Chris Gilbey
Encyclopedia
Chris Gilbey OAM is an Australian entrepreneur and music industry identity. He has helped shape the careers of artists such as INXS
, Tommy Emmanuel
, Keith Urban
, The Church
, The Saints, AC/DC
and Stevie Wright. He has also authored two books, and founded, co-founded and/or held leadership positions with a range of businesses, charities and non-government organisations.
After leaving the music industry he became a successful entrepreneur in the technology sector of business working closely with people who created technologies rather than music, with the belief that as time went by and music became controlled by big business, technology represented the bleeding edge of creativity.
in North London.
He attended Tollington Boys High.
Chris was a member of Kate, a pop group signed to CBS Records in the UK. He co-wrote several singles by the band including their first single, "Strange Girl", which was a Melody Maker "record of the week".
Gilbey migrated to Australia in November 1972.
in 1973, where he began as A&R manager and held various marketing and management positions. At Alberts, Gilbey was deeply involved in the promotion of AC/DC, including the band's controversial radio advertisements and album covers. Gilbey's production credits with Alberts include Grahame Lowndes' "Survival's A Song", SJC Powell's "Celestial Madness" and Bartholomew John's "Someone". Gilbey also produced the single "Show and Tell" by Bobbi Marchini.
After leaving Alberts, Gilbey managed the seminal Australian punk band The Saints, moving with the band to the UK.
In 1979, Gilbey returned to Australia to become Managing Director of ATV Northern Songs. He signed a number of artists in Australia and was also instrumental in helping a number of Australian songwriters who had moved overseas including Steve Kipner
. He established a joint venture with EMI Records reactivating the Parlophone label as the imprint for the records that he produced. Among the artists that he signed during this period was The Church
. He produced their first hit single, "The Unguarded Moment".
Gilbey left ATV Northern Songs at the time that the company was acquired by Robert Holmes a Court, and established a venture with MCA Music. During the next eleven years Gilbey built one of the most successful independent publishing companies in Australia and signed writers such as Allan Caswell, INXS, Noiseworks
, Peter Blakeley
, Tommy Emmanuel
, Sharon O'Neill
, Shona Laing
, Don Spencer
, as well as producing hit records with The Sunnyboys
and Doug Mulray
.
Subsequent to this, Gilbey became the Senior Executive VP of BMG Records in Australia, and led the development of one of the first transactional web sites as well as the development of the enhanced CD.
In 1978, Gilbey, Peter Hebbes, Ross Barlow and Jack Argent launched The Golden Stave Luncheon. 187 members of Australia's music industry attended the first charity event at Sydney's Sebel Townhouse in 1978. Gilbey became the founding chairman of the Golden Stave Foundation.
Gilbey was the founding chairman of Export Music Australia. He received the Order of Australia (O.A.M.) (1992) for his contribution to the music industry and charity.
In 2000, Seven Stories Press published Chris Gilbey's "MP3 And The Infinite Digital Jukebox".
company with a focus on Digital Signal Processing. He led the company until its
sale through a friendly takeover to Dolby Laboratories in 2005. After the sale, he consulted to Dolby's Consumer Division on global consumer strategy for two years.
Gilbey and Dr Silvia Pfeiffer founded Vquence, a video metrics and semantic research business. Gilbey stepped down as CEO in October 2007.
In 2007, Gilbey, Karl Rodrigues and Bruce Marshall founded Gilbey, Rodrigues and Marshall. The business uses the principles of crowd psychology to interpret online social networks.
In 2009 Gilbey started consulting to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science based at the University of Wollongong to help build a path to commercialization of certain energy capture and conversion assets that utilize nanotechnology.
In 2010 Gilbey started teaching a course in the Arts Faculty of the University of
Wollongong that set up small groups of high achieving digital communications
students to work with outside organizations as a virtual digital communications
consultancy. This course enables students to transition from academia into the real world of business. He has been asked to reprise the course (DIGC302) in 2011.
Gilbey currently works with ACES developing commercialization strategy in the field of medical bionics as well as providing strategic marketing and branding advice to a number of enterprises.
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...
, Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
, Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
, The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
, The Saints, 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"...
and Stevie Wright. He has also authored two books, and founded, co-founded and/or held leadership positions with a range of businesses, charities and non-government organisations.
After leaving the music industry he became a successful entrepreneur in the technology sector of business working closely with people who created technologies rather than music, with the belief that as time went by and music became controlled by big business, technology represented the bleeding edge of creativity.
Early years
Chris Gilbey was born at Whittington HospitalWhittington Hospital
The Whittington Hospital is a British hospital in Archway, Islington, London. It is named after Richard Whittington.It is a district general hospital, although it is also a teaching hospital of the UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences.- History :Although...
in North London.
He attended Tollington Boys High.
Chris was a member of Kate, a pop group signed to CBS Records in the UK. He co-wrote several singles by the band including their first single, "Strange Girl", which was a Melody Maker "record of the week".
Gilbey migrated to Australia in November 1972.
Music industry history
Gilbey joined the Australian music label Albert ProductionsAlbert Productions
Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent Australian record label to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1964 by Ted Albert, whose family owned and operated the Australian...
in 1973, where he began as A&R manager and held various marketing and management positions. At Alberts, Gilbey was deeply involved in the promotion of AC/DC, including the band's controversial radio advertisements and album covers. Gilbey's production credits with Alberts include Grahame Lowndes' "Survival's A Song", SJC Powell's "Celestial Madness" and Bartholomew John's "Someone". Gilbey also produced the single "Show and Tell" by Bobbi Marchini.
After leaving Alberts, Gilbey managed the seminal Australian punk band The Saints, moving with the band to the UK.
In 1979, Gilbey returned to Australia to become Managing Director of ATV Northern Songs. He signed a number of artists in Australia and was also instrumental in helping a number of Australian songwriters who had moved overseas including Steve Kipner
Steve Kipner
Steve Kipner is a multi-platinum-selling songwriter and record producer with hits spanning over a 40 year history, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Chicago's Grammy-nominated "Hard Habit to Break", "Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera, for which he won an...
. He established a joint venture with EMI Records reactivating the Parlophone label as the imprint for the records that he produced. Among the artists that he signed during this period was The Church
The Church
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
. He produced their first hit single, "The Unguarded Moment".
Gilbey left ATV Northern Songs at the time that the company was acquired by Robert Holmes a Court, and established a venture with MCA Music. During the next eleven years Gilbey built one of the most successful independent publishing companies in Australia and signed writers such as Allan Caswell, INXS, Noiseworks
Noiseworks
Noiseworks is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens...
, Peter Blakeley
Peter Blakeley
Peter Blakeley is an Australian White Soul/Adult Contemporary singer and songwriter.Blakeley was a lead singer for The Rockmelons in the mid-1980s. He launched a solo career in 1987 and had a massive hit single in Australia in 1990 with "Crying in the Chapel", which was not a remake of the 1950s...
, Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
, 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...
, Shona Laing
Shona Laing
Shona Laing is a New Zealand musician. She has had several hits in her native country, as well as a few minor international hits, most notably " Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow". Laing also contributed to the Manfred Mann's Earth Band album Somewhere in Afrika...
, Don Spencer
Don Spencer
Donald Richard Spencer OAM is an Australian children's television presenter and musician, best known for his long-running role as a presenter on Play School in both Australia and the United Kingdom. He had his first song the theme tune to Fireball XL5 in 1962, reaching #32 on the UK Singles...
, as well as producing hit records with The Sunnyboys
The Sunnyboys
Sunnyboys was an Australian post-punk, power pop band formed in Sydney in 1980. Fronted by singer-songwriter, guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band "breathed some freshness and vitality into the divergent Sydney scene"...
and Doug Mulray
Doug Mulray
Douglas John Mulray is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter.-Radio career:...
.
Subsequent to this, Gilbey became the Senior Executive VP of BMG Records in Australia, and led the development of one of the first transactional web sites as well as the development of the enhanced CD.
In 1978, Gilbey, Peter Hebbes, Ross Barlow and Jack Argent launched The Golden Stave Luncheon. 187 members of Australia's music industry attended the first charity event at Sydney's Sebel Townhouse in 1978. Gilbey became the founding chairman of the Golden Stave Foundation.
Gilbey was the founding chairman of Export Music Australia. He received the Order of Australia (O.A.M.) (1992) for his contribution to the music industry and charity.
Publishing history
In 1999, Bantam published Chris Gilbey's "How To Survive The Y2K Crisis In Australia".In 2000, Seven Stories Press published Chris Gilbey's "MP3 And The Infinite Digital Jukebox".
Business history
In 2001 Gilbey appointed as to the post of CEO of Lake Technology, an ASX-listedcompany with a focus on Digital Signal Processing. He led the company until its
sale through a friendly takeover to Dolby Laboratories in 2005. After the sale, he consulted to Dolby's Consumer Division on global consumer strategy for two years.
Gilbey and Dr Silvia Pfeiffer founded Vquence, a video metrics and semantic research business. Gilbey stepped down as CEO in October 2007.
In 2007, Gilbey, Karl Rodrigues and Bruce Marshall founded Gilbey, Rodrigues and Marshall. The business uses the principles of crowd psychology to interpret online social networks.
In 2009 Gilbey started consulting to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science based at the University of Wollongong to help build a path to commercialization of certain energy capture and conversion assets that utilize nanotechnology.
In 2010 Gilbey started teaching a course in the Arts Faculty of the University of
Wollongong that set up small groups of high achieving digital communications
students to work with outside organizations as a virtual digital communications
consultancy. This course enables students to transition from academia into the real world of business. He has been asked to reprise the course (DIGC302) in 2011.
Gilbey currently works with ACES developing commercialization strategy in the field of medical bionics as well as providing strategic marketing and branding advice to a number of enterprises.