Greg Champion OAM (born 1955) [1] is an Australian songwriter, guitarist, and radio personality.
Born in Benalla, Victoria, [2] Champion is most recognised for his work as part of the Coodabeen Champions as a songwriter and guitarist. Greg often appears on the program writing songs about both Aussies rules football and cricket. [3]
He is an avid Australian rules football fan, supporting the Adelaide Crows [2] and since the 1980s has penned many tunes on the Australian game. Of these, the most famous is "That's the Thing About Football", which has gone down as a classic Australian rules song, and has been used on Seven Network's Australian Football League coverage since Seven bought rights to the song in 1994. [4] The song would peak at 31 on the ARIA charts following the 1994 AFL Grand Final. [4] Seven would use the song over a number of seasons, later remixing it with different vocalists. [4] [2]
Greg Champion spent his early childhood in Vienna, before his family moved back to Australia. [5] He grew up in Hectorville, a suburb of the South Australian capital Adelaide, [2] and was educated at Pulteney Grammar. [6]
He would move to Melbourne in the late 1970s, [5] and beginning in 1981 on Melbourne radio station 3RRR has appeared on various Australian radio stations (especially ABC Local Radio) as part of the Coodabeens team, singing parodies of popular songs and relating them to Australian rules footballers. [5]
Champion has written hundreds of songs (many serious, many humorous) and is a multi-awarded country/folk singer, who after being discovered in the Catacombs (an Adelaide folk club of the 1970s), went on to form the band Tidewater [6] before launching a successful solo career. [7]
Champion's highest-selling album is the 1995 released Aussie Christmas with Bucko & Champs with Australian country music star Colin Buchanan. In 1998, Aussie Christmas with Bucko & Champs 2 was released featuring 25 Christmas-themed songs.
Champion would play his song "That's the Thing About Football" at both the 1995 AFL Grand Final [1] and 2002 AFL Grand Final matches. [4] [8]
In 2006, his song "Been There, Done That" peaked at number 4 on the Country Music Chart, having been released that year as part of The Shack Tapes.
In 2009, Greg released his album Strayana.
In 2010, Champion was awarded Victorian Male Vocalist in the Victorian Country Music Awards for his song "this was my town (Marysville)".[ citation needed ]
In 2012, just prior to heading off to his 22nd Tamworth Country Music Festival, he surprised many with his album Emergence which had a wide range of musical styles of 11 original songs.[ citation needed ]
In 2017, Champion headlined the All Star Musical Comedy Showcase at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. [9]
In 2021, Champion moved back to Adelaide after more than four decades in Melbourne, forming a new band with Scott Opie, Tom Stehlik and Goof Miller. [10]
Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
---|---|---|---|
AUS [11] | |||
Wild Horse Plains | [recorded by Tidewater, 1976] | ||
Apocalypso | [recorded by The Fabulaires, 1980] | ||
The Young Homebuyers | [self-titled, 1983] Rough Diamond | ||
Work Hard Play Hard | [8 track cassette]
| ||
Greg Champion |
| ||
Coodabeen Champions Live in Studio 320 |
| ||
Champs |
| ||
That's What I Like About Football |
| 31 | |
Everybody Loves to watch the Cricket |
| ||
That's What I Like About Football Volume II |
| ||
Aussie Christmas with Bucko & Champs (with Colin Buchanan) |
| 39 |
|
Football is a Funny Game |
| ||
Australian Music |
| ||
Aussie Christmas with Bucko & Champs 2 (with Colin Buchanan) |
| 67 |
|
Stand Back Australia |
| ||
Greg Champion & the Coodabeen Champions, 20th anniversary album |
| ||
Shady Tree |
| ||
North & South |
| ||
Cricket's on the Radio |
| ||
The Shack Tapes |
| ||
Strayana |
| ||
Emergence |
| ||
A Whole Different Story |
| ||
Happy Travels |
| ||
That Keilor Beat |
|
Title | Details |
---|---|
Best of Greg Champion |
|
50 Fave Footy Ditties |
|
At This Stage – Songs 1990-2010 |
|
Thirty Years of Footy Songs |
|
Thirty Years of Footy Songs Vol II |
|
All the Fun Ones |
|
Gather My Fishing Lines: A Greg Champion Collection |
|
Best of 1985-2015 + Happy Travels |
|
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
AUS [14] | |||
"That's the Thing About Football" | 1994 | 31 | That's What I Like About Football |
Champion was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours. [15]
The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.
Year | Nominated works | Award | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Aussie Christmas (as Bucko and Champs) | Best Comedy Release | Nominated | |
2000 | Stand Back Australia | Nominated |
The Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA) (also known as the Golden Guitar Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They have been held annually since 1973. [17]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | "May Your Fridge Be Full of Coldies" | Video Track of the Year | Won |
The Tamworth Songwriters Association (TSA) is an annual songwriting contest for original country songs, awarded in January at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. They commenced in 1986. [18] Greg Champion has won two awards. [19]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | "May Your Fridge Be Full of Coldies" by Greg Champion | Comedy/ Novelty Song of the Year | Won |
1996 | "Don't Call Wagga Wagga, Wagga" by Greg Champion and Jim Haynes | Won |
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor Ratbaggy and Stardust Five. Kelly's music style has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output straddles folk, rock and country. His lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. David Fricke from Rolling Stone calls Kelly "one of the finest songwriters I have ever heard, Australian or otherwise". Kelly has said, "Song writing is mysterious to me. I still feel like a total beginner. I don't feel like I have got it nailed yet."
Eric Bogle is an Australian folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of topics and have been performed by many artists. Two of his best known songs are "No Man's Land" and "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", with the latter named one of the APRA Top 30 Australian songs in 2001 as part of the celebrations for the Australasian Performing Right Association's 75th anniversary.
Sara Bettine Storer is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and former teacher. She won a record breaking seven Golden Guitar awards in the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2004, and as of 2017, she has won 21 in total. Three of her six studio albums have reached the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Firefly, Lovegrass and Silos. Silos also won Best Country Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016. Storer has been a member of a country music trio, Songbirds (2007–09) alongside Beccy Cole and Gina Jeffries. Her older brother, Greg Storer, is also a country music singer-songwriter and the siblings have recorded and performed together.
Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier to fellow musicians Diane and Bill Chambers. Her older brother is musician and producer Nash Chambers. All four were members of family country-music group Dead Ringer Band in Bowral, New South Wales from 1992 to 1998; Chambers launched her solo career thereafter. Five of her twelve studio albums have reached No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Barricades & Brickwalls, Wayward Angel, CarnivalRattlin' Bones, and Dragonfly. In November 2018 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and has won an additional 14 ARIA Music Awards with nine for Best Country Album. Her autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me..., co-authored with music journalist Jeff Apter, was released in 2011.
Donald Richard Spencer is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, and former children's television presenter. He had a long tenure as a host on Play School on both the Australian version (1968–99) and the United Kingdom version (1972–88), one of only two presenters to work on both versions.
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) recognised Morris' status when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Colin Buchanan is an Australian singer, entertainer and multi-instrumentalist.
Mark Jeremy Seymour is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. He was the frontman and songwriter of rock band Hunters & Collectors from 1981 until 1998. Seymour has carved a solo career, releasing his debut solo album in 1997 and winning an ARIA Award in 2001 for One Eyed Man in the category of Best Adult Contemporary Album.
Lior Attar, better known simply as Lior, is an independent Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne. He is best known for his 2005 debut studio album Autumn Flow, which featured singles such as "Daniel", the title track and his signature song "This Old Love".
Michael Brady is an English-born Australian musician, most commonly associated with the Australian rules football anthems "Up There Cazaly", referring to 1910s St Kilda and 1920s South Melbourne player Roy Cazaly, and "One Day in September", which were released by The Two-Man Band. Both songs have become synonymous with Australian rules football and are traditionally sung on AFL Grand Final day in September.
The Coodabeen Champions are an Australian comedy team with radio programs broadcast on the ACE Radio Network in Melbourne on 1377AM 3MP and across regional Victoria and Southern New South Wales. The Coodabeens Footy Show is broadcast between 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm. The Coodabeens have been a feature on Melbourne radio for 40 years. Their producer is Andy "Young Andy" Bellairs. On 24 October 2021, The Coodabeen Champions announced on Twitter that their 2022 program will broadcast on 3MP and Ace Radio Networks, after being at the ABC for over 27 years.
Beccy Cole, also known as Beccy Sturtzel, Rebecca Diane Albeck and Bec O'Donovan, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released ten studio albums, with six reaching the ARIA Albums Chart top 40, Little Victories, Preloved, Songs & Pictures, Great Women of Country, Sweet Rebecca and The Great Country Songbook Volume 2. Her video album, Just a Girl Singer, peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA Top 40 DVD Chart. Cole has received nine Golden Guitar trophies at the CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia. During December 2005 to January 2006 she performed for Australian Defence Force personnel in Iraq. Her related single, "Poster Girl ", expresses her support for the troops. It won the 2007 Song of the Year at CMAA awards, and its music video was listed at No. 1 on Australia's Country Music Channel. In March 2015 she published her autobiography, Poster Girl.
John Howard Chester is an Australian singer-songwriter, who started his career in October 1959 with group The Jaywoods singing rock music and in 1969 changed to country music. He toured nationally with the Beatles, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette and Charley Pride. During his career he has led various groups including Johnny Chester and The Chessmen, Johnny Chester and Jigsaw, Johnny Chester and Hotspur. With Jigsaw he had five top 30 hit singles, "Gwen (Congratulations)" (1971), "Shame and Scandal", "Midnight Bus", "World's Greatest Mum" and "She's My Kind of Woman" (1974).
"That's the Thing about Football" is a song written and performed by Australian artist Greg Champion, featured for almost a decade on Seven Network's coverage of the Australian Football League.
Paris Wells is an Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne. She has released two albums and one EP. Wells has played at festivals such as Falls Festival, Big Day Out, Meredith and Sydney Music Festival. She has supported Justin Timberlake, Rod Stewart, Plan B, Robyn and Jamie Lidell on tour.
Peter Denahy is an Australian entertainer from Yackandandah, Victoria, Australia. He sings and plays guitar, mandolin and fiddle. His most successful song was "Sort of Dunno Nothin'" which was a hit on YouTube and made the ARIA Top 100. It was on his Picture In A Frame album which made the top 30 of the ARIA Country Albums chart. Peter is married to Alison Denahy.
Seth Gabriel Marton, who performs by his stage name Seth Sentry, is an Australian hip hop recording artist. He has released one extended play and three studio albums. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2015 he won the ARIA Award for Best Urban Album for his second album, Strange New Past. Sentry's touring schedule has involved headline shows around Australia, as well as appearances at numerous festivals such as Breath of Life, Fat As Butter, Come Together, Sprung Festival, Big Day Out (Melbourne), Homebake, Hyperfest, Groovin the Moo and Triple J's One Night Stand.
Angus Christopher Gill is an Australian singer-songwriter, comedian and producer from Wauchope in New South Wales. Gill is a Golden Guitar winner and an Australian Independent Country Music Award winner. He has had fifteen #1 songs on the Australian country music radio charts. In November 2019, Gill became one of the youngest Australian artists to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
"G'day G'day" is a song by Australian country singer Slim Dusty. The song was released in August 1988 as the lead single from Dusty's studio album of the same name. The song peaked at number 37 on the ARIA Charts. The song has since been covered numerous times on various Australian compilation albums.
Arthur Blanch was an Australian country singer-songwriter. He was the father of country music singer, Jewel Blanch, with whom he has performed.
Champion, who turned 60 this year
The name Greg Champion is synonymous with witty songs about AFL players and clubs