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Each 2 months and exactly 30 years ago to the day, we re-publish the original Country Goss' magazine and supplement it here with additional photos, videos and stories that may not have been readily available at the time. A veritable "time capsule" of line dancing! There's lots more to read in the original magazine, in the meantime, here is a brief look at what the Editor had to say back in March 1995, plus a little more!

Terry Hogan, Kath McManamon and three young Coraperena Dancers

Another fabulous issue as we look back on the 1995 Tamworth Country Music Festival and Australian Line Dance Championships starting with this classic of Kath McManamon and Terry Hogan in Peel St. There is also a wonderful piece of memorabilia - a 1995 Finalists Program courtesy of Australian Linedance Memories.

Section 6, the Open Duo/Trio was the biggest ever

We have been very fortunate in receiving contributions from readers supporting Australia's Line Dance History with stories, photos, videos and ideas. One recent idea from a reader, which the team has run with is, as we release each bi-monthly issue of Country Goss' we also select a song and dance that reflected line dancing's popularity at that time. A bit of a "Golden Oldie" moment you could say. We've now gone back and updated the past issues of Country Goss' accordingly, have a look. Do you remember what song you were singing and dancing to in March 1995? Be sure to read on.

Learn how to 2 Step each Wednesday throughout March at the Arizona Cowboy Bar from 7pm. Pitt St, Sydney. Enquiries 02 261 8261.

March 1995 and we are loving the 2-Step & partner dances

FREE Bootscootin' every Sunday 1pm - 5pm. Harold Park Hotel, 115 Wigram Road, Glebe. Why not eat at Harold's Bar & Grill while you're there! Ph: 02 692 0564.

Whilst everyone had their minds on Tamworth this year, an article appeared in the January 1995 edition of Time Magazine titled Buckles, Boots and All. Taking an in-depth look at the "bootscooting" craze sweeping Australia, from its dedicated inner-city Sydney following through the late 80's, its growth in Melbourne's gay and lesbian community since it started in the early 90's, to exploding throughout Australian suburbia. It's a great story to kick off this issue and we've re-produced it here for you to read.

Time Magazine 1995

Wireless Mic Systems for Line Dance Instructors. High quality, sweat resistant, naturally sounding and locally made head worn mic. Belt strap transmitter pack (as used by aerobic instructors). Phone JP at JP's Hifivision 018 230 787.

On to Tamworth and several readers were upset over the Editor's reference to Tamworth as "Gulch Gully" in the previous issue. Clarifying, the Ed says that Tamworth is a thriving metropolis and fun place to be. Just a misunderstanding. We made our own enquiries with the locals, and they told us the Editor's comment was probably more about Tamworth being hot and dry in January rather than anything negative. In fact, they said it can get so hot, you can fry an egg on the bonnet of your car for breakfast! OK, point taken.

We celebrate the fun and colour of Tamworth with all the results from the 3rd Australian Country Line Dancing Championships 1995 at Calrossy and take a look at the West Tamworth Leagues Club Dance Night - often referred to as the Championship "Warm Up Night". There's the 1995 Masters in Wanganui, New Zealand, as well as the Big Country Weekend incorporating the Country Music Association’s Showcase Challenge where Music Clubs compete for the Music Association of the Year trophy.

Grand Finals, 3rd Australian Country Line Dancing Championships, Calrossy, Tamworth.

Section 1 (10 yrs & Under - Duo/Trio):

Sumone Brewster & Luke Corney, Coraperena, Tamworth, NSW

Section 2 ( 13 yrs & Under - Duo/Trio):

Anne Marie Bridge & Katie Bague, North Branch Stars

Rebecca Schneller, Kate Maddvell, Chusie King - Under 16's Winners!

Section 3 (16 yrs & Under - Duo/Trio:

Rebecca Schneller, Kate Maddvell & Chuise King, Westlakes, NSW

Section 4 (16 yrs & Under Group):

Sugar Valley Line Dancers, NSW

Section 5 (55 yrs& Over - Duo/Trio):

June Kaine & Edna Bowman, Sydney, NSW

Bill Larson and Nigel Mooney Open Duo/Trio

The Strand Hatters - FREE concho band, FREE hat customising, FREE after sales service, FRIENDLY assistance! Head straight for the Strand Hatters, Strand Arcade, 412 George St Sydney. Ph: 02 231 6884.

Mark Simpkin, Tracey Lee & Simon Ward - Open Duo/Trio

Michelle Hansen and Matt Price (above left) win the Tamworth Golden Boot for Best Duo. For Gary, Luis & John (above right) it was just a whole lot of fun!

Tina Salvestro & Gordon Elliott - Open Duo/Trio Finalists

Section 6 (Open Duo/Trio):

Matt Price & Michelle Hanson, Pacific Coast Line Dancers, NSW

Section 7 (Open Group):

Guns & Roses, QLD

For many, it was their first time competing at Tamworth, such as this colourful group (above) from Sydney competing in the Large Open Group Section.

Pandarra Trading Company - Country Western World. Pandarra offer everything imaginable for the urban cowboy and cowgirl. Grab a taste of Texas at 96 Oxford St Darlinghurst, NSW or try their mail order service to anywhere in Australia. Ph: 02 361 5785 or Fax: 02 361 6812.

Matt Price and Stuart Carsley - Comedy

Lyndon Satchell, Tracie Lee & Simon Ward - Comedy

Section 8 (Open Comedy Duo/Trio/Group):

Southern Cross Line Dancers, NSW

Blue Ribbon Saddlery - Country style Boots, Hats & Clothing - Akubra, RM Williams, Thomas Cook, Wrangler. Your complete country outfitter, Phone 02 623 467.

Dance of the Year 1994:

Outback choreographed by Gordon Elliott

Dance of the Year 1995:

Girls Night Out choreographed by Terry Hogan

Line Dancing every Friday night at Darkes Forest Woolshed. $8 includes supper. Great country music, all new country music releases, fully licensed. Phone 042 943 424.

Unfortunately, there was some disquiet amongst dancers and judges this year concerning competition rules and protocols and it would appear that this may become a big topic of conversation amongst the various dance clubs over the next 12 months. Be sure to catch up with all the latest Goss' in our next BIG bumper May/June issue!

Judges for the event were Clive McKenzie, Bettina Franklin & Gordon Elliott.

Prior to this year's Tamworth Festival, the Central Coast Leagues Club in NSW played host to the 1995 Australian Line Dancing Choreography Competition:

Beginners: Pam White taking out the Beginners and

Advanced: Lisa Collingwood winning the Advanced section.

Encouragement Award: Bev Sandiford and Jeannette Cartwright

This competition was held over the 10th & 12th February 1995 in Wanganui, New Zealand. The results are as follows:

Beginners:

Gold - Goodna RSL Services Drovers, Goodna, QLD

Silver - Nelson Sun City, Nelson, NZ

Bronze - Golden Valley Line Dancers, Nelson, NZ

Advanced:

Gold - Goodna RSL Services Drovers, Goodna, QLD

Silver - The Gamblers, Tauranga, NZ

Bronze - Desperado's, Auckland, NZ

A fun pre-lude to the Line Dance Championships is the "walk-up" West Tamworth Leagues Club Line Dance Night. Here are the results of the night:

Section 1 (Duo):

Silver Spurs, Tamworth, NSW

Section 2 (Group):

The Country Line Dance Company

Section 3 (Over 40's Duo):

Southern Cross Line Dancers

Section 4 (Over 40's Group):

Coastal Bootscooters, Central Coast, NSW

Four Clubs competed for the coveted Big Country Weekend CMA Showcase Challenge Trophy, naming them as Country Music Association of the Year:

First Place: Central Coast Country Music Association

Second Place: Cradle City Country Music Association

Bandolin representing the Central Coast CMA

Individual placings for the highest point score for each club went to:

First: Bandolin - Central Coast CMA

Second: Craig Byrne - Cradle City Country Music Association

Third: Dawrelle Fogg - Bellbird Workers CMA

Fourth: Chantelle Baker - Steel City CMA

Judges for the event were Starmaker Finalists Tanya Sullivan, Dale Hooper and Slim "Redback" Newton.

A highlight of this year's Country Music Festival was the Guiness Book of Records Longest Line attempt with 1,206 dancers. Watch this story (below) of the 1995 Longest Line courtesy of ABC TV.

Blue Ribbon Saddlery - Country style Boots, Hats & Clothing - Akubra, RM Williams, Thomas Cook, Wrangler. Your complete country outfitter, Phone 02 623 467.

Country Goss' attended several record launches at this year's Festival, and you can read all about them in the original magazine - there's (Mr Nude Bootscooting) Grant Luhrs at the Long Yard Hotel, Troy Cassar-Daley at Banjoes and Ian Stephen, Jann Brown, Wylie and the Wild West Show and Cameron Daddo at the Massive Label record launch. Lots to see and much more.

Wylie & The Wild West, Troy Casser-Daley & Grant Luhrs

Crowds estimated to be 8000+ strong, jostled for position on the last Friday night of the Festival to catch acts including Darcy Le Year, Craig Giles, Cameron Daddo, Redneck Mothers, Shot to Pieces and others. The free entertainment on a huge stage in Peel St is one of the Festival's major crowd pleasers, so why would one Tamworth radio DJ make the comment that entertainment on Tamworth's streets should be left solely to the buskers? Could it be because of Darcy's insensitive ad-libbing of lines in the song Trashy Women whilst performing? We'll leave that to The Phantom in Country Goss' to speculate!

Craig Giles, Cameron Daddo & Darcy Le Year

Boogie Woogie & Jive with Dinah Lee & Astro Cowboy at the Wentworthville Leagues Club. Presenting the very latest in new country rock. Have a great night line dancing each 1st & 3rd Friday of the month from 7.30pm. It's FREE! Phone 02 631 5777 for details.

In Peel St, it's all about the enjoyment!

Whether you were learning to line dance, listening to the buskers or just soaking up the atmosphere, Peel St was the place to be to catch up with friends!

Talent quest kids and ALD's Bloody Mary's

And on the other side of town at the famous Locomotive Hotel, there were talent quests for all ages, dance competitions, great bands and interesting characters.

Coffs Harbour, NSW for your next Bootscootin' Holiday! 3 minutes to white sandy beaches, 10 dance venues between Kempsey and Woolgoolga and west to Bellingen, country style accommodation with bed 'n' breakfast. Line Dancers Only! Call Xenia 066 513 827.

How's your French? A million miles from Tamworth, Island Productions in Vanuatu present line dance personality Julie Talbot for a weekend of workshops and social dancing. Main event will be on Saturday 13th May 1995, followed by a week of further line dance fun. The locals are all looking forward to it and would love to host you also. So, if you'd like an idyllic island getaway, further information can be obtained from Melissa Bayer at Club Vanuatu on 678 26 081, the Windsor International Hotel on 22 150 or simply contact Country Goss'.

Country Connection - The Australian Legend in Jeans Wear. Bootcut Jeans in Black Denim and Indigo Blue. Three Western or Stockman Style Shirts, Blue or Black Denim. Agents in NSW, ACT, VIC, NT, TAS, QLD and WA. Contact Lace on 015 281 927.

Country Goss' recaps a number of instructional dance videos from Cindy Truelove and Diane Horner both receiving wide acclaim, and Julie Talbot releases her new instructional video Hottest Linedances featuring 5 fun dance routines including Girls Night Out, Linda Lu, Bartender Stomp, Cadillac Ranch and Sleazy Cowboy.

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

You could win a copy of Diane Horner's More Country Line Dancing. All you need to do is tell us how many people took part in the 1995 Guiness Book of Record Attempts for the Longest Line in Tamworth 1995? Hint - the answer is on Page 7 in the mag!

Filmed on location at the Ermington Hotel's Cadillac Ranch Bar we've included a short 4 minute promo of Hottest Linedances (above) with many instructors and familiar faces donating their time on the dance floor. Recognise anyone?

The Editor reviews a raft of new CD's including Shanley Del's "What's A Heartache For", Rednex "Cotton Eye Joe", Gordon Elliott's "Australia's Favourite Line Dances", Grant Luhr's "Campfire", Massive's latest compilation featuring Jann Brown, Wylie & the Wild West Show and Ian Stephen. There's Sony's latest sampler featuring Troy Casser-Daley, Tim McGraw, Joe Diffie and Wade Hayes! And you can WIN them all!

Winners from our last issue include Lisa Thunstrom, J& L Grogan, Carl Sullivan, Karen Napier, Glenda Tuttle bee, Cindy Caffyn, Donna Chevell, Norma Taylor, Sue Fisher, Janelle Dawson, Josip Slamek, L.Teremi, Patricia Goodlet, B.Baithwaite, K.Malmberg & Joe Croft.

Are you a Country Goss' member? Each issue you go into the draw for a CD giveaway. This time around you could win Willie Nelson's Six Hours at the Pedernales featuring Curtis Potter. Compliments of Sony Music. Winner of last issue's Alan Jackson CD was Barrie Radford of Hope Island, QLD.

Line Dancing Classes in Gladesville, NSW. Beginners & Intermediate. Further details contact Dianne Cameron on 02 332 2225.

The Phantom graces the Goss' pages once again with tantalising treats, saucy secrets and tour rumours of Junior Brown and Don Williams. Be sure to tune in to Phantom's ramblings.

Dancing Around Australia is bigger than ever and the Bushwire goes crazy with 4 HUGE PAGES of all your letters. There's more news, views and information from across the globe, gossip, giveaways, dance parties and upcoming dance holidays. And speaking of dance holidays............

Can you spot the celebrity?

...........A reader sent us this pic of their dance holiday to New Zealand over 17 years ago. Do you recognise the young bloke circled, a future choreographer or instructor maybe? What about over on the far left, is that Eddy May, choreographer of the hit dance Nada? And hiding below that cowboy hat at the front, could that be Mack Apaapa of Southern Streamline fame?

Which Brings Us To

Now, Golden Oldie Time. Earlier we asked if you remember what song you were singing and dancing to 30 years ago in March 1995? There were so many to choose from however we couldn't go past this great song and dance of the same name "Smokey Places" by Ronnie McDowell (admit it, you did sing along while dancing)!

Choreographed by Michele Perron from Canada in January 1995. Smokey Places was the first internationally acclaimed Rumba line dance ever choreographed to country music. It could be danced alone or with a partner.

Courtesy of Div's Line Dancing Directory we have provided the Step Sheet below.

We hope you have enjoyed this edition of Country Goss'. If you have any fun stories or old photos that you would like included in past or upcoming editions, then drop us a line at linedancehistoryaustralia@gmail.com or click here for the next issue!

Bye.