This year’s standalone event should have got the ARIA Hall of Fame back on track. It hasn’t.
Jeff Jenkins
Dear ARIA, please allow me to introduce you to Rick Springfield.
I don’t think you’ve heard of him.
Rick grew up in Melbourne, found fame in Zoot, then had 17 Top 40 hits in the US, and won a Grammy. When MTV started, Jessie’s Girl was the number one song in America. Sure, he’s been living in the US since the early ’70s, but he’s such an Aussie, he even had an EH Holden shipped to America.
Why is Rick Springfield not in the ARIA Hall of Fame?
And while I’m here, how ’bout you meet Stephen Cummings?
As the lead singer of The Sports, Stephen provided Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Records with their first Top 50 hit in the US. In the UK, their first release was hailed as Record of the Week in NME.
“Blimey, it is ace,” the reviewer raved. “If you got crooked by AC/DC, The Saints and Frank Ifield, don’t think that all the bands Down Under are out of date. Steve Cummings out Jaggers Jagger … I kid you not. The Sports are a gen-u-wine rock ‘n’ roll discovery. Move spheres to get this.”
Since The Sports, Stephen has released 21 superb solo albums. Sure, he hasn’t topped the charts – he once joked he was a popular singer who’s not popular – but surely there’s a place in the Hall of Fame to recognise his genius?
As the peak industry body, entrusted with preserving the history of Australian music, why are you now ignoring the pioneers, the trailblazers, the artists who defined who we are as a nation?
Let me be clear, I have no beef with the acts being inducted this year. I am a fan of all of them. And for many years I have been writing that Kate Ceberano should be in the Hall of Fame.
But is this year’s lineup a true representation of the depth and diversity of Australian music?
Kate Ceberano – released her first album with I’m Talking in 1986; first solo album in 1989.
Jenny Morris – released her first solo album in 1987.
Vika & Linda – released their first album with The Black Sorrows in 1988; first Vika & Linda album in 1994.
The Living End – released their first album in 1998.
Spiderbait – released their first album in 1993.
Gurrumul – released his first solo album in 2008.
My understanding is that you also planned to induct Parkway Drive this year (formed in 2003; first album in 2005), but they ended up declining the invitation.
And credit to Powderfinger who, I believe, told you that other artists were ahead of them in the Hall of Fame queue.
Counting this year’s inductees, in the last decade, you have inducted 14 acts. Only one – Daryl Braithwaite – has released an album before 1986.
Where is The Atlantics?
They were the first local band to write and record a number one hit, the first international hit by an Australian band. The noted critic Clinton Walker called their seismic single Bombora “the first great Australian record that was equal to anything produced overseas … Australia didn’t know what had hit it. Something like the future. This was the point at which Australian pop, Australian songwriting, caught up with the rest of the world.”
And what about Chain? Redgum? Kevin Borich?
They are just a few of the artists who have built our industry, but the Hall of Fame appears to have turned its back on them.
And how about the pioneering Indigenous band No Fixed Address? The Adelaide City Council has given them a lane, but you can’t find a place for them in the Hall?
Good on you for attempting to redress the gender imbalance by inducting Kate, Jenny, Vika & Linda, and Janet from Spiderbait.
But where’s Margret RoadKnight and Colleen Hewett?
Every King of Pop from the ’60s and ’70s, aside from Jamie Redfern, is in the Hall of Fame. But only one Queen of Pop, Marcia Hines, has been inducted. Missing from the Hall are Allison Durbin (who won Best Female Artist three years in a row when only the King was crowned), Colleen Hewett (Queen of Pop in 1972 and 1973) and Debbie Byrne (1974 and 1975).
A standalone event provided you with the opportunity to induct a broad range of artists and other creatives who have nurtured the industry we have today.
Why aren’t you inducting a record producer this year?
Vanda & Young are in the Hall of Fame. But where is Mark Opitz? And what about Charles Fisher, Mike Chapman, Tony Cohen, Peter Dawkins, Mark Moffatt, David Mackay, Ross Fraser, Rod McCormack, Phil McKellar, Simon Hussey, Shane O’Mara, John Sayers and Roger Savage?
Given your track record, you might not have heard of these people. But you can Google them; it’ll show how much they have done for Australian music.
And Australia has given the world some of the greatest music video makers. Their creative work has contributed to the success of countless artists. Directors such as Russell Mulcahy and Richard Lowenstein should be in the Hall of Fame.
Of course, music is wonderfully subjective. Ask any music fan who should be in the Hall of Fame and they will all have different suggestions.
So, why don’t you ask the fans? Look at what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does in America with their fan vote, which generates genuine interest and engagement.
And there are plenty of knowledgeable people who care deeply about Australian music who would be able to give you a list of worthy inductees: Ian McFarlane – he literally wrote the book on Australian music, The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Billy Pinnell – he’s worked in radio for 67 years. Fifa Riccobono – record company legend. Mary Mihelakos – band booker who’s probably seen more Australian gigs than anyone else.
You get my point. There’s no shame in not knowing, but if you don’t know, it’s not hard to find out.
The Hall of Fame should be a major event. It should – and can – deliver magical moments every year, celebrating artists from every era.
Of course, it’s easy to be critical from the cheap seats. That’s what music critics do.
But my question for you is simple:
Is the Hall of Fame as good as it should be?
I’m sure this year’s event will be great. But it could have been so much more.
Yours in Australian music,
Jeff Jenkins
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