A veteran Northern Beaches songwriting partnership has been recognised in two categories of the Australian Songwriters’ Association National Songwriting Awards – including a 2nd prize.
Acclaimed songwriter-singer-musicians Rod Crundwell and Stafford Sanders, co-founders of the group Men With Day Jobs, co-wrote the song ‘Boy’Band – runner up in the Best Comedy/Novelty song category of the ASA Awards. The song was co-written with Kim Constable and Pete Purton.
Crundwell and Sanders were also shortlisted in another category, Best Country Music Song – with their A Good Ol’ Country Love Song, co-written with Kim Constable and Jim Manzie. Both songs are on the latest Men With Day Jobs album Musical Differences, available on Apple Music and streaming services.
Rod Crundwell - born and raised at Mona Vale and now living at Fairlight – and Stafford Sanders – born and raised at Avalon and now resident at Balgowlah – began their musical partnership as students at Pittwater High School. They wrote and played with several bands, recording with EMI and appearing on Countdown and other pop shows in the late 1970s. They formed Men With Day Jobs in 2000.
Since then the group have released seven albums and appeared often at venues and festivals in and around Sydney – including local venues like Humph Hall, Lizottes, Manly Fig, and the Northern Beaches Music Festival. Recently they’ve played at Balgowlah Golf Club’s Gusto on the Green cafe, and are booked to return there on January 16 and February 27.
Says Rod: “Our song ’Boy’Band came about after we were booked to play at a 90th birthday at Mona Vale several years ago - for the mother of an old schoolmate from Pittwater High. The party girl was a spirited old lady who was promoting her party to friends by saying ‘It’s going to be great – we’ve booked a Boy Band!’ This was amusing to us, as silver-haired sixty-somethings.”
Stafford adds: “We pondered this later and thought, actually it’s not a bad idea – boy bands do make good money. So we came up with this funny fantasy about a group of veterans who decide to have a go at cornering the boy band market.”
Separately, Rod has played with many other bands – including Ol’ 55, On the Prowl, Swanee and locals Berdum Berdum and Los Skeletone Blues. Stafford is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, playwright, novelist and satirist.
They’ve written a stream of quality songs – some covered worldwide, like their climate satire Denial Tango - popular on YouTube and widely performed by Men With Day Jobs and also recorded and played by acts across Australia, in the US and Canada. More recently Stafford and Rod penned Let’s Not Forget for Melbourne Aboriginal group Blackfire.
‘Boy Band' can be heard on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watchlist=RDmjWpKSQBMBk&start_radio=1
A Good Ol’ Country Love Song has a video clip on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watchlist=RDJ-3wXD5Y3NQ&start_radio=1