Australian pop music awards
Encyclopedia
Australian pop music awards are a series of inter-related national awards that gave recognition to popular musical artists and have included the Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...

pop poll (1966–1972); TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...

King of Pop Awards (1967–1978); TV Week and Countdown Music Awards (1979–1980); and Countdown Music and Video Awards (1981–1986). Early awards were based on popular voting from readers of teenage pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 newspaper Go-Set and television program guide TV Week. They were followed by responses from viewers of Countdown, a TV pop music series (1974–1987) on national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 (ABC). Some of the later award ceremonies incorporated listed nominees and peer-voted awards. From 1987 the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA) instituted its own peer-voted ARIA Music Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

.

1966–1972:Go-Set pop poll results

Teen-oriented pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 newspaper, Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...

was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. Readers were provided with coupons to vote for their choice, with initial categories of 'Male Vocal', 'Female Vocal' and 'Group' for both Australian and International acts – in later years new categories were introduced and old categories renamed or retired.

1966

Printed in Go-Set on 5 October 1966, pages 12 & 13.

Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Male Vocal Female Vocal Group
1 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell was an Australian pop singer. For three years in the mid-1960s she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in 1966, and "Ciao Baby" in 1967. In 1967, Randell toured the United States with The Monkees and performed on-stage...

 
The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...

2 Ronnie Burns  Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee is the stage name of New Zealand-born singer, Diane Marie Jacobs , who performed 1960s pop and then adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zealand and, across the Tasman Sea, in Brisbane and Melbourne...

 
The Twilights
3 Merv Benton Denise Drysdale
Denise Drysdale
Denise Anne Christina Drysdale, is an Australian television personality and comedian. She is often affectionately called Ding-Dong.-Childhood:...

 
Purple Hearts
Purple Hearts (Australian band)
The Purple Hearts were an Australian rock group, formed in Brisbane in 1964. The band consisted of lead vocalist Mick Hadley, lead guitarist Barry Lyde , rhythm guitarist Fred Pickard, bassist Bob Dames, and drummers Adrian 'Red' Redmond and Tony Cahill .It is notable that Brisbane, traditionally...

4 Mike Furber Little Pattie
Little Pattie
Little Pattie is the stage name of Australian singer, Patricia Thelma Amphlett OAM later Patricia Thompson, who performed as a 1960s surf pop singer and then in adult contemporary music...

 
Steve & the Board
5 Billy Thorpe
Billy Thorpe
William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...

 
Donna Gaye The Id

International acts: pop poll results
Position Male Vocal Female Vocal Group
1 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

2 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...

 
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

3 Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

 
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

 
The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...

4 Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....

 
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...

5 P. J. Proby
P. J. Proby
P.J. Proby is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, who has portrayed Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison in musical theater productions as well as enjoying a successful recording career in his own right....

 
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

 
The Troggs
The Troggs
The Troggs are an English rock band from the 1960s that had a number of hits in UK and the US. Their most famous songs include, "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You", and "Love Is All Around"...

 / The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires are an American vocal quartet, which formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are best known for providing vocal background for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972...



1967

Printed in Go-Set on 9 August 1967, pages 12 & 13. Categories were renamed, e.g. Male Vocal became Top Male Singer.

Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Top Male Singer Top Female Singer Top Group
1 Ronnie Burns  Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell was an Australian pop singer. For three years in the mid-1960s she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in 1966, and "Ciao Baby" in 1967. In 1967, Randell toured the United States with The Monkees and performed on-stage...

 
The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...

2 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Bev Harrell The Twilights
3 Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...

 
Cheryl Gray
Samantha Sang
Samantha Sang is a stage name of Australian singer, Cheryl Lau Sang, from Melbourne, who had an earlier career as Cheryl Gray. She had a number eight hit in Australia with "You Made Me What I Am" in 1967. By 1969, she had relocated to United Kingdom and worked with Bee Gees but then returned...

 
The Groop
The Groop
The Groop were an Australian folk, R&B and rock band formed in 1964 in Melbourne, Australia and had their greatest chart success with their second line-up of Max Ross on bass, Richard Wright on drums and vocals, Don Mudie on lead guitar, Brian Cadd on keyboards and vocals, and Ronnie Charles on...

4 Phil Jones Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee is the stage name of New Zealand-born singer, Diane Marie Jacobs , who performed 1960s pop and then adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zealand and, across the Tasman Sea, in Brisbane and Melbourne...

 
The Loved Ones
The Loved Ones
The Loved Ones were an Australian rock band formed in 1965 in Melbourne following the British Invasion. The line-up of Gavin Anderson on drums, Ian Clyne on organ and piano, Gerry Humphrys on vocals and harmonica, Rob Lovett on guitar, and Kim Lynch on bass guitar recorded their early hits...

5 Mike Furber Little Pattie
Little Pattie
Little Pattie is the stage name of Australian singer, Patricia Thelma Amphlett OAM later Patricia Thompson, who performed as a 1960s surf pop singer and then in adult contemporary music...

 
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...


International acts: pop poll results
Position Top Male Singer Top Female Singer Top Group
1 Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 
Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

2 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

 
The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

3 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....

 
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

4 Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

 
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

 
The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...

5 Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

 
Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

 
The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...



1968

Printed in Go-Set on 19 June 1968, pages 12 & 13.

Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Top Male Singer Top Female Singer Top Group
1 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Bev Harrell The Twilights
2 Johnny Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell was an Australian pop singer. For three years in the mid-1960s she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in 1966, and "Ciao Baby" in 1967. In 1967, Randell toured the United States with The Monkees and performed on-stage...

 
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...

3 Ronnie Burns  Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee
Dinah Lee is the stage name of New Zealand-born singer, Diane Marie Jacobs , who performed 1960s pop and then adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zealand and, across the Tasman Sea, in Brisbane and Melbourne...

 
The Groove
The Groove (band)
Formed in mid 1967, The Groove are considered to be Australia's first "supergroup" in that all members had considerable experience behind them in a number of successful bands...

4 Phil Jones Little Pattie
Little Pattie
Little Pattie is the stage name of Australian singer, Patricia Thelma Amphlett OAM later Patricia Thompson, who performed as a 1960s surf pop singer and then in adult contemporary music...

 
Somebody's Image
5 Cheryl Gray
Samantha Sang
Samantha Sang is a stage name of Australian singer, Cheryl Lau Sang, from Melbourne, who had an earlier career as Cheryl Gray. She had a number eight hit in Australia with "You Made Me What I Am" in 1967. By 1969, she had relocated to United Kingdom and worked with Bee Gees but then returned...

 
The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...


International acts: pop poll results
Position Top Male Singer Top Female Singer Top Group
1 Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 
Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

2 Paul Jones
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...

 
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

 
The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

3 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...

 
The Bee Gees
4 Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

 
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 
Jimi Hendrix Experience
5 Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...

 
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

 
Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...



1969

Printed in Go-Set on 28 June 1969, pages 10 & 12. Categories back to original names, e.g. Top Male Singer returns to Male Vocal.

Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Male Vocal Female Vocal Group
1 Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin is a New Zealand-born Australian former pop singer. In the early 1970s Durbin's visual 'trademark' was her lustrous waist-length auburn hair....

 
Zoot
Zoot (band)
Zoot are a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line. They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne...

2 Johnny Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
Anne Hawker The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...

3 Ronnie Burns  Bev Harrell Brisbane Avengers
4 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Wendy Saddington
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington is an Australian blues / soul / jazz singer and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 – September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column and as a...

 
Dream
5 Jeff Phillips
Jeff Phillips
Jeff Phillips is an Australian TV show host/personality and pop singer of the 1960s to the early 1990s.Originally from Perth, Western Australia, he first came to public attention when he took over as compere of Perth TV show, Club 17 in 1966...

 
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell was an Australian pop singer. For three years in the mid-1960s she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in 1966, and "Ciao Baby" in 1967. In 1967, Randell toured the United States with The Monkees and performed on-stage...

 
Flying Circus
The Flying Circus (band)
The Flying Circus was a pioneering Australian country rock band who had a number of pop hits in Australia from 1968 to 1971 and then re-located to Canada from 1971 to 1974 where they also achieved a degree of success.-Beginnings:...


International acts: pop poll results
Position Male Vocal Girl Vocal Group
1 Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 
Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

2 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....

 
The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

3 Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...

 
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 
The Bee Gees
4 Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...

 
Julie Driscoll
Julie Driscoll
Julie Tippetts is an English singer and actress, known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger & The Trinity...

 
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

5 Barry Ryan
Barry Ryan (singer)
Barry Ryan was an English pop singer. He is currently a photographer.The son of pop singer Marion Ryan, Ryan and his twin brother Paul began to perform at the age of 16...

 
Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

 
Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...



1970

Printed in Go-Set on 11 July 1970, pages 6 & 7. New categories introduced: Guitarist, Drummer, Composer. Ceremony for the Australian acts was held at Dallas Brooks Hall, East Melbourne
East Melbourne, Victoria
East Melbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, adjacent to Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, East Melbourne had a population of 4,330....

, and was broadcast on 30 June by Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

.
Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Male Girl Group Guitarist Drummer Composer
1 Johnny Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin is a New Zealand-born Australian former pop singer. In the early 1970s Durbin's visual 'trademark' was her lustrous waist-length auburn hair....

 
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...

 
Doug Ford
Doug Ford (musician)
Doug Ford is an Australian rock guitarist and songwriter since the 1960s. During 1968–1972, Ford was the lead guitarist in the Australian pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices and established a successful writing partnership with the group's lead singer Jim Keays.-Biography:Ford was born in Casino,...

 
Colin Burgess  Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...

2 Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Wendy Saddington
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington is an Australian blues / soul / jazz singer and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 – September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column and as a...

 
Axiom
Axiom (Australian band)
Axiom were a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1969 and included musicians Glenn Shorrock and Brian Cadd.-Biography:Axiom's formation was a by-product of the annual Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds in which the top Australian bands of the day performed in front of judges for the prize of a...

 
Ricky Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

 
John Dien Jim Keays
Jim Keays
James "Jim" Keays is an Australian musician who fronted rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player during 1965–1972, and subsequently had a solo career including leading Jim Keays' Southern Cross...

, Doug Ford
Doug Ford (musician)
Doug Ford is an Australian rock guitarist and songwriter since the 1960s. During 1968–1972, Ford was the lead guitarist in the Australian pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices and established a successful writing partnership with the group's lead singer Jim Keays.-Biography:Ford was born in Casino,...

3 Ronnie Burns  Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

 
New Dream Billy Green Rick Brewer
Rick Brewer
-External links:*...

 
Hans Poulsen
Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen is an Australian singer-songwriter popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

4 Alex Kadell Liv Maessen Town Criers Rod Harris Stewie Speers Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

5 Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 
Yvonne Barrett Zoot
Zoot (band)
Zoot are a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line. They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne...

 
Glenn Wheatley
Glenn Wheatley
Glenn Dawson Wheatley is an Australian artist manager and entertainment industry executive.Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s and in the late 1960s became nationally famous as a member of leading pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices...

 
Chris Easterby Ricky Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...


International acts: pop poll results
Position Male Girl Group Guitarist Drummer Composer
1 Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 
Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 
Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

2 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...

 
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 
Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

 
Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...

 
John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, Paul McCartney
3 Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 
Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

 
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....

 
Jose Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...

 
John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...

 
John Lennon
4 Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...

 
Julie Driscoll
Julie Driscoll
Julie Tippetts is an English singer and actress, known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's "Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger & The Trinity...

 
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 
George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 
Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...

 
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

5 Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...

 
Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

 
The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

 
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 
Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...

 
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...


1971

Printed in Go-Set on 10 July 1971, pages 2 & 3. New categories introduced: Best Album, Best Single, Best Bass Guitarist.
Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Best Male Vocal Best Girl Vocal Best Group Best Guitarist Best Drummer Best Songwriter / Composer Best Album Best Single Best Bass Guitarist
1 Johnny Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin is a New Zealand-born Australian former pop singer. In the early 1970s Durbin's visual 'trademark' was her lustrous waist-length auburn hair....

 
Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool (band)
Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan , Ross Hannaford , Ross Wilson and Gary Young . Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks...

 
Ricky Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

 
Colin Burgess  Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Choice CutsThe Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...

 
"Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...

" – Zoot
Zoot (band)
Zoot are a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line. They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne...

 
Glenn Wheatley
Glenn Wheatley
Glenn Dawson Wheatley is an Australian artist manager and entertainment industry executive.Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s and in the late 1960s became nationally famous as a member of leading pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices...

2 Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Liv Maessen The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...

 
Doug Ford
Doug Ford (musician)
Doug Ford is an Australian rock guitarist and songwriter since the 1960s. During 1968–1972, Ford was the lead guitarist in the Australian pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices and established a successful writing partnership with the group's lead singer Jim Keays.-Biography:Ford was born in Casino,...

 
Rick Brewer
Rick Brewer
-External links:*...

 
Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...

 
Natural HighHans Poulsen
Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen is an Australian singer-songwriter popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
"Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock (song)
"Eagle Rock" is a classic Australian song, released by Daddy Cool in May 1971 on the Sparmac Record Label. It went on to become the best selling Australian single of the year, achieving gold status in eleven weeks, and remaining at #1 on the national charts for a record ten weeks. "Eagle Rock"...

" – Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool (band)
Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan , Ross Hannaford , Ross Wilson and Gary Young . Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks...

"
Beeb Birtles
Beeb Birtles
Beeb Birtles , is a Dutch / Australian musician, one of the founding members of the Little River Band....

3 Ronnie Burns  Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

 
Zoot
Zoot (band)
Zoot are a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line. They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne...

 
Phil Manning
Phil Manning (musician)
Philip John "Phil" Manning is an Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Manning has been a member of various groups including Chain and has had a solo career. As a member of Chain, Manning co-wrote their January 1971 single "Black and Blue", which became their only top 20 hit...

 
Gary Young
Gary Young (Australian musician)
Gary Young was a founding member of Australian rock band Daddy Cool in which he played the drums and sang backing vocals. He also played drums with Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons amongst other bands...

 
Hans Poulsen
Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen is an Australian singer-songwriter popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Virgo – Ronnie Burns  "Mr. America" – Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Wayne Duncan
Wayne Duncan
Wayne Duncan is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Jonathon Sammy-Lee. He made his first on-screen appearance on 4 February 1993. Wayne became a teacher at Erinsborough High...

4 Ted Mulry
Ted Mulry
Ted Mulry was a singer, songwriter, bass player and guitarist. He was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England but achieved his success in Australia, firstly as a solo performer, and then leading his own band Ted Mulry Gang, sometimes officially credited as just TMG.-Solo:Ted Mulry first came to the...

 
Wendy Saddington
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington is an Australian blues / soul / jazz singer and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 – September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column and as a...

 
Chain
Chain (band)
Chain are an Australian blues band formed in Melbourne as The Chain in late 1968 with a lineup including guitarist, vocalist Phil Manning; they are sometimes known as Matt Taylor's Chain after lead singer-songwriter and harmonica player, Matt Taylor...

 
Ross Hannaford
Ross Hannaford
Ross Andrew Hannaford is an Australian musician. He is often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he is best known for his long collaboration with singer-songwriter Ross Wilson, which began as teenagers, and with whom he formed the...

 
Mark Kennedy Ricky Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

 
The Hoax Is OverBilly Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...

 
"Black & Blue" – Chain
Chain (band)
Chain are an Australian blues band formed in Melbourne as The Chain in late 1968 with a lineup including guitarist, vocalist Phil Manning; they are sometimes known as Matt Taylor's Chain after lead singer-songwriter and harmonica player, Matt Taylor...

 
Barry Sullivan
5 Hans Poulsen
Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen is an Australian singer-songwriter popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Jenny Johnson Spectrum
Spectrum (band)
Spectrum is an Australian progressive rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps...

 
Denis Wilson Barry Harvey Jim Keays
Jim Keays
James "Jim" Keays is an Australian musician who fronted rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player during 1965–1972, and subsequently had a solo career including leading Jim Keays' Southern Cross...

, Doug Ford
Doug Ford (musician)
Doug Ford is an Australian rock guitarist and songwriter since the 1960s. During 1968–1972, Ford was the lead guitarist in the Australian pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices and established a successful writing partnership with the group's lead singer Jim Keays.-Biography:Ford was born in Casino,...

 
Spectrum Part OneSpectrum
Spectrum (band)
Spectrum is an Australian progressive rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps...

 
"I'll Be Gone
I'll Be Gone
"I'll Be Gone" or "Some Day I'll Have Money" is a song by Australian progressive rock group Spectrum released as their debut single by EMI on Harvest Records in January 1971. It peaked at #1 on the national singles chart, while it reached Top 5 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The song was...

" – Spectrum
Spectrum (band)
Spectrum is an Australian progressive rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps...

 
Duncan McGuire

International acts: pop poll results
Position Best Male Vocal Best Girl Vocal Best Group Best Guitarist Best Drummer Best Songwriter / Composer Best Album Best Bass Guitarist
1 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...

 
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....

 
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 
Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 
All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison, recorded and released in 1970. The original vinyl release featured two LPs of rock songs as well as Apple Jam, a third LP of informal jams...

George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

2 Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 
Melanie
Melanie Safka
Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...

 
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 
George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 
Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...

 
George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Mad Dogs and Englishmen (album)
Mad Dogs and Englishmen is Joe Cocker's 1970 live album, featuring a fusion of rock and soul. The album title is drawn from the 1931 Noël Coward song of the same name. Mostly Cocker's album is made up of covers, drawing equally from rock and soul...

Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 
Stu Cook
Stu Cook
Stuart Alden Cook is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work in the rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival....

3 Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 
Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin
Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....

 
Patridge Family  Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

 
Doug Clifford
Doug Clifford
Doug "Cosmo" Clifford played drums in the American rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival...

 
John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 
PendulumCreedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....

 
Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser
Andy Fraser is an English songwriter and bass guitarist whose career has lasted over forty years and includes a notable period as one of the founding members, in 1968, at age 15, of the rock band Free.-Peak years :...

4 Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 
Freda Payne
Freda Payne
Freda Charcilia Payne Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944. is an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". She was also an actress in...

 
Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...

 
John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...

 
John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...

 
Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...

 
That's the Way It IsElvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...

5 George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 
Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 
Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...

 
Ian Paice
Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...

 
John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...

 
Pearl
Pearl (album)
-Personnel:* Janis Joplin – vocals, guitar on "Me and Bobby McGee"* Richard Bell – piano* Ken Pearson – organ* John Till – electric guitar* Brad Campbell – bass guitar* Clark Pierson – drums-Additional personnel:...

Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...

 
Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...


1972

Printed in Go-Set on 30 December 1972, pages 5 & 6. New category introduced: Newcomer; with old categories retired: Best Guitarist, Best Drummer, Best Bass Guitarist.
Australian acts: pop poll results
Position Male Female Group Songwriter Album Single Newcomer
1 Johnny Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

 
Sherbet
Sherbet (band)
Sherbet was one of the most prominent and successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. Their biggest singles were "Summer Love" and "Howzat" , both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the UK. Though the band's success in the U.S...

 
Brian Cadd
Brian Cadd
Brian George Cadd is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer who has performed as a member of The Groop, Axiom, Flying Burrito Brothers and solo...

 
Aztecs Live at SunburyBilly Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...

 
"Boppin' the Blues" – Blackfeather
Blackfeather
Blackfeather was an Australian rock group in the 1970s. The group had many members and went through two major incarnations - the earlier heavy rock version of the group, which recorded the album At The Mountains of Madness and the hit single "Seasons of Change", and the later piano-based lineup...

 
Robin Jolley
2 Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin
Allison Durbin is a New Zealand-born Australian former pop singer. In the early 1970s Durbin's visual 'trademark' was her lustrous waist-length auburn hair....

 
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...

 
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

 
Beginnings "You're All Woman" Johnny Christie
3 Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

 
Alison McCallum
Alison McCallum
Alison McCallum is an Australian rock singer who had a string of singles in her home country in the late 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...

 
Blackfeather
Blackfeather
Blackfeather was an Australian rock group in the 1970s. The group had many members and went through two major incarnations - the earlier heavy rock version of the group, which recorded the album At The Mountains of Madness and the hit single "Seasons of Change", and the later piano-based lineup...

 
Russell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
The Shows "Most People I Know" – Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...

 
Glen Cardier
4 Jeff Phillips
Jeff Phillips
Jeff Phillips is an Australian TV show host/personality and pop singer of the 1960s to the early 1990s.Originally from Perth, Western Australia, he first came to public attention when he took over as compere of Perth TV show, Club 17 in 1966...

 
Wendy Saddington
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington is an Australian blues / soul / jazz singer and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 – September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column and as a...

 
Spectrum
Spectrum (band)
Spectrum is an Australian progressive rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps...

 
Mike Rudd
Mike Rudd
Mike Rudd is a New Zealand born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the late 1960s, and who is best known as the leader of respected Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s....

 
MilesagoSpectrum
Spectrum (band)
Spectrum is an Australian progressive rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps...

 
"Rock Me Baby" Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

5 Billy Thorpe
Billy Thorpe
William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...

 
Jeannie Lewis Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool (band)
Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan , Ross Hannaford , Ross Wilson and Gary Young . Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks...

 
Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...

 
Blood StoneRussell Morris
Russell Morris
Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

 
"Walking the Floor on My Hands" – Johnny Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

 
Jamie Redfern
Jamie Redfern
Jamie Redfern born 9 April 1957, is an Australian television presenter and pop singer. Redfern was a founding member of the Australian show Young Talent Time and currently presents Jamie Redfern's Rascals, which can be viewed on Aurora TV. He is also the director of the Australian Showbusiness...


International acts: pop poll results
Position Male Female Group Songwriter Album Single
1 Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

 
Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...

 
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 
Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

 
Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens...

Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

 
"American Pie" – Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...

2 David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...

 
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...

 
The Bee Gees  Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 
Thick As a Brick
Thick as a Brick
-Differences between various CD releases:By 2011 the album received three major releases on CD: the first release , the MFSL-release , and the 25th Anniversary Edition . Whereas the first release and the MFSL-release run with identical speed, the 25th Anniversary edition runs 0.5% slower...

Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...

 
"School's Out
School's Out (song)
Female pop duo Daphne & Celeste, released a cover of the song in 2000. The chorus is based on Alice Cooper's hit of the same name, and some other elements of that song have been retained, although much of the song is "original", in a pop-rap style...

" – Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...

3 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
Melanie
Melanie Safka
Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...

 
Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...

 
Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....

 
Slade Alive!
Slade Alive!
Slade Alive! was a live album released by the British rock band Slade. The album was released on 24 March 1972, and reached No. 2 on the UK Charts, besides being Slade's first album to dent the Top 200 in the United States. The album contains original songs, plus cover versions of songs by Ten...

Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...

 
"Take Me Bak 'Ome
Take Me Bak 'Ome
Take Me Bak 'Ome was a popular single by Slade.Written by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder and produced by Chas Chandler, Take Me Bak 'Ome was the second of Slade's six UK number one singles spending a single week at the top in July 1972. The single took 5 weeks to reach the top and was last seen on the...

" – Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...

4 Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...

 
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....

 
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 
Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden
Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden
Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden is a live musical album recorded by Elvis Presley and released in June 1972 by RCA Records peaking on the charts in July 1972. Recorded at the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on Saturday June 10, 1972, the concert, and the subsequent album,...

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 
"Puppy Love
Puppy love
Puppy love is an informal term for feelings of love or infatuation felt by young people during childhood and adolescence, so-called for its resemblance to the adoring, worshipful affection that may be felt by a puppy. 'Simple infatuation is often called a "crush" or "puppy love"...

" – Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...

5 Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 
Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...

 
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 
John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 
American Pie
American Pie (album)
American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....

Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...

 
"Long Cool Woman" – The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...


1967–1978: King of Pop Awards

Teen-oriented pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 newspaper, Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...

was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll of its readers to determine the most popular personalities. In 1967 the most popular performer was Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...

 and when the results were televised on the unrelated The Go!! Show
The Go!! Show
The Go!! Show was a top rating Australian popular music television series which aired on ATV-0 Melbourne from 1964 to 1967, and was produced by DYT Productions at the Channel 0 studios in Nunawading, Victoria....

there was a crowning of Rowe as 'King of Pop'. In the following years, TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...

provided coupons for readers to vote for their choice, a similar system had been in use for TV's Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...

s since 1960. The 'King of Pop' awards ceremony was broadcast by the 0-10 Network from 1967 to 1975, and from 1976 to 1978 by the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...

. On the 0-10 Network, from 1972, it was run by Johnny Young
Johnny Young
Johnny Young is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Netherlands, his family settled in Perth, Western Australia in the early 1950s...

's production company (Lewis-Young Productions) which also provided Young Talent Time
Young Talent Time
Young Talent Time is an Australian television variety program screened on Network Ten, running from 1971 until 1988. The series features a core group of young performers in the vein of The Mickey Mouse Club, and a weekly junior talent quest. The "Young Talent Team" regularly performed popular...

.

1969

  • King of Pop — Johnny Farnham
    John Farnham
    John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

  • Best Female Artist — Allison Durbin
    Allison Durbin
    Allison Durbin is a New Zealand-born Australian former pop singer. In the early 1970s Durbin's visual 'trademark' was her lustrous waist-length auburn hair....



Durbin is often referred to as the 'Queen of Pop', however:

1970

  • King of Pop — Johnny Farnham
  • Best Female Artist — Allison Durbin

1971

Guest presenter: Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...



Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Johnny Farnham
  • Best Female Artist — Allison Durbin
  • Best Album – Bloodstone (Russell Morris
    Russell Morris
    Russell Norman Morris is an Australian singer-songwriter who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s...

    )
  • Best Bass Guitarist – Beeb Birtles
    Beeb Birtles
    Beeb Birtles , is a Dutch / Australian musician, one of the founding members of the Little River Band....

     (Frieze)
  • Best Dressed Female Performer – Allison Durbin
  • Best Dressed Male Performer – Johnny Farnham
  • Best Drummer – Gary Young
    Gary Young (Australian musician)
    Gary Young was a founding member of Australian rock band Daddy Cool in which he played the drums and sang backing vocals. He also played drums with Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons amongst other bands...

     (Daddy Cool)
  • Best Group — Daddy Cool
    Daddy Cool (band)
    Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan , Ross Hannaford , Ross Wilson and Gary Young . Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks...

  • Best Lead Guitarist – Rick Springfield
    Rick Springfield
    Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

     (Zoot
    Zoot (band)
    Zoot are a pop/rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in 1965 as Down the Line. They changed their name to Zoot in 1967 and by 1968 had relocated to Melbourne...

    )
  • Best Organist – Jenny Johnson (New Dream)
  • Best Songwriter – Russell Morris for "Mr America"
  • Outstanding Newcomer — Jamie Redfern
    Jamie Redfern
    Jamie Redfern born 9 April 1957, is an Australian television presenter and pop singer. Redfern was a founding member of the Australian show Young Talent Time and currently presents Jamie Redfern's Rascals, which can be viewed on Aurora TV. He is also the director of the Australian Showbusiness...


1972

Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Johnny Farnham
  • Queen of PopColleen Hewett
    Colleen Hewett
    Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

  • Best Arranger – Geoff Hales
  • Best Dressed Female – Judy Stone
    Judy Stone
    Judy Stone is an Australian pop singer from Sydney, who came to national prominence in the early 1960s through her regular TV appearances on the Australian pop music show Brian Henderson's Bandstand and her many hit records...

  • Best Dressed Male – Jeff Phillips
    Jeff Phillips
    Jeff Phillips is an Australian TV show host/personality and pop singer of the 1960s to the early 1990s.Originally from Perth, Western Australia, he first came to public attention when he took over as compere of Perth TV show, Club 17 in 1966...

  • Best New Talent — Robin Jolley
  • Best Songwriter – Billy Thorpe
    Billy Thorpe
    William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...

     (Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs)
  • Biggest Selling L.P. – Teaser and the Firecat
    Teaser and the Firecat
    Teaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens...

    (Cat Stevens
    Cat Stevens
    Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

    )
  • Biggest Selling Single – "The Rangers Waltz" (The Moms & Dads)
  • Contribution to Teenage Television – Brian Henderson
  • Most Popular Australian Album – When You Wish Upon a Star (Jamie Redfern)
  • Most Popular Australian Musician – Rick Springfield (solo)
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Walking the Floor" (Johnny Farnham)
  • Most Popular Group — Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
    Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
    Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...

  • Most Popular Overseas Group — The Bee Gees
    Bee Gees
    The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...

  • Most Popular Overseas L.P. — American Pie
    American Pie (album)
    American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....

    (Don McLean
    Don McLean
    Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...

    )
  • Special Gold Award for '20 years service to the Industry' – Johnny O'Keefe
    Johnny O'Keefe
    John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...


1973

Guest presenter: Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...

 (ex-The Monkeys)

Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Johnny Farnham
  • Queen of Pop — Colleen Hewett
  • Best New Talent — Linda George
    Linda George (Australian singer)
    Linda George is an English-born Australian pop, jazz fusion and soul singer from the 1970s. In 1973, George performed the role of Acid Queen for the Australian stage performance of The Who's rock opera, Tommy. She won the TV Week King of Pop award for "Best New Female Artist"...

  • Best Songwriter – Brian Cadd
    Brian Cadd
    Brian George Cadd is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer who has performed as a member of The Groop, Axiom, Flying Burrito Brothers and solo...

  • Contribution to Australian Pop Industry – Brian Cadd
  • Most Popular Australian Album – Hits 1: Magic Rock 'N' Roll (Johnny Farnham)
  • Most Popular Australian Group — Sherbet
    Sherbet (band)
    Sherbet was one of the most prominent and successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. Their biggest singles were "Summer Love" and "Howzat" , both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the UK. Though the band's success in the U.S...

  • Most Popular Australian Musician – Brian Cadd
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Venus" (Jamie Redfern)

1974

Ceremony details: Held on 8 March 1974, guest presenters: David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...

, Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...

. A compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 titled King Of Pop '74–'75 was released with tracks supplied by previous winners and guest presenters. Next to the list of various artists, the cover depicts the trophy that was presented to award winners.

Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Jamie Redfern
  • Queen of Pop — Debbie Byrne
  • Best New Talent — Benjamin Hugg
  • Best Songwriter – Harry Vanda & George Young
    Vanda & Young
    Vanda & Young are Harry Vanda , and George Young...

  • Contribution to Australian Pop Industry – Brian Cadd
  • Most Popular Australian Album – My Name Means Horse
    My Name Means Horse
    My name Means Horse was the second album to be released by Western Australian singer Ross Ryan. The title was a reference to a line in the hit single I am Pegasus, which featured on the disc. The album was Ryan's most successful LP. The album won Most Popular Australian Album at the 1974 TV Week...

    (Ross Ryan
    Ross Ryan
    Ross Ryan is an Australian singer-songwriter and producer who is best known for his signature tune "I Am Pegasus" .-Early years:Ross Ryan was born December 13, 1950 in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. The family moved to Albany, Western Australia in 1959...

    )
  • Most Popular Australian Group — Sherbet
  • Most Popular Australian Musician – Brian Cadd
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Hitch a Ride" (Jamie Redfern)

1975

Ceremony details: Held October 1975, live performance: AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

 "High Voltage
High Voltage (song)
Not to be confused with Danger! High Voltage"High Voltage" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was first released in Australia as a single in July 1975, and it is the eighth track of their second Australian album T.N.T. The song was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Bon Scott....

"

Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Daryl Braithwaite
    Daryl Braithwaite
    Daryl Braithwaite is an Australian pop singer. Best known as the lead vocalist of Sherbet, Braithwaite has also sustained a successful solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including the No...

     (Sherbet)
  • Queen of Pop — Debbie Byrne
  • Australian Record of the Year — "Horror Movie" (Skyhooks)
  • Best Australian Songwriter – Greg Macainsh (Skyhooks)
  • Best New Talent — Mark Holden
    Mark Holden
    Mark Holden is an Australian singer, television personality and barrister. He was one of a panel of three judges on the television series Australian Idol.-Acting career:...

  • Contribution to Australian Pop Industry – Countdown
  • Most Popular Australian Album – Ego is not a Dirty Word
    Ego Is Not a Dirty Word
    Ego Is Not a Dirty Word was the second album released by Australian band Skyhooks in mid-1975. The album was the follow-up to their highly successful album, Living in the Seventies. As with the former album, it was also produced by Ross Wilson....

    (Skyhooks)
  • Most Popular Australian Group — Sherbet
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Summer Love
    Summer Love (Sherbet song)
    "Summer Love" was the first national number one hit in Australia for Sherbet. They had had a string of top 40 hits in the early 70s with "Can You Feel It Baby" being the first in 1971. "Summer Love" spent 2 weeks at number one in mid 1975 on the Australian charts. The song was also promoted on the...

    " (Sherbet)

1976

Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Daryl Braithwaite (Sherbet)
  • Queen of Pop — Marcia Hines
    Marcia Hines
    Marcia Elaine Hines, AM is a vocalist, actress and TV personality who achieved success in her adopted homeland of Australia. Hines made her debut, at the age of sixteen, in the Australian version of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar...

  • Best Australian International Performer – Olivia Newton-John
    Olivia Newton-John
    Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

  • Best Australian Record Producer – Richard Lush
  • Best Australian Songwriter – Harry Vanda & George Young
  • Best Australian TV Performer – Supernaut
    Supernaut (band)
    Supernaut were an Australian glam/punk rock band from Perth, Australia formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1980.-History:Formed in 1974 in Perth, Western Australia, Supernaut had a short but successful career which yielded two straight top twenty singles and gold album status for their self titled...

  • Best Cover Design – Straight in a Gay Gay World
    Straight in a Gay Gay World
    Straight In a Gay Gay World was the third studio album released by Australian '70s rock band, Skyhooks. The album was released on 23 August 1976. With the exception of "Million Dollar Riff", it was recorded at The Record Plant in Sausalito, California after the band's first tour of the United...

    (Skyhooks)
  • Contribution to Australian Pop Industry – Johnny O'Keefe
  • Most Popular Australian Album – Howzat (Sherbet)
  • Most Popular Australian Group — Sherbet
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Howzat" (Sherbet)
  • Most Popular New Group — Supernaut
  • Most Popular New Talent — Mark Holden

1977

Performer: Mark Holden

Award winners:
  • King of Pop — Daryl Braithwaite (Sherbet)
  • Queen of Pop — Marcia Hines
  • Australian Record of the Year — "Help Is on Its Way
    Help Is on Its Way
    "Help Is on Its Way" was written by Glenn Shorrock and was a hit single by the Australian group Little River Band in 1977. It was featured on the album Diamantina Cocktail. The song went to number one in Australia on the Kent Music Report singles chart. The song was the fourth highest selling...

    " (Little River Band
    Little River Band
    Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

    )
  • Best Australian International Performers – Little River Band
  • Best Australian Record Producer – Peter Dawkins
    Peter Dawkins (musician)
    Peter Dawkins is a New Zealand-born record producer and musician, best known for his hit 1970s productions for Australian-based pop artists, including Dragon, Australian Crawl and Air Supply. He has won multiple production awards, including the Countdown Producer of the Year...

  • Best Australian Songwriter – Glenn Shorrock
    Glenn Shorrock
    Glenn Barrie Shorrock is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of pop groups The Twilights, Axiom and Little River Band as well as being a solo performer....

  • Best Australian TV Performer – The Ferrets
    The Ferrets (band)
    The Ferrets were an Australian pop / rock band from Melbourne and Sydney, which formed in 1975 and disbanded in 1979. Their second single, "Don’t Fall in Love", was released in 1977 and peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart...

     on Countdown
  • Best Cover Design – Trees (Doug Ashdown
    Doug Ashdown
    -External links:* * [ Doug Ashdown] at Allmusic...

    )
  • Most Popular Australian Album – Photoplay (Sherbet)
  • Most Popular Australian Country Musician – Slim Dusty
  • Most Popular Australian Group — Sherbet
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Magazine Madonna" (Sherbet)
  • Most Popular New Group — Dragon
    Dragon (band)
    Dragon is a popular New Zealand rock band, they were formed in Auckland, New Zealand in January 1972 and relocated to Sydney, Australia in May 1975. They were previously led by singer Marc Hunter and are currently led by his brother bass player Todd Hunter...

  • Most Popular New Talent — John St. Peeters

1978

Ceremony details: Held on 13 October 1978, hosted by Glen Shorrock, guest presenters: Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...

, Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett is an American singer and actor. He became famous in the late 1970s as a teen idol, but received much publicity in later life for his drug abuse and legal troubles.-Early life:...



Award winners:
  • King of Pop — John Paul Young
    John Paul Young
    John Paul Young is an Australian pop singer who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air"...

  • Queen of Pop — Marcia Hines
  • Australian Record of the Year — "Reminiscing
    Reminiscing
    "Reminiscing" is a 1978 song written by Graeham Goble, and performed by Australian rock music group Little River Band. It remains their greatest success in the United States, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year. The song is about a couple reminiscing about the past, with...

    " (Little River Band)
  • Best Australian Record Producer – Harry Vanda & George Young
  • Best Australian Songwriter – Harry Vanda & George Young
  • Best Australian TV Performer – Skyhooks "Hotel Hell" on Nightmoves and Little River Band "Help Is on Its Way" on Paul Hogan Show
    Paul Hogan
    Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...

  • Best Cover Design – Peter Ledger
    Peter Ledger
    Peter Ledger was an Australian commercial airbrush artist and illustrator.-Biography:...

     for the album cover of The Angels
    The Angels (Australian band)
    The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...

    ' Face to Face
  • Most Popular Australian Album – Sleeper Catcher (Little River Band)
  • Most Popular Australian Country Musician – Slim Dusty
  • Most Popular Australian Group — Sherbet
  • Most Popular Australian Single – "Love Is in the Air
    Love Is in the Air
    "Love Is in the Air" is a 1977 disco song sung by John Paul Young. The song was written by George Young and Harry Vanda. It became his only worldwide hit during 1978, peaking at No. 2 on the Australian charts and No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 7 on the...

    " (John Paul Young)
  • Most Popular New Group — The Sports
    The Sports
    The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...

  • Most Popular New Talent — Paul O'Gorman
  • Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music Industry – Nightmoves (Australian TV series)
  • Outstanding Local Achievement – Dragon

1979–1980: TV Week/Countdown Music Awards

Countdown was an Australian pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....

 from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...

which had sponsored the previously existing 'King of Pop' Awards. The TV Week/Countdown Rock Music Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.

The award year below relates to the year of achievement and not the year they were presented.

1979

Ceremony details: Held on 13 April 1980, broadcast on Countdown by ABC-TV, the TV Week Rock Music Awards for 1979 presented a revamped awards ceremony with 'King of Pop' title replaced by 'Most Popular Male' and 'Queen of Pop' replaced by 'Most Popular Female'. Hosted by Glen Shorrock of Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

, there were three live performances: Christie Allen
Christie Allen
Christie Allen was an English-born pop singer who had a successful career as a recording artist in her adopted homeland Australia.-Biography:...

 "He's My Number 1", Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...

 "Beautiful People" and Split Enz
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...

 "I Got You
I Got You (Split Enz song)
"I Got You" is a 1980 song by New Zealand rock group Split Enz from their studio album True Colours. Split Enz's most commercially successful single, "I Got You" was written by Neil Finn and released in January 1980.-Music video:...

". Various music industry personalities explained the categories, announced nominees and presented the 1979 awards. 'Most Popular' awards were voted for by readers of TV Week sending in printed coupons, with the three highest reader responses read out as nominations. Industry awards were voted for by radio programme directors, rock magazine editors and journalists. Presenters included Darryl Cotton
Darryl Cotton
Darryl Cotton is an Australian pop singer, television presenter and actor. Cotton is best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Zoot in 1968, along with Beeb Birtles, Rick Brewer and, later, Rick Springfield....

, Richard Gower (Racey
Racey
Racey was a British pop group, formed in 1976 in Weston-super-Mare, by singer Phil Fursdon and Clive Wilson. The group was formerly known as Alive 'n' Rockin.-Career:...

), John O'Keefe (son of Johnny O'Keefe
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...

), John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

, Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

, Graeme Strachan, Ian Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

, and Harry Casey
Harry Wayne Casey
Harry Wayne "K.C." Casey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is most famous for his group, KC and the Sunshine Band, and as a producer of several hits for other artists.-Early years:...

 (KC & the Sunshine Band).

Award winners and nominees:
  • Best Australian Album
    • Breakfast at Sweethearts
      Breakfast at Sweethearts
      Breakfast at Sweethearts was the second studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in February 1979. It spent 32 weeks in the national charts, reaching a peak of number 4....

      Cold Chisel
      Cold Chisel
      Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...

    • First Under the Wire
      First Under the Wire
      First Under the Wire is the fifth album from the Little River Band, released in 1979 by Capitol Records. It was the band's first and last top ten album in the U.S....

      Little River Band
    • Graffiti Crimes – Mi-Sex
    • Face to FaceThe Angels
      The Angels (Australian band)
      The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...

  • Best Australian Producer
    • Peter Dawkins
      Peter Dawkins (musician)
      Peter Dawkins is a New Zealand-born record producer and musician, best known for his hit 1970s productions for Australian-based pop artists, including Dragon, Australian Crawl and Air Supply. He has won multiple production awards, including the Countdown Producer of the Year...

      Graffiti Crimes for Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex was a New Zealand new wave rock band active from 1978 to 1984. Led by Steve Gilpin as vocalist, they were best known for their singles "Computer Games" in 1979 and "People" in 1980.-History:...

  • Best Australian Record Cover Design
    • Breakfast at Sweethearts
      Breakfast at Sweethearts
      Breakfast at Sweethearts was the second studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in February 1979. It spent 32 weeks in the national charts, reaching a peak of number 4....

      Cold Chisel
      Cold Chisel
      Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...

  • Best Australian Single
    • "Computer Games" – Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex was a New Zealand new wave rock band active from 1978 to 1984. Led by Steve Gilpin as vocalist, they were best known for their singles "Computer Games" in 1979 and "People" in 1980.-History:...

    • "Lonesome Loser" – Little River Band
    • "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" – Mental As Anything
  • Best New Talent (Johnny O'Keefe
    Johnny O'Keefe
    John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...

     Memorial Award)
    • Christie Allen
    • Mental As Anything
      Mental As Anything
      Mental As Anything are an Australian New Wave–rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Their most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird"...

    • Mi-Sex
  • Best Recorded Songwriter
    • Beeb Birtles
      Beeb Birtles
      Beeb Birtles , is a Dutch / Australian musician, one of the founding members of the Little River Band....

       & Graeham Goble
      Graeham Goble
      Graeham George Goble is a musician, singer/songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of rock performers Little River Band ....

       – "I'm Coming Home" by Birtles & Goble
      Birtles & Goble
      Birtles & Goble was an Australian pop music duo composed of Beeb Birtles and Graeham Goble...

    • Terry Britten
      Terry Britten
      Terry Britten is a prolific English singer-songwriter, who has written songs for Tina Turner and Sir Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo, Michael Jackson and many others.-Career:...

      – "He's My Number 1" by Christie Allen
    • Don Walker
      Don Walker (musician)
      Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...

       – "Choirgirl
      Choirgirl (song)
      "Choirgirl" was a 1979 single from Australian rock band Cold Chisel. A ballad with an R&B influenced melody,the single was released months before the album East that it featured on. It was the first time the band had recorded with producer Mark Opitz....

      " Cold Chisel
  • Countdown Producers Award (for continued co-operation, enthusiasm and professionalism)
    • The Angels
  • Most Outstanding Achievement
    • Mike Brady
      Mike Brady (musician)
      Mike Brady is an Australian musician most commonly associated with the Australian rules football anthems "Up There Cazaly", referring to 1920s and 30s St Kilda player Roy Cazaly and "One Day in September". "Up There Cazaly" topped the Australian singles charts in September 1979 and briefly held...

    • John English
    • Little River Band
    • The Sports
      The Sports
      The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...

  • Most Popular Album or Single
    • "Computer Games" – Mi-Sex
    • "Goose Bumps" – Christie Allen
    • "Up There Cazaly
      Up There Cazaly
      "Up There Cazaly" is an Australian sporting catchphrase inspired by former St Kilda and South Melbourne great Roy Cazaly...

      " – Two Man Band
      Mike Brady (musician)
      Mike Brady is an Australian musician most commonly associated with the Australian rules football anthems "Up There Cazaly", referring to 1920s and 30s St Kilda player Roy Cazaly and "One Day in September". "Up There Cazaly" topped the Australian singles charts in September 1979 and briefly held...

  • Most Popular Female Performer
    • Christie Allen
      Christie Allen
      Christie Allen was an English-born pop singer who had a successful career as a recording artist in her adopted homeland Australia.-Biography:...

    • Colleen Hewett
      Colleen Hewett
      Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

    • Marcia Hines
      Marcia Hines
      Marcia Elaine Hines, AM is a vocalist, actress and TV personality who achieved success in her adopted homeland of Australia. Hines made her debut, at the age of sixteen, in the Australian version of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar...

  • Most Popular Group
    • Little River Band
      Little River Band
      Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

    • Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex was a New Zealand new wave rock band active from 1978 to 1984. Led by Steve Gilpin as vocalist, they were best known for their singles "Computer Games" in 1979 and "People" in 1980.-History:...

    • Sherbs
      Sherbet (band)
      Sherbet was one of the most prominent and successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. Their biggest singles were "Summer Love" and "Howzat" , both reaching number one in Australia. "Howzat" was also a top 5 hit in the UK. Though the band's success in the U.S...

       (aka Sherbet, Highway)
  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • Darryl Braithwaite
    • Jon English
      Jon English
      Jonathan James "Jon" English is an Australian rock singer, musician, actor and writer. English emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1961...

    • John Paul Young
      John Paul Young
      John Paul Young is an Australian pop singer who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air"...

  • Best Disc Jockey (winners only, by State)
    • Ian McCray 2SM Sydney, New South Wales
    • Wayne Roberts 4BK Brisbane, Queensland
    • Steve Curtis 5AD Adelaide, South Australia
    • Jim Franklin 7HT Hobart, Tasmania
    • Greg Evans
      Greg Evans (television host)
      Greg Evans is an Australian radio and television host.In the 1970s he was the highly popular host of the drive time slot of radio station 3XY, with his program being the number one rated show in 27 of the 28 ratings surveys taken.He was nominated three times for a Gold Logie award...

       3XY Melbourne, Victoria
    • Lionel Yorke 6PM Perth, Western Australia

1980

Ceremony details: Held on 16 March 1981 at Regent Theatre
Regent Theatre (Sydney)
The Regent Theatre was a heritage-listed theatre in Sydney, Australia, which was demolished in 1988.-Description and history:The Regent Theatre was Hoyts' showcase "picture palace" in Sydney, designed by the distinguished architect Cedric Ballantyne and built by James Porter & Sons.Located at...

 Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, and broadcast on 22 March, it was hosted by Countdown host Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

 and international guests Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...

 and Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, bassist, composer, a member of The Jackson 5, older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and occasional film director...

. Presenters included: Lee Simons, Donnie Sutherland
Donnie Sutherland
Donald "Donnie" Sutherland OAM is an Australian radio and television presenter, best known for being the host of Sounds on Australian television between 1975 and 1987...

, Marc Hunter
Marc Hunter
Marc Alexander Hunter was a New Zealand rock and pop singer best known as the lead vocalist with Dragon, a band formed by his older brother Todd in Auckland in 1973....

, James Freud
James Freud
James Randall Freud was an Australian rock musician-songwriter. He was a member of Models during the 1980s and wrote their two most popular singles, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"....

, Graham Russell
Graham Russell
Graham Cyrill Russell is a British musician and, with Russell Hitchcock, is one of the mainstays of soft rock group Air Supply which formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1975 and had top ten hits nationally and in United States.He released The Future, his 10-track, debut solo album...

, Russell Hitchcock
Russell Hitchcock
Russell Charles Hitchcock is an Australian musician and one half of the group Air Supply. He formed the group after meeting Englishman Graham Russell in 1975 on the set of a production of Jesus Christ Superstar....

 and David Tickle
David Tickle
David Tickle is a British record producer and engineer. As a producer, he is most noted for his work with Split Enz, and in Canada, for his mid-80s work with Red Rider, Platinum Blonde and Gowan...

. Performers were: Split Enz
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...

 "History Never Repeats
History Never Repeats
"History Never Repeats" was a single written by Neil Finn and recorded by Split Enz for their 1981 Waiata album. The song remains one of their most popular. The video was one of the first to be played on MTV upon its launch in 1981....

", Flowers
Icehouse (band)
Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...

 "Icehouse
Icehouse (song)
"Icehouse" is a song by Australian rock band Flowers. It was released as a single in Europe in 1982 by Chrysalis Records from their debut album Icehouse, after the band changed their name to Icehouse...

", The Swingers
The Swingers
The Swingers were a New Zealand rock band. Formed out of the remnants of The Suburban Reptiles, the founding members were Phil Judd , Wayne Stevens , and Mark Hough . Formed in 1979, the band released the single "One Good Reason" which was a top 20 hit in New Zealand...

 "Counting the Beat
Counting The Beat
"Counting the Beat" is a single by New Zealand rock band The Swingers released in 1981 from their album of the same name, Counting the Beat.-History:The single was performed by The Swingers, with frontman Phil Judd from Split Enz...

", Air Supply
Air Supply
Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s...

 "Lost in Love
Lost in Love (Air Supply song)
"Lost in Love" is a 1980 song recorded by the Australian group Air Supply. The song was written by group member Graham Russell and included on their Life Support...

", "Every Woman in the World" and "All Out of Love
All Out of Love
"All Out of Love" is a pop–ballad by Air Supply, released in 1980. It reached number 2 in the US and number 11 in the UK. The song is considered to be one of the greatest love songs, placing 92nd in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Love Songs....

", Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...

 "The Boys Light Up
The Boys Light Up (song)
"The Boys Light Up" is the second single and title track released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up . The song was written by lead singer James Reyne, but sung by Simon Binks!!...

". Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...

 performed the last live number, "My Turn to Cry", to close the show and then trashed their instruments and the set. Sponsors TV Week withdrew their support for the awards and Countdown held its own awards ceremonies thereafter.

Award winners and nominees:
  • Best Australian Album
    • East
      East (album)
      East was the third studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 63 weeks on the national chart. It was the biggest-selling Australian album release of the year...

      Cold Chisel
    • Icehouse
      Icehouse (album)
      Icehouse was the debut album released by Australian rock Synthpop band Flowers, later known as Icehouse, on the independent label Regular Records in October 1980. The title and the artist are sometimes incorrectly swapped, because the band changed their name from Flowers into Icehouse after this...

      Flowers
      Icehouse (band)
      Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...

       (later called Icehouse)
    • True ColoursSplit Enz
      Split Enz
      Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...

  • Best Australian Producer
    • Cameron Allan
    • Peter Dawkins
      Peter Dawkins (musician)
      Peter Dawkins is a New Zealand-born record producer and musician, best known for his hit 1970s productions for Australian-based pop artists, including Dragon, Australian Crawl and Air Supply. He has won multiple production awards, including the Countdown Producer of the Year...

    • Mark Opitz
      Mark Opitz
      Mark Opitz, started his career with ABC TV in Sydney in the 1970’s and has since gone on to work with many of the great Australian musicians that have graced both the Australian and international music charts for the past 25 years....

      East by Cold Chisel
  • Best Australian Record Cover Design
    • The Boys Light Up
      The Boys Light Up
      The Boys Light Up is the debut album from Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl which was released in 1980 and contains the title track, "The Boys Light Up", "Indisposed", "Downhearted" and their previously released debut single "Beautiful People"...

      Australian Crawl
      Australian Crawl
      Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...

    • EastCold Chisel
    • Icehouse – Flowers
    • True Colours – Split Enz
  • Best Single Record
    • "Downhearted
      Downhearted
      "Downhearted" is the third single released by iconic Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough and Bill McDonough...

      " – Australian Crawl
    • "I Got You
      I Got You (Split Enz song)
      "I Got You" is a 1980 song by New Zealand rock group Split Enz from their studio album True Colours. Split Enz's most commercially successful single, "I Got You" was written by Neil Finn and released in January 1980.-Music video:...

      " – Split Enz
    • "State of the Heart" – Mondo Rock
      Mondo Rock
      Mondo Rock is a rock band from Melbourne, Australia, most prominent in the early 1980s. The band was formed in late 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Ross Wilson.-Early years: 1976–1979:...

  • Best Recorded Song Writer
    • Iva Davies
      Iva Davies
      Iva Davies , is the frontman for Australian electro/new wave/rock band Icehouse.-Biography:...

       – Flowers/Icehouse
    • Neil Finn
      Neil Finn
      Neil Mullane Finn, OBE is a New Zealand Pop recording artist. Along with his brother Tim Finn, he was the co-frontman for Split Enz and is now frontman for Crowded House...

       – Split Enz
    • Don Walker
      Don Walker (musician)
      Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...

      – Cold Chisel
  • Best New Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)
    • The Dugites
      The Dugites
      The Dugites were a Perth band who formed in the late '70s. The name refers to the brown venomous snake, the dugite, common in the area.-History:...

    • Flowers (later called Icehouse
      Icehouse (band)
      Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...

      )
    • INXS
      INXS
      INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...

    • Karen Knowles
      Karen Knowles
      -Early career:Knowles was educated in Melbourne at the Methodist Ladies' College. She became nationally famous on the popular television program Young Talent Time, where she was a member of the Young Talent Team from 1975 to 1980....

  • Most Outstanding Achievement (for excellence in the presentation or production of Australian rock music by an individual performer, group or group member)
    • Air Supply
      Air Supply
      Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s...

    • Cold Chisel
    • Split Enz
  • Most Popular Female
    • Christie Allen
    • Annalise Morrow (The Numbers)
    • Lynda Nutter (The Dugites)
  • Most Popular Group
    • Australian Crawl
    • Cold Chisel
    • Split Enz
  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • Jimmy Barnes
      Jimmy Barnes
      James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...

       (Cold Chisel)
    • Jon English
    • James Reyne
      James Reyne
      James Reyne is an Australian rock musician and singer/songwriter both as a member of the iconic 1980s band Australian Crawl and solo work.. He is a successful singer/ songwriter and prolific artist...

      (Australian Crawl)
  • Most Popular Record
    • The Boys Light Up – Australian Crawl
    • EastCold Chisel
    • True Colours – Split Enz
  • Best Disc Jockey (winners only, by State)
    • Ian McCray 2SM Sydney, New South Wales
    • Wayne Roberts 4BK Brisbane, Queensland
    • Steve Curtis 5AD Adelaide, South Australia
    • Jim Franklin 7HT Hobart, Tasmania
    • Greg Evans 3XY Melbourne, Victoria
    • Garry Shannon 6PM Perth, West Australia

1981–1986: Countdown Music and Video Awards

Countdown was an Australian pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....

 from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...

which had sponsored the previously existing 'King of Pop' Awards. After Cold Chisel performed at the 1980 awards ceremony, and then trashed their instruments and the set, sponsors TV Week withdrew their support and Countdown held its own awards ceremonies until the 1986 awards which were broadcast in 1987. The awards ceremony was co-produced by Carolyn James (aka Carolyn Bailey) during 1981–1984 in collaboration with the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA), which provided peer voting for some awards. Countdown provided coupons in the related Countdown Magazine for viewers to vote for some awards including 'Most Popular Male Performer', 'Most Popular Female Performer', 'Most Popular Group' and 'Most Popular International Act'. From 1987 ARIA instituted its own entirely peer-voted ARIA Music Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

.

The award year below relates to the year of achievement and not the year they were presented.

1981

Ceremony details: Broadcast on 18 April 1982, hosted by Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

 with presenters: Greedy Smith
Greedy Smith
Greedy Smith is the pseudonym of Andrew McArthur Smith or Andy Smith , who is a vocalist, keyboardist, harmonicist and songwriter with Australian pop/R&B band Mental As Anything. Smith wrote many of their hit songs including "Live it Up" which peaked at #2 on the Australian singles chart...

, Ross Wilson, Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...

, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

, Sharon O'Neill
Sharon O'Neill
-Albums:*1979 - This Heart This Song*1980 - Sharon O'Neill*1980 - Words*1981 - Maybe*1983 - Foreign Affairs*1983 - Smash Palace *1984 - So Far - The Best 14...

, Renée Geyer
Renée Geyer
Renée Rebecca Geyer is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and...

, John Swan
Swanee (singer)
John Swan, better known as Swanee, is a Australian rock singer. He was born John Archibold Dixon Swan in Glasgow, Scotland in 1952. He is the older brother of rock singer Jimmy Barnes and the uncle of singer and stage performer David Campbell. He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1961...

, John Paul Young
John Paul Young
John Paul Young is an Australian pop singer who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air"...

, Daryl Braithwaite
Daryl Braithwaite
Daryl Braithwaite is an Australian pop singer. Best known as the lead vocalist of Sherbet, Braithwaite has also sustained a successful solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including the No...

, Alex Smith and Angry Anderson
Angry Anderson
Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter, actor and conservative political activist. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work...

. Performers were: Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...

, Sharon O'Neill, Renée Geyer, Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything are an Australian New Wave–rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Their most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird"...

, Billy Field
Billy Field
Billy Field is an Australian singer and songwriter, best known for his hit singles "True Love" , "Bad Habits" and "You Weren't In Love with Me" . "You Weren't In Love with Me" also peaked at #67 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1982...

, Mondo Rock
Mondo Rock
Mondo Rock is a rock band from Melbourne, Australia, most prominent in the early 1980s. The band was formed in late 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Ross Wilson.-Early years: 1976–1979:...

 and the Divinyls
Divinyls
Divinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...

.

Award winners and nominees:
  • Best Australian Album
    • ChemistryMondo Rock

  • Best Australian Producer
    • Peter Dawkins

  • Best Australian Single
    • "If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?" – Mental As Anything

  • Best Australian Songwriter
    • Eric McCusker – Mondo Rock

  • Best Debut Album
    • Business as UsualMen at Work

  • Best Debut Single
    • "Who Can It Be Now?
      Who Can It Be Now?
      "Who Can It Be Now?" is a song by Australian band Men at Work. It was the second single and first track from their 1981 debut album, Business as Usual. "Who Can It Be Now?" was first released as a single in Australia in June 1981, prior to the recording of the rest of the album...

      " – Men at Work

  • Best New Talent
    • Men At Work

  • Most Outstanding Achievement
    • Air Supply

  • Most Popular Female
    • Sharon O'Neill

  • Most Popular Group
    • Australian Crawl
      Australian Crawl
      Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...


  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • James Reyne
      James Reyne
      James Reyne is an Australian rock musician and singer/songwriter both as a member of the iconic 1980s band Australian Crawl and solo work.. He is a successful singer/ songwriter and prolific artist...

      (Australian Crawl)


Nominees included: Men at Work, Divinyls, Moving Pictures
Moving Pictures (band)
Moving Pictures was a rock music band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1980. They are best known for their hit single, "What About Me" and multi-platinum album Days of Innocence, both of which topped the charts in Australia.-Biography:...

, Sharon O'Neill, Renée Geyer, Billy Field, Mental As Anything, Marcia Hines, Split Enz, Mondo Rock, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil.

1982

Ceremony details: Held on 19 April 1983.

Award winners and nominees:
  • Best Australian Album
    • Time and TideSplit Enz
      Split Enz
      Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...


  • Best Australian Producer
    • Mark Opitz
      Mark Opitz
      Mark Opitz, started his career with ABC TV in Sydney in the 1970’s and has since gone on to work with many of the great Australian musicians that have graced both the Australian and international music charts for the past 25 years....


  • Best Debut Album
    • Spirit of Place
      Spirit of Place
      Spirit of Place is the first full-length album by Australian folk-rock band Goanna. It was originally released in November 1982, it peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and appeared on the US Billboard 200....

      Goanna
      Goanna (band)
      Goanna is an Australian folk rock group which formed in 1977 in Geelong as The Goanna Band with mainstay Shane Howard as singer-songwriter and guitarist...


  • Best Debut Single
    • "Solid Rock" – Goanna

  • Best Single Record
    • "What about Me?
      What About Me (song)
      "What About Me" is a song written by Garry Frost and Frances Swan, first recorded by Australian rock band Moving Pictures from their album Days of Innocence. It was the band's first number-one single in Australia spending six consecutive weeks on the top; there, it was the second-highest selling...

      " – Moving Pictures
      Moving Pictures (band)
      Moving Pictures was a rock music band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1980. They are best known for their hit single, "What About Me" and multi-platinum album Days of Innocence, both of which topped the charts in Australia.-Biography:...


  • Best Song Writer
    • Tim Finn
      Tim Finn
      Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...


  • Best New Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)
    • Goanna
      Goanna (band)
      Goanna is an Australian folk rock group which formed in 1977 in Geelong as The Goanna Band with mainstay Shane Howard as singer-songwriter and guitarist...


  • Most Outstanding Achievement
    • Men at Work

  • Most Popular Female
    • Christina Amphlett
      Christina Amphlett
      Christine Joy Amphlett was the lead singer of Australian rock band Divinyls. She is also known as Chrissy Amphlett.She grew up in Geelong as a singer and dancer...

      Divinyls
      Divinyls
      Divinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...


  • Most Popular Group
    • Split Enz

  • Most Popular International Act
    • Duran Duran
      Duran Duran
      Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...


  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • Iva Davies
      Iva Davies
      Iva Davies , is the frontman for Australian electro/new wave/rock band Icehouse.-Biography:...

      (Icehouse
      Icehouse (band)
      Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...

      )


Nominees included: The Angels
The Angels (Australian band)
The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...

, Moving Pictures, Goanna
Goanna (band)
Goanna is an Australian folk rock group which formed in 1977 in Geelong as The Goanna Band with mainstay Shane Howard as singer-songwriter and guitarist...

, Jo Kennedy
Jo Kennedy
Jo Kennedy is an Australian actress, film director and screenwriter. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in the film Wrong World...

, Divinyls
Divinyls
Divinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...

, Eurogliders
Eurogliders
Eurogliders were an Indie pop band formed in 1981 in Perth, Western Australia, which included mainstays Grace Knight on vocals and Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals. The band was originally formed by Bernie Lynch and Amanda Vincent under the name Living Single. After almost a year, Grace Knight...

, Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...

, Split Enz
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...

, The Reels
The Reels
The Reels is an Australian rock/indie pop group which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976 and initially disbanded in 1991, they eventually reformed in 2007. Their 1981 song, "Quasimodo's Dream", was voted one of the Top 10 Australian songs of all time by a 100-member panel from Australasian...

, Icehouse
Icehouse (band)
Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...

, Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...

, Skyhooks.

1983

Ceremony details: Held on 15 April 1984 at the Palais Theatre, presenters included: Ross Wilson, Glen Shorrock, Pat Wilson
Pat Wilson
Pat Wilson is an Australian singer and journalist. Wilson wrote for Go-Set, a 1960s and 1970s pop music newspaper, under the pen-name "Mummy Cool" during 1971–1972. Wilson released several singles in the early 1980s including the hit single "Bop Girl"...

, Graeme "Shirley" Strachan, Greg Ham
Greg Ham
Greg Ham is an Australian songwriter, actor and saxophone player known for playing multiple instruments in 1980s pop-reggae band Men at Work when he replaced Greg Sneddon, where he played flute, organ, piano and the synthesiser in addition to the saxophone.As an actor, Ham was a regular cast...

, Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

, Jon Farriss
Jon Farriss
Jon Farriss is the drummer for the Australian rock band INXS.-Biography:...

, Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...

, Marc Hunter
Marc Hunter
Marc Alexander Hunter was a New Zealand rock and pop singer best known as the lead vocalist with Dragon, a band formed by his older brother Todd in Auckland in 1973....

, Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...

. Live performers: Kids in the Kitchen
Kids in the Kitchen
Kids in the Kitchen was a band from Melbourne, Australia that enjoyed considerable local success during the 1980s. The band stood squarely within the New Romantic movement that dominated mid-1980s pop, showing influences of "New-Rom" groups such as Ultravox in its use of synthesisers, its...

 "Bitter Desire", Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...

 "I Hear Motion", Ross Wilson and Pat Wilson "Strong Love", Pseudo Echo
Pseudo Echo
Pseudo Echo are an Australian New Wave band formed in 1982 in Melbourne. The original line-up consisted of Brian Canham , Pierre Gigliotti , Tony Lugton and Anthony Argiro . A later line-up included James Leigh and his brother, Vince Leigh...

 "A Beat for You", Billy Idol "Rebel Yell", Tim Finn
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...

 "In a Minor Key". The closing live performance was by an ensemble including Shorrock, Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell
Lynne Randell was an Australian pop singer. For three years in the mid-1960s she was Australia's most popular female performer and had hits with "Heart" and "Goin' Out of My Head" in 1966, and "Ciao Baby" in 1967. In 1967, Randell toured the United States with The Monkees and performed on-stage...

, Jim Keays
Jim Keays
James "Jim" Keays is an Australian musician who fronted rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player during 1965–1972, and subsequently had a solo career including leading Jim Keays' Southern Cross...

, Darryl Cotton
Darryl Cotton
Darryl Cotton is an Australian pop singer, television presenter and actor. Cotton is best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Zoot in 1968, along with Beeb Birtles, Rick Brewer and, later, Rick Springfield....

, Debbie Byrne, Strachan, Keith Lamb, John Paul Young
John Paul Young
John Paul Young is an Australian pop singer who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air"...

, Darryl Braithwaite, and Hunter to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Johnny O'Keefe
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...

's version of "Shout!".

Award winners and nominees:
  • Best Australian Album
    • Escapade
      Escapade (album)
      Escapade is the first solo album by Split Enz frontman Tim Finn.-After Time and Tide:After the release of Split Enz 1982 album Time and Tide, Tim Finn decided to give the band a break after 10 years. Younger brother Neil Finn worked on some demos for the upcoming Split Enz album, while...

      Tim Finn

  • Best Debut Album
    • HeartlandReal Life
      Real Life (band)
      Real Life are a Melbourne-based Australian New Wave/Synthpop band that had hits with their debut single, "Send Me an Angel" and with "Catch Me I'm Falling" , both of which were featured on the band's debut album Heartland .-Biography:...


  • Best Debut Single
    • "Bop Girl" – Pat Wilson
      Pat Wilson
      Pat Wilson is an Australian singer and journalist. Wilson wrote for Go-Set, a 1960s and 1970s pop music newspaper, under the pen-name "Mummy Cool" during 1971–1972. Wilson released several singles in the early 1980s including the hit single "Bop Girl"...


  • Best Promotional Video
    • Tim Finn's "Fraction Too Much Friction" – Richard Lowenstein
      Richard Lowenstein
      Richard Lowenstein is an Australian film director. He has written, produced and directed the feature films He Died With A Felafel In His Hand, Dogs In Space, Say a Little Prayer, Strikebound and Ghost Story, as well as numerous ground-breaking and award-winning music videos for bands such as INXS...


  • Best Record Producer of the Year
    • Mark Moffatt and Ricky Fataar
      Ricky Fataar
      Ricky Fataar is a South African multi-instrumentalist of Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer, and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in the comedic television movie, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a spoof on the actual history of The Beatles, and for his performance as a...


  • Best Single
    • "Power and the Passion
      Power and the Passion (song)
      "Power and the Passion" is the first single by Midnight Oil from their widely-acclaimed 1982 studio album 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The song is one of the band's most famous, and it appeared on every Midnight Oil tour since the issue of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 as well as at the WaveAid...

      " – Midnight Oil
      Midnight Oil
      Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...


  • Most Outstanding Achievement
    • Men at Work
      Men at Work
      Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...


  • Most Popular Female
    • Sharon O'Neill
      Sharon O'Neill
      -Albums:*1979 - This Heart This Song*1980 - Sharon O'Neill*1980 - Words*1981 - Maybe*1983 - Foreign Affairs*1983 - Smash Palace *1984 - So Far - The Best 14...


  • Most Popular Group
    • Australian Crawl
      Australian Crawl
      Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...


  • Most Popular International Act
    • Duran Duran
      Duran Duran
      Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...


  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • Tim Finn (solo)

  • Most Promising New Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Award)
    • Real Life

  • Songwriter of the Year
    • Tim Finn

  • Special Achievement
    • Michael Jackson
      Michael Jackson
      Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

      for services to entertainment
    • Austen Tayshus
      Austen Tayshus
      Austen Tayshus is the stage name of Jewish Australian comedian Alexander Jacob Gutman. He is best known for the comedy single "Australiana", a spoken word piece filled with Australian puns.-Biography:...

      for "Australiana"

1984

Ceremony details: Held on 19 May 1985 at Sydney Entertainment Centre
Sydney Entertainment Centre
The Sydney Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose venue, located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished to make way for a new railway. The centre is currently owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which administers...

, and broadcast on 25 May, it was hosted by Greedy Smith
Greedy Smith
Greedy Smith is the pseudonym of Andrew McArthur Smith or Andy Smith , who is a vocalist, keyboardist, harmonicist and songwriter with Australian pop/R&B band Mental As Anything. Smith wrote many of their hit songs including "Live it Up" which peaked at #2 on the Australian singles chart...

, presenters included: Brian Mannix, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...

, Vicki O'Keefe, Sharon O'Neill
Sharon O'Neill
-Albums:*1979 - This Heart This Song*1980 - Sharon O'Neill*1980 - Words*1981 - Maybe*1983 - Foreign Affairs*1983 - Smash Palace *1984 - So Far - The Best 14...

, Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

, Nik Kershaw
Nik Kershaw
Nik Kershaw is an English singer-songwriter. The one time jazz-funk guitarist was a mid-1980s teen idol. His 50 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1984 beat all other soloists...

, Grace Knight
Grace Knight
Grace Knight is an English-born, Australian vocalist, saxophone player and songwriter. She was a mainstay of Indie pop group Eurogliders during the 1980s which formed in Perth. Knight later became a solo jazz singer and musician based in Sydney...

 and Bernie Lynch (Eurogliders
Eurogliders
Eurogliders were an Indie pop band formed in 1981 in Perth, Western Australia, which included mainstays Grace Knight on vocals and Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals. The band was originally formed by Bernie Lynch and Amanda Vincent under the name Living Single. After almost a year, Grace Knight...

), Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon
John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...

, Jenny Morris, Sean Kelly and James Freud (Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...

), Alan Johnson and Danny Simcic (Real Life
Real Life (band)
Real Life are a Melbourne-based Australian New Wave/Synthpop band that had hits with their debut single, "Send Me an Angel" and with "Catch Me I'm Falling" , both of which were featured on the band's debut album Heartland .-Biography:...

), Suzanne Dowling (Rock Arena TV show host). INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...

 won seven awards and closed with a live performance of "Burn for You", dressed in Akubra
Akubra
Akubra is an Australian brand of bush hat, whose wide-brimmed styles are a distinctive part of Australian culture, especially in rural areas. The name is believed to be derived from an Aboriginal word for head covering....

s (hats) and Drizabones
Driza-Bone
Driza-Bone, originating from the phrase "dry as a bone", is a trade name for the company making full-length waterproof riding coats and apparel. The company was established in 1898 and is currently Australian owned and manufactures its products in Australia...

 (outdoor coats/oilskin jackets).

Award winners and nominees:
  • Best Album
    • The Swing
      The Swing
      The Swing is Australian rock band INXS's fourth studio album, released in 1984. The lead single "Original Sin" was recorded in New York City with Nile Rodgers and featured Daryl Hall on backing vocals...

      INXS

  • Best Debut Album
    • Stoneage Romeos
      Stoneage Romeos
      Stoneage Romeos was iconic Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' first album and saw them receive record sales to complement their already strong reputation for live performances. The album name is from a Three Stooges short film...

      Hoodoo Gurus
      Hoodoo Gurus
      Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...


  • Best Debut Single
    • "Trust Me" – I'm Talking

  • Best Female Performance in a Video
    • Sharon O'Neill

  • Best Group Performance in a Video
    • "Burn for You" – INXS

  • Best Male Performance in a Video
    • Jimmy Barnes

  • Best Producer
    • Martin Armiger

  • Best Promotional Video
    • Mental As Anything
      Mental As Anything
      Mental As Anything are an Australian New Wave–rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Their most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird"...

      's "Apocalypso" – B Sharp Productions
    • INXS's "Burn for You" – Richard Lowenstein
      Richard Lowenstein
      Richard Lowenstein is an Australian film director. He has written, produced and directed the feature films He Died With A Felafel In His Hand, Dogs In Space, Say a Little Prayer, Strikebound and Ghost Story, as well as numerous ground-breaking and award-winning music videos for bands such as INXS...


  • Best Single
    • "Heaven Must Be There" – Eurogliders
      Eurogliders
      Eurogliders were an Indie pop band formed in 1981 in Perth, Western Australia, which included mainstays Grace Knight on vocals and Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals. The band was originally formed by Bernie Lynch and Amanda Vincent under the name Living Single. After almost a year, Grace Knight...


  • Best Songwriter
    • Andrew Farriss
      Andrew Farriss
      Andrew Charles Farriss is a rock musician , best known as the keyboardist and main composer for the Australian band INXS.-Career:...

      and Michael Hutchence
      Michael Hutchence
      Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...

      (INXS)

  • Most Outstanding Achievement
    • INXS

  • Most Popular Australian Group
    • INXS

  • Most Popular Female Performer
    • Sharon O'Neill

  • Most Popular International Act
    • Duran Duran

  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • Michael Hutchence (INXS)

  • Most Promising Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)
    • I'm Talking
      I'm Talking
      I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in...


1985

Ceremony details: Held on 14 April 1986 at Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, and broadcast on 20 April, it was hosted by Ian "Molly" Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

 and presenters included: Grace Knight
Grace Knight
Grace Knight is an English-born, Australian vocalist, saxophone player and songwriter. She was a mainstay of Indie pop group Eurogliders during the 1980s which formed in Perth. Knight later became a solo jazz singer and musician based in Sydney...

 and Bernie Lynch (Eurogliders
Eurogliders
Eurogliders were an Indie pop band formed in 1981 in Perth, Western Australia, which included mainstays Grace Knight on vocals and Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals. The band was originally formed by Bernie Lynch and Amanda Vincent under the name Living Single. After almost a year, Grace Knight...

), Rick Mayall and Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....

 (The Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...

), Sting, Vince Sorrenti
Vince Sorrenti
Vince Sorrenti is one of Australia’s best known and leading comic entertainers, a respected and successful Australian stand-up comedian from Punchbowl, New South Wales. He is of Italian heritage. Sorrenti performs at many functions and events, such as the AFL Grand Final Breakfast...

, Brad Robinson
Brad Robinson (Australian musician)
Bradford Leigh "Brad" Robinson ) was a rock musician best known as lead and rhythm guitarist with the 1980s band Australian Crawl. Robinson had a later career as a manager for musicians and sports personalities.-Early years:...

, Zan Abeyratne, Richard Page, Iva Davies
Iva Davies
Iva Davies , is the frontman for Australian electro/new wave/rock band Icehouse.-Biography:...

, Brian Canham, Brian Mannix
Brian Mannix
Brian Mannix is an Australian rock music singer and actor.He guest-starred in several episodes of Australian soap Neighbours in 1993 as Conor Cleary, a love interest for Lauren Carpenter....

, Tim Finn
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...

, Dee C Lee, Suzanne Dowling and Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

. Performers were: Pseudo Echo
Pseudo Echo
Pseudo Echo are an Australian New Wave band formed in 1982 in Melbourne. The original line-up consisted of Brian Canham , Pierre Gigliotti , Tony Lugton and Anthony Argiro . A later line-up included James Leigh and his brother, Vince Leigh...

 "Living in a Dream", Eurogliders "Absolutely", Do-Ré-Mi
Do-Re-Mi
"Do-Re-Mi" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Within the story, it is used by Maria to teach the notes of the major musical scale to the Von Trapp children who learn to sing for the first time, even though their father has disallowed frivolity after...

 "Theme from Jungle Jim", Kids in the Kitchen
Kids in the Kitchen
Kids in the Kitchen was a band from Melbourne, Australia that enjoyed considerable local success during the 1980s. The band stood squarely within the New Romantic movement that dominated mid-1980s pop, showing influences of "New-Rom" groups such as Ultravox in its use of synthesisers, its...

 "Current Stand", Mr Mister "Kyrie
Kyrie (song)
"Kyrie" was a #1 hit song by the 1980s pop/rock band Mr. Mister, from their 1985 album Welcome to the Real World. Released in late 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March 1986, where it was #1 for two weeks. It also hit the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart...

", Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...

 "Let's Build it Up", I'm Talking
I'm Talking
I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in...

 "Do You Wanna Be?". At the awards ceremony fans of INXS and Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men (band)
Uncanny X-Men are a pop/rock band which formed in Melbourne in 1981, and temporarily disbanded in 1987. They are fronted by lead singer Brian Mannix and originally included Chuck Hargreaves on guitar, Steve Harrison on bass guitar, Nick Manthandos on drums and Ron Thiessen on guitar...

 scuffled and as a result ARIA decided to hold their own awards, which were the entirely peer-voted ARIA Music Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

 first held in 1987.
  • Best Album
    • FundamentalsMental As Anything

  • Best Debut Album
    • Domestic Harmony
      Domestic Harmony
      Domestic Harmony is the debut LP album by Australian rock/pop group Do-Ré-Mi which was released by Virgin Records in August 1985. The album has ten tracks, which were written by lead vocalist Deborah Conway, drummer Dorland Bray, bass guitarist Helen Carter and guitarist Stephen Philip...

      Do-Ré-Mi

  • Best Debut Single
    • "Man Overboard
      Man Overboard (Do-Re-Mi song)
      "Man Overboard" is a single by Australian rock/pop group Do-Ré-Mi which was released by Virgin Records in June 1985. The 7" vinyl version has three tracks, which were written by lead vocalist Deborah Conway, drummer Dorland Bray, bass guitarist Helen Carter and guitarist Stephen Philip...

      " – Do-Ré-Mi

  • Best Female Performance in a Video
    • "Power" – Sharon O'Neill
      Sharon O'Neill
      -Albums:*1979 - This Heart This Song*1980 - Sharon O'Neill*1980 - Words*1981 - Maybe*1983 - Foreign Affairs*1983 - Smash Palace *1984 - So Far - The Best 14...


  • Best Group Performance in a Video
    • "Live it Up" – Mental As Anything

  • Best Male Performance in a Video
    • "Working Class Man" – Jimmy Barnes

  • Best Producer
    • Mark Opitz

  • Best Video
    • INXS's "What You Need" – Richard Lowenstein and Lyn-Marie Milbourn

  • Best Single
    • "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" – Models
    • "Live it Up" – Mental As Anything

  • Best Songwriter
    • Greedy Smith
      Greedy Smith
      Greedy Smith is the pseudonym of Andrew McArthur Smith or Andy Smith , who is a vocalist, keyboardist, harmonicist and songwriter with Australian pop/R&B band Mental As Anything. Smith wrote many of their hit songs including "Live it Up" which peaked at #2 on the Australian singles chart...

      (Mental As Anything) – "Live it Up"

  • Most Outstanding Achievement
    • Bob GeldofOz for Africa
      Oz for Africa
      Oz for Africa was an Australian concert held on 13 July 1985 at the Sydney Sports and Entertainment Centre. It was broadcast locally and internationally as part of the worldwide Live Aid performances to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The concert featured 17 bands performing some of their...

    • INXS

  • Most Popular Australian Group
    • INXS
    • Uncanny X-Men

  • Most Popular Female Performer
    • Sharon O'Neill

  • Most Popular International Act
    • Duran Duran
    • Madonna

  • Most Popular Male Performer
    • Tim Finn
    • Brian Mannix

  • Most Promising Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)
    • Do-Ré-Mi

1986

Ceremony details: Held on 19 July 1987 at Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

, it followed the last regular Countdown show. It was hosted by Ian "Molly" Meldrum who revealed his bald head in imitation of Peter Garrett
Peter Garrett
Peter Robert Garrett, AM, MP , is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and politician.Garrett was lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil from 1973 until its disbanding in 2002...

 of Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...

. Performers included: Icehouse
Icehouse (band)
Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...

 "Crazy", Angry Anderson
Angry Anderson
Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter, actor and conservative political activist. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work...

 "Suddenly", and Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything are an Australian New Wave–rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Their most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird"...

 "He’s Just No Good".

By the time of the last Countdown award ceremony, the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA) had already instituted its own entirely peer-voted ARIA Music Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

, with its first ceremony held on 2 March 1987 at the Sheraton Wentworth Hotel in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 was the host but the ARIAs were not televised with presenters including Basia Bonkowski, Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...

 and Donnie Sutherland
Donnie Sutherland
Donald "Donnie" Sutherland OAM is an Australian radio and television presenter, best known for being the host of Sounds on Australian television between 1975 and 1987...

.
  • Best Album
    • Whispering Jack
      Whispering Jack
      Whispering Jack is the twelfth studio album by Australian adult contemporary pop singer John Farnham. It was produced by Ross Fraser, and released on 20 October 1986, which peaked at #1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Album Charts...

      John Farnham
      John Farnham
      John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...


  • Best Debut Album

  • Best Debut Single

  • Best Female Performance in a Video

  • Best Group Performance in a Video

  • Best Male Performance in a Video

  • Best Producer

  • Best Video

  • Best Single

  • Best Songwriter

  • Most Outstanding Achievement

  • Most Popular Australian Group

  • Most Popular Female Performer
    • Kate Ceberano
      Kate Ceberano
      Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...


  • Most Popular International Act
    • a-ha
      A-ha
      A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...

    • Duran Duran
      Duran Duran
      Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

    • Madonna
      Madonna (entertainer)
      Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...


  • Most Popular Male Performer

  • Most Promising Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)
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