Bruce Smeaton

Last updated

Bruce Smeaton
Born (1938-03-05) 5 March 1938 (age 85)
Brighton, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationComposer
Years active1973-present
Spouse(s)Helen Telford (former)
Mary Smeaton (current)
Children3

Bruce Smeaton (born 5 March 1938) is an Australian composer who is well known for a variety of Australian film and television scores in all genres, including features, shorts, television, documentaries and advertisements. [1] His scores include Picnic at Hanging Rock , Seven Little Australians , Roxanne , Iceman , and Circle of Iron . He has won the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Best Original Music Score award for The Cars That Ate Paris (1974), The Great Macarthy (1975), The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) and Street Hero (1984, shared with Garth Porter and others). [2]

Contents

Biography

Smeaton was born in Brighton, Victoria. His music has been championed by the Southern Cross Records and 1M1 Records labels.

In 1964, he spent time as a public school music teacher, at Fawkner Technical School (then an all-boys school) in the Moomba Park area of North Fawkner, a suburb of Melbourne. At the time he had a passionate interest in vintage cars which he would often bring to school.

His ground-breaking synthesized score for Wendy Cracked a Walnut was nominated for an ARIA Award in 1991 for Best Soundtrack / Cast / Show Album. [3]

He currently lives in Binalong, New South Wales. He has been married twice & has three adult children.

Filmography

Documentaries

Feature films

Short films

Television shows

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987.

YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.
1991 Wendy Cracked a Walnut Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album Nominated [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Howard</span> English actor (1913–1988)

Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film Brief Encounter (1945), followed by The Third Man (1949).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Remick</span> American actress (1935-1991)

Lee Ann Remick was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Goldsmith</span> American film composer (1929–2004)

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the Star Trek franchise and three in the Rambo franchise, as well as for films including Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Patton, Papillon, Chinatown, The Omen, Alien, Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH, Medicine Man, Gremlins, Hoosiers, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Air Force One, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, and The Mummy. He also composed the fanfares accompanying the production logos used by multiple major film studios, and music for the Disney attraction Soarin'.

Sherbet was one of the most successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. The 'classic line-up' of Daryl Braithwaite on vocals, Tony Mitchell on bass guitar, Garth Porter on keyboards, Alan Sandow on drums, and Clive Shakespeare on guitar provided their teen-oriented pop style. In 1976 Shakespeare left and was soon replaced by Harvey James. Sherbet's biggest singles were "Summer Love" (1975) and "Howzat" (1976), both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom. The band was less successful in the United States, where "Howzat" peaked at No. 61. As The Sherbs they also reached No. 61 in 1981 with "I Have the Skill". The group disbanded in 1984. Subsequent re-unions have occurred since 1998.

The discography of Slim Dusty (1927-2003), an Australian country music singer, consists of 122 records, 61 studio albums.

John Reford Ewart was an Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film. Ewart was a double recipient of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Bruce Rowland is an Australian composer.

The Australian New Wave was an era of resurgence in worldwide popularity of Australian cinema, particularly in the United States. It began in the early 1970s and lasted until the mid-late 1980s. The era also marked the emergence of Ozploitation, a film genre characterised by the exploitation of colloquial Australian culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon English</span> Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor (1949–2016)

Jonathan James English was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Sebastian Hardie but left to take on the role of Judas Iscariot in the Australian version of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar from May 1972, which was broadcast on television. English was also a noted solo singer; his Australian top twenty hit singles include "Turn the Page", "Hollywood Seven", "Words are Not Enough", "Six Ribbons" and "Hot Town".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Schepisi</span> Australian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1939)

Frederic Alan Schepisi is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Plenty, Roxanne, A Cry in the Dark, Mr. Baseball, Six Degrees of Separation, and Last Orders.

<i>The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith</i> Novel by Thomas Keneally

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated Australian novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor, the subject of an earlier book by Frank Clune.

John Martin Armiger was an Australian musician, record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981, which had Top 30 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart with, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981); and Top 20 albums with Don't Throw Stones, Suddenly and Sondra (1981).

John Frawley was an Australian actor with a number of stage television and film credits to his name.

Peter Best is an Australian composer who has created or contributed to many film scores.

<i>The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith</i> (film) 1978 film by Fred Schepisi

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1978 Australian drama film directed, written and produced by Fred Schepisi, and starring Tom E. Lewis, Freddy Reynolds and Ray Barrett. The film also featured early appearances by Bryan Brown, Arthur Dignam, and John Jarratt. It is an adaptation of the 1972 novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally.

Philip Powers is a record producer - and author - specialising in film scores and classical music. His recordings have been nominated for five ARIA Awards. He has produced 34 CDs for the 1M1 Records label including The Lighthorsemen and The Coolangatta Gold. He has also produced or executive produced more than 50 CDs for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on Sydney Symphony Live and other labels. A number of these have been with the conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as two CDs with the conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti. Another CD featured Vladimir Ashkenazy as pianist playing rare Rachmaninov works. He was supervising producer of Sir Charles Mackerras, a double CD featuring famous Czech repertoire and Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Ian Baker is an Australian cinematographer.

Hal and James "Jim" McElroy are Australian twin film and television producers.

<i>Wendy Cracked a Walnut: Original Soundtrack Recording</i> 1991 soundtrack album by Bruce Smeaton

Wendy Cracked a Walnut: Original Soundtrack Recording is the soundtrack album from the 1990 Australian film Wendy Cracked a Walnut.

References

  1. "Search Results for author:"Smeaton, Bruce, 1938-"". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  2. "Australian Film Institute Feature Awards 1958–2002". Australian Film Institute. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  3. Isnare.com (www.isnare.com/encyclopedia/ARIA_Award_for_Best_Original_Soundtrack,_Cast_or_Show_Album)
  4. ARIA Award previous winners. "History Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 July 2022.