- The long-awaited Helen Reddy biopic is now in production, “I am Woman” explores the fascinating life of one of Australia’s most celebrated singers, often referred to as the Queen of 70’s Pop, it was Helen’s anthemic song from 1972 that galvanized a burgeoning female liberation movement and established Helen as one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970’s. Reddy will be played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey (The Kettering Incident, A Field Guide to a 12-Year-Old Girl, Hotel Mumbai) and Unjoo Moon who will make her directorial debut, the film is being shot in Melbourne, Los Angeles and New York. See more about the fascinating drama, creativity and personalities behind the creation of the song “I Am Woman” in this week’s Hall of Fame heroes post.
- Nick Cave commences his intimate in-conversation evenings featuring solo piano performances and open Q&A on January 5 in Wangaratta, the Victorian city where he was raised. This week’s ARIA Winner Flashback profiles the Nick Cave /KylieMinogue duet “Where the Wild Roses Grow”, a noirish ballad that won the ARIA Single of the Year in 1996.
- The Age Music Victoria Awards were recently announced and the big winners were Courtney Barnett – Best Solo Artist, Best Female Musician, and Best Victorian Album for “Tell Me How You Really Feel”, not far behind was Danzal Baker aka Baker Boy – Best Live act, Breakthrough Act for 2018, and Best Song for “Marryuna”.Both Molly Meldrum and Chrissy Amphlett were inducted into the Victorian Hall of Fame, see our Special Feature section for a profile of two classic songs by the Divinyls – “Boys in Town” (1981) and “Pleasure and Pain” (1985).
- APRA have nominated the Best 30 Australian Songs in the period 1926-2001 and 4TR has encouraged our followers to comment on this list and suggest alternatives for APRA to consider when they revisit the Top 30 on their 100th anniversary in 2026. In the meantime, let’s not forget the great cover versions of songs in Ausmusic that have enabled local artists to survive in a market swamped by American and then British performers over the years, this week’s APRA Best Songs looks at the Top 20 Best Ausmusic Covers, as compiled by 4TR.
- Who were the most famous one-hit wonders in the history of Ausmusic, well 4TR has identified three that would be definitely be strong contenders, you may be surprised to learn that one was recorded by a Catholic nun, another by a person who was more famous as a film director, and a third which was written and performed by an Italian- American who migrated to Australia in the 70’s. See our Q/A post for more about these three performers.
- The 2018 ARIA Awards ceremony confirmed the stunning success of Amy Shark who won Best Female Artist, Best Pop Release, and her debut album “Love Monster” took out Album of the Year, 5 Seconds of Summer picked up the Best Group award and the late Gurrumul won Best Male Artist for Djaramirri (Child of the Rainbow).The awards keep coming for Aussie acts internationally with Troye Sivan’s album “Bloom” being rated the 7th best album of the year in Time Magazine’s annual Awards about which they said “…he explores coming of age and coming out, crafting a joyful and unapologetically queer body of work.” The song “No Place” by Rufus Du Sol, which Time ranked the 7th best song in the world for 2018 singled out vocalist Tyrone Lindquist for high praise indeed “…his understated performance is what really makes it (the song) sparkle”.
