Not a day goes by without Normie Rowe hearing something about the time he pushed Ron Casey into his seat – and copped a left hook to the jaw for his troubles – on the Ray Martin Midday Show.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the incident which gained him international notoriety as someone willing to fight for his principles.
Rowe is a member of the Order of Australia and still gives time to Soldier On and a number of other causes, helping young war veterans. He’s been a member of the ARIA Hall of Fame for 15 years, and is recognised as a national war hero.
On April 9, he’ll be joining fellow music legends Jade Hurley and Dinah Lee for a concert at the Logan Entertainment Centre.
“This whole thing has been a bit of ‘let’s have a go’,” he says of the concert tour through regional Australia.
“People have been coming out. I know I’ve become a bit sick of my own company, so I suppose others are feeling a bit the same way.”
It’s a hint of modesty from a man who had multiple national Number 1 hits in the 60s, at times going head to head with The Beatles on the charts. In England made his way into the top 30.
But that’s when he was conscripted to Vietnam, as a 20-year-old in 1968.
He did his time and wasn’t quite able to re-live the hysteria he created in the mid-60s. But he did have a fine career in theatre, and some will know him as Doug Fletcher in television soap Sons and Daughters.
He led Les Miserables 600 times.
At 74, he says he doesn’t feel a lot different to 30-40 years ago, aside from a white spider bite 18 months ago and a recent back operation.
“This is a great show,” he says of the latest venture. “They’re good old songs which people can sing along to from the first bar through to the last bar of the show.”
For fans, there might not be many more opportunities to see Normie Rowe on stage. Not because of his age, rather because he is likely to return to his love of theatre.
“I love working in theatre,” he said.
“It is an all-encompassing type of performance, and allows me to tap into everything I learned at drama school.”
Rowe returned to drama school in 1984 for more than two years to sharpen his theatre skills.
