Bobby Limb’s Sound of Music

1 9 6 3 – 1 9 7 0 (Australia)
338 x 55 minute episodes

Premiering on 19 July 1963 and running for seven and a half years, this Friday night musical variety show from Australia’s Channel Nine was broadcast from Sydney and hosted – as the title suggests – by Bobby Limb, who also sang and played the saxophone.

Limb was assisted by vocal group The Trio and Shirley McDonald. The show also featured a 25-piece orchestra led by Bob Gibson. He was later joined by regulars Bill Newman, Frank Ward, The Rhythmaires, Darryl Stewart and Shirley Sunners, Rosalind Keene and occasionally his wife, Dawn Lake.

The music was a light, easy-listening affair, with popular ballads, musical comedy and evergreen numbers chosen predominantly from shows such as Rose Marie, Anything Goes, My Fair Lady, Annie Get Your Gun, Pal Joey, Porgy and Bess, The Merry Widow and West Side Story,

Guest stars included Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt, Winifred Atwell, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone, Dickie Valentine, Vincent Price, Shari Lewis, Vera Lynn, Vince Hill, Nina and Frederik, Kamahl, John Laws, Judy Stone, Lionel Long, Bill and Boyd, Peita Toppano, Patti Page, Nancye Hayes, Graham Kennedy, Don Lane, Ernie Sigley, Helen Zerefos and The Mills Brothers.

Initially panned by the critics, Bobby Limb’s Sound of Music was steadfastly watched by the public and remained in the Top 10 consistently for over four years.

Limb moved from the Nine Network to Channel 10 in May 1969. The new regular cast joining him included Rosalind Keene, Darryl Stewart, Frank Ward, Beth MacDonald, The Thin Men, The Two Plus Two and James Peglar.

Confusingly, Channel Nine also retained a show named Sound of Music, now hosted by Barry Crocker, who had previously hosted Say It With Music on TEN-10.

Moving to Saturday nights on 18 October, Limb’s Channel 10 show adopted a new, more youthful look – sideburns, beads and floral shirts for the boys and miniskirts for the girls – designed to combat falling ratings and attract a younger audience.

After the show was bumped all over the schedule (including late-night slots on Sunday nights), Bobby Limb’s Sound of Music came to an end in 1970 when Limb and the network fell out over budgets, with the network saying, “Mr Limb has an inadequate grasp of the cost structure of TV in 1970. His ideas are, to say the least, old-fashioned.”

Host
Bobby Limb

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