All language subtitles for Ego.The.Michael.Gudinski.Story.2023.720p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-WH

Well, you can obviously see
I can't play any music

and that's why I'm good
at the music business

'cause I don't want to be a pop
or rock star

but hell I like working with them.

We're just checking
the set list here.

I'm not just a figurehead,
you know.

You'd feel he's in the building.

He's somewhere.
Bam!

He'd blast through the fucking door.

Who just walked in? Hang on.
And then he's gone.

My first entrepreneurial gig

was we had a reasonably
big sized backyard

150 yards
from the Caulfield racetrack.

So, for two shillings

we used to squeeze
seven or eight cars in

and that was where
it sort of started.

"We're gonna make you
a star, kid."

He just wanted a number one
fucken record in America.

The first single
I actually ever bought

was Roy Orbison's 'Pretty Woman'.

('I HEAR MOTION')
# Now, let it out

# Shout to the night

# And so it goes

# I hear motion

# Motion... #

When I was about 13, 14, 15,

I started going
to what we call dances.

One of the first bands
that I ever saw were The Loved Ones.

And I saw
so much great Australian music.

We decided to promote
a couple of dances

in the school holidays.

But I was a pretty shy guy,
believe it or not.

And it was exciting
and as Billy Joel said,

it used to help me pick up girls.

He just loved the music business.

Loved his job.

He wasn't just the businessman.
He was a fan.

I was hanging
in at Melbourne High just,

and my parents let me go on the road

with a pop band
called The Valentines

and Bon Scott
was one of the two singers.

You would have never expected
the singer of AC/DC

to come from a background like that.

I was still at home, still a virgin
and to go on the road with Bon Scott

was something
that you'd never forget.

My parents were in Israel,
they were away for a month or so

and I was offered a job

by the biggest local dance promoter
at the time.

Whenever you thought
about going to Australia

you thought about Michael Gudinski.

And I left school,
and I had no regrets.

But I knew
that the minute my father got home

I was thrown dead
straight out of the house.

And the journey began from there.

My father had a temper.

He was a very nice, very decent
man, but he flared up quite easily.

So, Michael was told to go
and live independently,

since he was earning money.

He was working.

You know I was definitely
the black sheep, no doubt about that

and I think the hardest thing
my father had to understand

was there wasn't that mentality
about show business in Australia.

And I guess he thought
it was just a bulldust business.

The trouble is,
when your parents have envisaged

that you would start off
having a full education

my father went to University

and became a civil engineer
in Lithuania.

Our families
had been involved in the war.

A lot of families
never really talked

that much about it.

You know,
I knew that I had a late sister

but I never really knew much
about her or what happened.

I think she just disappeared.

The Nazis came
and they took children.

So, my parents managed
to smuggle my sister out.

The person looking after her bragged

that he was hiding
a little Jewish girl.

My father tried to find out
what had happened to her

and she'd been shot,

we believe.

My mother couldn't bear to know.

I'm very proud of my parents.

They were fighters,

and they made a good life
in Australia.

And they loved Australia.

I think a lot of people
from my generation

really came to Australia
or were born in Australia

and had a real feeling
of how lucky we were.

That's something that's driven me.

I was very proud to represent
and to push

and to work Australian music
and Australian artists.

He was working as an assistant
to a very famous Melbourne promoter

called Bill Joseph

who was running
a lot of the big suburban dances.

I worked in the cloak room.

I got busted by the police
putting up posters.

And that was the beginning,
that whole explosion.

Daddy Cool came along, and Spectrum,

and Thorpie moved down from Sydney

and Max Merritt
was blowing it all away.

# I'm mopin' around

# Streets late at night... #

Life changed in the '70s.
Well, it did for me.

I was smoking marijuana

and my partner
in the accounting practice

said to me, "You either go,
or that goes."

I said, "OK, I'll go."

In the late '60s in Australia
there was a real cultural cringe

and people thought
that imported cars,

imported clothes, imported music
was what it was all about.

It certainly was a time for change,
time for recognition.

I couldn't understand

why people weren't supporting
their own more.

Radio had hardly
any Australian content.

A lot of the international labels
didn't sign Australian artists.

There were some labels

that just did copies
of English hits.

What wasn't happening,

the record companies weren't seeing
what was happening live.

The whole evolution
of Australian music

was about to erupt.

We decided to set up
an intimate club

and we called it
the Magical Mushroom Mansion.

The Magical Mushroom Mansion
was ahead of its time.

I remember when I first went
to America years later

there was a hip cool place
called Nell's

and it was exactly
what the Mushroom Mansion was,

except we had a few problems.

One, we had no permit.

Two, we couldn't sell alcohol.

But we had a great concept
and it was rocking.

After the second weekend, shut down.

And the coppers would come
and shut you down

and he'd move on
to another broken down mansion.

Well, there was another time
we didn't get our licence, either.

That's when we first started
our agency together.

And we didn't have
the right permit to run an office

and we had to move out
'cause the neighbours.

And there were so many rock and roll

and strange people
turning up at the house.

We had a company
called Evans Gudinski.

It did a few international tours.

John Mayall and the Blues Breakers
was the first tour I ever did.

And I worked with Muddy Waters,
Willie Dixon

and I remember going to Chicago

and Muddy Waters
took me out to places, man.

And I was the only white man
in the room,

let alone a good Jewish boy.

Not that good,
and Muddy was like the king.

He protected me.

Hanging out with him
really gave me such basis

about real artists

because some of the greatest
artists of all time

are not about number one hit records
or number one albums.

They do it because they love it

and the blues gave me
a great basis of real music.

Where are you from?
Melbourne.

And how long are you here for?
Three days.

Who have you come to see?

Oh, Ladidah, Chain, Thorpie.

('I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS YOUNG'
BY JOHN FARNHAM PLAYS)

# Well, I remember

# When I was Young the World... #

Over three days and nights
an estimated crowd

of over 40,000 people

and 41 rock bands
massed in this natural amphitheatre

to turn onto 3,000 watts
of rock music power.

I was the stage manager
for all the Sunburies and,

you know, we all dreamt
that this was our Woodstock.

We had the exclusive
watermelon concession.

We just had a couple
of truckloads of watermelons.

I think it was a dollar
for half a watermelon.

But it was quite profitable.

We got more money off that
than I think stage manager.

I ran away from home
and I went to Sunbury.

I was about 16 then, I think.

My sister Linda,
who was much wilder than me

her and her mates were all going

and they just all were taking
handfuls of pills.

So, they gave me a handful too
and said, "There you go.

Now, don't bother us."

And I didn't know.
I just took them all.

And I woke up two days later

and I was in what they call
the buoyancy tent.

And I went back to where my sister

and her mates were all sitting
on the hill

and they didn't even know
I was gone,

and I'd been away for two days.

And as I sat down,
the stage went dark

and Billy Thorpe started playing.

('MOST PEOPLE I KNOW THINK THAT
I'M CRAZY' BY BILLY THORPE PLAYS)

# Most people I know,

# Think that I'm crazy,

# And I know at times

# I act a little hazy... #

Thorpie goes on.

It's so loud

and the crowd are singing out
"Suck more piss"

and the lights are going
and the smoke's happening

and the old bale style fences,
wire fences.

And it was like I was so stoned
I thought I was in a prison camp.

Oh, look, it was fantastic.
We had a ball.

I mean, it was naive enthusiasm.

It was a celebration
of Australian music

and it really showed you could have
a three-day music festival

full of all sorts of great
diversified Australian talent.

Australia was coming
into a new domain

and music
was a very big part of that.

The first bands I managed
were all blues orientated

or very music orientated.

Carson, Healing Force and The Chain

and when two of those bands broke up

within two weeks of each other
I thought, "This is not right.

My life is falling apart",

and I realised then

that these guys needed
to have creative control.

If you wanted to have a real artist

you had to let
the creative juices come.

And that's why Mushroom started.

So, we've set up a label

which is involved with more
than just the recordings

but recording and publishing,
the actual management

and the agency all working
very strongly together

as happens overseas

and it'll end up
with a better product.

The bands presented
a lot better around the country

and, you know, things like cheaper
admission prices to concerts,

everything.

And that's the thing that
Mushroom's going to have

over all the labels, I think.

90% of all the material on Mushroom
is going to be original

and I think that the label
is not going to get too big

but it's going to be a happy
little family.

('12 LB TOOTHBRUSH')
# Work'n in the morning

# For my hard earned bread... #

The first album
that we recorded for Mushroom

was at the Sunbury '73 Festival.

It was a triple album set
which was something pretty way out

and adventurous at the time
and the packaging was outrageous.

I remember
when I took it into our distributor,

Festival Records, at the time
they nearly had a stroke.

You know, they tried
to talk me out of it.

"How could you spend
this amount of money?"

And what I really wanted do

was to show that the Mushroom label
was here to stay

that we were serious
about Australian music,

serious about artistic control.

The first years together
we spent a lot of time in London

with Island Records
and with Chris Wright and Chrysalis.

And they really got
to support Michael.

I think I met Michael in 1972
with a guy called Alan Healey

who became quite an important part
of Michael's life.

He ran a record company in Australia
called Festival

which was actually owned
by Rupert Murdoch.

And I think Alan took Michael
under his wing.

He really took me in
like a father-son thing

and really went out of his way
and helped me

and advised me a hell of a lot
and I really learnt a lot off him.

And there were even
some people in Festival

that were very cynical
about the whole thing and thought,

you know, gonna go bust.

He hung through all of that
and had the faith.

I was just very pleased

that I had a business
that was a fun job.

Back then, the Australian
music business was very backyard.

A lot of it was very shoddy.

It wasn't looked at as a business

and that's one of the things
I think my father didn't understand.

When I used to sit down
and do the banking and stuff

he'd think I was playing Monopoly.

Every week
we put our business on the line.

I mean, it was so tough
in those days

and the number of times he
and I travelled in the early days.

I think we went to New York
seven times in one year,

setting up the label.

Perhaps I didn't look at it enough
as a business at the time

and we had
a lot of financial trouble.

And looking back
on the first few years of Mushroom,

it was a crazy risk.

The one thing
that we've always had at Mushroom

through the bleak times

there's always been an artist
that's come through

and pulled it off for us.

('LIVING IN THE 70'S
BY SKYHOOKS PLAYS)

Skyhooks came along
and it was like, "Fuck, wow!

What about this?"

# I feel a little crazy

# I feel a little strange... #

I had a vision for the sort of band

I wanted to be in

and more importantly, the effect
it would have on the audience.

A lot of the bands
that were around at the time

were sort of blues boogie bands.

I wanted to have something
that was different to that.

# I'm livin' in the '70s

# Eatin' fake food

# Under plastic trees

# My face gets dirty

# Just a-walkin' around

# I need another pill

# To calm me down... #

Ross Wilson spotted the band
before my time, even.

The band was kind of rough
at the time,

but I really liked the songs.

And I was like,
I got excited, you know.

Everyone had a reaction to them.

They either liked them, hated them,

wanted to beat them up,
called them poofters.

Whatever it was,
everyone reacted to that band.

I was excited that
there was a band writing songs

about where we grew up.

I was excited that there was a band
that was proud to be Australian

even though they knocked
certain facets of Australia

in some of their songs.

The notion of being Australian
was hardly something we invented

but we coincided with Australia
getting a sense of itself.

The thing I always tried
to do in signing new acts

was we always looked
for something different.

You can't go
and listen to the radio today

and go, "That's what I want.

I'm going to find one of those."

You've obviously
got to be thinking ahead

and trying to find new trends

and look to what the future
landscape can bring.

The thing with Michael
is he might have good instincts

but he does the market research.

He listens to what everyone else
is thinking.

Michael was a punter.

He proved that by being interested
in horseracing.

He was always interested in that,
and they are very alike.

You've got a band,
you've got a horse.

Let's give it a run.

If it wins, good.

If it doesn't win,
we've got another horse.

I wasn't predisposed

to having Skyhooks
signed to a major label.

I thought they would be censored.

When Mushroom made an offer
I put my hand up

and said, "Well, I've been working
with the guys.

I want to produce them."

OK, that seems
to be coming together.

Try to keep it like
you very first started off,

nice and enthusiastic.

I know it's hard to do that.

Big leap of faith
on Michael Gudinski's part,

because I'd never produced
an album before.

Then it became time for Michael

to suggest that he be our manager.

I had misgivings
about the central notion

that he was both the manager
and the record company.

Technically illegal,
I think in California.

So, if he's both the manager
of the band

and the record company

how did he have a meeting
with himself?

Did he rush around
the other side of the desk

and bash on it

shouting at himself
to get a better deal?

It was really like dealing
with the Communist Party.

Everyone would have a vote.

Greg wouldn't say anything

but if it didn't go his way

he'd just go wolf off
into the bush for three days

and you wouldn't hear from him.

Michael was imploring us

that he was the only person
to manage us and,

you know,
Red wanted to think about it.

We're driving down to Frankston,

down the Nepean Highway

and this just got that intense

and before you know it,
I think two or three grown men

were crying in the car.

For God's sake,
I mean, how am I gonna manage

if I don't even feel wanted?

You're dealing with a Leo here.

We put out the first single,
'Living In The 70's'.

Got to number 11.

And then they released
'Horror Movie'

and that was number one.

The other thing that really happened
was Countdown.

The first edition for 1975,
in glorious colour.

Skyhooks!

They were just one
of the most ideal bands

we could have started with.

You put them
in front of a colour television

with the make-up
and the bizarre looks

and the theatrics

and it was just
absolutely mind-blowing.

# Shockin' me right outa my brain

# Shockin' me
# Right outa my brain... #

Michael would ring up and say,
"You've got to do this TV show

and that TV show."

He had a very good gut feel
of promotion.

Once he got something
that was saleable

he sold the shit out of it.

I remember
when the Broadcasting Tribunal

banned half the album.

I mean, half the people
in my office were like,

"Oh, we're sunk.

We're finished. This is the end.
What are we gonna do?"

And I was laughing

and they said, "Look,
what are you laughing about?"

I said, "You gotta be kidding.
This is a bonus.

They can't go
and listen to our songs

for free on the radio.

They're gonna have to buy them."

One of your numbers on stage,

you have a phallic mushroom
which explodes.

What's the label?
You know we're on a mushroom.

Just because it sits out

in the middle of the floor
and goes...

And I'm thinking,
"I can't believe this is for real."

And then I get a phone call
at the Intercontinental Hotel

and the CIB are downstairs.

We're led to believe

that you're in the possession
of a large penis."

So, I've gone to the band and said,
"We can't use the dick on stage.

You mostly won't get arrested.

I'm gonna be the one
that's getting arrested."

Oh, yes!
Oh, hang on a minute.

Righto, everyone.

I've just had the venue management
and the police on my back.

If people don't sit down there,
that's gonna cave in.

There's gonna be people hurt.

We thought, "God,
this album's really taken off.

We're gonna get
our first platinum album.

You know, how far can it go?"

We thought, "Oh, we might get
to 60,000, 70,000.

It just kept going and going.

And then all of a sudden
it was 100,000,

and we couldn't believe it

let alone when months later
it hit 200,000.

I mean, it was just so full-on
when it was happening.

There were instances
where it was quite desperate

like having members of the band
getting rushed off in vans

with people smashing on the doors.

I think undoubtedly
if it wasn't for Skyhooks,

Mushroom Records
wouldn't exist today.

Skyhooks basically
saved the company.

You could say that
it was Skyhooks that saved him

but I like to think that
he would have saved himself somehow.

Suddenly it was like,
"Oh, that's the place

you go to have hits."

Michael was travelling overseas,
selling his wares.

He was taking the Mushroom acts
and trying to get deals for them.

Leaving Australia?

Oh, coming back of course, Steve.

Yeah, if we make
the ten albums that are required...

Ten albums?
Yeah, two albums a year.

It's gonna be a hard road

but I believe the band
have got what it takes.

You've got to make the money
internationally

and you've got to get records
released internationally.

(' EGO (IS NOT A DIRTY WORD)'
BY SKYHOOKS PLAYS)

# If you did not have an ego

# You'd just be like the rest
# Ego... #

Skyhooks are coming to town.

The only real success they had

were in a couple of smaller cities,
like in the middle of nowhere.

Jacksonville, Florida,

they went on stage
to 10,000 screaming fans.

That was the only time I really felt

they were as big
as they were in Australia.

Had I known what I know now

back then I think Skyhooks
could have been

an absolutely
major, major band worldwide.

Michael enjoyed the success we had

but Michael was always looking
at what was next.

And if it wasn't gonna be us,
it was gonna be somebody else.

# My house is sliding into the sea

# Skies are grey

# Since you've been away... #

It was actually Bongo
and Red from Skyhooks

took me along to see Split Enz
when they first came to Sydney.

And they were so weird,

but the Hooks
were that keen on them.

They said,
"Let's bring them down to Melbourne

and put them on one of our big
concerts at Festival Hall."

It was like a furnace,
the energy in the room.

There were 5,000 kids

and they were either Skyhooks
fans or AC/DC fans.

This was wrong on every level.

We had things thrown at us.

Beer cans, cigarettes. (LAUGHS)

Yeah, afterwards we were like,
you know, we were lucky to survive.

A couple of the others came
in my office

and said,
"We can't be signing this group.

What are you doing?"

I said, "Listen,
a reaction's a reaction."

# The rats are crawlin' up
# Me back... #

And I think Split Enz

were a bit shattered
about the whole thing

but they just captured a visual
a different musical sound

and the interesting thing
with Split Enz was...

It was something that took years.

It wasn't a Skyhooks
that just went bang out of the box.

Michael, I think,
got it a bit wrong.

He did probably think straight away

that we were gonna be
the natural successors to Skyhooks

and the teenagers of Australia
were going to fall at our feet.

It certainly didn't happen.

To his credit,
even though I don't think

he always dug us or got us

he believed in us
and allowed us to do our thing.

We were at our most extreme
in terms of performance.

We struggled
to find any kind of real audience.

Yeah, I wasn't so obsessed
about number one songs.

It was more of an art

and there was something about them
that was so magical.

Molly Meldrum,
who I love and is a dear friend,

came into the office and said,

"Michael,
if you keep going with Split Enz,

you're going to go broke.

You've got to get real here.

I know you love them, but enough."

We signed Split Enz
to the Chrysalis label

and we brought them over to London

and we toured them
quite extensively.

And we felt
we were always on the cusp

of breaking them big time here.

And every time we felt that

we were just in sight
of the finishing line

they'd suddenly have to piss off
back to Australia to do a tour

because I think Michael needed
the bit of income

and they were big concert grossers
for him down there.

The live thing
allowed us to survive, really.

We weren't selling records,
we weren't getting on the radio.

Phil Judd left the band
and after a while of thinking

who are they gonna get
to join all of a sudden Tim goes,

my young brother.

I vaguely remember
getting to Melbourne

on that first tour that I did

and Michael looking at me
a little bit like you know, "Who?

Why?"

"Oh, my god, he's a kid!"
This is...

Like he could hardly play a guitar.
He had no confidence.

For the first six months or so
they were all angling to stand

on the other side of stage
not near me as I learnt my craft.

But give it time,
I'm sure it can develop.

We were struggling.
Half the band were on the dole.

And it was Michael who said,

"Come back to Australia
and play some shows."

You've gotta be patient

and you've gotta go back
in the studio

and try and find the right song
that's gonna carry it through

because you feel
that all the potential's there.

It was exactly the right thing
at the right time

because we made 'True Colours'
12 months later.

I have an actual visual image
of being in Michael's office

and he was sitting at his desk
which is probably unusual

as he's normally pacing the floor
usually holding his balls

if he was doing a deal.

And he was going,
"Oh, yeah, I don't know

if there's any singles
on the record, mate, but yeah."

I'm not a good one listen person.

I like to hear a song
two or three times

and you know, I've learnt.

So, I've played the whole album

and of course not being tactful
or anything else

instead of saying, "I don't know
which song is the single",

they've interpreted me saying,
"There's no single on this album."

As it turned out one of the songs
I was played was 'I Got You'.

Alright, Neil, sing a song.

('I GOT YOU' BY SPLIT ENZ PLAYS)

# I got you

# That's all I want... #

It just absolutely exploded
for them.

It was like a complete re-birthing
of that band.

God, as soon as he got a sniff,
he was just all over it.

Oh, yeah.

There was nobody better to be with
once things were humming.

There'd be an energy coming off him
then in huge waves.

Titanic waves.

Album of the Year, American release.

I get goosebumps
talking about that album

because I'd waited so long for it.

Could you imagine?

I would have been in therapy
for years if I'd let them go.

# I don't know

# Why sometimes I get frightened

# You can see my eyes

# You can tell
# That I'm not lying... #

True Colours was an album
where every single song was great.

And Split Enz were a major,
major influence in my whole career.

The thing that would be difficult

for people outside
the music business to appreciate

is how unusual
the structure of the Mushroom group

was at the time.

You know, in the music business
it exists as typically

a heap of different silos.

Publishers represent songwriters.

Record companies
represent recording artists.

Booking agents book live shows.

Promoters promote
typically international tours.

Merchandisers print t-shirts.

These are typically
completely separate businesses

run by completely separate people
with completely separate agendas.

Michael had his finger
in all those pies

and this was the great strength
of the Mushroom group

because any one of those
could be going down

and the others
would be going up to compensate.

In the 21st century
multinational record companies

tried to emulate this model
with what was called the 360 deal

where they signed all the facets
of the artist's rights.

They were never
able to make it work.

Michael had 360 deals in 1975.

The lunch of 1975

was the formation
of Premier Artists.

We just had a long lunch
to figure out,

"OK, well, we've got to protect
our business here

so the only way it's gonna happen
is by all joining forces

and creating a new company
called Premier Artists.

If there was ever
any competition in Melbourne

Michael would effectively
wipe it out.

Yeah, I wouldn't go wars

where we're shooting
each other's cars up

or blowing up their backyard
or anything,

but it was competitive.

It was survival.

We had all these companies
working together,

but we treated it fairly.

We slowly got a dominance
in the market

and that upset
a lot of people as well.

I mean, Gudinski isn't liked
by everyone,

I can tell you.

There was rivalry.

You know,
my ego was ridiculous at times.

And so was his.

Evans Gudinski came to an end

and it really had gone
through some challenges.

I went broke.
I had to move home.

My father had a phone call

and I could hear him
on the phone going,

"That's my bum of a son."

It was not the end for me.

It was a real lesson
and I knew I'd be promoting again.

I was probably one
of the main people to push that,

"You know, we've got all this.

We need a touring company."

That was my idea.

I said to Michael,
"We've got to do something here.

We can't just let this go away."

I said, "Listen.

I think we should start
a touring company."

Frontier was like a super company.

It sort of came in a wave
of new music at the time.

It was when alternative music
had just really started

and because I was travelling a lot
I could see what was going on.

So, the first few tours we did,

other people
weren't that keen on them.

It was UK Squeeze, the Police.

We were very much looking forward

to going to Australia
for the first time.

I'd never been.

And we were met
by a rather remarkable pair,

Michael and Chuggie.

Normally we'd work with promoters
who were much older than us.

But these guys
seemed like they were a band.

Especially Michael.

Michael had the energy
of a rock drummer.

He was like this crazy guy,
was full of energy and passion.

I mean, you could only understand
half of what he ever said.

So, we did the whole of Australia
with these guys

and they were in the band.

It was patently obvious
how much he loved music

and loved musicians

and loved being on the road
with them.

I always thought
the record company was my day job.

I loved touring.

You'd talk to the people
that made it happen

and that's the fans.

Sting and I have become mates.

I'm smiling because
there's too much I can't tell you.

But Sting and that band
really set the pace

of a whole new era of music.

By the time of Synchronicity,
we were a big band.

That was my word, too.
The Synchronicity world tour.

Sting loved the fact
that I hadn't finished high school

and how I found that word.

I don't know how I found it.
I must have been stoned one night.

It kept building

and we kept bringing
in English acts.

Then along came Neil Young
and Bob Dylan

and we started
to get into those big acts

and we became a serious,
serious player.

Getting an artist to come
and tour for you, it's never easy.

There's generally two
or three other people

that are looking
to want to tour that same artist.

And so you know, you go to battle.

You'd never go
to Los Angeles or New York

because you know
there'd be Jack Nicholson,

there'd be famous actresses.

You'd just be you know, in a queue

and everybody
who's anybody is trying to be there.

So, I worked out

that it's really good to turn up
in the middle of nowhere.

And I remember flying
to Sierra Smith in Buffalo

and it was absolutely freezing
and I wasn't dressed properly.

And so when I got to the show
they said,

"Oh, so you've flown
all the way from Australia?

That's incredible commitment."

I didn't tell them
I'd been in LA for a few days

but it certainly shows
that you're dead serious

when you turn up
in the middle of nowhere.

It was a crazy world.
A lot of partying, a lot of fun.

But it was part of the gig.

I had a very strong wife.
She came out of radio.

She used to work
at the legendary 3XY

and then on to EON-FM.

I went in to having a meeting
with Frank Stivala

about booking an artist.

I could hear this noise
coming from the left of me

as I'm going up the stairs
and it was Michael, bouncing around.

He's on the phone,
he's banging the desk.

And then all of a sudden
he sort of sees me and he's...

She was just a dream come true.

I mean, she was everything

that you wouldn't expect
Michael Gudinski to be with.

They were an unlikely couple.

There's Michael,
who from time to time

looked like a homeless person.

Wild and woolly,
the hair all over the place.

T-shirt with food stains
on the front

and he didn't care.

And then there's Sue.

He was a force of nature

but he was also
a big softy at heart.

He was kind, he was caring, funny.

It certainly
didn't make for a dull life.

He was full of life.

There's not a night
he didn't come home

where he wasn't, "Darling!"

He was just effervescent
and excited and had belief.

Michael and I lived
with his parents.

His mother got very sick.

Michael really was quite young
when he lost his parents.

He was 26 when he lost his mother.

And soon after, he lost his father.

And I was in London.

So, Michael was truly on his own.

Michael and I were sort of,

you know, living a very gregarious,
amazing life.

We were busy all the time.

We were at gigs
five, six nights a week.

('TAKE A LONG LINE'
BY THE ANGELS PLAYS)

We had this pub scene
which just made bands play well.

Literally the audience
were there in front of your face.

You played well or you got killed.

# Get outta my sight

# Take a long line

# Reel him in... #

All those great live bands
came through that pub era.

Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons,
The Sports, The Angels.

The great pub live acts,

and there'd be sweat
coming off the ceilings.

That was the golden era
of Australian music,

I think because you could go out
on a Monday or a Tuesday

and see a hotshot act
in one of your local pubs.

Michael was always
kicking up a storm

until all hours of the morning.

You know you'd go to gigs
and he'd be there for ten minutes,

then he'd go to another gig.

He was always on the move.

But part of his constant
perpetual motion

was he was always looking
for something

that somebody hasn't heard yet

or something
that hasn't been nailed down

that he can then get his hands on.

(BETTY'S WORRY OR THE SLAB
BY HUNTERS & COLLECTORS PLAYS)

There was such a fuss
around Melbourne

about a band called
the Hunters & Collectors.

There was nothing
like Hunters & Collectors.

They were just a phenomena.

There was queues
down the road for all their gigs.

You could feel it at the pub.

I was obsessed about song
the Hunters & Collectors.

Obsessed.

When I get obsessed,
I don't like losing.

# Well, I was looking
# To see some dreams

# Drip from your fingers... #

Very few people said no
to Michael Gudinski

because he just had that gift

of being able to convince you
or negotiate.

Max! It's Michael Gudinski.
How are you?

How do you know
when I want something?

I was in full motion,

standing on my desk
in the office going,

"If you guys don't sign..."

He was definitely very animated.

It's like the guy
on the back of the wagon.

You know, with the jar of oil.

"I got this stuff! Come on!"

The only way
I could get that band to sign

was to make them feel

that we were setting up
their own label.

So, the White Label began,
with 'Talking to a Stranger'.

('TALKING TO A STRANGER'
BY HUNTERS & COLLECTORS PLAYS)

# Souvent pour s'amuser
# Les hommes d'equipage... #

He was very excited about the band.

He saw the band
as having this enormous potential.

And it took a lot longer for them

to get big crossover success.

In fact they were real stubborn.

You could never push 'em around.

Gudinski had said, "Look,

you need to make
a commercial record.

Otherwise you haven't got a future.

The song that Mark wrote,
'Throw Your Arms Around Me'

was a live recording

and Michael was pretty
sort of flabbergasted

that the band would present

such a magnificent song
in such a way.

('THROW YOUR ARMS AROUND ME'
BY HUNTERS & COLLECTORS PLAYS)

# I will come for you at night time

# And I will raise you
# From your sleep

# I will kiss you... #

The band insisted,
"If you want to use that song,

that's the one
you're going to have to use.'

They refused to budge.

We never got it right.

We did a couple of other versions

but 'Throw Your Arms Around Me'

has got to be one of the greatest
Australian songs.

# And we will never forget it

# And you will make me
# Call your name

# And I'll shout it
# To the blue summer sky

# We may never meet again

# So, shed your skin... #

Alright, boys, you ready
to sign your lives away?

Here we go.

Now, Rob's been over all these.

I presume he's told you
at least a couple of the clauses

that are in here.

Nuh. I told them
who Michael Gudinski was.

That's enough.

(CHEERING)

Welcome to the team, son.

Just try not to make too much...

Anybody tell me
where the toilet is?

Don't make too much of a mess.

We've got another band
to come straight in please.

The one thing
people know is the artists

that Mushroom get behind
we give it everything we've got.

We don't expect every act
to necessarily be big straight away.

('FROM ST KILDA TO KINGS CROSS'
BY PAUL KELLY PLAYS)

Some great artists, you just have
to let them find their space.

I came to the notice
of Mushroom Records

around 1979, 1980
and I got a record deal, you know.

Three album record deal
with Mushroom Records.

So, yeah, great. Off to the races.

And that's when I first met Michael.

# From St Kilda to Kings Cross

# Is 13 hours on a bus

# I pressed my face against the... #

Similar to when I first heard
Bob Dylan,

I never thought the guy could sing.

I'll certainly take that back now.

I was pretty wary

because, you know,
there was a lot of big talk.

And I thought, "Mm, yeah, we'll see.

And you're very different to me."

You know,
music is a commercial thing,

but I was coming
from a different place.

Much more into bands
like The Velvet Underground

or The Go Betweens
or, you know, The Triffids

and bands not working
in the mainstream.

He used to talk about Paul Kelly,
like, "And he even rocks!

He knows how to rock."

And I thought,
that's kind of what he needs.

You know he wants the idea
that Paul was kind of acceptable

because he could, you know,
he could do that if he needed to.

I made those first two records.

They didn't do
very well commercially at all.

Or critically.
And I didn't like them either.

And I had a three record deal.

And he said, "We'll only give you
the money to make the next record

if you sign
for another three albums,

or whatever it was."

I could have taken that positively

and thought,
"Oh, he still believes in me."

But I felt that
I was being held over a barrel.

That's blackmail.

So, I walked away.

But Michelle, who worked at
Mushroom at the time,

was a big supporter.

Michelle Higgins was the firebrand

who put every single hit record
on radio.

She was a force of nature.

Michael wasn't so sure
he was going to re-sign Paul.

Michelle was at the Sebel Townhouse

and she said she wasn't coming back
till Michael signed him

and she was going to empty
the minibar every day.

Holed up
at the Sebel Townhouse in Sydney,

ordering Verve Cliquot,
ringing me going

"Until you sort this out,
we are not losing Paul Kelly."

He listened to her. So, ah...

You know, I walked away
and then I came back.

I said, "I want to make
a double album",

and he was like, "What!"

Who would have let Paul Kelly
at a big label

do a double album called 'Gossip'?

It made us unique
as far as labels in history.

That was really,
probably I guess the first

sort of penny dropped for me
that I had a staunch ally.

You know Michael
would talk about family.

"You're part of the family."
I bristled at that.

I found that oppressive, you know.

There's always two sides
to that coin of like,

"You're part of the family."

It's sort of like,
you know, Cosa Nostra.

"You can't escape us.
We're the family."

Over time, I started to appreciate

the loyalty that he showed
to his artists

and that his talk of family
wasn't just a ploy or a front.

It was actually genuine.

Name the Australian band
that Mushroom Records

most wished they had signed.

(BUZZER BUZZES)
Yes.

Do you want the true story?
Sure.

I've had therapy for years.

Over which band?

Not once but twice
I knocked back Men at Work.

In the hotel.

Frank Stivalis said to me,
"You should sign this band.

I'm telling you
there's a vibe on them."

So, I went and saw them
and didn't like them

and as it turned out

that would have been
the missing link

that I've never had in America

and, you know,
that's one of the great things

about show business.

There's no-one
with 100% track record.

It's like the racetrack, I guess,

except the artists
can speak back to you.

Most popular Australian record,
1980, East.

Cold Chisel, in the early days,

we would have been happy
to be signed by anybody.

But because we were
an Australian band

and all the bands that we looked up

to seemed to be coming
through Mushroom at that time.

You know, we wanted to sign
at Mushroom.

I knocked back Cold Chisel
and I still tell Jimmy to this day

that he wasn't singing
on the demos that I knocked back.

('MY TURN TO CRY')
# Pretty young

# She was young and pretty

# I was so naive... #

We were in this management stable.

A guy called Geoff Scuse managed us
and he managed a band called Stars.

('LAST OF THE RIVERBOATS')
# There a light

# Across the river... #

And they were very marketable,
you know.

They were really pretty
and they dressed nice.

And then Michael
looked at this photo of us

and we were hungover.

Bloody, you know, didn't look like
we were gonna do anything

he was going to say.

And then there was Stars
who were like, you know.

And he said,
"Yeah, I'll take Stars."

I've never lived it down

but I became
really good mates with Jimmy.

And we'd just hang out together.

# You just left me here waitin'... #

Michael and I were both wild,

so we'd just go out
and we'd have a great time.

We'd go see all these bands
he was looking at signing

and I'd be fucking chopping out
lines of coke and then you know...

He was much more
of a pothead than me

and I didn't like pot.

I wanted to go fast.

# So, say you'll take a chance

# On this heart of mine

# Don't make me the one... #

I'd be away
from the band all the time.

I'd fight with them all the time.

So, there was a point,

I guess, where they could have been
a little bit wondering

whether Michael was being
too much of an influence on me.

But there was many times

where I would be thinking
about walking out on Cold Chisel

and Michael would talk me
into going back.

I got a phone call out of the blue.

He said to me,
"Cold Chisel's splitting up."

And I'm going, "What?"

Michael was going,
"If you're sure you're out,

you've got to have a plan.

This is one of the best bands
the country's made

and if you walk out of it now
and disappear,

you know, you're gonna lose
the momentum."

Jimmy Barnes was like,
"I want it, I want it now.

I want to put a solo record out."

Michael had found his artist.

He'd found that act
that he really loved the music of,

he really loved hanging out
with that could keep up with him.

He had a real wit
and cheek about him.

And I remember after leaving him

and Mark Opitz alone
in Rhinoceros Studios

coming in to hear the tracks
for his album.

He sits down next to me
and I said, "Now, Michael,

the biggest music
in America is country.

And I just thought, you know,
that's where I want to go."

It's called Jim's Barn Band.

And I played the song.
It was 'Your Cheating Heart'.

I was singing,
"your cheating heart."

It was really fucken bad.

I've got, you know, five people
in the studio looking at me

and I'm sitting here
listening to him

playing stupid country songs.

And I was like in shock.

After about two
or three songs I just went,

"Nah, I'm only kidding you."

And he said, "Oh, thank fuck",
you know.

But he would have let me
make the record,

because that's the record
I wanted to make.

It just drew me closer to him

because I realised
literally at the point

whatever I wanted to do
as an artist,

he was ready, prepared to back me.

And nobody else in the world
would have done that.

('NO SECOND PRIZE'
BY JIMMY BARNES PLAYS)

The album was done fast.

It was pretty raucous
and it came in bang at number one.

And then again.

I remember the two of us
just becoming really determined.

"Let's do bigger.
Bigger shows, better records.

One number one record's not enough.

Let's do another one.
Let's do another one."

I think we had seven
number one records in a row.

# Oh, yeah... #

Although we were driven
in different ways,

I think the fact that we both wanted
and had so much to prove.

We grew up as human beings together.
We made mistakes together.

We met the loves of our lives
around the same time.

Our girls became friends.
Our family were friends.

# I heard about a person

# Who had a broken heart

# With nothing to drive him on

# No hope no spark... #

They were always there
for each other,

when it came to the crunch.

When things,
you know, went too far.

Whether it be scandals or the press

or, you know, they would balance
each other at different times.

One would be able
to pull the other back.

I think Michael knew how wounded

and how damaged I was
and liked me anyway.

Most people would end up running
but, "Can't keep up with him.

I'll leave him alone."

Michael could probably
outrun me as well, you know.

But he was running
from different things.

He wasn't like me.

He wasn't damaged
and wounded like me.

But I'm sure he had his own...

Just, you know, the fact
that he was out parking cars

when he was a kid.

He had points to prove.

It wasn't just about being
an entrepreneur,

or a having deals going on.

He had something he wanted to prove,

whether it was to his family
or to himself.

# It may be hard

# But, ooh, it's the only way

# Always remembering

# There ain't no second prize

# There ain't no second prize. #

He just wanted a number one
fucking record in America.

It was the biggest market
in the world

and it was the home of music.

Michael wanted just to conquer it.

You know, but I just wanted
to be a part of it.

Got me with the best agents
in America,

they put me on tour.

But the thing was,
I sort of didn't fit in in America.

You know, I'd been in control
of everything I'd done up to here

and suddenly I was in the thick
of the biggest music.

The cogs were turning around me
in the music business

and I had no control over it

and I had no say
in what I was doing.

And you know the last thing
I needed to be was,

you know, somewhere
where drugs were cheaper

and, you know, booze was cheaper.

It was very frustrating

'cause Jimmy was so close
to breaking America.

One of the things
I made a conscious decision about

was that
I wasn't gonna move overseas.

We actually set up an office
at Oz Records in America.

We had a house off Mulholland Drive
and I still wouldn't move away.

I liked driving past my old school.

I thought Australia
was the lucky country.

I wanted to bring my kids up here.

When I was in labour with Matt,
he said to me, "Darling.

Darling!

This is gonna make you feel better.

Just I'm gonna
put these headphones on you

and I'm gonna play you
the new Angels tracks.

No, no, no, this is gonna
take your mind off everything."

Who does that?

Sue was the side of Michael
that reminded him

of a full balance in his life.

You know,
'cause he was absolutely hungry

for everything he could do

and be and be part
of in terms of music.

But he always had a connection
to family as well.

How are you?

I'm doing a speech

but we won't put you
on New Zealand microphones.

But I'll ring you straight back.
How's that, son?

Love you.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, it's three hours behind,
Australia.

He's just finished school
so he's rung in for a report.

Don't laugh.

That could be the future of Mushroom
sitting right there.

The whole show business
era of that time

had people falling apart.

Had I not met Sue

and had I not had children
I think there was every chance

that I could have been another one
who had gone off the rails.

When I was six or eight years old,

I was already on a tour as a baby.

Constantly spending time
on the road,

you know, with Jimmy Barnes,
John Farnham, Hunters & Collectors.

It wasn't unusual for there to be,

you know, rock stars
or pop stars in our house.

He wanted you to feel
at home, Michael.

You're in Australia and you come
from the States, that's a schlep.

Because you're so far away from home

and you get homesick

it's nice to be embraced
by a family.

You know the first thing that I do

when I get home
from a tour is I cook.

That's a way of saying,
"Ah, I'm home.

I'm not eating
somebody else's food."

You know Michael would say,
"Go ahead.

Come to my house and do your thing."

Sting rang from Sydney

and said,
"What are you doing, Michael?"

And he goes,
"Oh, Billy's here for dinner."

2.5, 3 hours later,
Sting's at the front door.

He decided to fly down
for dinner, too.

He trusted a bunch
of like degenerates

to come into his house
and be around his beautiful children

and treated us like family members.

Every tour, Sue and Michael
and his family hosted a party.

And it wasn't just a party.
It was a fucking kick-ass blowout.

They were so fucking crazy
and so good.

And who was leading the charge,
was Michael.

He was wild.

I mean,
(INDISTINCT) there's a few nights

I don't know how we got
through the other side.

I'd been hearing Michael's name
from other managers.

I'd always heard
great stuff about him.

wild stuff about him.

Jon always said Mike
was too wild to be our promoter

in our early excursions
into our Australia.

I'm not sure what he meant by that.

Well, actually, I do know
what he meant by that.

(CHEERING)

Frontier at that time

was one of the country's
biggest promoters.

Michael was doing MCGs with Madonna
and that was completely crazy.

No-one had ever seen
anything like that before.

I imagine being a rock promoter

as the biggest fucking nightmare.

Musicians are the worst.

They're just the fucking worst.

Like they're all little babies
just waiting to be cuddled

and this sweater's itchy

and that milk's not warm enough
and what the fuck ever.

You get people on foreign soil

and it used to scare
a lot of people.

But you'd spend time with them

and you'd take care of them
most of them never forgot

and we had a good reputation
of doing whatever it took.

There's been
all types of situations.

You know Aerosmith,
we had drug counsellors

and we had to clear every minibar.

You're dealing with venues,

you're dealing
with astronomical budgets.

It's like wall
after wall after wall after wall

that you have to hurdle.

4:00 in the morning,

there's a bang, bang,
bang, bang, bang.

"We've lost Iggy Pop!"

Gudinski went to nightclub
after nightclub after nightclub.

A mate of mine rang me up.
"I thought you might be interested.

He's asleep in a gutter
on Punt Road."

And then Billy Idol drove a hire car

through the glass doors
of the Rockmans Regency Hotel.

Imagine putting yourself
in his position

every time he's gotta put on
a fucking concert.

Why the fuck you would live a life

of such incredible pressure
and stress.

There has to be a reason
why he did it.

Frank Sinatra.

You'd never dream that you'd get it.

Frank was just a grumpy old prick.

Someone had said,

"Look, no-one is allowed
to call Mr Sinatra Frank.

He is referred to as Mr Sinatra."

"Mr Sinatra to you."

So, I'm practising.

"Mr Sinatra, it's Michael Gudinski,
your promoter here.

Mr Sinatra, it's Mr Gudinski.

Mr Sinatra."

So, I get flustered
and sure enough I go,

"Frank, I'm your promoter."

On the back.

"Frank, it's so good
to have you here.

We're in for a feast

and we're gonna have a rolling
good time tonight."

I wish my father
was alive for that tour

'cause it would have been the first
and only tour

that I ever did that
he would have gone to.

He would have been very proud.

He wanted to prove himself.

You know, make them see
how good he could do things.

It was important to him.

He would have felt chuffed
to have talked to his friends about,

"My son Michael
is doing Frank Sinatra's tour."

And that was sad.

His mother could see

all the other great things
he was doing.

Mushroom has grown
into one of the biggest

independent record labels
in the world.

The artists have always
spoken for our label

but there's one thing
that's made all the artists

and myself
an incredible combination.

That's been the incredible people
I've had around me.

We were very much
Australia's independent rock label

and I realised
that as I was getting older

all the acts that we were gonna sign
weren't necessarily acts

that I was a fan of or that I liked.

('THE LOCO-MOTION'
BY KYLIE MINOGUE PLAYS)

# The Loco-Motion... #

It was probably helpful

that I was unaware of anything
about the music industry.

# Everybody's doin'
# A brand new dance now... #

Had I known that Mushroom
was a house of rock and roll

and that on paper,
I would have no place there

maybe it wouldn't have ended up
that way.

But I just was as green as this room
and that's where I was led.

Michael Gudinski gave me a cassette

and just said,
"Listen, take a look at this.

Someone's given it to me.

I don't know what you think."

Amanda Pelman
and Gary Ashley badgered

Michael Gudinski
to listen to this demo.

He was not a big fan of pop music

so I think
they had to talk him into it.

Was I a bit sceptical about it?

Yes.

Fortunately I went to London

and I said to my niece and nephew

I said, "Do you think
I should sign Kylie Minogue?"

And they didn't know
what I was talking about.

And I said, "I mean Charlene."

They start screaming, yelling.

Gary Ashley,
who was the guy that came up,

started as the poster boy.

He was the one that was very keen
and went to England.

The decision to sign Kylie Minogue

was pretty out of the box

because Mushroom was known
as the home of Aussie rock.

That's probably
why Gary Ashley figured

that the relationship
with Stock Aitken Waterman

was a perfect mix

because Stock Aitken Waterman
in London

were creating
their own pop hit factory.

I had a couple
of key radio rock people

say to me, I will never forget it.

"This is the end
of the Mushroom label."

Well, let me tell you,

it was the beginning
of a whole wider Mushroom label.

('I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY'
BY KYLIE MINOGUE PLAYS)

The palace revolt
at Mushroom Records

when this teeny tiny thing
from soap opera land came in

and hogged the number one spot
on the charts

for ten weeks or something.

Ah, yeah, I'm sure
there were a few people

out to smother me.

Established rock musicians
who'd written their own songs

and been around for years

there was some jealousy
and some backlash.

A lot in the press.
A lot of resistance from radio.

To me,
'I Should Be So, Lucky' was a gem.

Her first album went gold
or platinum in America.

That was a phenomenon,

to have a soap star
have so many hits.

Kylie just exploded in England.

She was enormous.

She was the next biggest thing
to Princess Di.

# I should be so lucky

# Lucky, lucky, lucky

# I should be so lucky in love... #

He absolutely loved it.

The fact that Mushroom Records
was selling to the world.

After a while though

Kylie had grown
out of Stock Aitken Waterman

and Terry and her came to me
and they said, "Look,

you really have to get us
out of this deal."

And I'm very proud
but I lost some rights

but it was the only way
to really free her

and by this stage
she was really starting

to have a bit of opinion.

And I think she realised

that music was moving
in so many different directions.

It just blew my mind to see
just how she grew over the years

and is still growing
and still changing.

Michael could read the room
and adapt.

I mean, he was very opinionated
but was malleable and could pivot.

Muddy Waters gave me a basis

where music means
more to me than money.

Thank God for Kylie Minogue.

Thank God for the Skyhooks.

Thank God for the things
that pay the bills.

But let us never forget

that it's about the development
of great music.

It's about being a leader,
not a follower.

('TOOK THE CHILDREN AWAY'
BY ARCHIE ROACH PLAYS)

# This story's right
# This story's true

# I would not tell lies to you

# Like the promises,
# They did not keep

# And how they fenced us
# In like sheep

# Said to us,
# "Come, take our hand"... #

There was something about...

Something special
about Michael's idea

about where he thought
the real sound,

if you like,
of Australian music lay.

# Then they took the children away

# Took the children away... #

Indigenous music
was very important to me

at an early stage.

I was a proud Australian.

Happy to be born here.

Unhappy to see what was going on.

I was so determined

not to do Indigenous music
for the sake of it.

Because Indigenous music
is not a sound itself.

We're all unique artists
who all have a very powerful voice

and something to say

and I think that's where

Mushroom championed
all of the artists,

the Indigenous artists
that came through.

Michael just thought
it was good Australian music

regardless of me
being a First Nations artist or not.

He knew what good music was
and what it wasn't.

That's what I loved about Michael.

He was genuinely keen

on backing Indigenous artists.

That was when I started to see

that side of him
that wasn't just about,

you know, commercial success.

# Breaking their mother's heart

# Tearing us all apart
# Took them away... #

I get quite emotional
talking about Archie Roach.

There's songs in my life

that were just songs
that meant so much.

That would have to be one of them.

One thing that was so important
to me about Archie

was it was real music,
telling a story.

And there was more similarities
than you think.

They took the children away.

My parents were very old

when they got out of Russia
in the World War.

But I had a sister
I never knew about.

They never told me

but I understand
they took the children away.

He backed Archie,
Archie and Ruby Hunter,

record after record

even though
they weren't big selling records.

I know he thought
they were important records.

Around that time he also started
putting out Yothu Yindi's record.

A girl in my office,
Jenny Hunter-Brown,

who could pick a song,

and could pick a songwriter
played me Yothu Yindi.

The first album did nothing,
but we kept going.

The second album comes
and we hear 'Treaty'.

('TREATY" BY YOTHU YINDI PLAYS)
# This land was never given up

# This land was never bought
# And sold

# The planting of the Union Jack

# Never changed our law at all... #

The lyrics just said
what so many of us believed in.

It was important

what Yothu Yindi
was saying in their music

because the national dialogue
was a very different one.

We weren't truth telling
at that time.

# I'm dreaming of a brighter day

# When the waters will be one... #

Come on!

There was a club
that had opened in Melbourne

when mixing and remixing

and all this stuff
was really just starting.

And the guys
that were spinning the discs

were passionate and I love passion.

So, they said to me,
"Can we have a crack at 'Treaty'?"

# Treaty Yeh

# Treaty Yeh #

They took the original 'Treaty'

and turned it
into an absolute anthem.

I ring up and go,
"We've remixed the song."

He goes, "What are you doing?

The Elders.

You can't change, you know..."
I said, "Well, hang on a minute.

You didn't tell me this.
Can you just...

Can I send it to you
and you listen to it?"

So, there was quite a process
to actually go through

but everyone was happy.

We've taken the cultural element,

the Aboriginal side of the songs
and dance

and we've been able to combine
our language together

with the western language.

# nhe matjini Gaya gaya nhe gaya nhe

# Matjini walangwalang Nhema... #

I never thought it would make money.

It wasn't about it making money.

It just blew everyone's minds.

Yothu Yindi!
Yothu Yindi.

The winner
of the national Australian single

'Treaty' by Yothu Yindi.

Non-Aboriginal people
are starting to buy our records

that otherwise wouldn't had
any knowledge of Aboriginal people.

We've been able to build
and at least open that new horizon.

Yothu Yindi really paved the way

and from that came Christine Anu.

I was in the company of some really

powerful voices, you know.

Renee Geyer and Kylie
and Vika and Linda, Deb Conway.

And she's feisty.

She used to just give it
to Gudinski.

And then over the course
of the years

just meeting the women
that he put in charge

in different departments

who were just ready
to go head-to-head with him

he loved that.

He loved women
who could stand their ground.

That appealed to us as well,
when we signed.

Because, you know, growing up
in the rock industry

we were surrounded by men
most of our life.

Not a lot of female energy...

Not a lot, not a lot.
..around us, yeah.

My entire career,

I've been surrounded
by powerful men.

And either
they're full of dick-stroking

or they think the way to your heart
is by flirting with you.

Both are equally nauseating.

Michael was a powerful man
who never flaunted it

and treated everybody as his equal.

I have not come across
anyone like that in my career.

Not one single male like him.

We're just checking
the set-list here.

I'm not just a figurehead,
you know.

Through the 1980s,
you couldn't have been hotter

than Mushroom Records.

They owned the decade.

Mushroom started
to have a lot of success

and he was the figurehead.

You know, so he became
the iconic Michael Gudinski.

Michael became
the biggest act on the label

and I tend to think

that that's-that's not
a great situation.

It's completely natural

if you are dominating for that
to go to your head a little bit,

and for you to get a bit complacent.

And I think by the '90s
that sort of crept in.

And this big,
seismic cultural change

happened underneath Mushroom
and they missed it.

(I WAS CRUEL BY MAGIC DIRT PLAYS)

# I have quit you by mistake

# I have nothing more to make
# To make... #

Music I think had taken
a little bit of a leap to a point

where it was almost unrelatable
for an average listener

who lived in a trailer
outside of town

or worked their 3 an hour job.

They don't really want to hear
rock stars

talking about how great it is
to drink champagne

or ride in limos or fucken whatever.

And so they discovered this music

that was a bit more honest
and pure and relatable.

We were very caught up
in the pop thing

and I guess
there was that era of bands

where you had You Am I,
Spiderbait, Magic Dirt.

We were definitely late on that

and we, you know,
paid the price for that.

Ourselves and Mushroom

got into a bidding war
for Silverchair.

We flew to Newcastle,
we met the parents

and we thought we had it in the bag.

But the big brother
of Sony Records came in

and did the extra schmooze.

I was in my late 20s.

Most of the team from Mushroom

that was chasing
it was probably in their early 40s.

We brought with us
some live Pearl Jam CDs

that had never been released

and the band
were huge Pearl Jam fans.

"There ain't no second prize"
as Jimmy Barnes once wrote

and before you know it
we missed out.

This was around the time

when we were negotiating to sell
the first part of the company.

And I'd already met Rupert Murdoch.

And I remember coming
to my sister's house saying,

"I'm talking to Rupert Murdoch."

And my sister just said,

just turned and she said,
"How can you deal with that?"

Mushroom Records
is an Australian icon,

as Australian as Arnott's biscuits.

Why did you sell half of it
to Rupert Murdoch?

Because we really had
to get more happening

and get more records
released internationally

and really to break
through the international market...

we needed financial back up
and real strength.

You can't go and play the Americans

without a fat chequebook
to meet them on their own terms,

and when the whole thing
came together with Rupert Murdoch

it was obviously a dream come true.

How safe is Mushroom?
He owns half the company.

Wouldn't it be a logical conclusion

that Mushroom may ultimately
become part of Festival,

Mushroom no longer?

I doubt that.

It's my company
and I'm still in control

and, you know, we've already
set up an office in London.

Gary Ashley, my junior partner
at the time

was very keen for us
to set up worldwide.

I'd always preferred America

but Gary was determined
to go and set up in England.

We came into England
throwing News Limited's money

around as well as ours

and we had a joint venture
with a guy called Korda Marshall

and he started
a label called Infectious Records.

You know, starting a record label

in England at that point

it's not a cheap business,
so there was a lot of money.

You know, we spent,
in the early days

of Mushroom Records
we spent millions of pounds.

It was a big risk

and Michael was never afraid
to take risks.

Gary did a lot of great things
for the company.

He was the one that found Garbage
way before Shirley joined,

who was the 64th singer
they auditioned.

Our managers reached out
to Michael Gudinski

and to Gary Ashley and to Korda

and we signed a deal based on,
"Yeah, we're gonna make this band,

we're gonna find a singer
and it's gonna be cool."

There was no music.

We didn't play them anything
before they signed us.

I met this force of nature.

Little did I know
that he was gonna become

such a figurehead in my life,
you know.

In all our lives, I hasten to add.

But for selfish reasons
I speak personally

because that's how Michael was.

He forged
very personal relationships

even within our group, you know.

He made us all feel like

we were each
his favourite band member.

You know, each favourite Beatle,
you know.

That was a gen...
That was his genius.

He made us believe
that we could be a successful band

when we were nobody, nothing

in the middle
of the Midwest in America

with a very strange band.

Garbage took a long time

and within a couple of years
we were in serious trouble.

We'd burnt a lot of the money
and News Limited weren't happy

and without me
really knowing about it

Gary was talking
to News Limited behind my back.

I got a phone call
from Michael saying,

"I've just heard what's going on.
I've just heard what's going on.

I'm getting on a plane
and I'll be there tomorrow."

I remember going to Korda saying,

"Mate, I'm telling you,

are you ready
to take over this company?

Gary's gonna go."

It was a terribly difficult time,

I think when Michael
and Gary fell out

and the relationship ended.

And in many ways, I was stuck

right in the middle of that
whole process.

They'd had a phenomenally
successful relationship

and Michael started Mushroom,
and it was Michael's business.

But Gary had come in
and created a lot of success

with Kylie and with Jason
and other artists.

But Michael
was quite cross and angry.

And I think when he went
Michael really missed him.

He really did.

There was a critical time
when I actually came over

to just shut the thing down.

And I remember a mate of mine,
Chris Wright, said to me,

"Look, my daughter was talking

about one of your acts
the other day."

I said, "Who?"

('MYSTERIOUS GIRL'
BY PETER ANDRE PLAYS)

My daughter said,
"I saw Peter Andre last week.

The crowd really liked him.

I think
he could really make it here."

And Michael said, "Screw it.
We're gonna keep going."

# I stop and stare at you

# Walking on the shore

# I try to concentrate

# My mind wants to explore... #

Thank God we had one more go

and that I had the guts
to put up that last bit of money.

Within the next three months
Garbage went number one,

Ash went number one on Infectious.

And Peter Andre,
after releasing the thing

the third time
went number one as well.

# And girl I wanna make you mine

# I want to be with... #

I kept giving him
number one records in England

and he was like,
"No, I want one in America.

Come on, let's go."

Mushroom and my work
was always to be fun for me.

It had become too big business.

As much as I tried
to get international success

by getting involved
with News Limited

they were obsessed about control.

It just wasn't fun

and it became a big business battle

and they really wanted
to take control

in order to put
a lot more money into the company.

Murdoch offered him
a tonne of money

to buy the rest of it.

And that was a big decision
that had to be made.

Some nights I couldn't sleep.

You'd have to go to work.
You couldn't tell anyone.

It's on, it's off,
it's on, you don't know.

And it was very, very draining
for me.

He really didn't want to sell.

But I explained to him that
if he kept going he'd lose the lot.

Mushroom Records
becomes a fully owned subsidiary

of News Corporation's
Australian arm.

Gudinski will stay on
as non-executive Chairman.

It was Michael's worst hour
and my finest hour,

to sell Mushroom Records.

We got the right money,
but it was wrong for Michael.

('HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION'
BY RENEE GEYER PLAYS)

# When you came along boy

# You were different
# From the rest... #

When it finally happened,

we'd already planned
an enormous Mushroom

25th Anniversary Concert

and that concert became my farewell.

My childhood dream
was to fill the MCG

with Australian talent

and I've never felt
so proud in my life.

# Special in your eye... #

The show's become
a little bit more emotional to me

and it's become
a little bit more reflective.

And I'm sure I'll go through
some moments of extreme pleasure

and there'll be some moments
of sadness.

But the most
important things is this

that it's a celebration
of Australian music

and I'm just proud
if I had a little bit to do

with the fact that Australian music

as we go into the millennium
is world standard.

And, you know,
I'd just like to see that

more and more Australian artists
get the chance to break overseas.

The time of selling Mushroom Records

was a really bad time for Michael.

Worse than I thought it would be.

Sue noticed
how badly Michael was depressed

about losing his baby.

He loved Mushroom Records
more than anything.

He went through, um...

I'm gonna break down.

I need a minute.

I think she tended to blame me

a little bit for that and...

I hope she doesn't anymore

because it wouldn't have worked out
if we didn't do it.

I think the News Limited deal
hurt him

and, you know, depressed him

probably more than anything else
I've really seen.

I got wind that
he was gonna sell up to News Corp.

I felt...

uncomfortable about that.

You know, he'd fought as hard
as he could to keep me, and I left.

I knew it would hurt him.

I could... And he, you know...

He showed that.
He was hurt by it.

What really hurt me

was the Mushroom name
meant so much to me.

I wanted to stay on.

When he took Mushroom Records
away from me

I was bitter and twisted

but I did make sure
that Jimmy Barnes

and the Hunters & Collectors
catalogues...

would become back to them.

And Jimmy was pretty shocked
when I sold the label.

It was a business decision,
but I fucking hated it, you know.

The last thing I wanted
is have my career

in the hands of News Corp
or whatever it was, or Murdoch.

He knew I was...
It was like a sort of...

It was a big chink in our bond.

And he just said,
"We have to ride this out.

Ride it out.
Stick with me, hold it out."

And you know,
it was a clause in his contract

where he couldn't make
a record label

for two years or something.

And you know, he was already going,
"Just hang in. Believe me.

I've got plans, I've got plans,
I've got plans."

I remember
my American lawyer said to me,

"If you ever set up
another record label

I will personally come out
and shoot you."

I was determined,
I had the money from the sale

and on the rebound came back

and set up Liberation Records
real fast.

Warren Costello and Michael
started Liberation Music.

The first lot of acts,
it was a disaster.

It was the time
when within a couple of years

the music industry
as it was had collapsed.

The internet had come on full on.

Technology
was really impacting heavily

on the capacity to sell records.

There was a crisis in the industry,
there's no doubt about it.

The label really
didn't have much success

for a period of time
and it was quite humbling.

But it didn't deter me.

Jimmy Barnes came back.

Hunters & Collectors came back.

The resurrection of Archie Roach,

which was all driven
by Michael and Warren.

When Liberation started

they started finding
the next generation.

As soon as I finished
my schooling life at 17,

I moved into the business
straight away.

Seems to have given me
the zest to work hard again

and really there's a whole future
for everyone in the building.

I was the youngest person
in the company by about 20 years

and a lot of what I was listening to
definitely started to influence

the artists they were working with.

('ADDICTED' BY BLISS N ESO PLAYS)

# I was born in the '80s
# With that summertime love

# Then changed the whole game

# Like "what have I done?"

# Out the gutter I come

# To touch the bright sun

# And from the highest heights
# Motherfucker, I jump... #

When he started,
he was a hip-hop schmuck.

But what came out of it all

was his involvement
with Bliss n Eso.

For the first few years,
I could never work out

which one was Bliss
and which one was Eso.

But, Matt, you pulled it off
and they've given us a future.

Since Mushroom Records was sold

there's still a lot of confusion.

Some people don't know
if we're a touring company,

a record label, a publisher,
a merchandise business or an agency.

I just tell them
we're them all so...

Which we are.

We started working
a lot closer together

and would speak 50 times a day
on the phone

and of course that comes
with having some very robust

and fun conversations

and many disagreements
along the way.

We've just come out
of a panel of two Gudinskis together

and you guys didn't even fight.

You were very civil.
Oh, look, we...

We didn't get around to it,
unfortunately.

No, we need to keep...

You keep those sort of things
behind closed doors.

To be successful in our industry

you have to have
a competitive nature

and a strong drive.

Definitely my want
to challenge my Dad

drove him to even greater heights.

You work together,
then you divide up,

really who's responsible.

He's much more responsible
so he'll get most of it.

Yeah, definitely more on the labels

and Dad will focus
on the touring side.

When I started,
a record cost that much

and a concert ticket cost that much.

And it completely now has changed.

Frontier Touring Company in 2003

was probably touring
about a dozen artists a year.

If you fast forward to 2008,
we were touring 100 artists a year.

Our touring business went
from being a bit of a hobby business

to being the biggest touring company
in Australia.

All of a sudden,
live music had taken over.

It was my favourite
part of the business.

I'd go on the road,
I'd keep in touch

and the one thing I worked out

because I was a fan
right at the start is fans.

And this is around the same time

Kylie really started
to take theatre on stage

and really started to tour.

# I just can't get you
# Out of my head

# Boy, your lovin'
# Is all I think about

# I just can't get you... #

It was absolutely phenomenal.

She's taking theatre shows
on the road

and this is where I realised
how special this girl was.

Over the years,
our relationship grew.

His character came out
more and more, revealed itself.

I realised that you have
to be able to speak Gudinski.

I could be loud.

I could be arrogant, I'm told.

But Kylie and I
have never had an argument.

Michael's support
just never wavered.

It was always there.

He was just constantly
searching to be stimulated.

To be a part of something,

and be on the cutting edge
of something.

I remember
when Temper Trap came through,

he was so enthusiastic about them

and wanted them to break everywhere.

That was the same enthusiasm
I'd seen when I'd seen him,

you know 35 years before.

When you've been
in the business a long time

you need different things
that spark you up.

And we haven't had perhaps
as much international success,

particularly in America

considering how long

our different labels
have been going.

And a guy that was working for us

in the old Mushroom days
who came back,

a lot of my old staff came back
and he took me to a Temper Trap gig.

He was just out of his mind
about Temper Trap

and I'd be having meetings
in my office

and I'd have to shut the doors

because the volume of the songs
coming from upstairs was so loud

that the building was reverberating.

"Can you shut the fuck up
about Temper Trap?, you know?"

'Cause he'd just be telling me
all the time.

"I like Temper Trap!"

We should make sure
we send a note out

about Temper Trap straight away
to every radio station.

I went through quite a horrific time
with the Temper Trap.

Couldn't get on commercial radio
in Australia.

Couldn't get much support.

I think the more people said,
"Oh, this isn't gonna work",

if he had faith in it,
the more it drove him, you know.

We were getting
a little bit frustrated, I guess

just trying to break through
in Australia

and we ended up moving to the UK.

He rang me up.
"There's a band playing on Friday.

You've gotta go and see it.

I'm just checking,
Friday, you're gonna go."

This little fellow came in onstage

and he just opened up and sang

and he sang 'Sweet Disposition',
and the voice of an angel came out.

# Sweet

# Disposition... #

I rang Michael up after the gig
and I said, "We could start a label.

They're signed.
I've got them signed.

We could start a label
with this band.

This band is great."

# Never too soon... #

And they created
something from scratch

to put our record out in the UK.

And then put all this energy
behind us

to really break us there.

That's when you go, "Wow,
he really, really does believe in us

and we're gonna work

and do what we can
to make this come to life."

# A moment, a love

# A dream, aloud

# A kiss, a cry

# Our rights, our wrongs

# A moment, a love... #

The following spring,
we had a big, big, big record.

Everyone in my office
thought I was insane when I said,

"We are re-releasing that song",

because 'Sweet Disposition'
is an absolute anthem.

It's all about timing
and getting your ducks in a row.

Australia then realised,

you know, that maybe
there's something here

in that song.

Thank God,

and had that not been so massive
in England

it's a sad indictment

that we most probably
would have lost that here.

It was the Song of the Year.

It's a song that's one
of Australia's classic songs

that could have been missed.

It went on to have
a Number 6 single in England

and a gold album in England,
platinum singles in America

and it was a fantastic
couple of years.

Australia has had
some incredible artists.

When I grew up in Australia
the import car was the rage,

the import clothes
and the import record shop.

That changed.

People got proud.
We're a great country.

Australia has to support its own
because they're good enough

and they should be
the Australian Invasion.

Please give me that before I die.
That's all I ask.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I have no doubt
that Michael was a music fan.

But over time I think

the thing he loved most
was the game.

He loved music as a means
to creating experiences

and to being the host with the most.

Just to work at a job you love

to have fun at what you do

and you look at what's going on
in serious parts of the world

and shit going down you
start to feel guilty that...

Or not even guilty,
you just want to do things.

And we've done
lots of charity stuff but...

when Black Saturday happened
I was on tour with Leonard Cohen.

Leonard played right where the fires

were out at Rochford
at the Day On The Green

and Leonard came to me, he said,

Can I speak to you
and can I speak to you

when we get to the hotel?"

Because I had to practise
not to be too loud around Leonard.

He was very much a Buddhist.
Very calm.

He said, "Look, Michael.

I really feel
about what's gone on here.

I'd like to make
a significant donation

to these fires."

And I thought, "Bloody hell."

Then the next thing you know,
Jimmy Barnes rings me an hour later,

he goes, Michael,
we've got to do something."

Success doesn't prevent you
from being a citizen.

You know,
and you have citizen's rights

but you also have
citizen's responsibilities.

And I know Michael
felt that as well, you know.

That he could do something,
so he would.

It's gonna be a show
that will go down in history.

I mean, realistically,

we could have done two
or three MCGs.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Hi, Australia.

Hi, Melbourne!

Welcome to the MCG
and welcome to Sound Relief.

It pissed with rain,
no-one cared.

It was about musicians
getting together,

generations of people together.

It was the biggest
paid Australian crowd in history.

There was a sister concert
in Sydney.

But Sound Relief meant more to me

than most probably
anything I've done.

And the fact that we had a concert

with that many people
really was the crowning point,

that music is a great influencer.

It can be such a great

and important part
of people's lives.

# But we never say never

# Sitting in a sandpit

# Life is a short trip... #

Split Enz came together.

Midnight Oil got back together.

Of course the Hunters were first.

I couldn't say...
You can't say no to the guy.

Well, he was one of those guys
that could bring everyone together.

You know,
it's a little bit like Geldof.

In many ways,
Michael reminds me of Geldof.

That, you know,
that very abrasive passion

and confidence
to get people behind him.

He got chatting to my wife, Marie,

on the side of the stage
and said to her something about,

"Oh, it's great to see Tim
looking so happy

and it must be because of you."

I was quite touched
because in the middle of this moment

with, you know, Herculean effort
and magnificence

and, you know, the size of the crowd

and just the buzz of all
having been part of that

he made a very personal comment,
you know, like that.

So, I think he was able to switch in
and out really well, Michael,

from big, inflamed kind of feelings

and thrills and buzz and adrenaline

to saying some little personal thing

that you go, "Oh, you know,
I didn't know you noticed,

or I didn't know you cared."

Gudinski had
sort of an overwhelming need

to bring people together

and he was in love with a big event

and facilitating
that sense of community

and collective feeling amongst
thousands of Australians at once.

There really is something to be said

for stepping out onto a stage

and singing a song

where 10,000, 20,000, 50,000,
80,000 people know the chorus

and they all join
in chorus together.

You know there aren't
too many things in life

that will bring that many people

from different
walks of life together

and join in like harmony, or chorus.

He's the guy that put those
two things together

and maybe it was the best night
of your fucking life.

The trouble is, Gudinski,
he doesn't like to pay.

Have a great night. Kill it, mate.
Alright, mate.

It's the home
of rock and roll and Mushroom.

Not as good as the home...
You have a good show.

..of rock and roll.

Kill 'em, Rod.
Have a good night.

(INDISTINCT)

No, it's this way.
That was a good move.

That'll teach you to be a smartarse.

You would always notice Michael
at one of our shows.

Either he was clowning
around in the pit

or you'd see him
at the side of the show going nuts.

And then you'd come off-stage

and he'd grab you
and, "That was great!

Oh, my god! Go out there!
Do it again! Do an encore!"

Then he'd leave
the hash cookies on the table

in the dressing room
and that could have ended badly.

Did, a couple of times, I think.

He loved being at shows.
He loved talking to the audience.

He'd say, "You having a good night,
are you?

Yeah, where'd you come from?

How'd you find out about the show?"

He'd be getting selfies
with the fans.

Walking around
to all the different points,

chatting with the punters.

Well, here's my theme song.

'Some Guys Have All The Luck'.

It's all about luck and good timing.

What a way to end a tour.
Go, little fella.

Whoo!

Whether you were at lunch
or backstage,

you know, his energy was consistent.

And that was high. (LAUGHS)

High energy.

You know, I've heard
someone refer to him

as the Tasmania Devil.

He'd just be like this.

Through the room.
Maybe a couple of laps.

"I gotta go."

You would see him at a backyard gig,

a pub gig like The Tote,
side of stage at The Corner,

you would see him
at a really obscure cafe

with maybe three or four
other patrons there.

He was just excited to be there.

He turned up to my tiny little show

when I was no-one.

And then he turned up for every

kind of special moment
along the way.

I'd play
at the Northcote Social Club.

# I was scared of dentists...
He turned up to that.

# And the dark... #

I remember
coming specifically that night

and it was a little cafe
and there was 12 people there.

I don't know
if you knew I was coming.

He's so invested in all the artists,

no matter what stage
of their career they are.

The fact that your father
encouraged you is just...

As a parent,
he's got to feel so proud.

Maybe it's an addiction
of some sort that thirst that he has

to try to get the next artist up
and never stopping

trying to make it happen
for someone.

# Lady, running down to the riptide

# Taken away to the dark side

# I wanna be your left-hand man

# I love you

# When you're singing that song
# And I got a... #

There's no coincidence
that he took artists

from small venues to stadiums

numerous, numerous times.

It wasn't unusual for Michael
to see someone play to 30 people

and then in a year
for them to be playing an arena.

Stuart Cap used to work
for Mushroom Records in London.

He rang Michael.

He said, "I've got this young artist
I really want you to come and see."

You know I hadn't had a hit single
in Australia at this point.

I hadn't released anything properly.

And there was like
30 people there, maybe.

The little redheaded fella
is like my stepson.

This kid's not talented,
he's gifted.

# White lips, pale face

# Breathing in the snowflakes

# Burnt lungs, sour taste... #

I actually don't think
there's anyone like

Michael in the music business.

I mean, the music business is like
full of eccentrics.

But the bloke had his
own gravitational pull.

Like every single person from like

people that worked on my tour
to my friends.

Like he would just come and hang out
with me and my mates on nights out

and everyone was
just obsessed with him.

He just had this aura of fun
at all times.

He was just bonkers.

Dad had many great relationships
from artists

he toured in the early days
and artists that

were a similar age to him.

But the relationship
he built with Ed Sheeran

nearly 40 years apart in age
really showed to me

that probably one of Dad's
biggest strengths

was his ability
to connect with artists.

He was also just a grown-up kid
and he loved youthful energy.

I think, that's why
we got on so well.

I never saw him as older than me,
he was just sort of...

We were kind of
on the same wavelength

in terms of silliness.

The very talented
ginger ninja Mr Ed Sheeran!

That little redhead kid that
I fell right into at the start

who is without a doubt the biggest
act in the world at the moment

and I love him,
and he's really like family to us.

Michael was very fond
and keen on family

being a key thing
for everything and that's

so much where Ed's head is as well.

Gudinski, where are you? Yes!

He came to see me in a venue
in Melbourne to about 12 people

and took me on from there

and we're doing
our first stadium tour now.

So, thank you very much, Michael.

The touring side
and the music side of it

is such a small part of
my relationship with him.

We've had our peaks together.

Like we've sold
a million tickets in Australia.

We've taken ABBA out,
we've taken Dire Straits out.

But that didn't actually like
enter into any of our friendship.

It was just sort of
something on the side.

Number one and only!

It was just like, "Oh, and now
we're gonna go and do the gigs."

But all the time in between
was what was the fun part.

There's a quality,
an emotional quality to music

that allows people
to use it as a proxy for connection.

And I wonder if in Michael's own way

that was part of
what music did for him.

It was his way
of connecting to people.

Because he could be quite an
awkward person

and I think in some ways
quite shy underneath it all.

And I think that a large part of

the appeal of selling
a million Ed Sheeran tickets sure,

the balance sheet would have been
a very big part of that appeal.

But it wasn't just that,
it was a million people.

"I made a million people excited."

He owned all
the big tours in Australia, really.

He's still the record holder
with Ed Sheeran.

The Stones Paul McCartney
was another amazing thing for him.

The tour gets announced.

Michael's on the TV,
he's on the radio.

He's already done
some press interviews.

It's the man on the run.

I'm glad you gave me at least
15 minutes notice to sober up

but to be honest with you,

it was a very emotional
moment for me.

You know when you get
to the things on your bucket list

it's just a big few days
of gonna see

the youngster tomorrow,
Edward Sheeran.

Both him and the Foo Fighters.

One thing I'd like to plug
if I could.

Plug if I could?

He's mentioned Ed Sheeran,
Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney.

He's got 'em all
out in one sentence.

He loved promoting Mushroom,
his artists and himself as well.

He's playing a part.

He played the part
that he wrote for himself

and he loved being Michael Gudinski.

It's like it
just pulsed through him.

The love for music,
the love for Australian music

and then how he would highlight
Australian music and Australia.

Let's shine a light on,
you know, Hanging Rock, for example.

I love it up there.
It's a very special venue.

It really is something
that's more special to me

than just making a buck.

We played Hanging Rock for Michael
and I knew it was a special location

and that he had some
deep personal connection to it

and to those shows in particular.

And they were great shows.

I was absolutely knocked out

to finally be able to work
with Bruce Springsteen.

I'd wanted to work with him
for years and years

and there was no question
who was The Boss on that tour.

He was.

It was funny, you know,
because when I first met him,

it was like, "Whoa!"

You know, he came on strong,
you know.

Strong, funny and old school.

They were all things
that I loved about him.

He was to me...
That's an Australian.

(LAUGHS)

He epitomised the country for me.

('DON'T CHANGE' BY
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN PLAYS)

Bruce played
anything from 3-3.5 hours.

And I can tell you,
have a good night's sleep

before you go because when you think
it's got to level five

it just goes a double notch.

Michael would egg that on.

He'd want you to go out
and expend every bit of energy.

You know you would try to match his,
actually, you know.

We had been in

what I would call a slump
with Australia

between and 2003 and 2013.

And when we brought
Michael into the picture

as the promoter things changed.

The excitement,
and the national excitement.

He had a way of presenting us

that maximised all of the energy
that Bruce himself

would bring to the country,
you know.

# Things have been
Done for too long... #

I felt like
he felt about music the way

that I feel about music.

That it's this sort of divine,

redemptive beautiful force
in the world

and you felt that
he got that in his heart

and he had that in his soul.

Michael was a very complex man

and he was a person
with strong moods

and his mood could really change.

And I'd been with him one-on-one

where, you know,
he could just sort of

get a little dark as all of us can.

And, you know,
whatever his personal demons

were he experienced them, you know.

And you could be with him
and he could just...

Where did he go for a minute,
you know?

And he would lose that

bonhomie and that character.

As much as
he was incredibly successful

and he, you know,
worked really hard,

loved what he did,
he always felt like

he still wasn't doing enough.

You know he always
had this kind of guilt

that he could be doing more

as well as giving all his love
and attention to his family.

We always moved at a fast pace

but there was definitely
a different side to Dad

behind closed doors.

He loved being a grandfather,
or a Papa, as my girls call him.

And I really found that
when he became one

that kind of forced him
to become more present.

Michael spent his whole life
borrowing energy from the future.

What Michael didn't do is,
what is more conventional is,

you get to the top of the mountain

and then you plant the flag
and then say, "OK, job done."

The thing with Michael
is he did climb Mount Everest

and he did plant the flag

but then went looking
for more mountains,

higher ones, you know.

It was his strength and ultimately,
his weakness.

I saw Michael
at the sunset marquee with Chuggy

and they were obviously doing deals
trying to get some tours going,

you know, just in the same way
they'd always done it.

We were really excited about it

and then Covid
came out of the blue.

An unprecedented
emergency lockdown.

The Prime Minister
has effectively shut

our borders banning foreigners
from entering the country.

Gatherings of more than
two people, illegal.

As the nation
self-isolates from the world.

There was a really serious
view in that time

that live music
might stop altogether.

I was worried for Michael
when the pandemic hit

'cause I couldn't imagine him
sitting in one spot for so long

and not being able to travel.

The first couple of weeks
I was just a basket case.

And then one day

we were sitting
back under the sheets drinking

a bottle of good red wine,

mind you and my wife came home
a bit early unexpectedly

and she gave me
the biggest lecture that,

"You know what?

"We're lucky people.

"We could be stuck in
a one bedroom apartment somewhere."

And then all of a sudden

the idea of Music from the Home
Front came to me

and it was a very big challenge

because I wanted to tie
it in with Anzac Day.

The Anzacs risked
their lives for Australia

and the frontline workers
had that in common.

It just inspired me and it's weird
because for mostly 20 or 25 years

my creative juices haven't flown
like they have.

"I'm gonna do a concert,

"there's going to be
this many artists.

"You know, televised
around Australia

"and it's happening
in ten days time."

All of a sudden
when I thought I was gonna be

having a downtime,
there was no downtime.

All the big sketchbooks came out.

"How long can you stay
up for?", and I'm like, "OK,

"I can probably do one."

That's how you have careers
that last 40 or 50 years.

Everyone else goes to bed,
you go to work.

# Woke up this morning

# I suddenly realised

# We're all in this together

# Come on, baby

# I don't mean to rush you... #

Music From the Home Front
really, in my opinion stood out

as being an absolute
triumph for him.

He wanted to support
all the Australian artists

and let them know
he's got their back.

I've never seen him
so revved up and excited.

I've lost my voice.
I've had no sleep.

And it's one of the most
fulfilling tasks

I've ever been involved in.

He was so proud

and he got a number one
record out of it.

The first album
that I did and the only

other Australian triple album
ever was Sunbury '73

so it's quite
an amazing coincidence.

Michael just stood up
and started to take action

and started to create
job opportunities

for lots of people through,

you know, a whole host
of initiatives.

One, two, three, four, five.

Fuck, I've been screaming
at too many people.

The show will be shown on YouTube
and Facebook all round the world

so it'll give our new artists
an incredible opportunity

and ensure that we stay
the music capital of Australia

and one of the music
great cities of the world.

He was able to
cultivate such respect

and take people
of all generations along with him.

I've got everyone working hard
and you'll love this.

# Is anybody real?

# Does anybody feel?

# Does anybody write
The days in motion?

# They're sinking
Through the ocean... #

He introduced
a whole stack of new talent.

It was like Countdown days,
having a show to watch each week.

It was exciting.
"Who's gonna be on this week?"

Got hot water.

Half the hot water with cold water
with heaps of honey.

Heaps of honey and lemon in it.
Please, Simon.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Gidday!

Not only one show,
straight into the next one.

And then you can
communicate together.

Hopefully it'll...
Michael, best behaviour please.

We'll hopefully be
able to communicate clearly.

What he did for our industry
during the pandemic was huge.

It was just like a tornado
that just kept gathering strength

and it was really exciting
to be a part of.

Something that I was
extremely proud of with Dad

was that he wanted to protect and do

what he could for artists
and the industry as a whole.

It wasn't about Mushroom.

It was about, "How can we make sure
the industry gets through this?"

Michael basically
kept everybody alive.

Who was the only promoter
in Australia crazy enough to try

and put on a tour
during the pandemic?

Michael Gudinski
and Frontier Touring

with Midnight Oil's
Makarrata project.

"You know, I've got this thing.

"I really want to do

"this First Nations
concert for commercial,

"you know, live concert
for commercial TV.

"I want you involved."

It was really gratifying for him
as an individual

but the fact that
he kept doing it for so long,

I think that amounts to this notion

he must have had this will
to make a difference, ultimately.

Music's always been that...

It is a healer, it is.
It's something...

It's a comfort to people.
It brings people together.

And I think Michael definitely

had that view of it and yeah,

he just loved the music.

He organised
that incredible concert,

Sounds Better Together.

The crowd just loved it and Dad
was in his absolute element.

OK, I've known Michael
for 30-something years

and I can tell you
I'm so proud of him.

What you have done

to bring live music
back to everybody.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Let's have a big cheer
for Mr Gudinski!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I actually got
a chance that day to say to Dad,

"You should be so incredibly proud
of everything that you've achieved.

"Do you know how amazing you are?"

And he just looked at me
and threw his arms around me

and he just said, "That means
the absolute world to me."

So, that was a really...

You know, that was a very special,

special moment that we had together.

He was full of ideas.
Full of plans.

He had been thinking
a lot more about

the past and his family
and growing up.

And I saw that he was ready

and wanting to go back over it all

whereas he hadn't been like
that in the past.

He'd been very much forward looking.

So, it was particularly sad

when shortly after he had
begun that process...

he died.

('UNDER THE MILKY WAY'
by The Church plays)

The entertainment world
is mourning the loss of legendary

promoter and record label owner,
Michael Gudinski

at just 68 years of age.

A very, very sad day.

I turned on my mobile phone
and there was a message saying,

"MG died last night."

"What?"

And my whole heart
just dropped and I go, "Fuck."

I mean, I just had
to sit there and go, "Is this real?

Is this really happening?"

I woke my wife up
and then rang my Mum and Dad,

who then woke up and came round.

And we sat and drunk 707
and cried and shared stories.

Certain people you don't ever think
they're ever not gonna be

there because they're just bigger,
larger than life,

and he was definitely
one of those people.

So, that was just really odd, yeah.

Like the world
shifted on its axis a little bit.

I confess I was not surprised.

People die by misadventure
in their youth and they die

as they get older
according to the way

they have lived their lives.

And Michael lived his life.

Even up until the point
where he passed away

he was at a Midnight Oil gig
the night before.

It was the last show
that Michael ever went to.

I thought he was
at the top of his game.

I was supposed to see him for lunch

and I got a call
from his assistant saying

that he had to go back to Melbourne,
that he'd hurt his back.

And then he called over the weekend
and sounded really shabby.

I mean, we have abused
ourselves over the years.

We did play it hard
and fast for a long time.

But we also, you know, learnt

and we've all been trying hard

to really keep it together and,

you know, I thought
it was really horrible, the way

that the media actually printed

the list of the painkillers
and listed

what was in each painkiller
to try and intimate

that he was doing all that.

He wasn't. He was on painkillers.

You know he was our rock
and the heart of the music industry.

But he was, you know,
he was much more than that to me.

Dad was so distraught

and I just drove
to where Dad was and I said,

"Well, let's go to Melbourne."

And so he and I went
straight to the airport

and got the first flight we could
and went straight to see Sue.

I feel so blessed to say
that Michael was my husband,

my best friend and...

the love of my life.

I would not have the career
that I have.

I would not have the...

I don't know if I'd still be alive

without the support
that Michael gave me.

The rock and roll flame

certainly burns
a little dimmer today.

But the legacy, it lives on
forever.

I will never forget
just the wonderful times in my life

that came about because of Michael
and because he believed in me.

Musicians from all over the world
wanted to come to Australia

so that they could work for him
because he loved music so much.

He took care of his artists.
He cared so much.

Gonna miss you so much, mate.
We've had so much fun on the road.

It's a wonder
we didn't finish up in jail.

Anyone who knew him knew
he was absolutely not a saint

and the reality is at the same time

behind the scenes
he was one of the most

generous mensches who existed.

He just wanted to make sure

that we felt like
we were a part of the family

and that's one thing
that he just took

so much pride
in is that family feel.

Even in the early days

when we were recording
our first albums

he let us stay at his house
for months on end.

He had this amazing,
welcoming, beautiful,

loving energy about him
that I'll never forget.

MG, your spirit is going
to live on in every big giant dream

and every single person
that is persisting to get there.

He sort of became

what he started
as which was a promoter.

And all the other things like
Skyhooks and the record company

and so on that was a lot of stuff
he experienced in between.

But at the heart of it, you know,

he was the guy that was renting out
his parents' spare block of land

to people to park their cars on it
at the Caulfield races

and running the school dances.

But just doing it
on a much larger scale.

It's that sort of,

you know, passion that
he's kind of left everybody.

You know, the passion to want more
and more and more and think about

what's the next thing
and the next thing.

And, you know,
to never sit on your hands

and to never stop,
but to always want more.

To hear the story back

it's my life and it's a life
I wouldn't change for anything.

With a lot of good luck

and a lot of incredible artists
Australian music

is all over Australian radio.

Australian hits happening
all over the world.

There's so many people that

I'd like to thank but first of all,
the Australian public.

Every one of you that's ever bought
an Australian record,

thank you, everyone.

Long live Australian rock and roll.
Thank you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

# Djapana warwu

# Djekulu dhurulangala

# Wolutju warwu

# Rripa Ngunhawarrtji

# Dhurulama

# Djapana. #