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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Katie Cunningham

‘Taylor Swift is not losing any sleep over me!’: Don Spencer on Play School, fame and his 65-year music career

Australian singer-songwriter and TV personality Don Spencer in his Sydney apartment
‘I couldn’t walk into a shop. I couldn’t get on to an airplane’: Australian singer-songwriter and TV personality Don Spencer. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

In the late 1960s, when television was an exciting and reliably star-making medium, there was one show everyone wanted to be on: Play School. The ABC staple aired twice a day every weekday, making it a huge platform for any presenter. So when Don Spencer was offered a spot on the children’s program in 1968, everything changed.

“I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognised,” the now 89-year-old recalls. “I couldn’t walk into a shop. I couldn’t get on to an airplane. I went to a rugby union [game] and half the crowd turned around and sang one of my songs to me. It’s ridiculous. But it just kept going, so I just kept going with it.”

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