I was trying to think of a good Song of the Week when Darcy – Darcy is my dog – asked, “When are you going to do one of my people’s songs?” I told her that if she meant “Darcy Farrow,” I had already written about that and anyone could read it here. She said, “No, not ‘Darcy Farrow.’ The Bob Song.” “Ah,” I said, “the Bob Song. We could do that.”
The Bob Song is actually called “Bob the Kelpie” and was written and performed by Australian Don Spencer. Before getting to the song, let me give you a little background. We adopted Darcy Through a group called Rocky Mountain Puppy Rescue. No one knew exactly what breed Darcy is, but we were told that she might be part Kelpie.
The Australian Kelpie is Australia’s most popular working dog. It is great at herding, is extremely intelligent and is a great pet for anyone who wants an active, enthusiastic, loyal (but independent) companion. Darcy has grown to be a bit smaller than a Kelpie and somewhat more elongated. Still, she thinks she is a Kelpie, and as part of her evidence she offers these photos. On the left is a picture of a Kelpie puppy she found on the internet, and on the right is Darcy as a puppy:
Don Spencer seems to be an interesting guy. He was an outstanding field hockey player in high school, but when he was 17 he left Australia to hitchhike around Africa. A few years later became a member of Kenya’s Olympic Hockey Team and also competed at high levels in rugby, cricket and table tennis.
While in Kenya he met Roger Whittaker. Whittaker is known somewhat in the United States as a performer of easy-listening pop music, but is a much bigger star in other parts of the world, having over 250 silver, gold and platinum albums. Don Spencer began touring and writing songs with Whittaker, who was born in Nairobi. From Kenya, Spencer moved to London to pursue a musical career. He had a hit record called “Fireball XL5,” which was the theme song of a TV series of the same name; and he toured and performed with groups such as the Rolling Stones, the Four Seasons and the Hollies.
Spencer extended his artistic work into broadcasting and was host of the popular children’s program, Playschool for 17 years in the UK and for 22 years in Australia. In 2002 he founded the non-profit Australian Children’s Musical Foundation and in 2007 he received the prestigious Order of Australia Medal. One of his children – daughter Danielle – is married to movie star Russell Crowe, though I read on Wikipedia that they are now “separated.”
Don Spencer has made hundreds of recordings and published more than 500 songs, one of which is “Bob the Kelpie”; and Darcy would like to let you listen to that one now.