Deborah Conway, one of the most respected singer-songwriters in Australia, has been creating hit after hit record in a long and extremely successful career. Though suffering a bout of pneumonia, she bravely invited CCF to her house by the sea.
I asked Deborah how she got involved in music.
"It all started with an ad in the paper. Wanted - singer seeks band."
"That was in 1980. I had an answer to the ad and met Dorland Bray. Eventually we moved up to Sydney and formed Do Re Mi. Although I've been singing ever since. I wasn't thinking five or ten years down the track: I never planned to do any of this. If someone had said to me ten years ago that I'd be where I am now, I would have scoffed. But life takes you along, things just happen. You find yourself in a place where you either do or don't want to be. Personally, I like where I am."
Has that been the inspiration behind the new album?
"That is more or less the theme of the new album - living in the moment, how I've come to appreciate living in the moment."
"The title track, Exquisite Stereo, a duet with Neil Finn, is really a celebration of the human voice.
Dust to Dust was commissioned for the 1999 Logies.
They wanted to present a tribute to the five journalists who were killed in East Timor. I didn't have anything appropriate so Willy (Zygler) and I wrote Dust to Dust.
We wrote it quickly but it's a powerful song"
Deborah is happy with the latest recording and pleased that it is being so well-received by both the public and critics alike.
We moved on to animal rights.
"Testing cosmetics on animals is scandalous. There are so many other ways and with the very different composition of other animals. I don't understand how the test results can be indicative of how our bodies would react. I also can't see that after all this time testing products and their components that there could be any new components. And if there are, just ditch them and use the stuff we've got!"
"Cosmetics are only the tip of the iceberg. Putting detergent in rabbits' eyes and getting dogs to smoke endless amounts of cigarettes is nauseating."
"There's this issue about whether an animal has a soul. Animals feel fear, they suffer pain and in my mind that means they have a soul."
"People can change the culture by voting with their wallet. Given the education, I think they would."
The last word...
"Choose Cruelty Free always"
