Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in March 1973 by mainstays Greg Macainsh on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Imants "Freddie" Strauks on drums. They were soon joined by Bob "Bongo" Starkie on guitar and backing vocals, and Red Symons on guitar, vocals and keyboards; and Steve Hill lead vocalist, Graeme "Shirley" Strachan became lead vocalist in March 1974. Described as a glam rock band, because of flamboyant costumes and make-up, Skyhooks addressed issues including buying drugs in "Carlton ", sex and commitment in "Balwyn Calling", the gay scene in "Toorak Cowboy" and loss of girlfriends in "Somewhere in Sydney" by namechecking Australian locales. According to music historian, Ian McFarlane "[Skyhooks] made an enormous impact on Australian social life".
Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mushroom Records was later acquired by Warner Bros. Records, which operated the label from 2005 to 2010 until it folded to Warner. Founder Michael Gudinski went on to become the leader of the Mushroom Group, the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia, with divisions such as Frontier Touring.
Cristian Alexanda is an Australian R&B singer from Perth. In 2003 and 2004, he has supported a number of well-known acts on their Australian tours including 50 Cent, G-Unit and Sean Paul and Justin Timberlake.
Christie Allen was an English-born Australian pop singer who had a successful career in Australia. Her top four hits on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart were "Goosebumps" and "He's My Number One". Allen was voted the Most Popular Female Performer at the TV Week / Countdown Music Awards for 1979 and 1980. At the 1979 awards, "Goosebumps" also won the Best Songwriter award for Terry Britten. Allen died on 12 August 2008 of pancreatic cancer, aged 54.
Michael Solomon Gudinski AM was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne to Jewish Russian immigrants, Gudinski formed the highly successful Australian record company Mushroom Records in 1972 through which he signed several generations of Australian musicians and performers ranging from MacKenzie Theory, the Skyhooks, The Choirboys, Kylie Minogue, and New Zealand's Split Enz to newer artists such as Eskimo Joe, Evermore and others.
A&E Records is a United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group (WMG). It operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG.
Festival Records was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
Infectious Music is an independent record label owned by BMG, whose bands have included Alt-J, Ash and the Subways.
Kate Alexa Gudinski is an Australian former pop rock singer–songwriter and the daughter of the late Australian music promoter Michael Gudinski, AM. Alexa first hit the spotlight in 2004 when her song "Always There" was featured in the Channel 7 series Home and Away. After supporting the Backstreet Boys on their Australia tour, her third single "All I Hear" shot straight into the ARIA top ten, and stayed inside the top twenty for eight weeks.
Mushroom 25 Live is a live album, video and DVD by various Australian musicians and was recorded at the Mushroom 25 Concert held on Saturday 14 November 1998, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. From the early afternoon until late at night for the nine-hour concert, 56 acts, including many of the biggest names in Australian music, performed their hits to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mushroom Records, which was organised by its owner, Michael Gudinski. The concert featured former Cold Chisel singer Jimmy Barnes guesting with INXS on "The Loved One" and "Good Times" in tribute of Michael Hutchence for their first public performance since his death in November 1997.
Spanish Blue is the second single released by Australian rock group, The Triffids in 1982. The single was produced by Les Karski for the White Label Records imprint of Mushroom Records, owned by Michael Gudinski. The single was initially released independently by No Records but was re-released in October 1982 following the band's signing with White Label Records.
They'd recorded "Spanish Blue" when the spectre of the Gudinski organisation loomed, and they were summoned to the Mushroom/White Citadel. Gudinski liked "Spanish Blue". 'It was just that he wanted us to re-write it, and re-mix it,' McComb laughs. 'We ended up putting it out ourselves immediately they started dilly dallying because we said we wouldn't re-mix it. We thought that we couldn't just wait for people to decide what they wanted to do.'
Illusive Group is an Australian independent record label and management and touring company that represents acts including Bliss n Eso, Lowrider, Stonefield, Owl Eyes, Clubfeet, Diafrix, Lurch & Chief and Lila Gold.
Mark Opitz is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. He started his career with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 1971. He has produced AC/DC, the Angels, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Divinyls and INXS. He has won the ARIA Award for Producer of the Year in 1987 and 1988. He had previously won Best Australian Producer at the Countdown Awards for his work in 1980, 1982, 1985 and 1986. On 8 June 2020 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "significant service to the performing arts, particularly to music production." In August of that year he was listed as one of The 7 Most Influential Music Producers of All Time by Mixdown Magazine's David Tomisch and Will Brewster.
The Sixth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 6 March 1992 at the World Congress Centre in Melbourne. Hosts were international guest, Julian Lennon and local Richard Wilkins, they were assisted by presenters, Spinal Tap, Rod Stewart, Mick Jones and others to distribute 24 awards. There were live performances and for the first time the awards were televised.
Mushroom Evolution Concert is a live album and video recorded by various Australian artists at celebratory performances held over two days of the Australia Day weekend 1982. The Mushroom Evolution Concert was staged for Mushroom Records' tenth anniversary at the Myer Music Bowl and was organised by label boss, Michael Gudinski. It included a wide range of Australian performers from the label's roster. An estimated audience of 100,000 attended the concerts. In late 1972 Gudinski had been an artist manager and concert promoter when he and business partner, Ray Evans, founded Mushroom Records. The concert was recorded both for audio as a triple-LP and for video on double-VHS and released in 1982 under the same name. Subsequently, these were re-released on 2× CD (2005) and on 3× DVD respectively. Although a prominent Mushroom Records artist from the 1972–1981 era, Skyhooks did not appear at the concert – they had disbanded in 1980.
The Frontier Touring Company is one of Australia and New Zealand's largest concert promoters. The company was formed in November 1979 by Michael Gudinski as one of the first Mushroom Group ventures, with eight music industry partners; Gudinski has stayed at the helm since. The company's first tour was in 1980 and in the decades since has toured over five hundred acts. In 2013 according to Pollstar, the industry's trade publication, the company was listed as No. 1 Australasian Concert Promoter and at No. 20, internationally.
Mushroom Group is the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia. It comprises more than two dozen companies. It has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland with over 200 employees.
Music from the Home Front was a concert held across Australia and New Zealand on 25 April 2020, to pay tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and workers at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic response. The concert was broadcast live on television by the Nine Network in Australia, Channel Three in New Zealand and YouTube internationally and run for 3 ½ hours.
Music from the Home Front is a live album recorded by various Australian and New Zealand artists, released on 19 June 2020 through Bloodlines. The album features performances from the live concert of the same name.
The Music Victoria Awards of 2013 are the eighth Annual Music Victoria Awards and consist of a series of awards, culminating on 20 November 2013. Previously known as The Age EG Awards, 2013 was the first year under the title Music Victoria Awards.
