Industrial Strength: Part 1
Image: PNAU
KEITH URBAN LEADS ACM NOMS WITH SEVEN
Keith Urban’s standing in the American country music scene is ratified as he scores the highest numver of nominations (7) for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards.
Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris had six nominations each and Florida Georgia Line and Tim McGraw five apiece.
Urban’s Ripcord album is up for five awards, including album of the year, with single and song for Blue Ain’t Your Color.
PNAU’S ‘CHAMELEON’ GOES PLATINUM
EDM act PNAU’s first single in four years, Chameleon, has been certified platinum for total sales of 70,000 after being released in November.
It went Top 5 in the ARIA Singles Chart, #1 on the ARIA Australian Artists Singles Chart and an impressive eight-week top run on the ARIA Club Chart.
It’s also surpassed 9 million views on Spotify, reaching #1 on the Australian Spotify Viral chart, and went top 20 of the Global Spotify list. Chameleon additionally took #1 on Shazam.
The video, directed by the band’s Nick Littlemore and produced by Peter Mayes with Australian production company Joker Theory, has generated 1 million YouTube views.
MORE JUDGES FOR WAM SONG OF THE YEAR
WAM announced more judges for the WAM Song of the Year: Andrew Pring (Fremantle Blues and Roots Club, Artist), Geoff Cannon (ABC Midwest), Libby Carmody (Tjuma Pulka Aboriginal Media), Nick Findlay (triple j – NSW), Terry Siva (Triple M), and Zaeren Momand (Avenoir Magazine).
HILLSONG WORSHIP TOPS US CHRISTIAN CHART
Sydney praise and worship collective Hillsong Worship has topped the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart with the track What A Beautiful Name. At the same time, it’s #2 on Christian Digital Song Sales, #6 on Christian Streaming Songs with 1.2 million U.S. streams, and #11 on Christian Airplay (6.5 million in audience).
The track is from Hillsong Worship’s 25th live album, Let There Be Light, which made its debut at #1 on Top Christian Albums last November.
In the meantime, another offshoot of the Sydney church, Hillsong UNITED, remains at #4 with Oceans (Where Feet May Fail), which was at #1 for a record 61 weeks, Billboard reported.
Read TMN’s in-depth feature on Hillsong UNITED here.
THIRD SYDNEY LOCKOUT RALLY SLAMS MESSAGE HOME
The latest 30-minute relaxation of trading hours for The World Bar and iconic venue Stonewall Hotel gave Keep Sydney Open figurehead Tyson Koh extra ammunition at last Saturday’s third rally. Firstly, it was these protests which led to the decision to dilute the hours. Secondly, they needed to tell new Premier Gladys Berejiklian it was time to get rid of the whole thing. “The longer they drag this out, the bigger we get!” Koh told the crowd.
The Preatures’ Isabella Manfredi emphasised it was not an anti-government rally, as it needed its support to confine the lockouts to history; City of Sydney Councillor Christine Forster challenged the new Premier to listen to the voice of Sydney’s creative and late-night communities.
Among the acts who played the afternoon were Montaigne, GANGgajang and DJ U-Go-B.
POLICE TO MEET RAVE PROMOTER AFTER OVERDOSES
Victorian Police will hold a meeting with organisers of the Electric Parade EDM festival, which was held in Melbourne and Sydney on the weekend. The Melbourne show, at Myer Music Bowl, ended with 21 people sent to hospital for overdoses, another seven found collapsed in nearby areas, and 40 arrested for possession.
Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said one of the issues they’ll be discussing with the promoters is if they should be allowed to stage the event again.
MELODY POOL TO TAKE BREAK FROM MUSIC
In an emotionally raw story about her battle with depression in last night’s ABC-TV show Australian Story, NSW singer songwriter Melody Pool announced she was taking an indefinite break from music in March. The 25-year old plans to study art and focus on battling her black dog.
She told the program she spiralled into depression after being betrayed by a boyfriend, also a musician. She kept banging her head on the shower. Doctors told her not to be “a drama queen”.
One “horrific, horrific night” she sat on the kitchen floor and planned to slash herself with a steak knife.
“I don’t know what I was going to do, I was just so mad and this was the sharpest thing in my house that I could attack myself with.” Finally she realised, “No, this is not right … this is not a normal night, I need help’.”
BOOKER T OFFERS FREE ORGAN LESSON
Bluesfest Touring is offering a ticket holder to US R&B legend Booker T. Jones’ April 20 show at the Sydney Metro (and a friend) the chance to win a meet and greet – and a 15 minute organ lesson. Tell Bluesfest Touring why he is your hero and how he influenced your life and/or music career. Email it to [email protected] by Friday March 3, and put in the subject line Booker T Sydney Meet & Greet Competition.
ABC-TV LAUNCHING CREATIVES
ABC-TV and ABC iview launch Creatives, a season of 5 x half hour biopics of Australian creative people, on Tuesdays at 10pm from March 14,
It includes Oscar-nominated film editor Jill Bilcock, surf photographer Russell Ord, documentary photographer Robert McFarlane, painter Rosemary Valadon and underwater drawer Roger Swainston.
THE BOSS IN THE HUNTER
To celebrate Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band’s final Australian show, at Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley, Newcastle’s KOFM became 1029 Bruce FM for the day, playing hours of the star’s iconic music and giving away tickets.
The afternoon of the show brought the storms down, pelting the crowd with hailstones. By the time the E-Street Band came onstage just after 7.30 pm, the rain was gone. But that didn’t stop the Boss from surveying the resilient audience, shaking his head with a “Hunter Valley, Jesus Christ!” and leading the band into an impromptu rendition of Creedence’s Who’ll Stop The Rain?
The final song in the show was just Bruce, his acoustic guitar and mouth harp, on Thunder Road.
THE BODYGUARD NAMES MELBOURNE SEASON
The Bodyguard musical producers Michael Harrison, David Ian and John Frost have announced the Melbourne season for the production. It will begin its sun at the Regent Theatre from August 24.
Already announced were the Sydney season at the Lyric Theatre from April 21, and then at the Lyric in Brisbane from July 19.
More cast members were announced this week to join the principal cast of Paulini as Rachel Marron, Kip Gamblin as bodyguard Frank Farmer and Prinnie Stevens as Nicki Marron.
VALE
- Greg Doolan made his stage debut playing guitar at 12 and went on to form and front high profile Queensland band Wickety Wak. Formed in the mid-70s, the variety-styled act were in high demand in clubs. They had a To 10 in Queensland in 1982 with the single Moonlight Marvel and featured in TV specials in that state. They split in 1990 after three Brisbane sell-out shows (and reunited in 2006), Doolan went solo and was named Queensland Entertainer of the Year in 1995. Keith Urban was one who acknowledged Doolan’s help in his early career. He was the voice behind the long-time jingle “call, call Carpet Call — the experts in the trade”, recorded in one take twenty years ago. Doolan was 73 when he passed in a Brisbane hospital after a short battle with cancer.
- Born in Gwangju, South Korea, Trish Doan lived in Queensland for some years from 2009 while studying, learning to surf and doing some gigs. She moved to Canada and joined heavy metal band Kittie, butdrifted in and out of the lineup while combating eating disorder anorexia-athletica-nervosa. She was suffering depression when she passed at 31.