In Melbourne tonight
Pop/rock histories and futures
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.32801Keywords:
Melbourne, music cities, music heritage, popular musicAbstract
In recent decades the ‘music city’ has emerged as an important series (and exchanges) of representations, capital, labour, sounds and commodities. City heritage and histories—particular narratives of music development, genres, venues and personnel—continue to inform contemporary city branding, tourism and industrial strategies. This article explores how both the practices and discourses of the ‘music city’ circulate in terms of specific histories, and how, in turn, they might inform contemporary practices and future intent. Melbourne, the self-proclaimed music and cultural capital of Australia, is examined as a case study in how the past and present circulate. The article also explores the challenges in documenting the emergence and development of popular music in Melbourne from the 1950s to the present as a three-year Australian Research Council Discovery project, Interrogating the Music City: Cultural Economy and Popular Music in Melbourne, funded from 2016 to 2018.References
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Bradley, Harriet. 1999. ‘Seductions of the Archives: Voices Lost and Found’. History of the Human Sciences 12/2: 107–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526959922120270
Burgoyne, Robert. 2003. ‘From Contested to Consensual Memory: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’. In Contested Pasts: The Politics of Memory, ed. K. Hodgkin and S. Radstone, 208–220. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203391471_chapter_11
Cohen, Sara. 2007. Decline, Renewal and the City in Popular Music Culture: Beyond the Beatles. Aldershot: Ashgate.
—2013. ‘“From the Big Dig to the Big Gig”: Live Music, Urban Regeneration and Social Change in the European Capital of Culture’. In Musical Performance and the Changing City: Post-industrial Contexts in Europe and the United States, ed. Fabian Holt and Carsten Wergin, 27–51. New York: Routledge.
Creative Victoria. 2016. ‘Australian Music History—Straight from the Vault’. Online at http://creative.vic.gov.au/news/2016/australia-music-history-straight-from-the-vault (accessed 10 April 2017).
Deloitte Access Economics. 2011. The Economic, Social and Cultural Contribution of Venue Based Live Music in Victoria. Kingston, ACT: Arts Victoria.
Dingle, Tony, and Seamus O’Hanlon. 2009. ‘From Manufacturing Zone to Lifestyle Precinct: Economic Restructuring and Social Change in Inner Melbourne, 1971–2001’. Australian Economic History Review 49/1: 52–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8446.2009.00249.x
Du Noyer, Paul. 2002. Liverpool: Wondrous Place—Music from Cavern to Cream. London: Virgin Publishing.
Engleheart, Murray. 2010. Blood, Sweat and Beers: Oz Rock from the Aztecs to Rose Tattoo. Sydney: HarperCollins.
Feldman-Barrett, Christine. 2014. ‘From Beatles Fans to Beat Groups: A Historiography of the 1960s All-Girl Rock Band’. Feminist Media Studies 4/6: 1041–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2013.866972
Flew, Terry. 2012. The Creative Industries: Culture and Policy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Florida, Richard. 2002. The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books.
Florida, Richard, and Scott Jackson. 2010. ‘Sonic City: The Evolving Economic Geography of the Music Industry’. Journal of Planning Education and Research 29/3: 310–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X09354453
Giuffre, Liz. 2016. ‘Not Just Boys and Rock and Roll: Rediscovering Women on Early Australian Music Television’. Journal of World Popular Music 3/1: 17–37. https://doi.org/10.1558/jwpm.v3i1.31131
Glaezer, Edward. 2012. The Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier. New York: Penguin.
Haslam, David. 2000. Manchester, England. London: Fourth Estate.
Hohnen, Mike. 2013. ‘Australia’s Live Music Capital—Winner Declared in the Sydney vs Melbourne Debate’. Musicfeeds.com. Online at http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/australias-live-music-capital-winner-declared-in-the-sydney-vs-melbourne-debate/ (accessed January 17, 2017).
Homan, Shane. 2003. The Mayor’s a Square: Live Music and Law and Order in Sydney. Newtown: Local Consumption Publications.
—2010. ‘Governmental as Anything: Live Music and Law and Order in Melbourne’. Perfect Beat 11/2: 101–16.
—forthcoming 2018. ‘The Music City: Australian Contexts’. In Made in Australia and New Zealand: Studies in Popular Music, ed. Shelley Brunt and Geoff Stahl. New York: Routledge.
Homan, Shane, Martin Cloonan and Jennifer Cattermole. 2016. Policy Notes: Popular Music and the State. New York: Routledge.
Homan, Shane, and Tony Mitchell, eds. 2008. Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now: Popular Music in Australia. Hobart: ACYS Publishing.
IFPI/Music Canada. 2015. The Mastering of a Music City: Key Elements, Effective Strategies and Why It’s Worth Pursuing. London: IFPI and Music Canada with MIDEM.
Johnson, Bruce. 2000. The Inaudible Music: Jazz, Gender and Australian Modernity. Sydney: Currency Press.
Keightley, Emily. 2010. ‘Remembering Research: Memory and Methodology in the Social Sciences’. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 13/1: 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570802605440
King, Geoff. 2010. ‘Becoming Yesterday: Changes in Music, the Music Industry and Musicians’ Careers in 1960s Melbourne’. Musicology Australia 32/2: 285–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/08145857.2010.518358
Kruger, Diane. 2005. ‘Melbourne for a Song’. Melbourne Weekly Magazine, August 3-9.
Kruse, Holly. 2010. ‘Local Identity and Independent Music Scenes, Online and Off’. Popular Music and Society 33/5: 625–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007760903302145
Leonard, Marion. 2010. ‘Exhibiting Popular Music: Museum Audiences, Inclusion and Social History’. Journal of New Music Research 39/2: 171–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/09298215.2010.494199
Markusen, Ann. 2014. ‘Creative Cities: A 10 Year Research Agenda’. Journal of Urban Affairs 36/2: 567–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/juaf.12146
McCormack, Ange. 2016. ‘By the Numbers: Women in the Music Industry’. Triple j Hack, March 8. Online at http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/girls-to-the-front/7223798 (accessed 15 March 2016).
Mean, Melissa, and Charlie Tims. 2005. In Concert: Newcastle-Gateshead as a Music City. Demos, London, 16 May. Online at http://demos.co.uk/files/File/In_Concert.pdf (accessed 10 April 2017).
Murray, Lisa. 2016. The Role of History Today. Making Public Histories seminar series. Joint initiative of the State Library of Victoria, History Council of Victoria and Monash University. 18 August. Melbourne: State Library of Victoria.
O’Donnell, John, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson. 2010. 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahan: Hardie Grant Books.
O’Hanlon, Seamus. 2005. ‘Where All the Action is Man: Youth Culture in 1960s Melbourne’. In Go! Melbourne: Melbourne in the Sixties, ed. Seamus O’Hanlon and Tanja Luckisn, 45–57. Beaconsfield: Melbourne Publishing Group Pty Ltd.
—2009. ‘The Events City: Sport, Culture, and the Transformation of Inner Melbourne, 1977–2006’. Urban History Review/Revue d’Histoire Urbaine 37/2: 30–39. https://doi.org/
10.7202/029575ar
O’Hanlon, Seamus, and Simone Sharpe. 2009. ‘Becoming Post-industrial: Victoria Street, Fitzroy, c1970 to now’. Urban Policy and Research 27/3: 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/08111140903112038
Roberts, Les, and Sara Cohen. 2014. ‘Unauthorising Popular Music Heritage: Outline of a Critical Framework’. International Journal of Heritage Studies 20/3: 241–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2012.750619
Rogers, Ian. 2008. ‘“You’ve got to go to gigs to get gigs”: Indie Musicians, Eclecticism and the Brisbane Scene’. Continuum 22/5: 639–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310802311618
Sassen, Saskia. 1994. Cities in a World Economy. Michigan: Pine Forge Press, University of Michigan.
Scott, Allen J. 2006. ‘Creative Cities: Conceptual Issues and Policy Questions’. Journal of Urban Affairs 28/1: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2166.2006.00256.x
Smith, Graeme. 2005. Singing Australian: A History of Folk and Country Music. Sydney: Pluto Press.
Stafford, Andrew. 2014. Pig City: 10th Anniversary Edition. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
Steedman, Carolyn. 1998. ‘The Space of Memory: In an Archive’. History of the Human Sciences 11/4: 65–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/095269519801100405
Strachan, Robert. 2004. ‘Editor’s Introduction’. Popular Music History 1/1: 5–8. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.1.1.5.56018
Stratton, Jon. 2007. ‘“Do you want to know a secret?”: Popular Music in Perth in the Early 1960s’. Illumina 2: 1–11.
—2008. ‘The Difference of Perth Music: A Scene in Cultural and Historical Context’. Continuum 22/5: 613–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310802311634
Strong, Catherine. 2014. ‘“All the girls in town”: The Missing Women of Australian Rock, Cultural Memory and Coverage of the Death of Chrissy Amphlett’. Perfect Beat 15/1: 149–66.
Strong, Catherine, Fabian Cannizzo and Ian Rogers. 2017. ‘Aesthetic Cosmopolitan, National and Local Popular Music Heritage in Melbourne’s Music Laneways’. International Journal of Heritage Studies 23/2: 83–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1246466
Thornton, Sarah. 1990. ‘Strategies for Reconstructing the Popular Past’. Popular Music 9/1: 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000003755
UK Music. 2016. Wish You Were Here: The Contribution of Live Music to the UK Economy. London: UK Music.
UNESCO. 2014. ‘Creative Cities Network—Music’. Online at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-cities-network/music/ (accessed 8 April 2017).
Watson, Allan. 2008. ‘Global Music City: Knowledge and Geographical Proximity in London’s Recorded Music Industry’. Area 40/1: 12–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4762.2008.00793.x
Bader, Ingo, and Albert Scharenberg. 2010. ‘The Sound of Berlin: Subculture and the Global Music Industry’. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 34/1: 76–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00927.x
Bradley, Harriet. 1999. ‘Seductions of the Archives: Voices Lost and Found’. History of the Human Sciences 12/2: 107–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526959922120270
Burgoyne, Robert. 2003. ‘From Contested to Consensual Memory: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’. In Contested Pasts: The Politics of Memory, ed. K. Hodgkin and S. Radstone, 208–220. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203391471_chapter_11
Cohen, Sara. 2007. Decline, Renewal and the City in Popular Music Culture: Beyond the Beatles. Aldershot: Ashgate.
—2013. ‘“From the Big Dig to the Big Gig”: Live Music, Urban Regeneration and Social Change in the European Capital of Culture’. In Musical Performance and the Changing City: Post-industrial Contexts in Europe and the United States, ed. Fabian Holt and Carsten Wergin, 27–51. New York: Routledge.
Creative Victoria. 2016. ‘Australian Music History—Straight from the Vault’. Online at http://creative.vic.gov.au/news/2016/australia-music-history-straight-from-the-vault (accessed 10 April 2017).
Deloitte Access Economics. 2011. The Economic, Social and Cultural Contribution of Venue Based Live Music in Victoria. Kingston, ACT: Arts Victoria.
Dingle, Tony, and Seamus O’Hanlon. 2009. ‘From Manufacturing Zone to Lifestyle Precinct: Economic Restructuring and Social Change in Inner Melbourne, 1971–2001’. Australian Economic History Review 49/1: 52–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8446.2009.00249.x
Du Noyer, Paul. 2002. Liverpool: Wondrous Place—Music from Cavern to Cream. London: Virgin Publishing.
Engleheart, Murray. 2010. Blood, Sweat and Beers: Oz Rock from the Aztecs to Rose Tattoo. Sydney: HarperCollins.
Feldman-Barrett, Christine. 2014. ‘From Beatles Fans to Beat Groups: A Historiography of the 1960s All-Girl Rock Band’. Feminist Media Studies 4/6: 1041–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2013.866972
Flew, Terry. 2012. The Creative Industries: Culture and Policy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Florida, Richard. 2002. The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books.
Florida, Richard, and Scott Jackson. 2010. ‘Sonic City: The Evolving Economic Geography of the Music Industry’. Journal of Planning Education and Research 29/3: 310–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X09354453
Giuffre, Liz. 2016. ‘Not Just Boys and Rock and Roll: Rediscovering Women on Early Australian Music Television’. Journal of World Popular Music 3/1: 17–37. https://doi.org/10.1558/jwpm.v3i1.31131
Glaezer, Edward. 2012. The Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier. New York: Penguin.
Haslam, David. 2000. Manchester, England. London: Fourth Estate.
Hohnen, Mike. 2013. ‘Australia’s Live Music Capital—Winner Declared in the Sydney vs Melbourne Debate’. Musicfeeds.com. Online at http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/australias-live-music-capital-winner-declared-in-the-sydney-vs-melbourne-debate/ (accessed January 17, 2017).
Homan, Shane. 2003. The Mayor’s a Square: Live Music and Law and Order in Sydney. Newtown: Local Consumption Publications.
—2010. ‘Governmental as Anything: Live Music and Law and Order in Melbourne’. Perfect Beat 11/2: 101–16.
—forthcoming 2018. ‘The Music City: Australian Contexts’. In Made in Australia and New Zealand: Studies in Popular Music, ed. Shelley Brunt and Geoff Stahl. New York: Routledge.
Homan, Shane, Martin Cloonan and Jennifer Cattermole. 2016. Policy Notes: Popular Music and the State. New York: Routledge.
Homan, Shane, and Tony Mitchell, eds. 2008. Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now: Popular Music in Australia. Hobart: ACYS Publishing.
IFPI/Music Canada. 2015. The Mastering of a Music City: Key Elements, Effective Strategies and Why It’s Worth Pursuing. London: IFPI and Music Canada with MIDEM.
Johnson, Bruce. 2000. The Inaudible Music: Jazz, Gender and Australian Modernity. Sydney: Currency Press.
Keightley, Emily. 2010. ‘Remembering Research: Memory and Methodology in the Social Sciences’. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 13/1: 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570802605440
King, Geoff. 2010. ‘Becoming Yesterday: Changes in Music, the Music Industry and Musicians’ Careers in 1960s Melbourne’. Musicology Australia 32/2: 285–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/08145857.2010.518358
Kruger, Diane. 2005. ‘Melbourne for a Song’. Melbourne Weekly Magazine, August 3-9.
Kruse, Holly. 2010. ‘Local Identity and Independent Music Scenes, Online and Off’. Popular Music and Society 33/5: 625–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007760903302145
Leonard, Marion. 2010. ‘Exhibiting Popular Music: Museum Audiences, Inclusion and Social History’. Journal of New Music Research 39/2: 171–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/09298215.2010.494199
Markusen, Ann. 2014. ‘Creative Cities: A 10 Year Research Agenda’. Journal of Urban Affairs 36/2: 567–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/juaf.12146
McCormack, Ange. 2016. ‘By the Numbers: Women in the Music Industry’. Triple j Hack, March 8. Online at http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/girls-to-the-front/7223798 (accessed 15 March 2016).
Mean, Melissa, and Charlie Tims. 2005. In Concert: Newcastle-Gateshead as a Music City. Demos, London, 16 May. Online at http://demos.co.uk/files/File/In_Concert.pdf (accessed 10 April 2017).
Murray, Lisa. 2016. The Role of History Today. Making Public Histories seminar series. Joint initiative of the State Library of Victoria, History Council of Victoria and Monash University. 18 August. Melbourne: State Library of Victoria.
O’Donnell, John, Toby Creswell and Craig Mathieson. 2010. 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahan: Hardie Grant Books.
O’Hanlon, Seamus. 2005. ‘Where All the Action is Man: Youth Culture in 1960s Melbourne’. In Go! Melbourne: Melbourne in the Sixties, ed. Seamus O’Hanlon and Tanja Luckisn, 45–57. Beaconsfield: Melbourne Publishing Group Pty Ltd.
—2009. ‘The Events City: Sport, Culture, and the Transformation of Inner Melbourne, 1977–2006’. Urban History Review/Revue d’Histoire Urbaine 37/2: 30–39. https://doi.org/
10.7202/029575ar
O’Hanlon, Seamus, and Simone Sharpe. 2009. ‘Becoming Post-industrial: Victoria Street, Fitzroy, c1970 to now’. Urban Policy and Research 27/3: 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/08111140903112038
Roberts, Les, and Sara Cohen. 2014. ‘Unauthorising Popular Music Heritage: Outline of a Critical Framework’. International Journal of Heritage Studies 20/3: 241–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2012.750619
Rogers, Ian. 2008. ‘“You’ve got to go to gigs to get gigs”: Indie Musicians, Eclecticism and the Brisbane Scene’. Continuum 22/5: 639–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310802311618
Sassen, Saskia. 1994. Cities in a World Economy. Michigan: Pine Forge Press, University of Michigan.
Scott, Allen J. 2006. ‘Creative Cities: Conceptual Issues and Policy Questions’. Journal of Urban Affairs 28/1: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2166.2006.00256.x
Smith, Graeme. 2005. Singing Australian: A History of Folk and Country Music. Sydney: Pluto Press.
Stafford, Andrew. 2014. Pig City: 10th Anniversary Edition. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
Steedman, Carolyn. 1998. ‘The Space of Memory: In an Archive’. History of the Human Sciences 11/4: 65–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/095269519801100405
Strachan, Robert. 2004. ‘Editor’s Introduction’. Popular Music History 1/1: 5–8. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.1.1.5.56018
Stratton, Jon. 2007. ‘“Do you want to know a secret?”: Popular Music in Perth in the Early 1960s’. Illumina 2: 1–11.
—2008. ‘The Difference of Perth Music: A Scene in Cultural and Historical Context’. Continuum 22/5: 613–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310802311634
Strong, Catherine. 2014. ‘“All the girls in town”: The Missing Women of Australian Rock, Cultural Memory and Coverage of the Death of Chrissy Amphlett’. Perfect Beat 15/1: 149–66.
Strong, Catherine, Fabian Cannizzo and Ian Rogers. 2017. ‘Aesthetic Cosmopolitan, National and Local Popular Music Heritage in Melbourne’s Music Laneways’. International Journal of Heritage Studies 23/2: 83–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2016.1246466
Thornton, Sarah. 1990. ‘Strategies for Reconstructing the Popular Past’. Popular Music 9/1: 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000003755
UK Music. 2016. Wish You Were Here: The Contribution of Live Music to the UK Economy. London: UK Music.
UNESCO. 2014. ‘Creative Cities Network—Music’. Online at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-cities-network/music/ (accessed 8 April 2017).
Watson, Allan. 2008. ‘Global Music City: Knowledge and Geographical Proximity in London’s Recorded Music Industry’. Area 40/1: 12–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4762.2008.00793.x
Published
2017-10-03
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Homan, S., O'Hanlon, S., Strong, C., & Tebbutt, J. (2017). In Melbourne tonight: Pop/rock histories and futures. Perfect Beat, 18(2), 95-109. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.32801
