Latest news with #AustralianMusic
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Australian music legend dies just days after being diagnosed with leukemia
Australian music legend Marcie Jones died aged 79 on Saturday, just days after being diagnosed with leukemia. The veteran singer fronted Marcie and the Cookies, one of Australia's first 'girl groups' in the '60s, in an era where music was dominated by male-led rock bands. The group was one of Australia's most popular touring bands in the late '60s and supported The Monkees when they performed Down Under in 1968. Her death was announced by her daughter-in-law Lisa in a heartbreaking social media statement. 'It's with great sadness to let you all know my beautiful mother-in-law, Marcie Jones, passed away. I feel numb inside,' she began. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'You were a legend, an icon, and you will always be remembered. I know you will always be my guiding light. I will miss you so much. I love you. Until we meet again to sing another song!' The singer went solo after her group split in the early '70s and had several songs enjoy chart success in Australia. Her biggest hit was her 1974 song Gonna Get Married, which reached number 37 in the country. She also appeared on some of Australia's most popular TV programs of the day, including Bandstand and The Graham Kennedy Show. Across her celebrated career, Marcie shared the stage with many world-renowned singers, including Cliff Richard, Tom Jones and Roy Orbison. She continued to perform locally right up until her passing. Heartbroken fans took to social media to pay tribute to Marcie. 'Marcie was a terrific human being and one of our much loved Aussie treasures,' one person wrote. 'RIP my friend. We will miss you dearly,' a second added. Marcie had publicly revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, just days before her passing. 'Sorry to start the day with rotten news. I am in hospital with leukaemia,' she wrote on social media. 'Starting treatment soon. We are all feeling very scared but I'll fight as hard as I can.' Her death came just two months before her 80th birthday, which she planned to celebrate with a huge concert for fans. She is survived by her two children, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Bush Gothic on the fine line between pleasure and pain, and director Netia Jones on Purcell's wild semi-opera The Fairy Queen
Bush Gothic are 'unafraid of Australian songs'. From colonial-era folk songs to the Divinyls, their latest album What Pop People Folk This Popular is a showcase of what the band does best: dreamy, detailed, genre-bending music in conversation with Australian musical history. Jenny M Thomas and Dan Witton join Andy. Netia Jones is an English opera director and she's in Sydney to take on Henry Purcell's odd but beautiful 'Restoration Spectacular' The Fairy Queen for Pinchgut Opera. Under rain on a tin roof of the rehearsal room, she and Andy sit to talk about the peculiarities of the piece, and of English language opera. Bush Gothic are on tour: 7 – 8 June National Celtic Festival, Portarlington 13 June Ararat Town Hall, Ararat 14 June Wheatsheaf Hotel, Adelaide 21 June Fitzroy Town Hall, Naarm/Melbourne 22 June Northern Arts Hotel, Castlemaine 27 – 29 June Festival of Voices, nipaluna/Hobart Pinchgut Opera presents The Fairy Queen: 7 – 14 June at the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney. Music heard in the interview with Bush Gothic: Title: Girls in Our Town Artist: Margret RoadKnight Composer: Bob Hudson Album: Margaret RoadKnight Label: Infinity Title: Girls in Our Town Artist: Bush Gothic Composer: Bob Hudson Album: What Pop People Folk This Popular Label: Fydle Records Title: Adeline Artist: Bush Gothic Composer: Gus Unger-Hamilton, Hans Zimmer, Joe Newman, Thom Green Album: What Pop People Folk This Popular Label: Fydle Records Title: Wreck of the Dandenong Artist: Bush Gothic Composer: trad. Album: What Pop People Folk This Popular Label: Fydle Records Title: Pleasure and Pain Artist: Bush Gothic Composer: Holly Knight, Mike Chapman Album: What Pop People Folk This Popular Label: Fydle Records Title: Freedom on the Wallaby Artist: Bush Gothic Composer: trad. after the poem by Henry Lawson Album: What Pop People Folk This Popular Label: Fydle Records In the interview with Netia Jones: Title: 'O Let Me Weep' (The Plaint), from The Fairy Queen Artist: Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh Composer: Henry Purcell Album: The Fairy Queen 1692 Label: Signum Classics Title: I know a bank… from A Midsummer Night's Dream Artist: Alfred Deller (Oberon), London Symphony Orchestra/Benjamin Britten Composer: Benjamin Britten, libretto Peter Pears after Shakespeare Album: A Midsummer Night's Dream Label: Decca The Music Show was made on Gadigal, Gundungurra and Turrbal Yuggera Country Technical production by Dylan Prins
ABC News
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
That's a wrap on triple j's One Night Stand 2025
WA, we missed you! After nearly a decade, triple j's One Night Stand returned to Western Australia, with over 15,000 music lovers pouring into Barnard Park, Busselton on Wardandi Boodja for one huge, unforgettable night of Australian music. Saturday 24 May 2025 marks a One Night Stand we'll be talking about for years to come. WA iconsSpacey Jane lit up the stage with a soul-stirring singalong, every lyric echoed back at them with followed with an explosive masterclass in drum and bass to round out the night. Ruby Fields brought raw emotion to the stage, her vocals hitting even harder live.3% took command with a fiery sunset set, dropping a powerful moment that featured a surprise special guest appearance fromInkabee and Flewnt. Blusher were a total force, blending slick choreo with a cameo from Jordi of San Trip shimmered on the big stage, while local legends and triple j Unearthed Competition Winners Fool Nelson proved they were right at home in Busselton. triple j's One Night Stand 2025 was a loud reminder of the incredible music being made in our own backyard, with a lineup that resonated from the stage to the screen, and far beyond. Check out the highlights: $230,000 and counting raised for One Night Stand charity partners including Australian music industry charities Support Act and The Push , and local organisations Karri Karrack Aboriginal Corporation and Undalup Association . and counting raised for charity partners including Australian music industry charities and , and local organisations and . Four million views and counting on One Night Stand content across the campaign on triple j socials and YouTube . and counting on content across the campaign on and 30% increase in streams of triple j on Saturday 24 May via web and app. of on Saturday 24 May via web and app. Over four hours of live Australian music beamed straight into the hearts (and headphones) of music lovers across the country. beamed straight into the hearts (and headphones) of music lovers across the country. Four packed out More Than A One Night Stand Sessions for emerging local artists and industry featuring Spacey Jane, DICE and Fool Nelson, run in partnership with West Australian Music and Music Australia. Head of triple j, Double J and ABC Country Lachlan Macara shares: 'What a day! And what an undeniable display of both the calibre of artists this country produces and the appetite for live Australian music in the regions. A number of the artists on this year's bill grew up in regional towns and had formative experiences at past editions of triple j's One Night Stand. We can only hope there were plenty of young people on that oval on Saturday equally inspired to feature in a future One Night Stand. See you again somewhere around the country in 2026!' triple j is incredibly grateful for the amazing support from West Australian music lovers. A huge thank you to our audience, artists, production crews, staff, partners and the entire town of Busselton – we couldn't have done it without you. To relive all the best moments and live performances from triple j's One Night Stand, follow triple j's TikTok,Instagram, andYouTube all this week, and listen totriple j's Live At The Wireless. For all press enquiries, contact: Kaylie Ekinci Publicist - Music & Youth
ABC News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Why is Charli XCX following this South Australian artist?
Your spine is about to be tingled by the metalic, 'Pacifica Fantasy' of an artist Charli XCX has on her radar. You'll also here Aubany's sophomore single that unravels like a ball of yarn and Hektor's debut EP is THAT good that we had to do a deep cut. Hear the top 5 songs of the week in Australian music with the Unearthed Podcast. Track List: Hektor – Assembly Hektor – Assembly Jess Reiss- Like This Jess Reiss- Like This Lonelyspeck- Wishing Lonelyspeck- Wishing Starshower - [Ft. aayu/Forum/rainmail/lil ket/kk88] Starshower - [Ft. aayu/Forum/rainmail/lil ket/kk88] Aubany- Hallow Presenter : Sara Glaidous Produced by: Sara Glaidous The Unearthed Podcast is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Gadigal and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.
ABC News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Following Taylor Swift's re-recording project, musicians are reclaiming their work
Pete Murray would prefer it if you didn't stream one of his biggest hits. The Australian musician has been in the industry for more than 20 years, and his hit single Better Days is one of his most recognisable songs. But recently, he announced that he'd prefer fans not to play the original song, because he has a new version available. In April, Murray announced on social media that he was releasing a new version of Better Days (Pete's Version), and that he was now an independent artist, rather than signed to a label. "You might not be aware that I don't actually own a lot of my older, classic songs," he wrote. "I believe it's important for all artists to own their own recordings, and so this is the first of a series of 'Pete's Versions' of some of my biggest songs that I'll be releasing in the coming years." Sound familiar? Musicians re-recording and releasing new versions of their work isn't new. Taylor Swift's re-recording project is one of the most well-known examples of this. And many musicians have been emboldened to follow her lead. "Taylor did it and I was thinking, 'Wow, that's how you do it,'" Murray says. In 2019, Swift's former label, Big Machine Records, announced that the company had been acquired by businessman Scooter Braun's Ithica Holdings. This deal sparked years of discourse about the rights of musicians when it comes to owning their work. Swift, one of the world's biggest pop stars, was quick to express her anger over the move as it meant her original masters were sold to Braun. "Scooter has stripped me of my life's work, that I wasn't given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it," she wrote in a lengthy statement on Tumblr. Swift left Big Machine Records in 2018 and signed to Republic Records, owned by Universal Music, in a joint deal with Taylor Swift Productions. Following the public battle with Braun, Swift began releasing re-recorded versions of her six previous albums. These new albums were identified as 'Taylor's Version', so fans could support Swift and the purpose of her re-recording project. It's a move that music journalist Nic Kelly says empowered Swift's fans to protest on her behalf. Musicians re-recording their work in a bid to claim ownership back feels modern, but Swift wasn't the first. The Everly Brothers were superstars in the 1950s, and the duo had two studio albums with Cadence Records. But when their contract expired in 1960, they left and were signed to Warner Brothers Records. The deal, worth US$1 million, was the biggest record deal in music history at the time. Under Warner, the Everly Brothers released a studio album in 1964, The Very Best of The Everly Brothers, which included not only their hits recorded under Warner, but re-recorded versions of their earlier hits originally released with Cadence. Legally, there was no restriction on them re-recording. And it meant the re-recorded versions of their hit songs were competing with their first two records owned by Cadence. The label struggled to compete and eventually closed in 1964. Thanks to this, the risk of artists re-recording their old songs was identified, and soon clauses were added to contracts to avoid this happening in the future. So how can musicians today, like Swift and Murray, re-record their previous work if they don't own the masters? Joshua Yuvaraj, a senior law lecturer at the University of Auckland, says it's complicated. For artists like Swift and Murray, who write their own music, it can come down to who owns the master recording of the original work, and who owns the copyright to the song. "There are two different copyrights … One is when the artist writes the song, there is a copyright applied to that. "But there's also a copyright in the recording when the song is made in the studio with the artist, the producers and so on," Yuvaraj says. The master is often owned by the recording label, while the composition (melody and lyrics) is copyrighted separately. Murray knows this law all too well, and he was forced to wait five years after his contract ended before he could start re-recording and re-releasing his earlier songs. The deal Murray signed nearly 20 years ago meant his record label owns his masters. It meant the masters recording was paid for by the label, and it put Murray into debt with the record company that took his entire contract to pay back. He realised that in order to earn enough money to cover those costs, he would need to keep touring. "I was at a point where I'd have to call my agent and say 'I need more money, book me more shows'. "I thought, 'If I don't change this soon, I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life'," he says. He does receive small royalties from those masters today, but he still doesn't own them. "That was the hard thing to accept … I just thought 'It's not really a fair deal'." Journalist Nick Kelly says the publicity around artists taking a stand has prompted change. "We are seeing a massive shift towards artists retaining their independence, retaining ownership of an autonomy over the way they're perceived, and the way that they are marketed. He says that historically many recording contracts included large profit cuts for the label and not the musician. "A lot of it [the cut] can be 85 per cent … and it doesn't feel like the record label does 85 per cent of the work. "The cut these record labels take from some of these deals is enormous and doesn't feel justifiable," he says. In recent years, more well-known musicians have come forward with their record label horror stories. When Chappell Roan won her first-ever Grammy award for best new artist earlier this year, she took the opportunity to campaign for better working conditions for emerging musicians. "I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and health care, especially to developing artists," she said. Joshua Yuvaraj says while there are clearly systemic issues within the industry, he believes healthy dialogue is crucial. "Without demonising these record companies and streaming companies that do play vital roles in the creative ecosystem, we also need to acknowledge that artists need to be taken care of," he says. With more high-profile cases of re-recording occurring in recent years, some record companies have responded. It was reported in 2023 that major labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group were overhauling their contracts for new artists. These updates to contracts allegedly included longer periods before re-recording would be allowed, with some timeframes reportedly up to 30 years. Kelly isn't surprised. "It shows that they're definitely feeling the impacts of these re-recordings and loss of income." He says it reflects the deeper wounds between some artists and record labels. "It raises the bigger question for me of, 'Why do artists want to re-record in the first place?' and that onus comes down to the communication between artist teams and record labels. "The label does need to make money, so they can re-invest into developing new talent. "I think that's a good ecosystem, but it should be fair for everyone." Murray believes there's room for improvement across the music industry. "How many artists have tried to sue the record label over years of trying to get out of deals because the deals have been terrible?" he says. He wishes he could have given his younger self some advice. "I believe that you should own your master … because you control it and you own it. "No one can take it from you." He says if labels prioritise fairer deals, the long-term results will be beneficial.
