By Luke Voogt
Jade Hurley’s current audience might not be the screaming fan girls he played to in the ’60s, but they still get a little wild.
“I had a lovely pink G-string thrown at me on stage when I was in Ballina (north NSW) last week,” he said on Monday.
“It comes with the territory, mate. Tom Jones eat your heart out.”
Hurley spoke to the Indy on the road in his motorhome fresh off a show in Caloundra, Queensland.
“They were hanging from the rafters,” he said.
He has toured Australia in the motorhome with his piano for the last decade.
“There’s no better way of doing it,” he said.
“I’m one of the only acts in Australia that tours in a motorhome.”
Hurley turned 74 recently, but that failed to stop him “throwing the old leg up on the foot pedals” and giving each show his all.
“It’s called adrenaline,” he said. “Everything is wet down to my underpants and socks at the end of each show.”
And giving “110 per cent onstage” was drawing good crowds, he said.
“It’s not just the oldies that it used to be for years – which is quite flattering actually.
“There’s a lot of people who have grown up listening to their mums’ and dads’ Jade Hurley albums, and a lot of them are bringing their kids to the show too.”
Hurley developed his onstage work ethic playing alongside music legends Johnny O’Keefe and Johnny Cash in the ’60s.
He made his TV debut aged 14 on ABC’s Six O’Clock Rock alongside O’Keefe, who gave him the green gloves that inspired his nickname Jade.
O’Keefe cut the fingers from the gloves so he could play piano.
“He said ‘now put them on son’,” Hurley said. “I had mittens on before Michael Jackson.”
Hurley released his new album Naked this year, which includes a cover of I Don’t Look Good Naked Anymore, along with a raunchy video clip.
“People will either be horrified or amused – I don’t know which,” he said.
He will play his old hits and variety of covers at The Sphinx from 8.30pm on Friday, 15 December, after selling out an 11am show.
“You just don’t hear entertainers sing those songs anymore,” he said.
“That’s the reason they want two shows this year.”
He planned to mingle with the crowd after the show.
“You’ve got to give people your time. They pay decent money to come see your show.”
