Being arrested for wild costumes, wearing drag and even having a stint as a ventriloquist when young – Jeff Duff is known for making headlines as well as his theatrical performances.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In 1976, after being invited to perform with his band Kush in Ballarat he had the idea to make a costume out of an inflatable rubber doll, which he cut up and sewed onto a leotard.
But when he got up to play the police were called and he was not allowed back onstage until he changed his outfit.
Later that decade, Duff moved to London and was arrested the day he signed a recording contract after being asked to take his clothes off for a photo shoot outside the Prime Minister’s house.
While he was wearing a flesh-coloured body stocking, the police thought he was naked so he was taken to court and fined.
“Throughout my whole career I seem to get myself into mischief without realising I am doing it,” Duff said.
“Probably because I have a very vivid imagination and I let it wander.”
Originally from Melbourne, Duff designs and wears his own clothes, has played in a long succession of bands and worn make up almost every day of his life.
He will be performing Bowie Unzipped in Merimbula, a celebration of David Bowie’s life and music with a three-piece backing band.
When Duff heard Bowie died, he was sitting at his Sydney home overlooking the harbour listening to the radio.
He got up, went outside and walked down the street to the nearby house where Bowie lived for 10 years.
“It was very sad, and I’m still sad,” Duff said.
“Even talking about Bowie in the past tense just doesn’t seem right to me.”
The first time he heard the man’s music was when he was 17 in Melbourne and he walked past a television in a shop that was playing footage from the 1969 moon landing with Space Oddity used as the soundtrack.
When living in London in 1979, after a show at a club Duff was approached by the club’s manager who said Bowie was in the building and wanted to meet him.
They later met up again in Australia.
While Duff said he admired Bowie, he was evasive on what kind of person Bowie was.
“It’s like asking me what you’re like, or you asking what I’m like,” he said.
“We’re all just human beings doing what we do.
“I don’t think anyone can know anybody inside and out.”
Jeff Duff will perform Bowie Unzipped at Club Sapphire, Merimbula on July 16 from 8pm.
It is a 18+ event with tickets $25.
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
