thought: "Oh my god, I can sing better than that". Her inspirations were Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan. The following week at the Love In she asked if she could get up to sing, and promptly provided "Bessie Smith songs and a Miriam Makeba song, 'When I've Passed on'". The management advised "you can sing here every week".
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