IF YOU just don’t know what to do with yourself this November, why not head to Airlie Beach in Queensland to see Aussie singing icon Marcia Hines?
The 65-year-old disco diva is performing at the Airlie Beach Festival of Music on November 10.
Famous for her songs You, Fire and Rain, Something’s Missing and I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself, the ARIA Hall of Fame inductee with 22 albums and 15 top ten singles under her belt is also popular with younger fans for her long-standing role as a judge on reality TV talent show Australian Idol.
Hines said she is looking forward to playing at Airlie Beach. Having called through the Whitsundays once before, her memories are of “a beach kind of resort suburb that’s beautiful”.
“Very rarely do I get to go anywhere where I can stay and explore but it sounds to me like Airlie Beach is the kind of place I should put on my list,” she said.
“And the festival site – that tent by the water – it’s like a Cirque du Soleil on steroids!”
Without giving away too much about her set, Hines said “we’ll do our very best to make it fun”.
“It’s going to be a great festival and what’s better than shared music, so please come along,” she said.
Festival founder Gavin Butlin said he was thrilled to have an Australian icon of Hines’ calibre on the line-up this year.
“I think it’s a coup for the festival and I think she’ll appeal to everybody,” he said.
“A lot of young people know her from her time on Australian Idol and everyone who’s 40-plus would know her from her hey day. Once she gets on that stage people will be mesmerised by her.”
Hines will join Frankie J Holden and Wilbur Wilde, Smash Mouth, Killing Heidi, Ash Grunwald, Dave Dobbyn, The Church, Kasey Chambers, , Diana Anaid, The Ted Mulry Gang and the 25-piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra on the 74-band line-up from.
The Airlee Beach Festival of Music is from November 9-11. Phone 0408 062 816 or visit airliebeachfestivalofmusic.com.au
Marcia’s rise to fame
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Marcia Hines first sang as a nine-year-old in her church choir before being ‘discovered’ by producer Harry M. Miller and director Jim Sharman, who cast her in their Australian production of Hair.
The youngest person ever to appear in the musical, Hines arrived in Sydney in 1970 and never looked back. From a starring role in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973 to her first record deal, Marcia Hines became Australia’s Queen of Pop.
She was also a star of the television show Countdown and her own series Marcia Hines Music.
Geraldine Cardozo
Features Editor at The Senior.
Features Editor at The Senior.
