Poet extraordinaire. What memories. A youth relived. 1977 ‘Rodriguez At His Best’ is still one of my all time favourite albums. I just watched the doco and sang along with every song. Had no idea Rodriguez was so popular in South Africa back then. It certainly answered a lot of questions for me; he was always a mystery. To the man – your words speak of truth and an honest life lived. I’ll never have the money to see you in concert, but your lyrics and music drifted through my many dwellings marking the past years with memories sweet and sad. Thank you, Christine.
SugarMan.org 
Thanks Christine, your comments rekindled so many of my own memories.
Here’s my story. In 1982 I was a young New Zealander on a working holiday in Australia, and I found myself working on Montejinni cattle station in the Northern Territory for three months. During this time my work mates only had two music cassettes between us, so these got played endlessly. One was a bush band called Bloodwood, from Alice Springs. The other was Cold Fact by Rodriguez, and I became a life long fan of that album then and there.
This came about only because one of those workers had been at a pub in Darwin with two mates when the DJ played Cold Fact. The friends were curious and asked about it. The next time they met, they discovered that all three had gone out independently and bought the album!
Until 1+ years ago I believed the story that Rodriguez had died of a drug overdose. Then my younger brother sent me a copy of the DVD “Searching for Sugarman” (he now owns my first “Rodriguez at his Best” LP) and that was a revealing blast after all these years. A great film!
I live in Brisbane but sadly I was too slow to buy tickets to the Convention Centre concert here for 19th October – availability was sold out pretty well straight away (and the Adelaide show has enlarged their venue!) – but I’m still thrilled that Rodriguez is alive and performing. I went out and bought a new Cold Fact CD to celebrate and am loving it all over again.
To Stephen Segerman, thanks so much for your lasting enthusiasm and for this great website!
Allan T.
There really was a strong following here in Aus. An absence of radio play is testimony to the darkside of commercial radio. Friends and relatives introduced these albums to each other, there was no other avenue. And they were awesome.
I watched the video for the first time last night, and i was completely blown away by the plight of this amazing artist, I have loved his music for many years and I had no idea of the amazing story behind the man, I truly hope he gets his day in court and that the bastards that robbed him are well and truly dealt with, I can’t wait to see this humble and brilliant artist perform in my home town of Perth Western Australia . Thanks for your time mate! Enough said
I recently discovered his music whilst on sick leave – he made my days so much more endurable x
There are two phrases in ” I’m Gona Live Till I Die” that I can’t make out. His voice is very subdued at that time. If anyone can advise me those lyrics, I’d appreciate it. I really like the song.
I agree wholeheartedly – I never discovered him till recently and I certainly have missed him in my life
Marie
Marie Downie
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 05:20:40 +0000 To: marie.downie@hotmail.com
What a lovely tribute to a true poet, musician extraordinaire. I think we all feel we’ve discovered a real treasure in Rodrigo. His music fills my head….
I too remember all the songs from that time, such wonderful memories
Cheers Christine…Same goes…I am an Australian fan…I was very very lucky to have seen Sixto in concert in Melbourne, last year, it was a magic night and I was one of the very lucky ones to have a meet and greet with this most outstanding man…Absurd Magic from where I stand….Peace- Kim.