Ian reminisces on meeting rock ‘n’ roll royalty

Journalism wasn’t always a part of Ian Dougall’s plan – in fact, the Werribee resident had originally planned on becoming an attorney.

Instead, an unexpected opportunity changed his life and took him all around the world, interviewing some of music’s biggest names.

At 18, Ian  - who now lives at Glendale aged care home - was awarded a cadetship at Truth newspaper and says his interest was piqued.

“It was an honour because I was only 18 when I got the cadetship and all the reporters working at Truth were in their 50’s,” he recalls.

“I did a lot of general reporting during my time there, and interviewed all the Prime Ministers including Gough Whitlam.”

After his time at Truth, Ian was moved across to the popular TV Week magazine, catapulting him into the glamorous world of international celebrity.

Ian says his favourite part of the job was interviewing celebrities and travelling the world, leaving him with a long laundry list of famous names and encounters with the stars.  

“I met lots of people like Elton John, Skyhooks, ACDC, John Farnham, INXS, Jimmy Barnes and John Paul Young,” he says.

“Molly Meldrum was a good friend of mine and I did many interviews with him. I travelled overseas a lot - that’s how I met Elton John.”  

Also on the list of his notable interviewees are Australian politicians including former Victorian Premiers Sir Rupert James Hamer, who served in the role from 1972 to 1981, and Henry Bolte.

“I wrote an article about Henry Bolte joking about him using a Government car and he found it very funny,” Ian remembers.

“But as for my standout memories, meeting and interviewing all of the Aussie bands was fantastic.”