Jeff Duff

"I'm doing a new thing at the Opera House - a musical," Jeff Duff tells me brightly. "It's a handful; I'm doing the lyrics and dialogue and for a man of my acting ability it's quite an ask."

So too is the subject, for this is an Australian musical entitled 'The Hanging Of Jane Lee'. That's a fairly morose subject - the story of the last Australian woman hanged - the year was 1954.A

"I love all these new challenges," enthuses Duff of the project, if not of the subject. I'd asked him how on earth he got roped into this 'cabaret' malarkey, as have so many other rock n rollers who have prolonged their careers by taking their interests in other directions. At least he didn't turn up a love of country and western.

Mind you, Jeff Duff is not your typical aged rock pig, looking for a new way to earn a quid. Oh no, he's cultured him. Back in the 1970s it was all glam rock and platform boots and groupies for his band Kush. Well, groupies and appearances on 'Countdown'. I refrain from dwelling on past lives, but do enquire whether he'll be appearing at the forthcoming 'Countdown Revolution' touring extravaganza. "I think so," he offers shortly. "If I can find the time."

It's no idle boast: he's also trying to finish off a book he's been writing for the last four years, and promising to his publisher for the same length of time. "It's not a new Harry Potter," he quips.

After Kush hung up their clogs - around the time punk burst on the scene and consigned most bands like his to the remainder bins of history, Duff upped sticks and relocated to England. The year was 1977. He's been banging on the door of music and popular culture ever since, firstly in England and the US, thence back in Australia when, somewhat later, he just as quietly slipped back into Australia.

He's a curious and quixotic sort of character, as is the show he'll be performing at this year's Cabaret Festival. 'Ground Control To Frank Sinatra' combines what I suspect are a couple of the musical loves of Jeff Duff's life; David Bowie and the aforementioned Mr Sinatra.

As the story unfolds in 'Ground Control To Frank Sinatra', the two performers are playing in different cities on the same night. Unfortunately their agent has given them the wrong air tickets so they end at each others respective performances.

"It wouldn't have happened, but Bowie might have been alright with it," is Duff's gruff assessment of the preposterous notion.

"I got into it because I did a big band Sinatra thing which was very successful, and at the same time we did a Bowie thing. The tribute thing has got a bit out of control in Sydney at the moment, all these other things seem to have taken over," he confides. "But I thought I'd like to do the Ziggy Stardust album where we dress up and do a full show in somewhere like the Basement."

Almost as easily as that, it seems, the show was born.

"It worked out pretty easy, although it's challenging turning the songs into each others, their style and so on. It's definitely interpretive rather than just a tribute show," he laughs, and points out what he sees as strong parallels in the two men's careers, even though for the most part they covered different audiences and different eras.

Duff mentions that 'Ground Control To Frank Sinatra' comprises "about 18 songs", and they're mostly the songs you'd expect to hear: "we do My Way and New York, New York and there's this audiovisual thing happening." Things get mystifying when he says "I do a few Kush tunes actually... and we even have a part where we say what would have happened if Sinatra was born in Germany, and comes out dressed as a German officer doing Springtime For Hitler!!!"

Err, I'm dumfounded. A tribute to Mel Brooks wrapped up in the show? That's cabaret, old chum.

Alex Wheaton

Jeff Duff performs 'Ground Control To Frank Sinatra' as part of the Cabaret Festival, from Fri 9 June, and proudly supported by dB Magazine