Allison Durbin - Give It A Whirl Interview

Interview – 2022

From small beginnings in an Auckland choir, Kiwi Queen of Pop Allison Durbin has sung all over the world with acts such as Gene Pitney, John Farnham and John Rowles.

In this interview for 2003 television series Give It A Whirl, Durbin covers many topics, including:

Singing in choirs as a little girl
Being a resident singer at the Shiralee nightclub as a teen (6 minutes in)
Hit song 'Don't Come any Closer', and becoming the Queen of Pop (17 minutes)
Gene Pitney’s spaghetti bolognese, and international performances (27 minutes)

Read more about Allison Durbin, on AudioCulture (NZ On Screen's sister website)

This interview was recorded for the 2003 season of TV series Give it a Whirl. All audiovisual content is copyright to Visionary Film & TV, and may not be reproduced.

But it was very good, because it taught me longevity with the voice, and so on...to be able to sustain singing for a long period of time because you’d be up there most of the night, and if you weren’t singing you were playing the tambourine…
– Allison Durbin discusses being part of the Mike Perjaniks Band