This is part FIVE of my recollection of being involved in the music industry in Brisbane 1985 -2010 – if you missed parts one – four then please READ HERE first.
So as 1990 rolled over we had established a music store in the heart of Fortitude Valley, much to the disgust of our music store neighbor, Mick Privitera at The Musicians Pro Shop. To make his point, he would turn up at one of our BBQ events at the store and stand in the doorway of our store to try to intimidate our customers (some of them he knew and others smirked at the intimidating bulk blocking the doorway).
The MIAQ was planning to develop a small book for young musicians to give them better information about forming a band and how to give it a better chance of survival. This idea had been inspired by a Victorian organisation, The Push, who had also published a Melbourne centric version. Tony Allison (or TA as we called him) became the link between the local Brisbane City Council, headed by Lord Mayoress, Sallyanne Atkinson and the MIAQ Executive. The expertise within the book was to come from Solicitor, John Kenny, Agents, Recording Studios (QRA), Production specialists, Ray MacGuire and a host of industry people from in and around Brisbane. Barry Bull owned and ran Toombul Music and had previously worked at CBS (before it came Sony) and we discussed vigorously about only printing a small run of 1000 books, however, Barry Bull, John Morris and Mick Privitera convinced us all that we should print 10,000 copies and sell at our annual Brisbane music show in late 1990. The Brisbane City Council had funded the research (TA) for the book, but not the funds to print it. At $2.50 a copy – this was a $25,000 investment that the MIAQ did not have at the time.
The book was titled – “IN TUNE ~ a young musicians guide to the music industry” and for a small booklet, it packed a lot of punch with the information about making a CD, playing gigs, marketing, business and putting on a great show.
We also decided that at the MIAQ Music Show event we would have some keynote speakers in a music speakers forum. John Kenny invited Ritchie Yorke, who had been travelling in Canada and US with Led Zeppelin and John Lennon for the past 20 years, returning to work with the Courier Mail and some local street media. Other speakers included Warner Chappell boss, John Bromell, Sebastion Chase, John Kenny and a host of other local music identities.
In 1990 there was a real buzz about the local independent music scene. There were a few new bands starting to pull together some very unique sounds and the original scene was starting to rise above the underground and play in some more open spaces. Bands like Love Child, Neighbourhood Unit, Bulldozer, Earwigs were all on the up and up. A major driver was also the annual, Queensland Rock Awards, put on by Kev Wilmot and his team at the Australian Academy of Music.
So we ran the MIAQ show in 1990 and we had 16,000 people attend over three days. It was an amazing feat for a Queensland music initiative. No where in Australia were they pulling crowds of that magnitude to a music show.
Disaster did strike in late 199o, when after the show, John Morris, Barry Bull and Mick Privitera all resigned from the MIAQ (Music Industry Association of Qld). They had realised that the show did not raise the much needed funds for the booklet published, In Tune, and hence left before Xmas 1990, leaving the MIAQ in enormous debt (it was around $15,000 in the red).
In 1990 there was a band called Paris Texas, with frontman, Steve Kinney (now James) and a great band of musicians. They had a young manager, Frank Montervede, who was hustling them to Friday’s (a night club) and other venues. I had also met a drummer, Darren Clark, from a three piece band called, Russia Blue. Darren and I got into a rave about the bad music agents in the city and introduced Darren to Frank. Greg Shaw was running Shawthing Agencies and he wanted out to pursue management with Keith Urban. As I had played in a band with Greg in the late ’70’s I introduced Darren and Frank to Greg and soon after they were the new Directors of a new agency in town, Shawthing Agency operating above Time Off building in Berwick Street, Fortitude Valley (also shared with Jacinta Brodgeest from Ausmusic).
We assembled a new executive committee for the MIAQ, with Geoffrey Schukraft as the new President and myself as Vice President. Geoffrey had been in the US with Little River Band and the Nelson’s. We struggled with getting the MIAQ back out of debt and had many meetings with government trying to keep it alive.
The business, Music Worx, was firing along nicely in the Valley and we had workshops and clinics every other week from visiting national and international musicians. The scene was really in full swing, however, I am still surprised that Wickety Wak pulled two full nights at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre – and they had never written a song. They were a band left over from the showbands that toured up and down the coast of Australia. At this time, they had ten crew on the road and two semi trailers. It was also the last show from them for a long while.
Nigel and I hired our first staff member, Richard Waterson, a guitarist who was in awe of Ian Moss from Cold Chisel. Richard was, at the time, just right for us, as he was a guitar junkie and loved his Fender guitars and amos and fitted right in.
There was a new original freshness in the air – and new bands were popping up all over the place. Grunge had fired in Seattle in the late 80’s and now Brisbane was also grabbing hold of the new sound. The latest band to get signed to major new label was Tainted Violets – and a new name change was in the wind.
More about their roller coaster ride in PART SIX HERE... enjoy the journey.
Greg Dodge ~ “Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” 