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Albert
Productions, the recording division of the 120 year old
independent music publishing company J. Albert & Son,
is a record label unlike any other in Australia and probably
the world. It came into being as a result of one man's love
of rock 'n' roll, and has continued for four decades for the
very same reason.
During that period it has discovered and or elevated performers
who have to be synonymous with the term Oz Rock. Domestic
and international hitmakers of such calibre as AC/DC, Stevie
Wright, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, The Easybeats, Ted
Mulry, John Paul Young, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Choirboys.
That man was Ted Albert, the great-grandson of the
company's founder.
He readily confessed to having always been preoccupied with
the desire to build a worthy Australian catalogue to complement
the Albert's international repertoire. When Beatlemania engulfed
the world late in 1963 he and A&R man Tony Geary decided
that a record label of exclusively Australian talent was the
way to go.
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Albert
Productions' first signing was a popular act which was soon
to draw 63,000 fans to Melbourne's Music Bowl, Billy Thorpe
& The Aztecs set the new company off to a stirring
start with an Australian top ten hit in August 1964. The Aztecs'
gloriously inane version of Mashed Potato began an
11 hit run for the group, with Sick & Tired reaching
No.2 in Australia, and the melodramatic Over The Rainbow
No. 1 before years end.
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If the first act selection was fortunate, the second was positively
inspired. At a private performance of a group called The
Easybeats, Ted was bowled over by the group's vibrant
originality. Just as the Beatles ushered in a new era for
British music, the incredible Easys gave Australian music
a new identity and confidence, setting it on the road to global
acceptance. Not only refreshingly original, they were blessed
with the same rare charisma as the Fab Four or Rolling Stones.
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They
radiated an aura of raw, rebellious excitement which proved
irresistible to a generation intoxicated by its own youth,
and with the songwriting skills of George Young, first with
vocalist Stevie Wright and later guitarist Harry Vanda, the
results were devastating. After debuting with For My Woman,
the group stormed to No. 1 in the charts with the howling
She's So Fine, the first of eight consecutive Australian
top ten hits in just 18 months. Rock's ultimate working class
anthem, Friday On My Mind, not only topped the Australian
charts late in 1966 but also made no 6 in the U.K and no 16
in the US (and has since been recorded by David Bowie, Peter
Frampton, Gary Moore and many others).
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In 1969, just as they disbanded, The Easybeats enjoyed a final
American hit with St. Louis. The powerhouse Good
Times may not have been a hit for the group but it was
for INXS and Jimmy Barnes who combined to take
it to No. 2 at the end of 1986. The 2001 APRA awards saw Friday
On My Mind named as the most influential Australian song
of the past 75 years.
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Ragged,
primitive rhythm and blues rock reigned supreme as Alberts
sought out and recorded such legendary Australian acts as
The Missing Links and The Throb - acts that
other companies would never sign.
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The
latter unit was fronted by original Easybeats singer John
Bell and artfully cultivated a dirty, ugly, dark image managing
to out chart the Rolling Stones with a mighty mean version
of Fortune Teller.
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The label continued its run with Melbourne duo Bobby And
Laurie who had pioneered 'Beat' style recording in Australia
in 1964. Seen to be past their hit prime they came to Alberts
and after a top twenty with Sweet & Tender Romance,
surged to No.1 with Hitchhiker.
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Until
1970 the recordings had been on the Parlophone Label, but
when full scale production resumed the company launched its
own label, the first release being Ted Mulry's top
ten version of Vanda & Young's Falling In Love Again.
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Ted
Mulry, a bulldozer driver and part-time songwriter, had already
scored a top five hit with his self penned track, Julia,
earlier that same year. Later Herm Kovac, Ted, Les Hall and
Gary Dixon joined forces to form TMG, the Ted Mulry
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Written
by Ted Mulry Jump
In My Car became an Australian national No.1 hit in
1975, while a remake of the 1917 Darktown Strutters Ball
took them to No.2 in 1976. These hits were the first
of many more in a long and successful career.
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In
1972 Simon Napier-Bell went into the studio with a promising
lad who had fronted suburban Sydney band Elmtree. He had in
hand a song, sent from England, written by Vanda & Young,
with lyrics co-written by actor David Hemmings. By March 1972,
John Young had a top ten with Pasadena, the
first of many hits.
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Napier-Bell
was also responsible for producing Excuse Me, a 1975
hit for gutsy vocalist Alison MacCallum who first made
the Australian charts with the Harry Vanda and George Young
composition, Superman.
The momentum generated by Ted Mulry and John Young was not
allowed to fade. In 1973, Harry & George returned to Australia
and brought their production talents to the new Albert
Production label, kicking off yet another boom period.
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From
1974 to 1976 the Australian charts were saturated with Vanda
& Young productions - from John Paul Young, Stevie
Wright, William Shakespeare and AC/DC. It was the
most formidable hit machine Australia had ever seen.
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One
of George & Harry's projects had been with old comrade
Stevie Wright.
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For
Stevie they created a staggering 11 minute, three part opus
called Evie. The track was taken from the debut album
Hard Road. Evie became not only a No 1 single for Stevie
it was also named the 1974 Song Of The Year.
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At
a Sydney Opera House concert, where Stevie was backed by George,
Harry and Malcolm Young, nearly 10,000 people had to be turned
away.
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While
Vanda & Young were resurrecting Stevie Wright, they were
also helping to launch the careers of George's two younger
brothers, Angus and Malcolm, who had first entered
a recording studio to play guitar on the album Tales Of
Old Granddaddy, by an Vanda & Young alter-ego band
known as The Marcus Hook Roll Band. In 1974, AC/DC,
with Malcolm, Angus and Bon Scott on board, set about turning
the world upside down with their rib crushing, blood curdling,
brain damaging, skin blistering, no bullshit rock 'n' roll.
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AC/DC
debuted on the local charts early in 1975 with the bluesy
Baby Please Don't Go but it was their self penned fist
shaking top ten hit High Voltage later that same year
which let loose the juggernaut. They then unleashed It's
A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) which
shot straight into the top five followed by the thunderous
Australian No. 1 TNT.
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By
1977, AC/DC had a British top twenty album with Let There
Be Rock and were well on their way to the tally of 95
million album sales which they currently enjoy. The tragic
death of Bon Scott in February 1980 introduced vocalist Brian
Johnson, whose debut album, Back In Black, gave
AC/DC their biggest single to date with You Shook Me All
Night Long.
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In
1986 AC/DC turned full circle reuniting with producers Vanda
& Young for the single Who Made Who, continuing
the association in 1988 with the Blow Up Your Video
album and the 2000 album, Stiff Upper Lip being produced
by George.
AC/DC
were recently named by RIAA
as the fifth highest selling recording
act in American Music history.
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During
the 1970's the versatile Vanda & Young were also turning
their hands to well crafted pop. One of their pop artists
was William Shakespeare, known as Billy Shake
in some European markets. This sweet-voiced light pop singer
racked up two consecutive number one hits in 1974 with Can't
Stop Myself From Loving You and My Little Angel.
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In
a tougher vein than his Pasadena days was John Paul
Young. In 1975 the Vanda & Young song Yesterday's
Hero (also recorded by The Bay City Rollers) was an Australian
No.1 and had established the diminutive warbler as a teen
idol.
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After
numerous Australian and South African hits including The
Love Game and I Hate The Music, 'squeak'
entered the European charts for the first time with Standing
In The Rain. In 1978, the seductive pop samba Love
Is In The Air reached No. 3 in Australia, No. 5 in the
U.K and No. 7 in the U.S. It has become the most covered Vanda
& Young composition of all time.
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Not
all of Vanda & Young's creative genius was bestowed upon
other artists. During spare studio moments they recorded Hey
St. Peter and issued it under the name Flash & The
Pan. This exhilarating piece of studio craft reached No.
2 in January 1977. |
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A top
ten follow-up Down Among The Dead Men reached the British
charts under the title And The Band Played On. Not
only attaining numerous Top Forty European hits Flash &
The Pan cracked the U.K top ten in 1983 with Waiting For
A Train.
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Once the
frenzy of chart hits subsided, Alberts began to employ a much
more ambitious, long-range strategy in the development of
talent. Signings such as The Angels, Rose Tattoo, Heroes,
Cheetah and Choirboys were directed toward sustained,
international appeal rather than automatic local hits.
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They began
life in the South Australian capital of Adelaide as The
Moonshine Jug & String Band before becoming Keystone
Angels but it was as The Angels that this hard
rocking band earned their place in Australian music history.
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They
so exemplified the long term approach that Albert's had adopted
that The Angels are still a vital force many years after
their first Alberts release, the 1976 classic single Am I
Ever Gonna See Your Face Again. Although a massively popular
track this song has missed charting in three different forms
over the years. Another Angels standard, Coming Down,
also missed the charts. |
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1978
finally saw the band crack the Australian charts with Take
A Long Line. They found success throughout Europe and
continue to thrive in Australia.
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Cheetah,
sisters Chrissie and Lyndsay Hammond,
found themselves sweating and grinding for all they were worth
with Spend The Night from the album Rock And Roll
Women. The single was an Australian top twenty in 1980
and enjoyed European success.
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Rose
Tattoo leader and Throat, Gary (Angry) Anderson, made
his first impact on Australian music with Melbourne based
raw blues-rock band Buster Brown which also included
later AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd, while guitarist Peter
Wells had come from Buffalo and bassist Ian Rilen from
Band Of Light.
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Tatts played their first gig on New Year's Eve 1976
and by the end of 1977 had been captured on tape for
Albert Productions by Harry and George.
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The
pulverising Bad Boy For Love reached No. 10 and
commenced a relationship with Alberts which gave Rose
Tattoo 5 Top Forty hits, including the 1983 classic
We Can't Be Beaten |
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1998 saw Rose Tattoo reform for the All Hell Breaks
Loose tour, the title of an unreleased 1981 song
which was as a bonus track on the Nice Boys Don't
Play Rock 'n' Roll album. The band are currently
touring Germany and the UK.
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Choirboys
used their time at Alberts to formulate a distinctive sound
which has also carried them on to sustained success.
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Formed
in 1979 they became a major draw at Sydney's Royal
Antler Hotel and in 1983 went into the studio
with producer Jim Manzie to record an eponymously
titled album which featured the optimistic single
Never Gonna Die. |
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Mark
Williams and Vanda & Young had been aware of each
other since Mark shot to number one in his native New Zealand
with the pair's 1970's track Yesterday Was Just The Beginning.
A studio collaboration was inevitable and it eventually came
in 1990 when Mark was signed by Alberts and triumphantly sang
one of the most powerful Vanda & Young compositions of
the decade.
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This
track was Show No Mercy an Australian top 5 hit which
you can expect to hear on sporting broadcasting for most of
the rest of your life! This was followed by the ZNZ
album and a second album Mind Over Matter which featured
not only tracks written by Mark but also the Vanda / Young
composition We Can Dream.
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Given
the vast array of Australian and international success, it
would be fair to say that the vision of that one young man
with a passion for rock 'n' roll has been realised well beyond
his or anybody else's wildest dreams. In 1989 Ted Albert
decided it was time to move into films. He formed M&A
Productions (Miall & Albert) and commissioned a young
theatrical director, Baz Luhrman, to script and direct
their first film 'Strictly Ballroom'.
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Sadly,
and unexpectedly, Ted Albert passed away in
1990 before realising the completion of his
new project. Fortunately, his vision was carried
on by Antoinette, his wife, and a wonderful
team of dedicated colleagues who put their
body and soul into ensuring the film's completion.
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The
movie achieved 8 AFI Awards as well as the
coveted 'Priz De La Jeunesse' at the Cannes
film festival. From the film the first Alberts movie
soundtrack was born, with the centrepiece being the
remake of the John Paul Young hit Love Is
In The Air. The movie was the No.1 box office
hit in Australia in 1992 and the single reached No.2
on the Australian charts, and went on to enjoy considerable
worldwide success.
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The
end of the millennium saw a fresh light of talent with Aleesha
Rome, a bright spunky 18 year old singer signed to Albert's
AMC label.
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Her
first single One Of Us Has Changed has led the charge
while Search My Heaven, her second release, was an
Australian Top Twenty hit and is poised to unleash a new decade
of superb Australian talent on the international music scene.
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The
contribution of Harry Vanda and George Young - as songwriters,
recording artists and producers - has spanned four decades,
produced countless hits (for themselves and others) and earned
them the coveted Ted Albert Memorial Award for The Most Outstanding
Contribution to Australian Music presented by the Australasian
Performing Right Association.
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This
contribution was further recognised with the awarding of Friday
On My Mind as the number one Australian Song of the past 75
years at the 2001 Australasian Performing Right Association
awards.
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The
journey to become an "overnight sensation" began
when a group of carpet cleaners and friends managed to put
down the vacs for long enough to begin what would in time
become one of Australia's best rock acts.
Through
constant gigging Dallas Crane
managed to gather up enough of their own money to record
their first full length album - "Lent". After
touring to the point of exhaustion the band again hit the
studio. This recording was beyond the expectations of even
the most admiring fans. Bluesy romps like "Sit On My
Knee" and "Sweet FA" became instant live
favourites while "Sold Me" showcased their sublime
songwriting skills.
With
the buzz now a constant the band embarked on another east
coast tour capping off 2003 with their appearance at Australia's
premier Oz only music festival - Homebake. Not long after
their blistering set at The Big Day Out, the band signed
a recording and publishing deal with Albert's and headed
straight to the studio. With a brand new single "Dirty
Hearts" already hitting the airways the Dallas Crane
story has only just begun.
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GLENN
A. BAKER
(edited by Fifa Riccobono, 2004)
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