(Blues Soul, Blues Rock, Country Pop) Colleen Hewett - Black & White - 2015, MP3, 320 kbps

Even before she first stood on stage at age 12 and belted out her first three numbers with her uncle’s band, Colleen Hewett knew she was destined to be a performer.
“When television started in 1956 we used to go down to the electrical shop like a lot of people did,” the Kew resident recalls.
“We’d take these little foldaway chairs and watch television in the shop window. I just knew I was going to be on that little black and white picture thing.”
The former Queen of Pop whose top 40 singles included Super Star, Day By Day, Carry That Weight and Dreaming My Dreams With You made regular appearances as a singer, but also acted in Matlock Police, Homicide, Carson’s Law, Division 4, Cop Shop, Prisoner and The Flying Doctors.
The noughties saw her playing the mother of Peter Allen in the Australian tour of The Boy From Oz with Hugh Jackman in the lead. She also appeared in the musical Chicago and played Pat Oliver, the mother of jockeys Damien and Jason Oliver, in the movie The Cup.
“I’ve been keeping pretty busy,” the blonde powerhouse laughs. “But there is still so much more to come.”
Now, on the eve of her 65th birthday, she’s about to release a new album.
“This album is my best,” she says. “I know it is because I selected every single song. There are a lot of original songs on it and a lot of storytelling to do with my grandmother and my past. It’s very much a blues album.”
She’s particularly proud that it includes two songs written by William – the youngest of her three children.
“One of the songs is called Shut Your Mouth – about the things he’s overheard me saying to agents over the years,” she laughs.
“I called the album Black & White because that’s me. I don’t do grey. I don’t think I have ever really changed in my personality, I tell it the way it is – take it or leave it.”