Published in the Warrnambool Standard 24th July 2021 - written by Katrina Lovell.
Heather Scanlon - known by her stage name as Donita Dey - has played alongside the who's who of country music.
Mortlake's Heather Scanlon - better known in country music circles by her stage name Donita Dey - looks back on her career which could soon be recognised in Tamworth. She has shared the country music stage with the likes of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, and now there are moves for Heather Scanlon's own career to be recognised at Tamworth's 'Hands of Fame'. Around town, people may know her as Heather but in country music circles she is better known by her stage name Donita Dey. As her star was rising on the country music scene in the 1970s, she decided to change it - Donita came from Buddy Williams' daughter who was killed in a vehicle accident and Dey from actress Susan Dey. Her TV and stage performances and radio interviews read like a who's who of country music - Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Smokey Dawson and Cliff Richard. The walls in her home are lined with those she performed alongside of, or met during her career. "I've had a wonderful life," she said.
Wall of fame: The walls of Heather Scanlon's Mortlake home are filled with the who's who of country music. Wall of fame: The walls of Heather Scanlon's Mortlake home are filled with the who's who of country music.
Donita was a regular performer on The Mike Walsh Show in the '70s and '80s, and for the last five years of its TV run she played a regular extra on A Country Practice. But her music career started in Mortlake where she used to sing in people's loungerooms as a teenager, having taught herself to play the bass and acoustic guitars when she was about 16 or 17. Shortly after, she made her first public performance on radio in Warrnambool during an appeal for the hospital in the late 1960s. "That was the first live concert I'd ever done," she said. "I was there at 11 in the morning and I was still there at 11 at night because people were ringing in, saying 'we'll donate $5 if little Heather will sing another song'. "So I was there the whole day, it was wonderful." From that she started doing gigs "here and there".
Star power: Donita Dey with Hank Williams Jr who she toured with in the United States.
Heather ended up forming a band in Warrnambool called the Western Ramblers with three other musicians.
They recorded an album and two EPs that "went very well". One of their gigs was the Cooriemungle prison farm where the prisoners would cook cakes and put on a "beautiful" spread of food for after the show. "That was great. They were petty crimes they were in for, and they all had their little cabins," she said. "One of the prisoners made me some slippers. I've still got them."But by the time Heather was 20, the big smoke was beckoning and she packed up and moved to Sydney. She toured with Buddy Williams - a pioneer of Australian country music - for three months through Tasmania. After the Tasmania tour, she arrived back in Sydney where she was tossing up whether to return home to Mortlake or check out the club circuit in the city. "I ended up staying in Sydney," she said. In the words of another big hit of yesteryear, Donita's music was "a little bit country, and a little bit rock'n'roll" and it took her to the US at least 25 times - often for extended periods. "I travelled a lot," she said. Donita calls Johnny Cash and his wife June "good friends". She recalls the time she was on the side of the stage at one of their concerts chatting to June's sister, Anita, who was also a performer. "Her and I are standing on the side of the stage behind the curtain and she's prattling on. Next thing June pokes her head around the curtain and says 'John's announcing you' She didn't go out because we were there chatting," she said with a laugh. "June had to come and get her. How embarrassing."
While she has never actually met Dolly Parton (her sister Stella is a good friend) Donita did perform at the same televised concert at the home of country music - the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. "I did the Grande Old Opry with about 150 other artists," she said. "You name them, they were all there. Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, they were all there. I was standing next to the Forester Sisters and we did Christmas carols at the Grand Old Opry. That was wonderful." In the US she toured with Hank Williams Jr, David Allen Coe, appeared on Donnie Brooks' show, and also sang at the World's Fair in New Orleans. One of Donita's most popular songs, Warm Sheets, got airplay on US radio during one of her visits. "They had a station over there that played newcomers. They were playing mine and I ended up getting number one on the newcomers chart in California," she said. That song was also nominated for an award at Tamworth. And now there is a push to ensure Donita is included on Tamworth's Hands of Fame where handprints and a plaque are included on a concrete path. "I've been overlooked they found out," she said. Donita's career included numerous TV appearances - she was a regular on Reg Lindsay's shows - The Country and Western Hour and Country Homestead. And when Channel 7 did a This is Your Life episode on Reg Lindsay, Donita made an appearance. "We started playing a little bit of a song and they opened the curtain up and here we were on This is Your Life with Slim Dusty in the audience and Julie Anthony and all that," she said.
At 17, Heather Turner was just starting out on her country music career.
During her time in Sydney, she interviewed plenty of big name artists and still has Willy Nelson on her list of people to talk to for radio. "I know Willy [sic]. I've been on the side of the stage for his show and all that. I just sort of took to Willy [sic] as a friend and never thought to interview him," she said. "He's a darlin'. He's a lovely, lovely man." Johnny Paycheck and Cliff Richard were among those she has had on her radio show - and her interview technique quickly won them over. "Johnny Paycheck had been known for shooting at someone. He was a very good singer and he was a little bit wild. I didn't ask people about those sort of things. He was waiting for me to ask silly questions like they ask Cliff Richard such as 'how long have you been celibate?," she said. "I went to the mass interview in Sydney for Cliff Richard and I put my little mic up there. They were asking about his friggin' celibacy all the time. I put my hand up and he got to me and I asked 'have you got any hobbies? What do you do in your spare time. What's Cliffy like at home?' That was good but the next person went back to the celibacy thing, straight back into it. I learnt that he owned forest in England," she said. Donita can also claim to be the first person to interview Garth Brooks. When an agent friend rang her up and asked her if she'd interview an "unknown" country singer, she quickly said "yes". "He'd given me all these 'names' to interview. I'm not going to knock him back on an unknown. So I went in and interviewed this guy and he was bringing out an album and they were hoping the album would go well and the interview would do him some good. It was Garth Brooks."And in a twist of fate that surely made her day, Donita even sang Waltzing Matilda in front of Clint Eastwood and chatted to him at his Hogs Breath Cafe in Carmel, California one day. Donita has kept diaries of all her adventures that she intends on leaving to her niece in her will. "I said to my niece 'read them and them and then burn them, alright'," she said with a laugh.
