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I know you won’t believe me when I tell you this but I have a Koala of my own who talks. Not only that but he sings songs. Not only that but he has his own CD album. I know a talking Koala is a bit unbelievable, and a singing one is a LOT unbelievable but if you read on you will hear from Koala Ted and prove it for yourself.. So… Dear (insert your name here because I can’t exactly see who you are at the moment) Hi, I’m Colin Pearce, known to lots of my friends as Uncle Colin. It was Koala Ted that started it all. He calls me Uncle Colly though. Most people know me these days as the man who speaks to people at conferences all over the world getting them to change the way they think – and to remember what it was like when they used to play more and worry less. I’m the person that busy people turn to when they want to remember how to do things with others in mind and in a way that doesn’t stress their brain out. Is
that like someone you know? ‘Is that like someone you know?’ (Return to top) You certainly don’t want the children in your life growing up forgetting all the right things and not being the best they can be do you? You don’t want them stressing around, getting into trouble, wasting years on the hirdy girdy of low self esteem, poor self image, self doubts, lost in a world whose values have gone down the sewer. Right? Yes right! But
it doesn’t happen all by itself. I figured out a long time ago that if we could get the boys and girls right the world would turn out OK. Heaven knows they are being mucked up and messed around by just about everything – TV, the education system, parents who don’t know how to parent, other kids’ terrible values from homes where the parents don’t know how to parent… the list is endless. And a lot of it comes from the empty entertainment we feed them thinking it must be pretty good because everybody is doing it. ‘Nothing against the Wiggles.’ (Return to top) Kids songs about jumping up and down and touching your toes and blowing your nose are fine. They have their place. But a diet of cartoons, Barbies, brmm brmmm cars, ditties and pretty songs does the same thing for little souls and spirits and minds as a diet of jelly beans. You’d be put in gaol if you only fed your kids jelly beans wouldn’t you? Are we getting the point here? The kids in your life need all the value system input they can get. That’s why I created Billabong Songs. ‘Fun, fantasy and values make a good diet.’ (Return to top) Billabong Songs is a nutty collection of traditional and home made songs Ted and I sing to weave in values that former generations cut their teeth on. We talk about values like these: Honesty, courage, mateship, never giving up, having a gratitude attitude, contentment, dreaming big dreams, and of course relentless and exasperating lashings of Suzy Had a Baby with all the stupid verses Ted can think of. The fun and fantasy mix makes it a great listening and learning experience over and over and over. Look at what Symon Scott, General Manager of Avondale Golf Club said:
I want you to have a listen to a few bits from my new CD, Billabong Songs with Uncle Colin and Koala Ted and see for yourself that we spared nothing on the production with mad sound effects, beaut background sounds from Kakadu Billabong and all highly sing-along-able. ‘Brand new - remastered and ready now.’ (Return to top) We originally put it out as a cassette tape years ago and I’ve got to tell you, kids wore it out! They played it and played it and played it until they tore the sound strip off it. • Some kids wouldn’t let their mother back the car out of the driveway to clear the way for the lawn mower man without hopping in the car for one minute to hear Billabong Songs. • Some kids refused go to sleep unless they listened to half an hour of Billabong Songs • One boy wouldn’t go to hospital without his Billabong Songs
• Some teachers couldn’t get their classes to settle at school without a couple of minutes of Billabong Songs And you know what is really funny? • Lots of Dads bought Billabong Songs for their kids but they loved it so much they kept it in the car and used to play it to sing along to on business trips! – And their kids had to fight them to borrow it. • A grandma bought Billabong Songs for her grandchildren but ended up keeping it to sing along to around the house because she loved it so much • And in my stage seminars thousands of adults all over the world have sung along to Ted’s favourite song: Suzy Had Baby.
Some of the people who grew up on Billabong Songs are starting to have children of their own and they’ve all wanted me to re-release it as a CD. So I had a few minutes to myself the other day and trotted down to the gum tree and asked Koala Ted if he thought it was a good idea. “Great
news. Ted said YES” (Return
to top) I had to plant two of his favourite new Macrocarpa trees at the Billabong and promise to leave him to sleep an extra hour a day. Now he’ll only be awake for about three hours! Maybe you don’t know anything about this. Maybe you need to be brought up to speed on the history of Koala Ted and Uncle Colin. (Return to top) If you know it or it doesn’t matter to you skip the history lesson. If you’re really old you may remember me as the person Channel 7 asked to be a member of the respected Children’s Production Unit back in 1980. Our shows brought entertainment to thousands of kids in those days and our team was acclaimed as the leading production team in the country.You can see some of the nostalgic videos from those days. Or
it may be that you remember me as the cheeky man who teased Prime
Minister Malcolm Fraser on the ABC’s Four Corners back 1977.
If you know all this you’ll also know that in 1989 I was invited to make a 13 part TV series for the US video market. You’ll also know that we sold everything and left Australia to follow our dream but it was a financial and emotional disaster for me and my family as it just turned into smoke before our eyes. It left us pretty well destitute in a foreign country and even worse off when we got home. The only thing I managed to salvage was the collection of songs I had written. In 1993 with a few pennies we’d scraped together we published Billabong Songs. Lili Grey the arranger, and Andrew Bayfield – the greatest sound engineer in the world still not famous – worked through nights to get it together for a US launch deadline. I remember they delivered the masters to me at the airport at 6:00AM. Little did we realize that it would end up with raving fans all over the world and make lasting impressions on families for years and years. Now the tradition continues.
It's
Good to See You Mate The words for all the songs are available for you to print and sing along with Colin and Koala Ted. “So…What
is the suitable audience or age range for Billabong Songs?”
(Return
to top) 2. Grandpas or Grandmas 3. Teachers 4. Bossy people who need cheering up 5. Sad people who’ve forgotten how to sing Oh
yeah… and 6. Little kids – little to middle size – kind of 2 to 9
“So…How can you get your Billabong Songs CD?” (Return to top) Can
you get Billabong Songs NOW? I know you’ll love your Billabong Songs because they are mastered on finest stereo CD. Your CD comes packaged in a nice strong DVD-type case to keep it safe in the car or on the play room floor where it will probably end up. Can
you get more than one copy of the CD? What
if you don’t like it? ‘Order now and fight back for your kids’ (Return to top) Billabong Songs CD ($20) |
Billabong
Songs CD ($20) 
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