“Whatever happened to youthful bravado, drinking and smoking without any care – we view the world now from our recliners, without Michael Palin we wouldn’t go anywhere.”  

So goes one of the ever-changing choruses from Youthful Bravado, one of the newest songs from that master of drollery, Sunshine Coast songwriter Bob Wilson.

Bob has been writing songs since the 1970s, (although he says he wrote very little between 1985 and 1995), finally emerging with a whole bunch of new tunes for his debut live CD "Little Deeds" in 1998. As The Goodwills, he and singing partner Laurel Wilson have released three other CDs since then.

This prolific writer (he's a semi-retired journalist) thinks he may have a book or two in him, but for now he's sifting through old tapes and mini disks looking for material suitable to record – a project he plans to release through the new, online mediums.

"I've always been writing, but like Malvina Reynolds (Little Boxes, Morningtown Ride), I started late in the recording business, so there are 50 or so songs I could happily choose which have not yet seen the light of day," Bob said. "There are nine of my songs on "Loungeroom Legends" and while they might be "new" to people who've never heard us before, we have been singing these songs to live audiences for a year or two now. My next effort will probably be a bit dark, because some of my darker songs have never emerged. But who knows - I might also write new ones, happier ones, between now and then!"

That is certainly the case with Youthful Bravado, with its sly lines about travelling and womanising, circa 1970s – “I met a woman looked like Bridget Bardot, she went off with the Spaniard (he had better hair).”

Those who have followed Bob's songwriting career will be glad he picked up the guitar again in 1998 because gems like Little Deeds, The Old Musician, Mending Fences,Courting the Net and Underneath the Story Bridge emerged, just the tip of a very large back catalogue of unpublished songs.

"I guess if you like Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Loudon Wainwright, Kristina Olsen, John Prine, Warren Zevon, Tom Lehrer, Dory Previn and intelligent, sensitive writers like that, you'd probably like my stuff."

 In 1999/2000 Bob decided to make his first studio album, “Courting the Net”, having the good fortune to catch ARIA award-winning producer Rupert Pletzer between projects. The resulting seven-song EP, recorded with musical and life partner Laurel Wilson, featured three of Bob's original songs and four of the duo’s favourite covers.

 "I was sceptical about putting the album out there, but almost straight away we got played on all sorts of radio stations and got some nice reviews. Then Macca started playing Courting the Net and Underneath the Story Bridge on the ABC radio programme, Australia all Over, and suddenly we became accepted by a segment of the market we hadn't even thought about.”

The duo has since produced two other CDs − “Big Country Town” and “Loungeroom Legends”. Bob has been writing again, too, debuting several new songs at his 60 th birthday party last year. While still performing and occasionally touring, he says 2009 will be a year to reflect on the back-catalogue but also focus on new material.

“There are times when I think about not doing this anymore. But they are outnumbered by magic moments like the time we sang at somebody’s 30 th birthday party and were rewarded with the incomparable gift of 20-somethings raising their thumbs, saying, “Love your work.”