By NOEL MURPHY
HE FIRST appeared as over-wrought poet Raymond J Bartholomeuz on TV’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday, an alter ego that Brian Nankervis has kept alive despite the character’s few outings in recent years.
“I carry the beret in my workbag, He’s very dear to my heart,” Nankervis told the Independent while nursing a badly bruised, possibly fractured thumb from a skiing accident at Mount Hotham.
Nankervis’s focus for the past 15 years has been predominantly on a different caste of lyricism – Aussie rock verses and their protagonists.
As quizmaster and adjudicator on SBS’s runaway RocKwiz success, he’s in his element rubbing shoulders with his musical heroes and delving into the sentimental minutiae of popular music dating back to his youth and beyond.
Now the show’s heading to Geelong, with Nankervis keen on incorporating a tribute to a late and great local rock star.
“We’re thinking maybe we’ll tribute Geelong’s great daughter, Chrissy Amphlett,” he suggested to the Independent.
“We had her on the show and she was incredible. She was very happy and caring and friendly backstage and couldn’t have been more cooperative.
“When the cameras rolled, though, she turned it up. One of her guys got a question right and she kissed him, he got a second right and she kissed him again.
“When he got the third right she disappeared under the desk.”
Nankervis regarded his constant brush with stars as a professional godsend he never anticipated.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said.
“I’ve always loved trivia. I’ve been a rock music tragic from 12 years old when my cousin turned me on to the Rolling Stones in suburban Deepdene, then I discovered the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
“Meeting these artists is such a thrill and invariably, 99 per cent of the time, they’re actually really charming and generous with their time.”
Geelong’s Costa Hall will host RocKwiz on 10 October for an ARIA Hall of Fame evening.
Nankervis said travelling shows were exciting and fun for performers and audiences alike.
“With our shows in the Gershwin Room you know you only film a certain amount but the live shows are bigger and longer and we tend to take more risks which can often reap great rewards.”
RocKwiz had 73 ARIA inductees to choose from for the tour, all worthy of the Nankervis thumbs-up – even if it’s half broken.
