Australian Made

For the Australian Idol album, see Australian Idol 3: The Final 13 - Australian Made: The Hits. For the logo, see Australian made logo.

Australian Made
Promotional poster for the Sydney concert
Genre
Dates26 December 1986 – 26 January 1987
Location(s)Australia
Years active1986–1987
Founders
Organised by
  • Chris Murphy
  • Mark Pope
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Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, INXS and even Jimmy Barnes.[1][2] The series started in Hobart on 26 December 1986 and concluded in Sydney on 26 January 1987. Rock journalist Jeff Jenkins rated it as one of his 50 most significant events in Australian music history, "It wasn't a huge success, but it showed that an all-Australian festival could work."[3] Australian Made was conceived to counter tours of international acts, like Dire Straits' 1985–1986 world tour, which were drying up funds for Australian groups.[1][4] As from October 2010, the following artists have been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame: INXS and The Saints (both in 2001), Barnes (as a member of Cold Chisel in 1995 and solo in 2005), Divinyls (2006), The Triffids (2008), Mental As Anything (2009), and Models (2010).[5]

To promote the tour, INXS and Barnes recorded a cover of The Easybeats song "Good Times" which was released in December 1986 as a single and used as the theme song.[1] "Good Times" peaked at No. 2 on the Australian charts.[6] The single peaked at No. 47 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 on 1 August 1987.[7][8]

At the Sydney concert, Peter Trotter, playing saxophone for Mental As Anything, collapsed on stage and died a week later.[2][4][9] The tour had a budget of $3.25 million,[4] and was announced with claims of Australian mateship and cooperation; however arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film.[2][4][10] The tour ended in acrimony with two managers, Chris Murphy (for INXS) and Jeremy Fabinyi (for Mental As Anything), arguing backstage in Sydney and coming to blows.[2][4][9][10] A film of the tour, Australian Made: The Movie, directed by Richard Lowenstein, was released in July 1987,[11] but contained no footage of Mental As Anything performing.[4][10] Rock historian Glenn A. Baker and Bob King wrote Australian Made, Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight : The Authorised Documentary of the Event in 1987 with detailed notations by Baker and photographs by King.[2] According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, "the tour drew record crowds across the country. It was the first travelling festival tour to feature exclusively Australian bands".[12]

  1. ^ a b c Jenkins, Jeff; Ian Meldrum (2007). Molly Meldrum presents 50 years of rock in Australia. Melbourne: Wilkinson Publishing. pp. 252–253. ISBN 978-1-921332-11-1. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e Baker, Glenn A.; Bob King (1987). Glenn A. Baker (ed.). Australian made, gonna have a good time tonight : the authorised documentary of the event. Sydney, N.S.W.: Fontana Collins. ISBN 0-00-636921-9. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  3. ^ Jenkins, Jeff (15 July 2007). "The 50 Most Significant Events in Australian Music History". Rhythms. Rhythms.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 November 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "99/111/1 Performance costume, suit, cotton, used by Martin Plaza of Mental as Anything, Mambo, Australia, 1986". Powerhouse Museum. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  5. ^ "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  7. ^ "INXS > Charts & Awards > Billboard singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1991). Billboard Hot 100 Charts : The Eighties. Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-079-2.
  9. ^ a b Mathieson, Craig (2000). The Sell-in: How the Music Business seduced Alternative Rock. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86508-412-1.
  10. ^ a b c Creswell, Toby; Martin Fabinyi (1999). The Real Thing: Adventures in Australian Rock 'n' Roll, 1957-now. Australia: Random House. ISBN 978-0-09-183547-7.
  11. ^ "Australian Made: The Movie". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference McFarlane was invoked but never defined (see the help page).