Planet Maynard

Gene Pitney toured Australia in October 2003. It was his last time in Australia as he died while on tour in the UK in 2006. I caught up with him at the beginning of that 2003 tour in Sydney. He told me the stories behind some of his iconic songs, from 1961’s Town Without Pity to his collaboration with Marc Almond in 1989, Something’s Got A Hold Of My Heart. 1963 Gene Pitney album World Wide Winners Maynard: Gene Pitney, welcome once again to Australia.Gene: Thank you very much, Maynard.Maynard: How many times all up now?Gene: A hundred.Maynard: A hundred times. It feels like that, hey?Gene: I don’t really know, but I think at least a dozen times since the early sixties.Maynard: Do you remember the first tour? Was it very strange to be so far away?Gene: The very first tour was with a bunch of Brits, I think it was when the, uh, so-called British Invasion happened, and it was Dusty Springfield, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Brian Poole and the Tremolos and me.Maynard: Who was your major comp