Ian McFarlane

Last updated

Ian McFarlane
Born1959 (age 63–64)
Australia
OccupationMusic journalist, music historian, author
SubjectRock, pop
Notable works The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop

Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.

Contents

As a journalist he started in 1984 with Juke , a rock music newspaper. During the early 1990s he worked for Roadrunner Records while he published a music guide, The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980 (1992). He followed with two fanzines, Freedom Train and Prehistoric Sounds, both issued during 1994 to 1996. McFarlane's The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop is described by the Australian Music Guide as "the most exhaustive and wide-ranging encyclopedia of Australian music from the 1950s onwards". Subsequently, he was a writer for The Australian and worked for Raven Records, a reissue specialist label, preparing compilations, writing liner notes and providing research. He fulfilled a similar role at Aztec Music from 2004 to March 2012. From July 2013 he has been a contributor to Addicted to Noise , writing a column.

Biography

Ian McFarlane was born in 1959, [1] and started as a freelance music journalist in 1984 writing for Melbourne-based newspaper, Juke , [2] The Edge and From the Vault. [3] During the late 1980s to early 1990s he was a writer with Sydney music magazine Hot Metal and during 1992 to 1994 worked for Roadrunner Records (Australia). In 1992 MacFarlane published his first music guide, The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980, which provided a chronological list and brief description of all independent records released by Australian bands in Australia, together with a year-by-year summary of how local independent music developed during that time. This series however did not progress beyond Volume 1, although he did commence Volume 2 – 1981–1983, which was intended to be published at the end of 1994.

In 1994 he wrote and edited the fanzine, Freedom Train, [4] published by Third Stone Press, which covered Australian progressive rock between the 1970s and the 1990s. [5] Issue 1 of Freedom Train comprised a series of articles, interviews and discographies of bands, including Spectrum, Ariel, Madder Lake, The Masters Apprentices and Kahvas Jute. [5] Issue 2 covered bands and musicians including Chain, Phil Manning, Taman Shud, Sebastian Hardie, Healing Force and Galadriel. [5] At the same time he also wrote and edited Prehistoric Sounds, [4] published by Dark City Press, which dealt with Australian indie rock from the 1970s and 1980s. [3] [5] Issue 1 contained articles on The Saints, Models, The Psycho-Surgeons, The Lipstick Killers, The Thought Criminals and Au-Go-Go Records, together with interviews with Ed Kuepper, Sean Kelly and Mark Taylor. Issue 2 included articles on The Scientists, The Birthday Party, Citadel Records and The Laughing Clowns and interviews with Kim Salmon, Rowland S. Howard and Kuepper. Issue 3 had articles on Radio Birdman, The Visitors, New Race, Deniz Tek, New Christs, Fun Things and The Hitmen, as well as interviews with Rob Younger and Brad Shepherd. Issue 4, which was also the final issue, contained articles on Beasts of Bourbon, Died Pretty, The Moodists and Greasy Pop Records, as well as interviews with Tex Perkins, Brett Myers, Ron Peno, Dave Graney and Clare Moore.

McFarlane wrote The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop in December 1999. [1] [3] His magnum opus is described by the Australian Music Guide as "the most exhaustive and wide-ranging encyclopedia of Australian music from the 1950s onwards". [6] Fellow music journalist, Debbie Kruger, describes it as "brilliantly researched, unfailingly thorough, never boring. Essential". [7]

From the late 1990s he was a writer for The Australian . [3] He worked for Raven Records, a reissue specialist label, preparing compilations, writing liner notes and providing research. [8] [9] He wrote most of the liner notes for Aztec Music releases from its establishment in 2004 to its closure in March 2012. [10] [11] McFarlane detailed the importance of Aztec Music's reissues after decades of recovery from a mid-1970s punk-inspired backlash "those punk bands came in and said 'Anything pre-1976 is crap' ... That carried over well into the '80s and '90s' ... It took a long time for people to get over that post-'76 thing of 'No, we don't care about our heritage'". [10]

In June 2008 The Age newspaper commemorated 50 years of Australian rock 'n' roll (the anniversary of the release of Johnny O'Keefe's "Wild One") by selecting the Top 50 Australian Albums, with McFarlane selected as one of the industry judges. [12] [13] [14] From July 2013 he has been a contributor to Addicted to Noise , writing a column. [15] McFarlane updated his encyclopaedia for a second edition in 2017. [16] ' The Sydney Morning Herald 's Steven Carroll observed, "It's so easy to get lost in this revised edition: one band leading to another, and so on, until you're suddenly asking yourself what happened to the last hour." [16]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and that was still influencing contemporary Australian music in the 2000s. The term came from the venues where most of these bands originally played — inner-city and suburban pubs. These often noisy, hot, small and crowded venues were not always ideal as music venues and favoured loud, simple songs based on drums and electric guitar riffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Saints (Australian band)</span> Australian rock band

The Saints were an Australian rock band, originating in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973. The band was founded by Chris Bailey, Ivor Hay (drummer), and Ed Kuepper (guitarist-songwriter). They were initially labeled a punk band because, like American punk rock band the Ramones, the Saints were employing the fast tempos, raucous vocals and "buzzsaw" guitar that characterised early punk rock – although this only reflects a portion of their overall sound. With their debut single "(I'm) Stranded" in September 1976, they became the first punk band outside the US to release a record, ahead of better-known acts the Damned, the Sex Pistols and the Clash. They are considered one of the first and most influential groups of the genre, particularly within Australia.

<i>Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop</i> Book by Ian McFarlane

The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop or Rock and Pop by Australian music journalist Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the late 1990s. The book has a similar title to the 1978 work by Noel McGrath, Australian Encyclopaedia of Rock and Pop, but is not otherwise related.

Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, Australian rock and Aussie rock, is rock music from Australia. The nation has a rich history of rock music and an appreciation of the roots of various rock genres, usually originating in the United States or Britain, but also continental Europe, and more recently the musical styles of Africa. Australian rock has also contributed to the development of some of these genres, as well as having its own unique Australiana sound with pub rock and its indigenous music.

Ross James McLennan is an Australian indie rock musician and songwriter. He was the founding mainstay of indie guitar pop band, Snout, from 1991 to 2002. He undertook a side project, Meuscram, with his younger brother, Lindsay to deliver a lo-fi self-titled album in 1995. McLennan has issued four solo albums, Hits from the Brittle Building, Sympathy for the New World, The Night's Deeds Are Vapour (2013) and All the Colours Print Can Manage. Sympathy for the New World was short-listed for the Australian Music Prize for 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbury Pop Festival</span>

Sunbury Pop Festival or Sunbury Rock Festival was an annual Australian rock music festival held on a 620-acre (2.5 km2) private farm between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Victoria, which was staged on the Australia Day long weekend from 1972 to 1975. It attracted up to 45,000 patrons and was promoted by Odessa Promotions, which was formed by a group of television professionals, including John Fowler, from GTV 9 Melbourne.

Even are an Australian indie rock three-piece fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist, Ashley Naylor with Matthew Cotter on drums and Wally Kempton on bass guitar and backing vocals. They formed in March 1994 and played regularly around the live music scene and toured both nationally and internationally. They have released eight studio albums, Less Is More (1996), Come Again (1998), A Different High (2001), Free Kicks (2004), Even (2007), In Another Time (2011), Satin Returns (2018), and Reverse Light Years (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybotron (Australian band)</span>

Cybotron were an Australian electronic, experimental music band formed in 1975 by Steve Maxwell Von Braund on synthesiser, electronic percussion, and alto saxophone; and Geoff Green on keyboard, organ, and synthesiser. The group issued three studio albums, Cybotron (1976), Colossus (1978) and Implosion (1980) and disbanded by 1981. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted that they were "a bona fide experimental outfit, and the band's eponymous debut album featured a mix of heavy synthesiser kinetics, organ drones and pulsating electronic beats".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobby Loyde</span> Musical artist

Lobby Loyde, also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer.

Ross D. Wyllie is an Australian pop music singer, television presenter and producer from the 1960s and 1970s. Wyllie had a top 20 hit with his cover of Ray Stevens' song "Funny Man" and an Australian No. 1 with "The Star", both in 1969. Originally from Brisbane, he hosted, Uptight, a weekly four-hour music series, on Channel 0 in Melbourne from 1967 to 1969. In 1970 he followed with a similar show, Happening '70, and from 1978 to 1980, he presented films on a late-night time slot.

<i>Aztecs Live at Sunbury</i> 1972 live album by Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs

Aztecs Live! At Sunbury was a double live album released in August 1972 by Australian hard rock group Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, which was recorded at the inaugural Sunbury Pop Festival in late January.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Rock Database</span> Website about rock music in Australia

The Australian Rock Database was a website with a searchable online database that listed details of Australian rock music artists, albums, bands, producers and record labels. It was established in 2000 by Swedish national Magnus Holmgren, who had developed an interest in Australian music when visiting as an exchange student. Information for the database entries was initially gleaned from Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara and Paul McHenry's Who's Who of Australian Rock and Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999). Australian Government's former website on Culture and Recreation listed Australian Rock Database as a resource for Australian rock music.

Russell James Dunlop was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer-engineer. From the late 1970s he collaborated with Bruce Brown in a production company for albums and singles by Australian performers including Mental As Anything, The Reels and Machinations. As a musician he was a member of various groups such as Aesop's Fables (1968–70), Levi Smith's Clefs (1971), Southern Contemporary Rock Assembly (SCRA) (1971–72) and Ayers Rock (1976).

Levi Smith's Clefs, originally The Clefs, were an Australian R&B, pop rock group, which formed in Adelaide in 1963. Lead vocalist, Barrie "The Bear" McAskill, joined in 1965. In 1967 he took over and renamed the group after founding keyboardist, Winston "Tweed" Harris, left. They released a sole studio album, Empty Monkey, in March 1970 and underwent numerous line-up changes until they disbanded in 1972. After their time in the band various members formed the groups: Tully, Fraternity and Southern Contemporary Rock Assembly (SCRA). Winston Harris (1941–2004) died of throat cancer, aged 63. A drummer from 1970 to 1971, Russell Dunlop (1945–2009), died after a seizure, aged 63. Richard Lockwood, flautist and saxophonist in 1968, died in 2012 of bowel cancer.

The discography of Australian rock group The Saints consists of thirteen studio albums, seventeen singles, six EPs, two live albums and ten compilation albums. The Saints began in 1974 as punk rockers and released their first single, "(I'm) Stranded", in September 1976 on their own Fatal Records label. They were signed to EMI and released their debut album in February 1977, (I'm) Stranded. Mainstay founder Chris Bailey is the principal songwriter and record producer. Their sound became more R&B and pop rock. Their highest charting album, All Fools Day peaked in the Top 30 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in April 1986. Their cover version of The Easybeats' hit "The Music Goes Round My Head", issued in November 1988, peaked in the Top 40 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Leo de Castro was a New Zealand funk and soul singer-guitarist. From 1969 to 1995 he worked in Australia in a variety of bands before returning to Auckland. He contributed to Rocco (1976), as a member of Johnny Rocco Band; Voodoo Soul – Live at The Basement, by Leo de Castro and Friends; a live album, Long White Clouds (2007), which had been recorded in January 1988 using two separate backing bands, The Dancehall Racketeers and Roger Janes Band.

Wayne Ian Duncan was an Australian rock musician. In 1970 he was a founding member of the doo-wop band, Daddy Cool, providing bass guitar and backing vocals. They were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. During his career he had also been a member of the Rondells, Sons of the Vegetal Mother, Gary Young's Hot Dog, Jane Clifton and the Go Go Boys, the Black Sorrows, and the Hornets. In late November 2016 Duncan had a stroke and died a week later, he was survived by his domestic partner, Anne, and by two children. According to Australian music journalist, Ian McFarlane, "Duncan was never a sedate bassist. One only has to listen to some of the latter-day DC material... to hear how inventive his playing could be."

Fanny Adams was a briefly existing hard rock super group formed by ex-pat Australians and New Zealanders in mid-1970. The quartet comprised Johnny Dick on drums, Vince Melouney on guitar, Doug Parkinson on lead vocals and rhythm guitar and Teddy Toi on bass guitar. They relocated to Australia in December and broke up there after a few months. Their debut eponymous album appeared in June 1971, which Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described as "adventurous, heavy, progressive blues-rock... Melouney's crunching, multi-layered Jimmy Page-styled guitar riffs kept the whole thing together."

Chris Moraitis, who performed as Mándu, was an Australian rock music vocalist. He released his debut solo album, To the Shores of His Heaven, in 1974. He joined Lobby Loyde's Southern Electric group and was recorded on two of their albums, Obsecration and Live with Dubs. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, Mándu had "a distinctive and emotional voice" and his solo album, "stands as a worthwhile period piece, a work graced with elegant songs, soaring arrangements and fine musicianship." However, in 1980 he "disappeared from view, re-emerging briefly during the mid-1980s with a band called Mándu Bándu."

Band of Talabene were a briefly existing Australian blues rock band formed in April 1972 as Willy & the Philtones by Tony Buettel on drums, Phil Gaunt on bass guitar, Phil Manning on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Tony Naylor on guitar and vocals. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, their name was both, "[a] homage to bands like Derek and the Dominoes and because it comprised two Phils and two Tonys." In July Gaunt was replaced on bass guitar by Gus Fenwick (ex-Pleazers) and they were renamed as Band of Talabene. Manning explained that his young daughter had dreamt of a band, Talabene, with pumpkins playing guitars.

References

  1. 1 2 "McFarlane, Ian, 1959–". National Library of Australia . Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  2. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (14 July 1984). "Hunters and Collectors, Separate Tables". Juke Magazine . Ed Nimmervoll . Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop". Allen & Unwin. December 1999. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  4. 1 2 Culnane, Paul (2004). Duncan Kimball (ed.). "Recommended Reading – Foffle". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Other Books". Moonlight. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Australian Music Books" (PDF). TheMusic. March 2004. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Kruger, Debbie. "Essential Reading" . Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Ian McFarlane | Credits". Allmusic . Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Marchese, Joe (27 February 2014). "Gotcha! Raven Collects Three Essentials from Saxophone Great Tom Scott". The Second Disc. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  10. 1 2 Blackman, Guy (8 August 2008). "National Treasures". The Age . Fairfax Media . Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  11. ↑ Jones, Nicholas (21 March 2012). "Melbourne Distributor/Label Aztec Music Goes into Receivership". Tone Deaf. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "The Top 50 Australian Albums of all Time". The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Best of the Best". The Age. Fairfax Media. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "The Top 50 Australian Albums of all Time: The Judges". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  15. ↑ Wise, Brian (ed.). "McFarlane Column Archives – Exiled off Main Street". Addicted to Noise . Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  16. 1 2 Carroll, Steven (13 March 2017). "The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop review: a glorious journey" . The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.