COME AND SEE US ON MARCH 22 AT THE PERTH ZOO
WHEN WE PRESENT.
JOIN JULIA, BRIAN, DUGALD, THE ORKESTRA,
AND A CAST OF VERY SPECIAL GUESTS
AS WE SALUTE
AUSTRALIA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL SONGWRITERS AND PRODUCERS.
Harry Vanda and George Young are responsible for writing and producing some of Australia’s biggest hits:Friday On My Mind, Good Times, Love Is In The Air, Hey St Peter, St Louis, Walking In The Rain, Evie (Parts 1, 2 and 3) and the list goes on and on and on. These songs have become part of our pop history and some of them became international hits for artists like Grace Jones and The Bay City Rollers. As producers,Vanda and Young shaped the sound of Aussie Pub Rock, producing and guiding bands like The Angels, Rose Tattoo, Choirboys and AC/DC no less!
Here are some clips from previous RocKwiz LIVE shows where we have covered Vanda and Young songs.
Harry Vanda and George Young met at the Villawood Migrant Hostel in Sydney in 1964. They were founding members of The Easybeats, with Vanda on lead guitar and backing vocals and Young on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, along with Stevie Wright, Dick Diamond and Gordon Fleet. Vanda and Youngco-wrote many of The Easybeats hits and produced the group from 1967.
After The Easybeats disbanded in 1969, Vanda and Young were songwriters and producers for their own projects such as The Marcus Hook Roll Band, Haffey's Whiskey Sour and Flash and the Pan. They produced the first 6 albums for AC/DC (George is the older brother of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young) and were staff producers for Albert Productions from 1973, writing and producing Stevie Wright’s #1 single Evie (Parts 1, 2 and 3), along with Ted Mulry, Rose Tattoo, William Shakespeare and The Angels. They wrote and produced hits for John Paul Young including I Hate the Music, Yesterday’s Hero and the international smash hit, Love Is In The Air.
In 1988 Harry and George were inducted into the inaugural ARIA Hall of Fame and in 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association surveyed 100 music industry personalities and declared ‘Friday On My Mind’ the best Australian song of all time.
As Glenn A. Baker says “Harry and George transcended pop stardom to become one of the most impressive and important creative units of the rock era: vital writers, producers and conceptualists … exhilarating song and sound craftsmen”.
As John Tait remarks in his book Vanda and Young, Inside Australia’s Hit Factory … “Australian Musician Magazine dedicated it’s June 2007 issue to the 50 most significant moments in Australian pop rock history … ranked at number one, ahead of Countdown, the Sunbury Rock festivals, The Beatles Australian tour and other critical developments in Australian music, was the day that Dutch teenager Harry Vanda met Scottish teenager George Young at the Villawood Migrant Hostel in Sydney. The article argued that without this partnership … “there would not have been an Easybeats as we know them, possibly no Stevie Wright solo career, certainly not the Albert productions that made AC/DC a huge success and none of those classic Countdown songs by artists such as John Paul Young, William Shakespeare, Cheetah etc, as well as their own hits under the Flash and The Pan name.
ROCKWIZ SALUTES VANDA AND YOUNG will feature an eclectic mix of Australian heritage artists alongside contemporary stars, performing songs written, played or produced by Vanda and Young, to create an un-missable live event.
ROCKWIZ SALUTES VANDA AND YOUNG will of course be hosted by the wonderful Julia Zemiro and wrangled and adjudicated by Brian Nankervis. The legendary RocKwiz Orkestra; James Black, Peter Luscombe and Mark Ferrie will back the artists and play those Million Dollar Riffs and Australia’s favourite roadie, Dugald, will hold up the scores and tune the guitars.
And of course … it wouldn’t be a RocKwiz show without contestants being drawn from the audience to hit those buzzers and answer curly questions. It could be you, up there on stage!
Welcome to 2016 and another big year for RocKwiz.
