Ian "Molly" Meldrum doesn't consider himself a very good interviewer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He delivered a world scoop without realising it, after all, in the 1969 interview that revealed the Beatles – the band that "hooked" Meldrum into the world of music – would split.
"I don't know where you got that from", Meldrum said, retelling his reaction when he overheard the news after the interview, to which he was told, 'you idiot, it was in your interview with John [Lennon]'.
"I had a world scoop and didn't even realise it," Meldrum said.
"I'm not a great interviewer. I just like to have discussions."
It's Meldrum's distinctly unpolished discussions with some of the music industry's biggest names that's engaged generations of people around the world. Many were in tow to see the larger-than-life figure at the National Library in Canberra for the release of his autobiography, The Never, Um, Ever Ending Story.
A vivid life as a record producer, music journalist and a 13-year stint on hugely successful Australian music show Countdown has delivered more than enough banter for any autobiography.
But Molly Meldrum never longed for a television career.
Meldrum was on the way to a hotel via a lemonade scotch when he got the big break with Countdown, which would go on to rope in up to 3 million viewers a night during its peak.
"I parked on the footpath," he said, speaking of his arrival outside the hotel, where producers Robbie Weekes and Michael Shrimpton were discussing a television show for young audiences.
"Michael said, 'he can't even string two sentences together'. And I got the job.
"I had no wish to be on television."
Despite the rise of tabloid journalism, Meldrum's duty of care to so many stars who have inevitably become his friends hasn't waned. Even the interviews that didn't pan out as expected, as with a rising Madonna.
"I was in the office in New York and I was given this huge lecture [for being late]," Meldrum said of their first meeting.
"I said, 'who the f---is Madonna, anyway?'.
"She looked at me and said, 'I'm f---ing Madonna, and what's a f---ing Molly'?".
"We were great friends straight away."
While Madonna might be considered among a different calibre from the music dominating the charts today, Meldrum said he didn't underestimate the home-grown talent still waiting to be unearthed.
"We need to give a chance to all young talent to get experience and national experience," he said.
"The talent is abundant and we should be very proud."