GREAT SINGER’S PLANS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20821, 3 June 1939, Page 17 (Supplement)

GREAT SINGER’S PLANS

PETER DAWSON IN AUSTRALIA TO RETIRE NEXT YEAR FREMANTLE, Tuesday After an absence of six years, the South Australian-born baritone, Peter Dawson, returned in the liner Oroasay, to make an 18-weeks’ tour ui Australia and New Zealand, for Greater Union Theatres, Ltd. He has brought several now songs, and his programmes in Australia will include his own compositions, and songs by the Australian composers, Horace Gleeson and Horace Keats. Mr Dawson estimates that the sale of his gramophone records approximates 12,000,000. “Radio,” he said, “has crippled opportunities for singers. People ask, ‘Where are the Melba-s, Clara Butts, Sims Reeves, and Santleys to-day?’ “They are still with us, but are dormant. Singers of the younger generation have no market because of the radio. Established artists are preferred.” He visualised that professional singers, would ultimately disappear because it was not worth spending time and money on studies when the radio could make a star overnight who would enjoy only fleeting popularly. He had advised hundreds of artists in England to retain their jobs and regard singing as a hobby. He intends retiring next year when he will .join his brother in business in Sydney.