Happy Birthday Wendy Saddington
Wendy Saddington was born on 26th September 1949. Her life and work were celebrated at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery. If you missed the exhibition, there is an excellent record at YouTube.
Go-Set Writer
Wendy was not only one of the most acclaimed singers Australia has produced, she also wrote for Go-Set and is pictured here with Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum in a staff photograph with a Swinging Sixties mug – and cigarettes all round. Wendy played gigs at Melbourne club, The Thumping Tum, which is where the idea for Go-Set was born. (Photo source: SMH and Clinton Walker).
Answering Cris de Coeur
Writer Jen Jewel Brown: “Her advice column, ”Wendy Saddington takes care of business”, for Go-Set from 1969-71 ”got dozens of genuine cris de coeur each week”, according to then editor Phillip Frazer, and she approached it ”with earnest concern”.
Right Place, Right Time
Wendy Saddington (lesbian) and Ian Meldrum (gay) were the right people, in the right place, at the right time – the Sixties – to steer Australia into a new era. As a strong woman with a powerful voice, Wendy was the musical ‘fit’ for the book everyone had read by the early Seventies – The Female Eunuch, by Germaine Greer.
From Bon Scott to Cat Stevens
Wendy was one of the hardest-working singers in Australia and was billed alongside some of the biggest names in music at festivals like Pilgrimage for Pop in 1970 and Myponga in 1971. At the latter, she can be found alongside Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens and the young Bon Scott in Fraternity. Gone but never forgotten. Happy Birthday Wendy Saddington!
