BEFORE Michael Buble swung his way on to the charts and Jamie Cullum gave the piano a renewed sense of cool, Wayne Cornell junior had a plan.
The Aussie singer wanted to fulfil a life-long dream by putting together his own 10-piece swing big band.
That was four years ago and now Cornell has finally realised that dream with the release of his debut album Cover Story. Instead of going for the standards and rehashing them, he decided to take a different approach.
``I thought I'd love to cover some of my favourite Australian bands, ones I grew up with and still listen to and appreciate to this day,'' Cornell said.
He put pen to paper and came up with a list that included The Choirboys' Run To Paradise, Men At Work's Down Under, Baby Animals' Rush You, AC/DC's Back In Black, and Better Be Home Soon by Crowded House. Cornell had already been writing songs himself and pulled a couple out of the cupboard and worked them up.
The next step was to take these adaptations and road-test them live.
He put together a slick and polished show and found an instant fan base.
For the past 12 months Cornell has been handing out the album left, right and centre to people including The Radiators who have taken to playing Cornell's version of their song Canine Home before they hit the stage.
``It's timeless and ageless,'' he said.
``We can do a show and have football players who never get on the dance floor in their life getting down to it whilst the oldies reminisce.
``We take our music seriously and we want to reach a lot of people and sell records, but ultimately we want to have a load of fun and see people with smiles on their faces.'' He will perform at Belmont 16ft Sailing Club on Saturday, March 11, before embarking on a three- month national tour.
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