Down memory lane in promoter Harley Medcalf’s home

Promoter Harley Medcalf has represented the biggest names in music.

Harley Medcalf in his Kirribilli home, surrounded by show posters. Picture: Chris Pavlich

The framed concert posters hang like portraits in an art gallery. Frank Sinatra’s headline-making tour to Australia in 1974, Suzi Quatro’s first Sydney gigs the same year, Rod Stewart’s Blondes Have More Fun show in 1977, and Queen’s epic Down Under visit in 1985.

Along the hallway are more famous faces and memorable performance dates. Elton John and his legendary tour with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1986, Lionel Richie’s 1987 Sydney concerts, Meat Loaf in 1993, Carlos Santana in 1996, and Burn The Floor’s first American tour in 2000.

The personal collection of a pop music groupie perhaps?

Think again.

These head-turning memorabilia are in fact a lifetime of memories for Harley Medcalf, one of Australia’s most respected theatre producers, concert promoters and tour managers.

Not that his elegant Kirribilli home needs any star wattage to light it up.

Perched on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, with a box-seat view of the Opera House, harbour bridge and city skyline, the three-bedroom apartment delivers a show stopping panorama.

“I sit here every morning and just soak it up,” says Medcalf, who shares the home with Maria, his wife of 36 years, their two Sydney-based children and three young grandchildren.

“I love the atmosphere, the location, the noise, and the positive energy that comes with it,” Medcalf adds.

“I get up early and sit on the balcony for two hours doing emails — it’s a great way to start the day.”

Inside, the open-plan living spaces attest to the Medcalfs’ love of fine art. Original paintings by Geoffrey Proud — one a gift from Elton John to Maria — Ray Crook, Donald Friend, Gary Shead and Barry Humphries (a former client and close friend) are interspersed with personal mementos of the couple’s extensive travels.

It’s a rare insight into the life of an affable yet unassuming Australian who has been at the epicentre of pop music culture for almost 50 years producing, promoting and managing some of the world’s biggest stars.

The view from Harley Medcalf’s Kirribilli home. Picture: Chris Pavlich

Unlike his many celebrity clients, Medcalf prefers to keep a low profile, rarely speaking publicly about his home life.

“I like being the backroom boy,” he says.

“I’ve always sat there quietly and just got on with my job.

“I don’t need people to know who I am. My job is to promote my clients.”

With a multi-award-winning playbook of major concerts, stage plays, musicals and dance productions from Broadway to London’s West End, South Africa, Asia and Australia to his credit, 67-year-old Medcalf might be forgiven for slowing down a little.

But for this self-confessed workaholic, the show must go on.

“I love my quiet times with family and friends and we entertain a lot here at home,” he says, “but my brain is almost always thinking about work, because I love it. I am my work, I’m obsessed with it.”

Medcalf’s high-flying and fast-paced lifestyle is a world away from his upbringing in the leafy upper north shore suburb of Gordon, where he worked as a teenager lopping trees for Ku-ring-gai Council before promoting dances at local community halls.

Finding his niche, he started to connect with leading Australian and international promoters, producers and managers, many of whom mentored the young talent.

Now as managing director of Duet Entertainment and Sport — the company founded by business partner Kevin Ritchie, a mentor until his death in 2013 — Medcalf drives a full entertainment calendar each year, often working 18 months ahead of opening.

This year will see Australian performances by The Celtic Tenors, rising star Croatian “crossover” pianist Maksim Mrvica, a revival of Bernadette Robinson’s acclaimed Songs for Nobodies, musicals based on the lives of Roy Orbison and Etta James and Britain’s Suzi Quatro, back in Sydney 45 years after her first concerts.

“She’s the queen of rock 'n' roll,” says Medcalf, “a consummate professional who delivers on stage every single night.”

While Medcalf loves all his clients equally — like any good promoter — his heart is most connected to Burn The Floor, his own original dance sensation which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

A high-octane fusion of almost every major dance and music genre, with rock'n'roll choreography, lighting, costumes, production values and minimal sets, the stage show is billed as “ballroom with blitz’’, and has launched the careers of scores of aspiring dancers.

Medcalf risked his career and reputation with Burn The Floor, a venture with high-stakes risk.

“I prayed it would make the first year,” he says candidly.

With hard work, dogged persistence and luck, the show became a global success and is currently playing various national and world tours.

It’s the resident headline act on board four of Norwegian Cruise Line’s ships and will fire up the Sydney Opera House for two gala performances on July 28.

The sport side of Duet is an enduring client-friend relationship with former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh and Waugh’s foundation, which enhances the lives of families affected by very rare diseases.

“We have similar ideals and values,” says Medcalf. “Loyalty, respect, pride, integrity, leadership, a never-say-die attitude. He has awakened a social conscience in me and reminds me of all the things my parents taught me.”

The memories clearly endure because there — next to Frank, Elton, Suzi, Lionel, Rod, Carlos and Freddie, is one of Medcalf’s most prized playbills: A dance he organised at Mona Vale Memorial Hall in 1972, headlined by classic Australian progressive rock band Tully.

“Think psychedelic,” he says with a smile.

“Those were the days.”