Industrial Strength: Petrol Records & UMA release first single from new Hutchence soundtrack
SPILLER! FIRST SINGLE OFF HUTCHENCE DOCO SOUNDTRACK
As Australia heads for the screening of Richard Lowenstein’s full-length Michael Hutchence documentary Mystify, the first single off the soundtrack drops today (Friday, May 24).
It’s a reworking of ‘Spill The Wine’, a hit in Australia in the early ‘70s for Eric Burdon & War.
Long-time INXS manager Chris M. Murphy and old friend Mark Edwards assembled the music, determined it should be more than a soundtrack.
The listener goes on a journey where rare, unreleased tracks mix with snippets of dialogue, INXS hits and hidden gems from the singer and band’s back catalogues.
The album is divided up into four sections; Side A, Side B, Side C and Side D all of which mix into each other giving the listener a more profound dreamlike experience than the usual soundtrack.
Murphy takes up the story: “Over four weeks, Mark and I would work through late, spooky nights together dealing with Michael’s past work while turning it into new work, a new body of work.
“There were plenty of tears of remembrance along with tears of joy as we were doing something Michael would love.
“Late one night, Mark called me from the studio yelling: ‘Mate, there are ghosts everywhere flying around the room!’
“ He described: ‘every time I could not decide if Michael would like the direction of a track he would get down on his knees to pray to Michael and God’ and he said, they would always answer him.”
CHINA’S TENCENT TO BUY INTO UNIVERSAL MUSIC?
Bloomberg issued a two-part report on Vivendi’s sale of Universal Music Group.
The first was that negotiations are taking much longer than expected and, sources said, “some private equity investors balk at the high price and slow pace of the deal”.
The second was that talks have been held with China’s Tencent about taking a minority share in Universal Music.
Tencent was always mooted to sink its moolah into UMG, while others were Alibaba, KKR, Apple, Verizon, Amazon and Liberty Media.
SAHARA BECK WINS CAROL LLOYD AWARD
During the launch of the Queensland Music Festival, Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter Sahara Beck was named the recipient of the 2019 Carol Lloyd Award.
Beck who wrote her first song at 12 has released an album and two EPs and this year picked up her fourth Queensland Music Awards trophy, taking out the Regional Award for her song ‘Here We Go Again’.
STIGWOOD FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS OPEN
Applications have opened for South Australia’s flagship music development and mentoring program, the Robert Stigwood Fellowship.
Over the past five years, Tkay Maidza, Bad//Dreems, Timberwolf, Electric Fields, West Thebarton, The Hard Aches and Heaps Good Friends have benefitted.
The program has two streams: Industry Fellowships for entrepreneurs to identify weaknesses and solve them, and Artist Fellowships to handle artistic and business skills.
Each year, Stu MacQueen and Dan Crannitch of Wonderlick Entertainment assemble a panel to assemble applicants.
This year it includes Jaddan Comerford (founder of UNIFIED), Sony Music senior A&R director Paul Harris, Sony/ATV Publishing’s head of A&R Maree Hamblion & head of creative Craig Hawker, and Sounds Australia’s Millie Millgate, Dom Alessio and Glenn Dickie.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
6 revellers at Darwin’s BASSINTHEGRASS festival had to be hospitalised after falling ill.
$10.65 million Adele pays out for second home in Beverly Hills..
$800 million that Casino giant MGM Resorts forecasts to settle liability lawsuits stemming from the 2017 mass shooting in a Las Vegas country music festival.
1-month jail sentence rejected by a 25-year old NSW man who was charged with trafficking at Victoria’s Rainbow Serpent festival in January, He said he was a ketamine addict which is why he had the stuff on him.
AUSSIE PODCAST UNEARTHS ALBUM COVERS
John Kiff’s music podcast network Vibe Machine Media launched Undercovers Podcast, starting off with 23 episodes discussing the album cover art of The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Metallica’s And Justice For All, Green Day’s American Idiot and The Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty.
Check it out at www.vibemachinemedia.com.
LIGHTHOUSE AWARD SHINES ON LORRAE McKENNA
APRA AMCOS has decided on Lorrae McKenna, founder of Melbourne label and management company Our Golden Friend, as the recipient of its 2019 The Lighthouse Award.
Established in memory of Linda Gebar, it provides $5,000 to a female Victorian music manager “who exhibits passion, creativity and integrity.”
TOMMY EMMANUEL DOCO GETS SCREENING
The Endless Road, the documentary about US-based Aussie guitar hero Tommy Emmanuel, has its world premiere at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival on July 26.
It has contributions from Jason Isbell, Eric Idle of Monty Python (who says “When you see him playing you think ‘Oh my God, he’s doing that all by himself’”) Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Sir Barry Gibb and more.
JUKEBOX JEWKBOX
Jukebox Jewkbox A Century on Shellac and Vinyl is an exhibition at the Sydney Jewish Museum (of the contribution of Jewish artists to Australian and global music.
There are 500 records from the likes of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Blondie, The Ramones, The Potbelleez, Carole King and Amy Winehouse.
It goes right back to the start, actually as the gramophone and the record came into existence via by Jewish inventor Emil Berliner.
NEW FESTIVAL FOR SA
FestXpress is a new festival for South Australia designed to focus on emerging SA talent, singers, comedians, dancers and producers.
Staged August 16 to 31, performers can register their interest here.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
* UK and Australian venue executive Paul Sergeant has returned to major venue operator AEG Ogden as director of special projects after a two-year stint running his own company. Sergeant has worked twice before at the company, as GM of Suncorp Stadium in 2007 and GM of Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in 2010. He was also CEO of Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium (now Marvel Stadium) for three years but was ousted when he took a firm negotiating stand with AFL clubs. The Melbourne Age reported his events company Paul Sergeant Events entered voluntary liquidation in late March, owing more than $1.3 million to creditors.
* Radio network Nova Entertainment brings in James Hansford as Melbourne group sales manager from May 27. He reports to Tamara Pannett, Melbourne head of agency.
* Multicultural Arts Victoria tapped Next Wave Festival 2020 program producer Joshua Allen as 2019 curator of Mapping Melbourne, a celebration of Melbourne’s Asian Australian identity and creative connections.
* Tyler Jenke, staff writer for youth publisher Brag Media (Tone Deaf, The Industry Observer etc) is promoted to the newly created role of news director across the titles.
* Port Adelaide-based company Vitalstatistix has appointed Angela Flynn as its chair, replacing Narelle Walker who stepped down after eight years. A First Australian, Walker is currently the director of Kukuni Arts, an independent arts management and production company focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts.
* Wendy McWilliam has joined the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia as marketing, communications and events manager. She was previously sponsorship and marketing manager at the Governance Institute Australia and marketing and engagement Manager at the association for health and fitness, Fitness Australia. She is also president of the Wings of Hope charity, supporting those bereaved by suicide.
HOW MUCH DOES GUVERA OWE?
A report by the Australian Financial Review reported that creditors of collapsed streaming service are clawing at almost $40 million after a creditor’s meeting in Melbourne in May.
Among them are the Australian Taxation Office ($1.97 million), law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler which advised Guevara on its ill-fated prospectus ($1.8 million), one time auditor EY ($718,000) and former director Steve Porch ($17.8 million), a company called Tree Pot which has security over one subsidiary, Guvera IP ($9.5 million).
VALE
Jazz pianist David Stevens hosted Sydney community radio station 2RRR’s Midday Jazz program for ten years. A practising accountant he also looked after the station’s financials.
Carol Smith was the wife and creative partner of veteran Melbourne promoter Dennis Smith, best known for ‘60s music TV program The Go Show and for touring Jerry Lee Lewis, Rod Stewart, Peter Allen and Dr Hook.
Gold Coast visual artist and mentor Dean Cogle started out painting surfboards and, in between his exhibitions, also created murals for local music venues.
Melbourne-born California-raised painter Lawrence “Larry” Carroll ended up doing the artwork for a number of Slayer albums after a meeting with producer Rick Rubin.
AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…
Indie label association AIR has joined with Barossa Valley winemaker Yalumba as its wine partner for 2019. The family-run business began in 1849.
Glenn Shorrock recut his LRB hit ‘Help Is On Its Way’ to raise funds for men’s mental wellness charity Roses in the Ocean. The new rendition, produced by Katie Noonan and Michael Tan, features Wendy Matthews, The McClymonts, Beccy Cole, Jasmine Rae, Travis Collins, Busby Marou and Fanny Lumsden.
LGBTI+ news journal Star Observer, set up in 1979 after assaults of gay people by police, has gone into voluntary administration citing advertisers not paying their bills on time.
Motor Ace bassist Matt Balfe is moving out of Melbourne and heading intestate because of work commitments, and put his rural-type retreat in Blackburn for auction on June 1.
British music magazines NME and Uncut have been sold to Singapore-based BandLab Technologies which already has Guitar.com and MusicTech and previously had 49% of Rolling Stone.
Dinosaur City Records signed Sydney electro-pop/disco band Poison Abbey, the creation of classically-trained pianist-turned-singer Jess Rogleff and collaborator Thomas Studans.