A kiss by Lake Catani composed by Reg Hudson

Very excited to find that there is a Carlo related song! A Kiss by Lake Catani was written by Reg Hudson around 1947*. Lake Catani, on Mt Buffalo, in Victoria,was named after Carlo in 1911 in recognition of the work he undertook to open up Mt Buffalo as a tourist resort.

The song sheet and music of A Kiss by Lake Catani, recorded by Johnny Wade and his Hawaiians, you can read about them and listen to the recording, here.

Here  are the lyrics -

Underneath the moon by Lake Catani
When the forest trees were all a-glow
There you said you'd be mine eternally
That is why I love you so

I thrilled to your caress
When we kissed by Lake Catani in the moonlight
I never knew that I could care
The way I do till I met you

I had to answer yes
To your plea by Lake Catani in the moonlight
The magic of your fond embrace
Will always be a memory

The lyrebirds were calling, sweet music filled the air
Moon beams were falling and love was everywhere
You brought me happiness
With  a kiss by Lake Catani in the moonlight

My heart forever holds the thrill of stars above
We two in love


This is what I now about Reg Hudson - He was born Reginald William Schuetze to Gottleib  Wilhelm Schuetze and Mary Anne Hudson, on April 25, 1904 and obviously changed his surname to that of his mothers. According to an article in Smith’s Weekly of April 17, 1926, his father  played the piano at the first picture show to open in South Australia, and he could not read music. Reg realised that he could also play by ear and formed an orchestra called Harmony Four and played at dances. An early song was Mypolonga Moon in which Reg wrote the lyrics and played the tune to a friend who did the orchestration.  The  article claimed he could be Australia's Irving Berlin. He later worked with Maurice Sheard, who collaborated with him on A Kiss by Lake Catani amongst other works (The Mail April 2, 1949)

Reg became an advertising executive, had four children, married Rose Louisa Langham in 1933 and died January 9, 1967.

His songwriting could be summed up by this quote - My great ambition in life is to wean Australians away from their fondness for songs about Kalamazoo, Idaho, Indiana, Alabama, and other American places. Surely we in Australia can develop our own popular music. (Evening Advocate March 17, 1949)

Here's an incomplete list of his works  - I'll add others as I find them. Reg is, as you can see, a master of the lococantio** - songs about places or have place names in the title.
Mypolonga Moon (a town on the Murray, north of Murray Bridge)
All for the love of you
Just how I need you
Is everybody happy?
It can not be true
I've set sail for Innisfail
The Jacaranda time (about Grafton)
A Kiss by Lake Catani
I long to be at the Victor (Victor Harbour)
Vintage Song (for a Barossa Valley wine festival)
In the Valley of the Sun (Murray Valley) is this the same song as Sunraysia Melody - which was also written about the Murray Valley?
Pack up a dream and head for Hayman Island
There's someone waiting somewhere for you
Your love and my love

 I have created a list of newspaper articles about Reg Hudson on Trove, click here to access the list. 

* The first date I can find the song mentioned is in February 1947, when the Adelaide News talks about the song being featured on the All Australian Hit Parade. See article, here.

** loco=place + cantio=song  - we made this word up just to describe the songs that Reg Hudson wrote - songs about places or have place names in the title. I claim some credit, but it was really my fellow Carlo enthusiast, Isaac Hermann, that coined this phrase. If it's good enough for William Shakespeare to invent words, then it's good enough for us!