‘Disrespectful’: Kamahl lifts lid on Hey Hey feud in new book

An Aussie music legend explains why his treatment on Hey Hey hurt so much – and names the show that treated him much better.

Music legend Kamahl this week celebrated his 90th birthday – and he lifts the lid on the highs and lows of his career in his newly-released biography, Kamahl: The Triumph of Hope.

Working with author Keith Cameron, Kamahl documents his rise to fame and the highlights of his long career, from personal invitations to polo matches with King Charles III to what it was like being one of the first people to sing at the Sydney Opera House.

But he also opens up about one headline-making saga from more recent years: His public stoushes with the makers of Aussie TV show Hey Hey It’s Saturday. Kamahl had been a regular guest on the show during its heyday, but later criticised the show for regularly using him as the butt of demeaning jokes.

Despite this, he was still hurt to find he had been largely snubbed from the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2021.

In this exclusive extract from the book, Keith Cameron and Kamahl reveal why that snub hurt so much – and why Kamahl was relieved to find he was treated more respectfully on another music-focused Australian show...

‘Such disdain’: Kamahl’s brutal Hey Hey snub

On October 10, 2021, Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s 50th Anniversary was screened by Channel 7. Despite his being a fixture on the show for many years, Kamahl’s invitation to the event appears to have been lost in the mail. Even when faced with the snub, he claims that he would have gladly participated if asked.

But maybe the program’s producers had other ideas. They acknowledged Kamahl’s many years on the show with a mere split-second image amongst a montage of pictures of hundreds of other artists who had appeared on the show during its history.

Kamahl's new authorised biography is out now.

Kamahl was a frequent guest on Hey, Hey over the years.

The snub, whilst evidently ungracious, was consistent with some of the treatment he had experienced for many years, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Kamahl said, “You know, I have never been capable of being disrespectful, so when on the receiving end of such treatment, it genuinely confuses me. However, the resurrection of the show in the 50th Anniversary special just made me reflect once again on some of the things that had involved me on the show over the years. A number stood out for all the wrong reasons.

“It was obvious that they had got me on the show as some kind of comic foil. It was hardly subtle nor clever, but it appealed to a segment of their audience, so they milked it for all it was worth. I thought that by taking such treatment in my stride in good grace may show that I could rise above it all by not overreacting.

“I thought that by going along with it, by being a good sport, the audience may understand that we can laugh at ourselves and that we aren’t all that different. I now realise that in doing so I may have been seen to be supportive of such treatment, which is wrong.

Kamahl gets ambushed with a pie to the face during a musical performance.

“When the 50th Anniversary special aired and it was being lauded by all and sundry within the business, I felt compelled to seek an answer as to why my career milestone was treated with such disdain. I wrote an open letter to Daryl Somers so that he could be given an opportunity to publicly explain his actions.”

The letter was published on October 13th, 2021, in several Australian mastheads, it stated:

An open letter to Daryl Somers

I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to you for the great success achieved with the Hey Hey It’s Saturday 50th Anniversary show. The accolades that you received within the program were well earned and rightly acknowledge your place in Australian TV history. As an Australian entertainer, my being a part of that history for a number of years is truly humbling. Daryl, having viewed the show, it was greatly evident that you fully understand the significance of career milestones for entertainers. It is therefore puzzling to me that in 1984 during my appearance on Hey Hey on the eve of my second appearance at Carnegie Hall, I feel that the show decided to set me up as the butt of a rather crude joke in preference to acknowledging my achievement.

The Carnegie Hall concert was my second sell out performance at the venue, I was being introduced by none other than entertainment legend Bob Hope and yet this was evidently not worth a mention. The fact that I had poured my heart and soul into making that concert a success made the stunt on Hey Hey that evening an incredibly dispiriting experience. As a supporter of Hey Hey I have to say that at the time, I felt let down by the show, and it is a disappointment that remains with me today.

My continued confusion at this treatment lies in one unanswered question that I would like to put to you. If I had been any other Australian artist about to embark on such a massive venture, would I have received such treatment? In a week where you are deservedly receiving such plaudits for your career milestone, I am left wondering why when you had the opportunity to acknowledge mine you chose not to. As I have been known to say before, why are people so unkind?

Kamahl

And as of today, these questions remain unanswered for me and remain a mystery.

A cartoon shown on screen during one of Kamahl's appearances on the show.

In 2010, after a long absence, Kamahl was asked to return to television to make an appearance on Spicks and Specks, the popular music quiz show hosted by comedian Adam Hills. He said that he was apprehensive about agreeing to appear, fearing this may turn out to be a ‘gotcha’ moment where he was being set up as the butt of gags. He knew that the audience was a great deal younger than his usual crowd and the humour driven content was ripe for his worst fears to once again come to fruition. In addition to these fears, he had to deal with another significant and more physical issue. For quite a time, he had been suffering from profound hearing loss. He worried that he may not be able to keep up with the banter in a fast-paced music quiz comedy panel show, let alone make out any of the questions. He decided that the show had provided him with sufficient incentive to finally do something positive about his hearing. He decided to seek out professional help. He took himself off to a specialist and was fitted with the best state of the art hearing devices that money could buy. Quite a bit of money, as it turned out, approximately $8,000 for each ear.

Kamahl was nervous before this 2010 appearance on Spicks and Specks.

Now armed with his newly regained hearing and against his better Judgement, he agreed to the appearance. He maintains it was one of the best TV experiences he ever had. No clumsy humour, each guest was treated with great deference and respect, and they even got him to perform at the show’s end. However, he was not to sing; he was to perform a spoken-word rendition of the show’s title as penned by The Bee Gees in the early sixties. He recalls fondly, “It was an amazing contrast to so many TV shows, the cast headed by Adam Hills and their crew were all such a delight to work with. I felt like I was there as a genuine guest artist, not just a comedy prop, and the audience was so warm and welcoming. I guess it demonstrates that you don’t need to use crass humour or lame slapstick to make an audience laugh. Being clever will win out every time. My only regret was that the hearing aids weren’t such a great hit. No one told me that they could only help you hear the questions. I thought at that price they should give you the bloody answers,” he laughs.

This is an excerpt from Kamahl: The Triumph of Hope, New Holland Publishers, RRP $35, available from all good bookstores or online

Originally published as ‘Disrespectful’: Kamahl lifts lid on Hey Hey feud in new book