By Karl Quinn and Martin Boulton
It is impossible to talk about Australian music of the past 50 years without factoring in the contribution of Michael Gudinski, the co-founder of Mushroom Records, who died in his sleep overnight Monday, aged 68.
From the first Sunbury Pop Festival of 1972 – a three-day outdoor event that paved the way for Big Day Out and others in the decades to come – to the breakthrough success of Skyhooks in 1975, to helping build the careers of Split Enz, Sunnyboys, Kylie Minogue, Hunters and Collectors, Yothu Yindi, Vance Joy and many more, his impact on the local industry was enormous.
Number one in heaven: Michael Gudinski, who died in his sleep on Monday night. Credit: Simon Schluter
Add in his role in touring some of the biggest bands in the world to these shores, and the loss is almost incalculable. As Jimmy Barnes wrote: “Today the heart of Australian music was ripped out. I felt it, my family felt it, the music business felt it, the world felt it.”
News of Gudinski’s sudden death was met with shock and sadness across the world, with the promoter and label boss described as loud, passionate, loyal and above all a fan of music to the very end.
“My friend Michael Gudinski was first, last, and always a music man,” Bruce Springsteen said through his label, Sony. “I’ve toured the world for the last 50 years and never met a better promoter.
“Michael always spoke with a deep rumbling voice, and the words would spill out so fast that half the time I needed an interpreter. But I could hear him clear as a bell when he would say, ‘Bruce, I’ve got you covered’. And he always did.
“He was loud, always in motion, intentionally (and unintentionally) hilarious, and deeply soulful. He will be remembered by artists, including this one, from all over the world every time they step foot on Australian soil. My deepest condolences to his wife and partner Sue and to the whole Gudinski family, of which he was so proud.”
Minogue, whose career Gudinski launched after he signed her in 1987, said he was “a Titan of the music industry. One of a kind and forever family to me. My heart is broken and I can’t believe he’s gone. Irreplaceable and unforgettable, I’ll always love you ‘The Big G’.”
American band Foo Fighters, frequent visitors to these shores for more than two decades, tweeted their collective thanks to Gudinksi “for giving us and countless others the best night of our lives. Over and over again. A true f---ing legend. We will miss you dearly. Rock and roll will miss you deeply.“
Gudinski, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, became one of the most significant and powerful players in the local music scene. He got his start in the music business as a dancehall promoter in his teens. Legend has it that in 1967, aged just 15, he was making $500 a week booking bands including The Aztecs and Chain. He dropped out of high school in his final year to go into the business full time.
He co-founded Mushroom Records with Ray Evans in 1972 and was the chairman of the sprawling Mushroom Group of Companies that it spawned. As well as a label boss, live music promoter and promoter of electronic dance music, he was a music publisher, film and television producer (Chopper, Wolf Creek, Molly), racehorse owner — winning, as part of a syndicate, two Melbourne Cups, with Almandin in 2016 and Rekindling in 2017 — and passionate supporter of the St Kilda Football Club.
Bruce Springsteen on stage at AAMI Park, Melbourne in 2017.Credit: Pat Scala
Barnes, who counted Gudinski as a close friend, wrote “the music business turned, grew and moved forward in Australia because of Michael. He was a force of nature, a giant of a man. His boundless enthusiasm breathed life into our music scene.”
The Scottish-born singer added that Gudinski “stood with me through my darkest moments and my most joyous days. Michael was the rock I reached for when life tried to wash me away.”
Michael Gudinski with Jimmy Barnes in Sydney in 2013. Credit: Dallas Kilponen
Neil Finn, whose bands Split Enz and Crowded House were signed to Mushroom, called Gudinski “a giant of Australian music with an energy and commitment that was exhilarating to watch. So many pivotal and historic moments of Australian music rotated around his passions and strong will to succeed. He was one of a kind, a motivator and a creator.”
Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly said he was an “enthusiastic, loyal, fierce and, like all true pioneers, a little bit mad. He lived for music and for all the people that worked in it.”
Never was that more evident than in the last year, when the live music industry in Australia – and especially in Gudinski’s home state of Victoria – was devastated by the COVID-enforced shutdown.
Gudinski worked tirelessly during the pandemic to make the case for support of the live music industry. He partnered with the Victorian government on a number of initiatives designed to create opportunities for musicians to play live, virtually and in person.
On Anzac Day 2020, the Mushroom-curated Music From the Home Front screened nationally on Nine (owner of this masthead). Featuring performances from more than 50 Australian and New Zealand artists, it reached more than 2 million viewers across two screenings. A spin-off album topped the ARIA charts, with all proceeds going to music industry charity Support Act.
In partnership with the government, Mushroom created the streamed performance and chat format The State of Music, and in July the Mushroom-curated TV series The Sound debuted an ABC-TV. In January this year, Mushroom and the Victorian government once again joined forces to take live music back to the regions in the Sounds Better Together concert series.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said Gudinski was “a wonderful Victorian, a great Australian, a very good friend of mine. And so, to his kids, and everybody who loved him, and by extension everybody who loves the fact that we are the live music capital of our nation, we send our love and support. And we think of him kindly and fondly.”
“I didn’t think he could ever get more motivated but this past year he took it to a new level in an effort to keep Australian music alive,” Kelly said. “He lived and breathed for us.”
Gudinski was not without his faults, of course. He was hard-nosed in business, he had a fiery temper, and he was a rambling speaker who peppered his monologues with non-sequiturs. He had a habit of falling out with people, only to fall back in with them when the dust had settled.
One such was Michael Chugg, his partner in Frontier Touring until a bust-up in 1999, and once again a partner within the Mushroom fold from 2019.
A decade ago, when they were still rivals, Chugg said that despite all that had passed they remained “good friends”. In the end, he added, Chugg thought Gudinski had been “quite proud” that he’d had “the balls” to go out on his own.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he added with a wry chuckle. “Michael’s probably on the phone right now trying to f--- me over.”
Chugg told 2GB on Tuesday that Gudinski’s death was “shattering”.
“I spoke to him at 9 o’clock last night, we were giving each other a hard time over making sure the Sheppard album got to number one this week,” Chugg said.
“It’s just so shocking, I got the call early this morning … I first met him when he was a 16-year-old sitting at a desk at an agency in Melbourne, and we were friends, buddies and opponents ever since.
“It’s just one of the worst days of my life.”
“Even though it’s a very big business, it’s very much a family business, it was all personal,” said John Watson, who worked for Gudinski in the 1990s before starting his own company, Eleven Music. “And with that comes a greater level of emotional investment in everything … and he loved it.”
And he loved the music too, right to the end.
“You think about bands like the Sports, you think about Split Enz, Hunters and Collectors and Paul Kelly and now DMAs and the Rubens,” Watson said. “He was very forward looking all the time, always excited about the new thing. He couldn’t shut up about Mia Wray; he was as excited about her as he would have been about a Bruce Springsteen tour.”
“To have Michael in your corner was such a gift,” said Billy Miller, whose band The Ferrets had a 1970s hit on Mushroom with the song Don’t Fall in Love.
But even when he was in the opposite corner, Gudinski’s enormous personality was a force to be reckoned with, as Russell Crowe noted.
“I’m not sure we ever agreed on anything, except maybe Ed Sheeran,” the Oscar-winning actor tweeted. “Still didn’t stop us from being mates for 30 years. I’m going to miss him deeply.”
On Tuesday evening, AAMI Stadium and Rod Laver Arena – frequent venues for Gudinski-backed tours – will be lit up in his honour. In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to pay tribute is asked to donate instead to the charity Support Act.
Gudinski is survived by his wife Sue, son Matt and partner Cara, daughter Kate and husband Andrew and their children Nina-Rose and Lulu.