Paul Drane is an Australian television producer-director. He was initially known as studio director of the Australian TV pop show Countdown from 1975 to 1977. During this period, he directed several music videos (promotional film clips) made especially for Countdown, including the original clips for the AC/DC hits "It's a Long Way to the Top" and "Jailbreak". [1] [2] [3]
His innovative and award-winning Countdown video for Supernaut's "I Like It Both Ways" gave viewers an early taste of visual effects in music videos. These were achieved without the benefit of (yet to be invented) high-end CGI, but improvised with clever use of video feed-back by pointing the cameras at monitors to create wildly looping, distortion effects. With its blend of live action and 2D visual imagery, the award-winning video was an early glimpse of the rapid advances that lay ahead.
In addition to the Countdown live performances, Drane independently produced and directed many Australian music videos during the 70s (Skyhooks, John Paul Young, Cold Chisel, Little River Band, Marcia Hines) and full concerts by local and international artists.
In 1978 he produced and directed the independent music documentary, 'Australian Music to the World', based on the original radio series by Vince Lovegrove. Filmed worldwide, the program featured interviews and performances by artists including AC/DC (live in Atlanta), Peter Allen, Helen Reddy and the Little River Band.
The following year Drane produced and directed the documentary special "The Prophecies of Nostradamus" for Australian Seven television network. Hosted by actor, John Waters, the program set a ratings record, with unprecedented reaction the following day, prompting the network to schedule a repeat run two weeks later.
This program was sold to Warner Bros. in the United States in 1980. Repackaged for worldwide release, it was narrated by Orson Welles and titled The Man Who Saw Tomorrow .
Throughout his lengthy career Paul Drane has maintained his passion for music, and in particular live music on television. This has given rise to classic televised concerts from artists including Split Enz, INXS, and Paul Kelly, and iconic musical moments such as Stevie Wright's "Evie" at the Sydney Opera House.
Since 2005, Drane has directed RocKwiz for SBS One and continues to make music videos and television content.
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the lead singer and lyricist of INXS from 1977 until his death.
A music video is a video of variable length, that integrates a music song or music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where music songs are used in tie-in music marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie-ins and music merchandising can be used for toys or for food or other products.
INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS were fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
Marcia Elaine Hines, AM, is an American-Australian vocalist, actress and TV personality. Hines made her debut, at the age of 16, in the Australian production of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. She achieved her greatest commercial successes as a recording artist during the late 1970s with several hit singles, including cover versions of "Fire and Rain", "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", "You" and "Something's Missing "; and her Top Ten albums Marcia Shines, Shining and Ladies and Gentlemen. Hines was voted "Queen of Pop" by TV Week's readers for three consecutive years from 1976.
Jennifer Patricia Morris is a New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter. Her first success came with New Zealand band The Crocodiles, who had a top 20 hit single with "Tears". Re-locating to Sydney in February 1981, she was a backing vocalist for various groups and formed a trio, QED, in 1983.
Countdown was a weekly Australian music television program that was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 8 November 1974 until 19 July 1987. It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist Ian "Molly" Meldrum. Countdown was produced at the studios of the ABC in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea. It was screened Sunday night from 6:00pm to 7:00.
Rage is an all-night Australian music video program broadcast on ABC on Friday nights, Saturday mornings and Saturday nights. It was first screened on the weekend of Friday, 17 April 1987. With Soul Train, Video Hits and The Loop no longer being produced, it is the oldest music television program currently still in production as of 2021. On Friday and Saturday nights, Rage typically starts between 11 pm and 1 am.
Richard Lowenstein is an Australian filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed: feature films, including Strikebound (1984), Dogs in Space (1986) and He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001); music videos for bands such as INXS and U2; concert performance films, Australian Made: The Movie (1987) and U2: LoveTown (1989); and TV adverts.
Sophie Koh is an Australian singer and songwriter.
Long Way to the Top was a six-part weekly Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) documentary film series on the history of Australian rock and roll, from 1956 to the modern era, it was initially broadcast from 8 August to 12 September 2001. One of its writers, James Cockington, provided a book tie-in, Long Way to the Top: Stories of Australian Rock & Roll (2001). Another series writer, and interviewer, Clinton Walker, compiled a 2-disc CD soundtrack album, Long Way to the Top: Original Soundtrack from the ABC-TV Series, by Various Artists, which featured in the show. It peaked at No. 9 on the ARIA Albums Chart. A year later a related national concert tour followed.
Family Jewels is a compilation DVD by the hard rock band AC/DC, featuring the group's music videos, live clips and promotional videos from 1975 to 2008. It was released by Albert Productions and Epic Music Video on 28 March 2005. The first disc contains videos from the Bon Scott era (1975–1980), such as the band's first TV appearance and a performance on television ten days before Scott died. The second disc contains material from the Brian Johnson era up to 1991.
David Victor Mark Mallet is a British director of music videos and concert films. He was one of the most prolific directors of music videos in the 1980s.
"It's a Long Way to the Top " is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album T.N.T., released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott. The song combines bagpipes with hard rock instrumentation; in the middle section of the song there is a call and response between the bagpipes and guitar. The original recording is in B-flat major, but it was played live in A major.
"Jailbreak" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the ninth and final track of their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976. The song was not released in North America until 1984. It was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott.
RocKwiz is an Australian television live music trivia quiz show, focused on rock music and featuring different guest artist musicians who perform live in each episode. The show was co-created by Brian Nankervis, Peter Bain-Hogg, and Ken Connor. It is broadcast on SBS and premiered in 2005 also on Foxtel's Max. The 14th and final season premiered on 7 May 2016. Season 14 consisted of 7 episodes, recorded between February and April 2016, with the theme "RocKwiz Salutes The Legends". The final episode aired on 25 June 2016. The series won the 2007 AACTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series and was nominated in the same category three times, it was also nominated for a Helpmann Award. On February 3, 2019 it was announced that SBS would no longer be commissioning any more TV episodes although the live touring shows would continue.
Plug Me In is a DVD box set released on 16 October 2007 by Australian hard rock group AC/DC. It includes rare performances of the band. The standard two-disc set contains one disc of performances from the Bon Scott era and one from the Brian Johnson era. The three-disc set includes Between the Cracks, featuring performances from both eras. The performance of "Shoot to Thrill" from the Summit, Houston, TX, October 1983 is on both disc two and three.
Mark Opitz is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. He was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1952 and moved to Brisbane in 1959 spending his teenage years there. He is a childhood friend of Kym Gyngell.
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.
MTV Classic is an Australian subscription television music channel. The channel focused on music from the 1980s to 2000s. The channel first launched in Australia on 14 March 2004 and in New Zealand on 1 June 2011. On 1 July 2011 MTV International channels launched new logos
"Leaps and Bounds" / "Bradman" is a double A-sided single by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls released in January 1987. "Leaps and Bounds" is from their debut double album, Gossip (1986). "Bradman" did not appear on a studio album until the international version of Under the Sun (1988). The single reached top 100 in the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Due to possible racist connotations the band changed its name, for international releases, to Paul Kelly and the Messengers. In 1997, Kelly was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, at the ceremony Crowded House paid tribute to Kelly and performed "Leaps and Bounds". In October 2003, Xanthe Littlemore covered "Leaps and Bounds" for the tribute album, Stories of Me – A Songwriter's Tribute to Paul Kelly. In 2005, rock music writer, Toby Creswell described two of Kelly's songs: "Leaps and Bounds" and "From Little Things Big Things Grow" in his book, 1001 Songs. For the former, Creswell observed "The grand themes of [his] work are all there – Melbourne, football, transcendence and memory... [he] is a detail man – the temperature, the location, foliage". On 26 March 2006 Kelly performed at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Melbourne, singing "Leaps and Bounds" and "Rally Around the Drum". In February 2009 Patience Hodgson, Glenn Richards and Kelly performed "Leaps and Bounds" at the Myer Music Bowl for SBS-TV's concert RocKwiz Salutes the Bowl. On 29 September 2012 Kelly performed "How to Make Gravy" and "Leaps and Bounds" at the 2012 AFL Grand Final although most of the performance was not broadcast on Seven Network's pre-game segment.