Their “Crocodile Hunter”
Elton John’s classic upbeat song “Crocodile Rock” is transformed into energetic song and video to capture Irwin’s enthusiastic spirit—All to coincide with many upcoming timely Irwin Family projects
As with many people around the world, “The Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin’s family has lost a loved one. But this Christmas will be the first one, and probably the toughest for his wife Terri, children Bindi, 8, Bobby, 3, father, two sisters, friend/manager John Stainton, and other friends and fans from Australia, America and around the world.
Hence, a special You Tube tribute is being released by American journalist and songwriter Bruce Baert. The title of his upbeat and unique new song and exciting video is, simply: “The Crocodile Hunter Tribute,” which debuted on You Tube this week. You can see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-DPWR2cdLc


The author encourages people to give the song a listen, the video a watch, as it is truly tasteful, fun and catchy, he promises. “To be frank, I don’t think America responded to his death adequately, or got a chance to, as there is so much news here. There are more than 20 million people in the entire beautiful Continent of Australia, and yet 300 million people here in America, and millions of people here also really loved this man,” said Baert, of Whittier, Calif., who wrote the song. Baert (pronounced “Bear-t”), a former daily newspaper reporter, is a part-time freelance journalist and a published songwriter.

“Whether you loved Steve Irwin or disliked him, I bet you’ll respect him after hearing and watching this. This song does not dwell on our sadness of his passing, but instead captures the exuberance that Steve had for living. It reflects who he was, still is, and it is what he would want us to do: Celebrate!,” said Baert, adding, “that’s truly what inspired me to write it.”

This song is an unauthorized fan tribute song and the song’s creators will derive no money from it. “I was the same age as Steve was when he died and it hit me how short

life can be. We are not making a penny on this song, it’s free on the Internet as an early Christmas gift to his fans,” said Baert. The Los Angeles area songwriter also wrote the lyrics for the widely-popular “Paul McCartney is 64,” also a tasteful tribute song that celebrated Paul McCartney’s 64th Birthday last June. That song was played on American radio, BBC, and is still featured on numerous Beatles and pop-culture Internet blog sites (see Google).

Adds Baert: “I hope this tribute song and video can get into the hands of Steve’s wife or father. I even hope American talk show host--and friend of Steve--Jay Leno or Animal Planet General Manager Maureen Smith or the American and Australian media, can help get it to his family.”

Irwin was killed last September 4 (Australian time), Labor Day in America, while filming at the Great Barrier Reef. He was struck in the heart by a stingray barb. America and other countries are accused of having short memories, but with so many Irwin

projects and events coming up (see below) next month, the Irwin family is exemplifying Steve’s bursting energy by moving on and carrying out his mission to save wildlife.

Some noteworthy nationwide upcoming Irwin events:


· Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel have plans to simultaneously air a two-hour tribute to Irwin on Sunday, January 21, 2007. The first 1 ½ hours will be the world premiere of Irwin’s final documentary, called “Ocean’s Deadliest.” This is the special that Irwin was filming with adventurer

Philippe Cousteau when Irwin died. Thankfully, the video of his death will not air. The last half-hour will be a tribute to Irwin’s life and legacy.

· Terri Irwin and their daughter Bindi will star in a family song and dance show with the wildly successful Wiggles children’s group—Part of

Australia Week festivities. They perform in Los Angeles Sunday, January

14, 2007, then in New York on Saturday, January 20.

· “Australia Week in the USA”, an annual event that celebrates Aussie culture, contributions, food and life, with festivities in Los Angeles and New York from January 11 to January 20, 2007. Irwin kicked it off last January.

· Irwin’s wife, Terri, will be featured as one of the top ten people in Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People” of 2006. The show aired on the American Broadcasting Company, Tuesday, December 12, 2006.

· Steve Irwin’s would-be 45th Birthday is: Thursday, February 22, 2007.

· Thursday, January 4, 2007 marks four months since Irwin died.

· Bindi’s new cable show, “Bindi, The Jungle Girl” is a 26-part documentary for Discovery Kids that is currently being filmed. The series is set to begin in January 2007.

Full-time professional singer Neil Smith of Van Nuys, Calif. performed the tribute song with vocals some have described as having an Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler-like sound. The song was recorded at Virlouise Recording in Garden Grove, Calif. The video was edited at StoryTeller Productions in Long Beach, Calif.

Baert also revealed that he wrote an original anthem-like song about Irwin that he hopes could be sung by Aussie great John Williamson, or even actor/singer/Aussie Russell Crowe. Baert said that that song is something he plans on publishing for the one-year anniversary of Irwin’s death; September 4, 2007.