Road Crew Association launches new desk tape series of classic Australian live shows

The Australian Road Crew Association (ARCA) this morning launched its new Desk Tape Series of classic Australian live gigs.

Roadies have been amassing a trove of live recordings over the past 40 years, of bands they were working with.

These are now being released on Black Box Records, with MGM Distribution handling digital and physical releases.

The series kicks off on Friday (November 10) with a Redgum tape.

Other recordings are coming from Australian Crawl, The Church, Cold Chisel, Crowded House, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, Wendy Matthews, Men At Work, Mental As Anything, Midnight Oil, The Models and Paul Kelly.

The Redgum release came from a 1985 show in Amsterdam’s legendary Melkweg (Milky Way) club.

Hot on the heels of hard touring around Australia behind the ‘I Was Only 19’ and “I’ve Been To Bali Too’ hits, Redgum were on fire when they hit Europe for a three-month tour – extended to four after airplay in the UK and the Continent.

The tapes were recorded by their sound engineer on the tour, Mark Williams, now running his own production company in Melbourne.

ARCA founder Ian Peel told TMN, “These live recordings are culturally important especially of the pub rock era of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

“They remind the music industry that roadies are the backbone of this industry and without them, there’d be no show, no band.

“They demonstrate the creativity that road crews display every day, as they put the show together, In the early days when equipment was really primitive, the road crews virtually had to build the gear themselves so the show could go on.”

Peel came up with the tapes initiative five years ago after he heard a road crew’s tape of a Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons show in the late ‘70s and was struck by its high quality of sound.

A call went out to the crew fraternity, and Peel now has 2000 cassettes. Many told him, “My kids are most likely going to throw my tapes out after I die, so I might as well assign the rights to ACRA.”

A meeting with MGM founder Sebastian Chase led to plans to put them out for commercial releases.

Professor Philip Graham at the University of the Sunshine Coast, in conjunction with QUT and Griffith University, is overseeing the preservation, treatment and mastering of these tapes, which are then to be submitted into the National Film & Sound Archive in Canberra.

Starting in production as a 19-year old, Peel worked for Renee Geyer, Ariel, Mondo Rock and Midnight Oil, before going overseas where he joined the road teams of Bob Marley, Olivia Newton-John and Bob Dylan, among others.

ARCA was formed initially as a social get together. It rapidly become a well-being service when anecdotes by crew members substantiated studies by Entertainment Assist that crews suffered a much higher rate of anxiety, depression, suicide and drink/drug issues than others in the entertainment biz and, indeed, the wider Australian society.

The association has now swelled to 300+ live production crew and over 200 paid associate members from all aspects of the music industry.

The ARCA Desk Tape Series is raising money for roadies in medical and financial or to pay for their funerals.

A Roadies Fund was set up via a partnership with music industry benevolent society, Support Act Ltd.

Peel recounts, “135 of us have died, 29 from their own hands. We’ve just lost three more in the last month

“ARCA has had a lot of support from the music industry and the music media.

“But we need more. We need more promoters to come on board with contributions and willingness to add a levy to their ticket sales to go to crews.

“We need more musicians to play benefits for the crews.

“These tapes will not only help them financially but for the departed ones, it signifies respect and acknowledgement of their contribution to building the music industry.”