Gudinski: The Godfather of Australian Rock by Stuart Coupe

Author:Stuart Coupe [Coupe, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780733633119
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Published: 2015-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

15

JIMMY BARNES

Cold Chisel should have been a Mushroom Records act. There’s no question about it. The band wanted Gudinski and they wanted to join the ever-expanding Mushroom empire. But Gudinski screwed it up. He just didn’t get the band. Couldn’t see it. Couldn’t hear it. In the mid 1970s there were two Adelaide bands presented to him at the same time. He chose Stars over Chisel. In that respect he can be seen as the guy who passed on the Beatles as he thought Herman’s Hermits were the real potential stars. At various times, in his defence, Gudinski has insisted that there was a different lead singer on the Cold Chisel demo he was played. OK, there was a brief period in mid 1975 when Jimmy Barnes left the line-up, although it’s hard to imagine a demo without him being played to a record company.

Not only would the band have given anything to record for Mushroom, but Gudinski could very easily have had his finger in every one of the Cold Chisel pies. They could have been booked by Premier Artists. A publishing deal? Where do we sign? Management by Michael Gudinski? Hello, do we look like idiots from Adelaide? No, sir. Chisel knew what they wanted – but Gudinski didn’t want them.

In 1976, Chisel had hopped into a battered van, turned right and headed east for the eight-hour drive to Melbourne central. They wanted more and better gigs. They figured it was time to make a record. A high-powered and already well-connected manager wouldn’t hurt one bit either. Hell, Michael Gudinski, we’re here to see you.

At that time, too, Gudinski was on the hunt for new artists. Skyhooks had given him one long, extended sniff of recording success, and the initial thrill he’d felt watching bands play to hundreds – hey, it’s now thousands – of adoring fans had only grown. He wanted another Skyhooks. Double the vibe. Double the buzz.

There were contenders. Oh yes, Melbourne was awash with those waiting to be anointed. And that was without looking outside the inner suburbs of Gudinski World. The bearded whirlwind could have tripled the Mushroom roster in a night just by trawling the pubs and bars in Carlton. What did Gudinski do? Well, he signed Adelaide band Scandal, who sounded just a tad like a mixture of David Bowie and Supertramp. And a deal was done with The Millionaires, who flaunted their self-proclaimed status as a ‘sophisticated’ band – which had mostly to do with the clothes they wore and less to do with their music. They released one single on Mushroom.

Gudinski had signed one certifiable ace in Split Enz – but at the time their adventurous art rock wasn’t necessarily a lay-down take-me-to-the-bank project. Still, if and when they got lucky, Gudinski had them signed, sealed and waiting to be delivered. He had the management. He had the publishing. He had the live representation. He had the recording contract. If the relocated Kiwis earned a buck in Australia there would be a cha-ching in the Gudinski bank account.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.