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Roger Grierson (born June 1957 [1] ) is a New Zealand born musician and music industry executive.
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Roger Grierson (born June 1957 [1] ) is a New Zealand born musician and music industry executive.
In 1975 Grierson headed to London and Egypt to live but found himself lured back to Sydney in 1976 to work at White Light Records. Soon afterwards he formed the punk band The Thought Criminals.
In 1978, Grierson started Doublethink Records to record local Australian bands including Singles, Rejex, and Suicide Squad. In 1980 he started GREEN Records [2] with Stuart Coupe and Warren Fahey, and together they released records by Tactics, Allniters, Lime Spiders, Spy V Spy, Do-Re-Mi, Dropbears, Beasts of Bourbon, New Christs and The Johnnys, Grierson producing the first Beasts of Bourbon record The Axemans Jazz.
Grierson managed The Allniters, Tactics and Spy v Spy in 1981. During this period he was the distribution manager for Larrikin Records; in 1983 he took on The Johnnys, and in 1985 The Wreckery: a "junk rock" group formed by ex members of Nick Cave's [2] backing band The Bad Seeds. In 1985, he teamed up with Rick Tanaka, radio presenter / producer of Tokyo Hit Beat and the award-winning Nippi Rock Shop on JJJ, and they started 135 Music (135 being the line that joins Aust and Japan on the map) to encourage cross cultural promotion. This partnership has lasted over 30 years, and they now run escorted tours of oddball Japan, as LobrowJapan.com
In 1987 Grierson started promoting Australian tours for acts signed to the New Zealand label, Flying Nun Records. These acts include The Bats, The Chills, Straitjacket Fits and JPS Experience. In 1988 he started managing The Go Betweens and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. In 1989 he toured Tackhead, Public Image Ltd, Pop Will Eat Itself and began managing bands such as The Hummingbirds and Tall Tales and True. At this time he also formed Lost in Music publishing and signed Tex Perkins, Rebecca's Empire, Caligula, Dave Graney, Clouds, Falling Joys, Crystal Set and Kim Salmon to name but a few.
In 1990 he promoted tours by Pop Will Eat Itself, Buzzcocks, Jesus Jones, the Fall, Norman Cook/ Beats International. 1991 saw more touring with PWEI, Jesus Jones, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, The Godfathers, Dread Zeppelin, and Mojo Nixon. In 1983 Grierson was involved in the Dead Kennedys tour in 1986, with The Gun Club and in 1989 with Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. In the 1990s, he also started and organised The Big Backyard Concert. [3]
In 1992 Grierson moved the Lost in Music catalogue to Polygram Music Publishing and became managing director of the now defunct Polygram Music Australia, a position he retained until 1997. During his time at the helm of Polygram Music, he signed Pauly Fuemana, The Cruel Sea, David Hirschfelder, the LennOno catalogue, Leonard Cohen, Died Pretty, Nick Cave, Powderfinger, The Fauves and The Go Betweens.
In 1998 Grierson replaced the long-serving Alan Hely as Chairman of Festival Records [4] and Festival Music publishing, working closely with James Murdoch. [5] Under Griersons' stewardship, Festival Records acquired Michael Gudinski's 51% share of Mushroom Records to become Festival Mushroom Records in 1999.
In 2001, Grierson was promoted to Senior Vice President for Newscorp Music, continuing his existing roles but now also supervising Mushroom UK and Rawkus and he oversaw the Festival 50th anniversary in 2002.
In 2005 Grierson left Festival and retired from the music business. [6] A year later, FMR sold to the Warner Music group, and its lucrative publishing assets were subsequently acquired by Michael Gudinski
In 2006 he proceeded to reform The Thought Criminals, [7] released an EP "Peace Love and Under surveillance" and in 2007 formed the UnTh!nkables with Phillip Judd from Split Enz, releasing an album "UNTitled"
In 2010 he became a director of Moshcam.com, the world's leading online streaming live music concert platform.
In 2015, he commenced lecturing on music publishing and music industry related issues at the Australian Institute of Music, while commencing his escorted tours of Oddball Japan, Lobrow Japan, with Rick Tanaka.
Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1973. Their classic lineup (1974–1977) comprised Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (vocals), Greg Macainsh, Red Symons, Bob "Bongo" Starkie, and Imants "Freddie" Strauks (drums).
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.
James Sclavunos is an American drummer, multi-instrumentalist musician, record producer, and writer. He is best known as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s. He is also noted for stints in Sonic Youth and the Cramps, and has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds since 1994. Sclavunos has led his own group the Vanity Set since 2000.
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, 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.
Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom 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.
Ivy League Records was an Australian record label based in Sydney. It was founded in 1997 by Pete Lusty, Andy Cassell and Andy Kelly. In 2024, the label was merged into Mushroom Music.
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.
Hee Haw is the second release and first EP by the Australian post-punk band the Boys Next Door. The Hee Haw EP was released in 1979 by the independent label, Missing Link Records.
Liberation Records, formerly Liberation Music, was an Australian record company and label, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello, based in Melbourne. Its stated business aim is to "find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process".
Ted Gardner was an Australian artist manager, entrepreneur and company owner. Gardner began his career in Melbourne in 1977, then relocated to Sydney in 1980 and on to United States from 1982. There he managed Jane's Addiction from 1989 and was co-founder of the original Lollapalooza festival in 1991 alongside Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell.
The Thought Criminals were an influential and enterprising Australian punk band based in Sydney. They formed in late 1977 and disbanded in late 1981. The "angular, fast and quirky punk rock" of the Thought Criminals "was a fixture in the burgeoning Sydney underground scene." The band's name was derived from the concept of 'thoughtcrimes' from George Orwell's book, Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Thought Criminals exemplified the do-it-yourself punk ethos of the late 1970s, with which they combined considerable business acumen. The band members formed the Doublethink record label and agency which provided recording and live performance opportunities for other new bands.
Madder Lake are an Australian progressive rock band formed in Melbourne in 1968 as San Sebastian. They were one of the first bands signed to the Michael Gudinski co-owned Mushroom Records which released their debut single, "Goodbye Lollypop" in February 1973, followed by the album Stillpoint in August. This contained their most recognisable single, "12lb Toothbrush". Their second album Butterfly Farm was released in April 1974, they left Mushroom after their last single, "I Get High" appeared in July 1976. A compilation album The Best of Madder Lake was released by Mushroom Records in 1978.
Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their 1996 album Horse Stories was voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top three albums of the year. Two of their albums have peaked into the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Ocean Songs (1998) and Toward the Low Sun (2012). During their career they have spent much of their time overseas when not performing together. Turner is based in Melbourne, White lives in New York, and Ellis in Paris. Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described them as providing a "rumbling, dynamic sound incorporated open-ended, improvisational, electric rock ... minus the jazz-rock histrionics". In October 2010, Ocean Songs was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.
The Frontier Touring Company Pty Ltd, trading as Frontier Touring and also often known as Frontier, 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.
Stuart Coupe is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. A renowned rock music writer, Coupe is best known for his work with Roadrunner, Rock Australia Magazine, The Sun-Herald, and Dolly; the music labels, GREEN Records and Laughing Outlaw; and the author of books including The Promoters, Gudinski, Roadies, and Paul Kelly.
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.
Michael Glenn Chugg is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman and concert tour promoter. As a promoter and manager he was a founder of Frontier Touring Company (1979–99) and Michael Chugg Entertainment (2000–present). In June 1998, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia. In 2010, he co-authored his autobiography, Hey, You in the Black T-Shirt: The Real Story of Touring the World's Biggest Acts, with journalist Iain Shedden. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019 Chugg received the ARIA Industry Icon Award.
Liberator Music was a record label owned by the Mushroom Group. It was founded in 2006 by Nick Dunshea and Michael Gudinski in Melbourne. The label was the international recording division of the company and is home to artists such as Childish Gambino, CHVRCHES, alt-J, Andy Grammer, FIDLAR, Steve Aoki, Garbage, AJR, We The Kings, Wolf Alice, Kylie Minogue, Gengahr, Faith No More, Day Wave, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Fontaines D.C., and IDLES.
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