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Ed Nimmervoll is a legendary Australian rock music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock magazines Go-Set (1966-1974) and Juke (1975-1992) both as a journalist and as an editor. Since 2000, Nimmervoll has been editor of HowlSpace, a website detailing Australian rock music history, providing artist profiles, news and video interviews.
DID YOU KNOW? Bruce Springsteen bought his first guitar at the age 13 for a paltry $18. When Springsteen was 16 years old, his mother took out a loan to buy him a $60 Kent guitar, and this was memorialized in Springsteen’s song ‘The Wish’.
MILESTONE
70 years ago Nat King Cole recorded for the first time. The song in question, ‘Sweet Lorraine’, is part of Nat King Cole mythology. It’s popularly held that Cole was essentially a piano player until a drunk at a bar badgered him into singing ‘Sweet Lorraine’, causing Nathaniel Cole to discover his singing voice. What actually happened was that he was already singing the occasional song between the instrumentals when he encountered the drunk audience member. Cole didn’t know the song he was being asked to sing, so he sang ‘Sweet Lorraine’ instead. His singing DID make an impression and now he was singing that song in the recording studio.
WHAT’S NEW
Eventually - probably in the new year – we’re going to hear a new U2 album . It already has a name ‘Songs Of Ascent’. We know this because on the way to a new album U2 register a website address with the same name and months ago they did this with ‘Songs Of Ascent’. The songs for the album were recorded at the same time as last year’s ‘No Line On The Horizon’. But since then the band has back in the studio AND they’ve recorded songs for Bono and Edge’s ‘Spiderman’ musical for Broadway. There’s a lot of music to choose from then, and in 2011 we’ll begin to hear it.
WHAT CAME FIRST
Hardly the name you’d be expecting to break new ground for music in 1987, but almost 40 years into his recording career Tony Bennett’s ‘The Art Of Excellence’ became the first album to be initially released on CD instead of the traditional vinyl format.
WHAT’S THAT SPELL?
Legendary jazz clarinetist Woody Herman’s parents were Otto and Myrtle HERRMAN. It was Woody who changed the spelling of the familial name to Herman.
QUOTE UNQUOTE
Singer songwriter Billy Joel said: “I can't think of one person I've ever met who didn't like some type of music”
I FOUGHT THE LAW
In 1997 Danbert Nobacon from British anarchist rockers Chumbawamba was arrested by Italian police for wearing a skirt and was detained in police cells overnight.
THE NAME GAME
“White Wedding” punk rocker Billy Idol was born William Michael Albert Broad. The name Billy Idol was inspired by a school teacher’s description of Broad as “idle”. Billy decided on the other form of the word. |
At Allans Music + Billy Hyde we strive to give our customers the best value for money.
We realise that with the Aussie Dollar at an all time high against the US dollar more people are deciding to buy off-shore, particularly from the USA. Some products are cheap enough in comparison to Australian prices to see customers willing to:
- Have NO warranty or service back up
- Possibly pay duty, freight, customs clearance fees and GST on certain goods
- Risk power supply issues
- Make our music industry less viable
The deals do seem that attractive and we can see that even considering the above, it is too attractive to ignore.
Our industry is working to create a more level playing field for our customers - we are working with our local suppliers to achieve a closer parity situation at every opportunity - in this climate it is in our interests to be able to more closely compete.
Australian music retailers invest heavily in our own industry to display and stock the world’s best brands. We also support our local musicians -
NOT ONLY DO WE PRIMARILY EMPLOY MUSICIANS
- We sponsor local battles of the bands, gigs and festivals
- We support community music organisations in Australia
- We support music programs for less fortunate youth
- We present instore workshops and learning opportunities for our customers
- We provide after sales service and product back up
And so do many Australian music retailers.
So give us a chance at the business. We will go out of our way to match all bona-fide* overseas prices. Tell us what you want, where you're getting your prices from, and the TOTAL cost of getting it here and we will do our best to get your custom.
* Some overseas stores will NOT ship overseas, so there's no point quoting their on-line prices when you can't actually buy at these prices.
There will be times when we just can't match some OS prices but we will do our utmost to get as close as possible so that your business stays in Australia.
Buy from Allans Music + Billy Hyde and you will get all the support and warranties you're entitled to, plus professional service and advice both pre and post purchase.
Call us on 1300 88 4321 or 1300 885 496 and give us a go – we’ll do our best to give you the best deal.
We did it!
The first ever Australian live audio/video recording of a Yamaha Disklavier took place at Bennetts Lane, Melbourne on 24th November, 2010 featuring the Daniel Gassin Trio.
The Yamaha Disklavier is a genuine acoustic piano utilising cutting edge technology which allows performances to be recorded and faithfully reproduced for future enjoyment.
The forthcoming DVD will be available for viewing in Allans Music + Billy Hyde stores which have a Yamaha Disklavier piano on the floor. This is unique as while the DVD is playing the keys on the piano will be playing exactly as Daniel Gassin played on the night (and what a gifted player Daniel is!).
See the Yamaha Disklavier
online or audition one in store at Allans Music + Billy Hyde soon. Thanks to everyone who made this incredible event possible!
On Thursday the 28th of October Allans Music + Billy Hyde Bourke Street hosted the official launch of the Mushroom Music Songbook. Media and music industry peeps were invited along to celebrate the creation of this musical masterpiece. The night kicked off with a welcome from head of Mushroom Publishing Ian James who thrilled the crowd with inspiring stories about many of the artist and people involved in the creation of this documentation of Australian music history. The evening then went on to feature intimate acoustic performances by Tim Rogers (You Am I), Adalita (Magic Dirt) & Josh Pyke, whose musical works all feature in the book.
The Mushroom Music songbook is a collection of songs from artists that spans generations. Beautifully designed with lyrics, sheet music, photographs and stories, the book features fifty truly amazing Australian compositions by songwriters from iconic Mushroom Music. The Mushroom Music Songbook is available for purchase at Allans Music + Billy Hyde: RRP $79.95. Very limited copies hand signed by Mushroom Music Founder Michael Gudinski are available. Click here to order the book online.
“This book is a collection of the great Australian songwriters that Mushroom Music Publishing represent. It was extremely hard to limit it to fifty songs. Ian James and the Mushroom Music Publishing team have over the years worked extremely hard to sign the very best songwriters both domestically and overseas. They have built and managed a brilliant roster of songwriters and an extremely impressive catalogue of songs that cover many
genres of music.
I am very proud of the results that Mushroom Music Publishing have had with the catalogue. From placing songs with artists to record, hooking up collaborations, placing songs in film, television and advertising, right through to the many song writing workshops that we host. It is one of the most successful companies within The Mushroom Group and has an incredibly strong reputation throughout the world.
This is much more than a book of song lyrics, each song has an original story written by the songwriter about their song plus an anecdote from a music peer or associate. It is a great addition to any music fan or musician’s collection. Long live Australian Music!”
- Michael Gudinski AM; Director
Images from Top to Bottom: Mushroom Music Songbook. Tim Rogers. Adalita. Josh Pyke. Mushroom Music Gang.
Words: Lorrae McKenna
Pics: Jeanine Orr
Aussies ROCK!
You don't really need to look outside your own backyard to see and hear some killer tub thumpin' talent.
Here's your chance to show some drum love and list your Top 5 Fave Oz Skin Bashers PLUS tell us why your No.1 choice is in fact, No.1!
Check out our Top 5 picks and feel free to add your list! GO!
Allans Music + Billy Hyde
Top 5 Fave Aussie Drummers
1. Phil Rudd (AC/DC)
2. Paul Hester (Crowded House)
3. Jon Coghill (Powderfinger)
4. Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil)
5. Lucius Borich (COG)
No. 1 - Phil Rudd
Pristine, elemental and pure. On classic Acca Dacca tracks such as "Highway To Hell and "Back In Black" Rudd delivered exactly what the music ordered, a subsonic groove of ballsy bass and snare drum sucker punch, the perfect compliment to the rippin' blues riffage of guitarists Malcolm and Angus Young. This drumming freight train doesn't take a two and four groove lightly. Phil understands the power and subtlety behind an astutely placed snare drum rim shot, and the importance of pacing, timing, air and flow - Rudd KNOWS how to lay it down!
