Jeff Duff
In a flamboyant and often controversial music career Jeff Duff has released twenty-seven albums including a recent album with members of legendary British rock band Deep Purple.
When Duffo took refuge in England in the eighties, he had, as they say, worn out his welcome in Australian rock. He was simply too much of a handful, this ‘waif with a wharfie’s voice!’ camping it up out front of his trail-blazing rock ensemble ‘Kush‘. At the time, Jeff’s androgynous stage persona, dressed in leotards, garish make-up and a touch of the operatics was considered far too outrageous for many Australian audiences.
Jeff quickly established himself in the UK and became the darling of London’s new wave movement during the eighties staying one step ahead of his peers with his flamboyant performances. The exhibitionism and visual assault so integral to British punk culture could have been a sequence from Duffo’s own fertile imagination. Soon Andy Warhol was issuing forth his oft-quoted utterence: “Sinatra, Presley, Jagger, Popeye…and now Duffo” Duffo returned to Australia in the late eighties to re-introduce his powerful voice and unique style to the local scene. His recording and accompanying video of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wildside‘ helped re-establish his career in oz and has become an Australian classic.
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