How Stevie Wright changed the face of rock music
STEVIE Wright battled his own demons, but Molly Meldrum has told of how he became the man who changed Australian rock music forever.
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STEVIE Wright has been remembered as one of Australia’s finest rock singers and a musical pioneer who helped to change the face of Oz rock.
Wright, who fronted the iconic rock band the Easybeats, passed away on the south coast of New South Wales on Sunday night aged 68.
Wright, known as Little Stevie in the 60s, was with his son Nick when he died, with the singer’s health taking a grave turn on Boxing Day.
The band were one of the first Australian acts to break internationally with 1966’s Friday On My Mind going top 10 in the UK and top 20 in the US, as well as being considered one of the greatest Australian songs of all time. It was also covered by David Bowie.
Wright was born in Leeds in 1947 and came to Australia aged nine.
He headed the Easybeats for five years from 1964, the band releasing a string of hits including Sorry, I’ll Make You Happy and She’s So Fine. His solo epic Evie Parts 1,2 and 3 is an Australian classic.
Molly Meldrum hailed Wright as one of the best frontman Australia has ever seen.
“He was up there with Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury, no question,” Meldrum told News Corp Australia.
“I have immense respect for that man. As a front man he was a true rock star. It’s a very sad loss because he was an incredible talent. Before I was in the industry I loved Friday On My Mind and I saw the Easybeats and you were blown away at how great he was.
“I got to know Stevie and the band a bit here and in London and they just made these amazing records and they truly were one of the first bands to take Australian rock music on to the international stage.”
“Stevie was so talented that he had a second huge career as a solo act, with Evie being one of the most influential and experimental songs to come out of Australia. We had him on Countdown a few times, he got sick, we had to nurse him through it but he always delivered. He will be missed.”
Hoodoo Gurus frontman Dave Faulkner said the Easybeats was one of his favourite Australian bands.
“They were the first Australian rock band to capture the attention of the world at large,” he said.
“Paul McCartney famously heard Friday on My Mind on his car radio and immediately pulled over and phoned the BBC demanding they play it again — which they did.
“Stevie’s voice was a crucial part of the musical landscape when I was growing up in the ‘60s.”
Today the Hoodoo Gurus Facebook page has a tribute to Wright noting he was “a brilliant performer and a cheeky, loveable character. Stevie was also a great songwriter”. He co-wrote Easybeats Top 10 hits including Sorry, She’s So Fine, Wedding Ring, I’ll Make You Happy, Come and See Her and Women (Make You Feel Alright).
“I have vivid memories of waiting up ‘til midnight to hear the new Easybeats song on the radio,” singer Daryl Braithwaite noted today.
“Stevie Wright you were an inspiration.”
“The Easybeats were Australia’s Rolling Stones and Stevie was our Mick Jagger,” Paul Cashmere of music website Noise 11 said.
“Stevie influenced David Bowie and Rod Stewart, he was Australia’s first real rock star. Let’s not forget that before Vanda & Young were a songwriting team, Stevie and George Young wrote many of the Easybeats songs together including Sorry and I’ll Make You Happy. The guitarist on his first album Hard Road was Malcolm Young, pre-AC/DC. Australia lost a piece of rock history with the loss of Stevie.”
Donnie Sutherland, who hosted TV show Sounds called Wright “one of the greatest ever.”
“You were a gutsy bloke who was dished up a lot of sh*t but you copped it on the chin. Love you!”
Fellow ‘60s performer Johnny Young praised Wright’s powers on stage.
“He could take any audience and absolutely slay them with his energy,” Young told ABC radio.
“He lived a pretty rugged life at the end of it.
“Everybody knew he had some serious addictions that he had huge problems with, but I like to remember Steve as he was when he was younger.”
Aussie rock mythology had Wright once courted to replace Bon Scott in AC/DC — Wright was close friends with the Young family and signed to AC/DC’s label Alberts.
Easybeats members Harry Vanda and George Young went on to write and produce for the likes of AC/DC and John Paul Young as well as Wright.
Wright said he passed on the AC/DC offer as his voice was in a different key to Scott’s.
Wright enjoyed major success as a solo artist, including Evie, Hard Road and Black Eyed Bruiser.
Alberts CEO David Albert said he had the pleasure of knowing Stevie for the last 15 years.
“Stevie will be sadly missed by all who knew him and countless more who did not know him but loved his music. We have lost one of Australia’s greatest front men who has left an indelible mark on our musical landscape. He has always been a much loved part of the Alberts family.”
Wright’s last performance was in Byron Bay in 2009. He made a brief comeback on the national It’s a Long Way to the Top tour in 2002.
The singer had battled alcohol and heroin addictions for many years and suffered from liver and kidney problems as well as diabetes.
He underwent a detox program at the controversial Chelmsford hospital in Sydney where deep sleep therapies would lead to brain damage and other health issues.
Wright and the Easybeats were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005 while the singer’s talent — and demons — were the subject of two different biographies.
Today amid the tributes several Wright albums popped up on eBay from ghoulish sellers hoping to make a quick profit.
A public service celebrating Stevie’s life will be held with details to be released shortly.
Originally published as How Stevie Wright changed the face of rock music
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