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.
Kylie is the debut studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, released on 4 July 1988 by Mushroom Records. Minogue had established herself as a child actress before signing to the record label in early 1987. The success of her debut single, "Locomotion", resulted in her working with Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced the album and wrote nine of its ten tracks. Their recording sessions, commencing in October 1987 in London and Melbourne, coincided with Minogue's filming schedule for the soap opera Neighbours.
Rhythm of Love is the third studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released in the United Kingdom on 12 November 1990 by Pete Waterman Limited (PWL) and in Australia on 3 December 1990 by Mushroom Records. Recording sessions took place in London and Los Angeles during early-to-mid 1990. Minogue started to become more involved in the writing and production of the album; she was credited as co-writer for the first time, while Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) were the primary producers along with new producers and collaborations, including Keith Cohen, Stephen Bray and Michael Jay.
Renée Rebecca Geyer was an Australian singer who was an acclaimed jazz, soul and R&B musician. She released 15 studio albums with Moving Along (1977) and Tenderland (2003) both reaching number 11 on the Australian charts. Geyer's singles success as a solo artist in Australia were with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. The latter also reached number one in New Zealand. The singer was an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan, Toni Childs, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Men at Work and Trouble Funk.
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, 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.
The 19th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 23 October 2005 at the Sydney SuperDome at the Sydney Olympic Park complex, thus continuing the previous year's innovation of televising the awards on Sunday evening. A varied cast of presenters included Merrick and Rosso, stand-up comic Dave Hughes, Gretel Killeen, David Hasselhoff, and Hamish & Andy.
The First Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 2 March 1987 at the Sheraton Wentworth Hotel in Sydney with Elton John as the host. The awards were introduced by ARIA Chairman, Paul Turner, who explained the nomination and voting procedures. Presenters of the 20 awards included Slim Dusty, Basia Bonkowski and Donnie Sutherland. The ceremony was not televised. The most successful artist was John Farnham with his album and its associated single, "You're the Voice" helping him win six awards.
Australian pop music awards are a series of inter-related national awards that gave recognition to popular musical artists and have included the Go-Set pop poll (1966–1972); TV Week King of Pop Awards (1967–1978); TV Week and Countdown Music Awards (1979–1980); the Countdown Awards (1981–1982) and Countdown Music and Video Awards (1983–1987). Early awards were based on popular voting from readers of teenage pop music newspaper Go-Set and television program guide TV Week. They were followed by responses from viewers of Countdown, a TV pop music series (1974–1987) on national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Some of the later award ceremonies incorporated listed nominees and peer-voted awards. From 1987 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) instituted its own peer-voted ARIA Music Awards.
Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, INXS and even Jimmy Barnes. The series started in Hobart on 26 December 1986 and concluded in Sydney on 26 January 1987. Rock journalist Jeff Jenkins rated it as one of his 50 most significant events in Australian music history, "It wasn't a huge success, but it showed that an all-Australian festival could work." Australian Made was conceived to counter tours of international acts, like Dire Straits' 1985–1986 world tour, which were drying up funds for Australian groups. As from October 2010, the following artists have been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame: INXS and The Saints, Barnes, Divinyls (2006), The Triffids (2008), Mental As Anything (2009), and Models (2010).
The Third Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 6 March 1989 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. First Australian host Greedy Smith of Mental As Anything was assisted by presenters George Martin, Jono & Dano, Barry Bissell of Take 40 Australia, Peter Collins, Peter Jamieson, Jonathan King and Brian Smith to distribute 24 awards. There were no live performances and the awards were not televised.
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.
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.
Hit Machine was an Australian compilation album series produced and skewed by Festival Records, Mushroom Records BMG and Columbia Records, available in only Australia. It competed with 100% Hits, which started two years before, during its existence. It was released every three months and are mainly the biggest Top 40 hits of the season. It commenced in 1993 and ran 28 versions until 2000, where it was replaced by the So Fresh series. The replaced series uses the season-named format and includes songs from artists under Universal Music, which was previously included in 100% Hits series. Festival Records was folded to Warner Bros. Records, which managed the 100% Hits and NOW series with EMI. Sony Music Australia and Warner Bros. Records released digitally remastered versions of the entire Hit Machine series from 2015.
Dedicated is the thirteenth studio album by Australian soul and R&B singer Renée Geyer. The album is predominantly a covers album, with two new tracks written by Paul Kelly. The album was released in September 2007 and peaked at number 53 on the ARIA Charts.
Tenderland is the eleventh studio album by Australian soul and R&B singer Renée Geyer. The album was released in August 2003 and peaked at number 11 on the ARIA Charts. It is described as Geyer's "interpretation of a special collection of classic soul, funk and R&B songs".
Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story is a 2023 Australian documentary film focusing on the life and career of Michael Gudinski, the founder of Mushroom Records.
Mushroom: Fifty Years of Making Noise is a yearlong event celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Mushroom Records. The event was launched with an advertisement and release of special merchandise in March 2023, release of several reimagined singles and concluded with a live concert on 26 November 2023 at Rod Laver Arena. The release of the Michael Gudinski documentary Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story in August 2023, coincided with the event.
