With a little help from his Rock friends

Rock bassist Rick Grossman is the subject of the final Australian Story, Monday night on ABC, to be introduced by Jimmy Barnes.

Grossman was part of The Divinyls when he checked into a rehab centre, The Buttery, only to be replaced by the band. After a long recovery he later he joined the Hoodoo Gurus.

Now Grossman has assembled other musos and performers for a charity CD for The Buttery, including Barnesy, Neil Finn, Midnight Oil (but probably not the Minister for the Environment), Powderfinger and Keith Urban.

His story airs 8pm Monday on ABC1.

Press Release:
With a little help from his friends like Jimmy Barnes, Chrissy Amphlett, the Hoodoo Gurus and Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil, rock musician RICK GROSSMAN reveals his lifelong battle against drug addiction and his
inspired plan to raise funds for the rehab centre that saved him.

Grossman was bass player for The Divinyls in the 1980s when he became hooked on heroin.

In 1987 he sought treatment at The Buttery, a drug rehab centre near Byron Bay in northern New South Wales.

“About 5 days later, I got a call saying the band sends their love – and they’ve found a replacement for me. I was shattered,” he tells the program.

Grossman spent five months at The Buttery getting off drugs before being recruited as new bass player for The Hoodoo Gurus, a band he has been with for the past twenty years.

In the intervening years, he became an ambassador for The Buttery. Now, he’s on a mission to raise funds to expand the centre, with the aim of reducing the five‐month waiting list.

Grossman has galvanised twenty‐two top Australian and New Zealand musicians including Neil Finn, Jimmy Barnes, Midnight Oil, Powderfinger and Keith Urban to contribute new songs or previously unreleased versions of favourites, for a CD titled Caution: Life Ahead!, due for release on November 8.

Jimmy Barnes introduces this final Australian Story of 2008.

Monday November 10 at 8pm, ABC1
Tuesday November 11 at 8pm, ABC2
Saturday November 15 at 12.30pm, ABC1