Go-Set
Encyclopedia
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. Widely described as a pop music "bible", it became an influential publication, introduced the first national pop record charts and featured many notable contributors including fashion designer Prue Acton
, journalist Lily Brett
, rock writer / band manager Vince Lovegrove
, music commentator Ian Meldrum
, rock writer / music historian Ed Nimmervoll
and radio DJ Stan Rofe
. It spawned the original Australian edition of Rolling Stone
magazine in late 1972.
In 1964, Monash University
student newspaper Chaos co-editors, John Blakeley, Damien Broderick
and Tony Schauble, renamed the paper Lot's Wife. Phillip Frazer
was a staffer and later became co-editor with future parliamentarian Peter Steedman
. Late in 1965, Schauble, Frazer, Broderick, and another student writer, Doug Panther, discussed ideas to make money during the holidays including the idea to create a teen-oriented pop music
newspaper. Local rock group The Mood's manager, Peter Raphael, joined Frazer and Schauble and together they founded Go-Set Publications. Raphael brought in photographer Colin Beard
and advertising manager Terry Cleary. Waverley Press, which owned Waverley Offset Printers, had printed Lot's Wife, and agreed to print Go-Set on credit. Schauble, Frazer and Panther produceded the newspaper from their home in the Melbourne
suburb of Malvern
. The first edition of Go-Set, dated 2 February 1966, was published with Schauble cited as editor because Frazer, a medical student, asked to be listed in the low-key role of designer and Panther, who had not registered for the military draft
, was described as a feature writer. The first issue showcased Tom Jones
(see right) and Herman's Hermits
interviewed by Panther and photographed by Colin Beard at Palais Theatre
, St Kilda
. Initial sales were low, about 3000 to 5000 but Issue 3, which covered The Rolling Stones
tour in Melbourne and Sydney, doubled their sales.
Initially Go-Set was intended for Melbourne distribution only. A book distributor, Bill Robinson, managed circulation throughout Victoria, and several weeks later the newspaper was introduced to Sydney
and within its first year, all the remaining states. From 28 February 1966, the Go-Set office was three rooms at Charnwood Crescent, St Kilda until December 1970 when it relocated to Drummond Street, Carlton
. Key staff included Tony Schauble as editor then manager, Phillip Frazer, who had switched to an arts degree at Monash, as co-editor, and Colin Beard as photographer. Peter Raphael was advertising manager assisted by Terry Cleary. Doug Panther continued as feature writer for several months before leaving for Western Australia
with Commonwealth Police and the Australian Army searching for him as a 'draft dodger'. Panther was replaced by Lily Brett
who likes to recall that she got the job because she had a car. Other personnel were Honey Lea, originally a typist, who later became fashion editor when Prue Acton
dropped out, and Sue Flett who wrote an advice column under the name Leslie Pixie.
Ian Meldrum
wrote his first story for Go-Set in July 1966, and joined as a news, gossip and feature writer in August. Frazer urged Meldrum to join week day, TV show Kommotion on Channel 0
as a mimer so that Go-Set could get more inside stories. A key element in the early success of the newspaper was the centre page spread called "The Scene-The Seen", a weekly pictorial survey photographed by Beard in Melbourne and Grant Mudford in Sydney around the discos and dance halls. These were its original target audience - the thousands of teenagers, especially girls, caught up in the excitement of the swinging sixties, following their favourite local Rock group around the suburban dancehalls of Melbourne. Go-Set started its annual pop poll in October 1966 with readers voting for Normie Rowe
as 'Best Male Vocal', Lynne Randell
as 'Best Girl Vocal' and The Easybeats
as 'Best Group'. The following year, Normie Rowe was crowned as the inaugural 'King of Pop
' on TV series The Go!! Show
, also on Channel 0.
Go-Set had become the indispensable chronicle of the local scene, described by Jim Keays
, lead singer of The Masters Apprentices
, as the Australian music bible. From 5 October 1966, it featured Australian singles charts and international charts, local state gig listings and record reviews.
Go-Set developed an international focus when, in a promotional arrangement with BOAC
airlines, Brett and Beard were flown to London
and the USA. They spent four months in the United Kingdom from January 1967 touring with Australian singer Normie Rowe
, and The Troggs
, The Who
, The Small Faces
, The Easybeats
and others. In America they covered the New York
scene and attended the Monterey Pop Festival
from the 16 to 19 June 1967. The first full colour centre spread was a Beard photograph of Jimi Hendrix
taken at The Monterey Pop Festival. In Los Angeles
they did personality stories and photographic fashion spreads with Sonny and Cher, The Mamas & the Papas
and covered a recording session with The Byrds
. In Brett's absence, Meldrum became the principal local feature writer while Vera Kaas-Jager covered the local photography for Beard.
Over its nine year history there were many significant additional contributors including David Elfick
, Vince Lovegrove
, Ed Nimmervoll
, Stan Rofe
, Stephen McLean, Wendy Saddington
, Michele O'Driscoll (aka Mitch), Cleo Calvo (now singer, Clelia Adams), Eril Bilson, Philip Morris (photographer), Ian McCausland (graphics), Jon Hawkes (editor), Geoff Pendlebury (graphics), Geoff Watson (management), Helen Hooper, Jean Bedford, and Pat Wilson
who wrote under the pen-name of "Mummy Cool" (1971–1972).
Ian Meldrum
wrote a weekly column for Go-Set from August 1966 until its demise in 1974. His writing style represented his own stream of consciousness and came across in the same "bumbling" manner which was to later be a hallmark of his public persona. His nickname "Molly" was given to him and first published in Go-Set in 1968 by fellow columnist and radio DJ Stan Rofe
. Both Meldrum's and Rofe's columns contained many camp in jokes. Meldrum became editor of a monthly Go-Set offshoot, Gas, which was aimed at younger teen girls and was first published in October 1968 with a feature on The Monkees
; its last issue was in March 1971.
Nimmervoll, an architecture student, started with Go-Set as the compiler of the national Top 40 charts, beginning in February 1967. He then wrote feature stories and record reviews, and in December 1969 began editing Go-Sets counter-culture supplement, Core, which was influenced by the US magazineRolling Stone
.
Founders, Schauble and Beard had left by February 1969 and Frazer became editor and publisher; Jon Hawkes joined as co-editor in April. Frazer launched two monthly counter-culture magazines, Revolution, which lasted from 1 May 1970 – 1 August 1971, and High Times, co-founded with Macy McFarland and Pat Woolley, which published August 1971 – 1 January 1972. Frazer left Go-Set in February 1972 (after Waverley Press took control of the company) and founded The Digger in September 1972. Frazer also launched the Australian edition of Rolling Stone
magazine first as a supplement in the fourth issue of Revolution, then as a fully-fledged magazine in late 1972. Frazer left Rolling Stone Australia in 1974 but continued with The Digger until December 1975, after which he moved to United States.
Go-Set reached its peak in circulation, with 72,000 copies per week, in June to December 1970. After Frazer left as editor in 1972 to concentrate on The Digger, Piotre Olszewski was editor from May to July before Nimmervoll took over with Meldrum as co-editor. Nimmervoll remained until December 1973 when Sungravure Ltd bought Go-Set and relocated its headquarters to Sydney.
By January 1974, Go-Set was sold to Sungravure Ltd with Jenny Irvine as editor. Reprints from UK and US papers replaced staff writing during 1973 and 1974, when Sungravure was taken over by IPC Magazines
after which Go-Sets circulation declined until the final issue on 24 August 1974.
Meldrum had remained to the last issue and became an integral part of Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TV pop music series Countdown, which began broadcasting nationally in November 1974. Meldrum was initially behind the scenes as a 'Talent Co-ordinator' but from 1975 he became an onscreen host and developed a news / gossip segment titled Humdrum. Countdown re-united him with Grant Rule from his Kommotion days. After Countdown ended in 1987, Meldrum continued his music commentary for various TV shows including, Hey Hey Its Saturday.
Frazer has edited and managed political magazines in America, and with Jim Hightower
since March 1999, is publisher and co-editor of the Lowdown, a progressive political newsletter.
's Top 40 singles for Melbourne and 2SM
's King 40 for Sydney. A national Top 40 chart appeared on 5 October 1966 alongside top 15's from 2SM, 3UZ, 4BC in Brisbane
, 5AD in Adelaide
and 6KY in Perth
. February 1967 Ed Nimmervoll
compiled the national chart, with commentary and statistics. The newspaper began publishing Australia's first national weekly album chart on 23 May 1970.
In May 1974, the first Kent Music Report
was published by David Kent
, which became Australia's official national charts. The Kent Music Report appeared just before the last Go-Set charts were published on 24 August 1974.
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, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
by Phillip Frazer
Phillip Frazer
Phillip Frazer, is a writer, editor and publisher. He was a founder of the teen pop newspaper, Go-Set in 1966 which was published weekly until 1974, introducing Australia's first national pop record charts and featuring many notable contributors...
, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. Widely described as a pop music "bible", it became an influential publication, introduced the first national pop record charts and featured many notable contributors including fashion designer Prue Acton
Prue Acton
Prue Acton, OBE is an Australian fashion designer, and is often referred to as Australia's "golden girl" of fashion' during the 60's.-Early life:...
, journalist Lily Brett
Lily Brett
Lily Brett is an award-winning Australian novelist, essayist and poet who now lives in New York City. Much of her writing deals with her Jewish family semi-biographically and with her feelings about the Holocaust....
, rock writer / band manager Vince Lovegrove
Vince Lovegrove
Vincent "Vince" Lovegrove is an Australian journalist, music manager, television producer, AIDS awareness pioneer and musician. He was a member of 1960s rock 'n' roll band The Valentines, sharing vocals with Bon Scott whom he later introduced to heavy rock group AC/DC...
, music commentator Ian Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...
, rock writer / music historian Ed Nimmervoll
Ed Nimmervoll
Edward Francis "Ed" Nimmervoll is an Australian rock music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock magazines Go-Set and Juke both as a journalist and as an editor...
and radio DJ Stan Rofe
Stan Rofe
Stan 'The Man' Rofe was Melbourne's first and most influential rock'n'roll disc jockey. He is remembered as playing the first rock and roll music on Melbourne radio 3KZ in 1956 and as a champion of Australian music, a pioneer who played songs other DJs were too scared to play.-Career:Stan Rofe...
. It spawned the original Australian edition of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone Australia
Rolling Stone Australia is an Australian-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published monthly, it is the Australian edition of the United States' Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone was initially released in Melbourne in May 1970 as a supplement in Revolution, an...
magazine in late 1972.
Foundation: 1964–1967
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
student newspaper Chaos co-editors, John Blakeley, Damien Broderick
Damien Broderick
Damien Francis Broderick is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer. His science fiction novel The Judas Mandala is sometimes credited with the first appearance of the term "virtual reality," and his 1997 popular science book The Spike was the first to investigate the...
and Tony Schauble, renamed the paper Lot's Wife. Phillip Frazer
Phillip Frazer
Phillip Frazer, is a writer, editor and publisher. He was a founder of the teen pop newspaper, Go-Set in 1966 which was published weekly until 1974, introducing Australia's first national pop record charts and featuring many notable contributors...
was a staffer and later became co-editor with future parliamentarian Peter Steedman
Peter Steedman
Alan Peter Steedman was an Australian politician. At Melbourne University he edited Farrago, the Melbourne University Student Union paper. He also edited Lot's Wife at Monash University....
. Late in 1965, Schauble, Frazer, Broderick, and another student writer, Doug Panther, discussed ideas to make money during the holidays including the idea to create a 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. Local rock group The Mood's manager, Peter Raphael, joined Frazer and Schauble and together they founded Go-Set Publications. Raphael brought in photographer Colin Beard
Colin Beard
Colin Beard is a former Australian rules football player who played in the VFL between 1969 and 1971 for the Richmond Football Club.Originally from South Fremantle in the WAFL, where he won the club's Best & Fairest award in 1966, he returned there after his three seasons at Richmond and was coach...
and advertising manager Terry Cleary. Waverley Press, which owned Waverley Offset Printers, had printed Lot's Wife, and agreed to print Go-Set on credit. Schauble, Frazer and Panther produceded the newspaper from their home in the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Malvern
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
. The first edition of Go-Set, dated 2 February 1966, was published with Schauble cited as editor because Frazer, a medical student, asked to be listed in the low-key role of designer and Panther, who had not registered for the military draft
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
, was described as a feature writer. The first issue showcased 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...
(see right) and 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...
interviewed by Panther and photographed by Colin Beard at Palais Theatre
Palais Theatre
The Palais Theatre is a former cinema, now functioning exclusively as a concert venue, located in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. With a capacity of 2,896 people, it is the largest seated theatre in Australia....
, St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
. Initial sales were low, about 3000 to 5000 but Issue 3, which covered 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...
tour in Melbourne and Sydney, doubled their sales.
Initially Go-Set was intended for Melbourne distribution only. A book distributor, Bill Robinson, managed circulation throughout Victoria, and several weeks later the newspaper was introduced to 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 within its first year, all the remaining states. From 28 February 1966, the Go-Set office was three rooms at Charnwood Crescent, St Kilda until December 1970 when it relocated to Drummond Street, Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
. Key staff included Tony Schauble as editor then manager, Phillip Frazer, who had switched to an arts degree at Monash, as co-editor, and Colin Beard as photographer. Peter Raphael was advertising manager assisted by Terry Cleary. Doug Panther continued as feature writer for several months before leaving for Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
with Commonwealth Police and the Australian Army searching for him as a 'draft dodger'. Panther was replaced by Lily Brett
Lily Brett
Lily Brett is an award-winning Australian novelist, essayist and poet who now lives in New York City. Much of her writing deals with her Jewish family semi-biographically and with her feelings about the Holocaust....
who likes to recall that she got the job because she had a car. Other personnel were Honey Lea, originally a typist, who later became fashion editor when Prue Acton
Prue Acton
Prue Acton, OBE is an Australian fashion designer, and is often referred to as Australia's "golden girl" of fashion' during the 60's.-Early life:...
dropped out, and Sue Flett who wrote an advice column under the name Leslie Pixie.
Ian Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...
wrote his first story for Go-Set in July 1966, and joined as a news, gossip and feature writer in August. Frazer urged Meldrum to join week day, TV show Kommotion on Channel 0
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
as a mimer so that Go-Set could get more inside stories. A key element in the early success of the newspaper was the centre page spread called "The Scene-The Seen", a weekly pictorial survey photographed by Beard in Melbourne and Grant Mudford in Sydney around the discos and dance halls. These were its original target audience - the thousands of teenagers, especially girls, caught up in the excitement of the swinging sixties, following their favourite local Rock group around the suburban dancehalls of Melbourne. Go-Set started its annual pop poll in October 1966 with readers voting for 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...
as 'Best Male Vocal', 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...
as 'Best Girl Vocal' and 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...
as 'Best Group'. The following year, Normie Rowe was crowned as the inaugural 'King of Pop
Australian pop music awards
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 pop poll ; TV Week King of Pop Awards ; TV Week and Countdown Music Awards ; and Countdown Music and Video Awards...
' on TV series 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....
, also on Channel 0.
Go-Set had become the indispensable chronicle of the local scene, described by 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...
, lead singer of 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...
, as the Australian music bible. From 5 October 1966, it featured Australian singles charts and international charts, local state gig listings and record reviews.
Go-Set developed an international focus when, in a promotional arrangement with BOAC
Boac
Boac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
airlines, Brett and Beard were flown to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the USA. They spent four months in the United Kingdom from January 1967 touring with Australian singer 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 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 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...
, The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
, 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...
and others. In America they covered the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
scene and attended the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
from the 16 to 19 June 1967. The first full colour centre spread was a Beard photograph of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
taken at The Monterey Pop Festival. In Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
they did personality stories and photographic fashion spreads with Sonny and Cher, The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
and covered a recording session with The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
. In Brett's absence, Meldrum became the principal local feature writer while Vera Kaas-Jager covered the local photography for Beard.
Offshoots: 1968–1973
David Elfick
David Elfick is a noted Australian film and television writer, director, producer and occasional actor. He is known for his association with writer-director Phillip Noyce with whom he has collaborated on films including Newsfront and Rabbit-Proof Fence .Elfick began his film career as the...
, Vince Lovegrove
Vince Lovegrove
Vincent "Vince" Lovegrove is an Australian journalist, music manager, television producer, AIDS awareness pioneer and musician. He was a member of 1960s rock 'n' roll band The Valentines, sharing vocals with Bon Scott whom he later introduced to heavy rock group AC/DC...
, Ed Nimmervoll
Ed Nimmervoll
Edward Francis "Ed" Nimmervoll is an Australian rock music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock magazines Go-Set and Juke both as a journalist and as an editor...
, Stan Rofe
Stan Rofe
Stan 'The Man' Rofe was Melbourne's first and most influential rock'n'roll disc jockey. He is remembered as playing the first rock and roll music on Melbourne radio 3KZ in 1956 and as a champion of Australian music, a pioneer who played songs other DJs were too scared to play.-Career:Stan Rofe...
, Stephen McLean, 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...
, Michele O'Driscoll (aka Mitch), Cleo Calvo (now singer, Clelia Adams), Eril Bilson, Philip Morris (photographer), Ian McCausland (graphics), Jon Hawkes (editor), Geoff Pendlebury (graphics), Geoff Watson (management), Helen Hooper, Jean Bedford, and 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"...
who wrote under the pen-name of "Mummy Cool" (1971–1972).
Ian Meldrum
Ian Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...
wrote a weekly column for Go-Set from August 1966 until its demise in 1974. His writing style represented his own stream of consciousness and came across in the same "bumbling" manner which was to later be a hallmark of his public persona. His nickname "Molly" was given to him and first published in Go-Set in 1968 by fellow columnist and radio DJ Stan Rofe
Stan Rofe
Stan 'The Man' Rofe was Melbourne's first and most influential rock'n'roll disc jockey. He is remembered as playing the first rock and roll music on Melbourne radio 3KZ in 1956 and as a champion of Australian music, a pioneer who played songs other DJs were too scared to play.-Career:Stan Rofe...
. Both Meldrum's and Rofe's columns contained many camp in jokes. Meldrum became editor of a monthly Go-Set offshoot, Gas, which was aimed at younger teen girls and was first published in October 1968 with a feature on 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,...
; its last issue was in March 1971.
Nimmervoll, an architecture student, started with Go-Set as the compiler of the national Top 40 charts, beginning in February 1967. He then wrote feature stories and record reviews, and in December 1969 began editing Go-Sets counter-culture supplement, Core, which was influenced by the US magazineRolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
Founders, Schauble and Beard had left by February 1969 and Frazer became editor and publisher; Jon Hawkes joined as co-editor in April. Frazer launched two monthly counter-culture magazines, Revolution, which lasted from 1 May 1970 – 1 August 1971, and High Times, co-founded with Macy McFarland and Pat Woolley, which published August 1971 – 1 January 1972. Frazer left Go-Set in February 1972 (after Waverley Press took control of the company) and founded The Digger in September 1972. Frazer also launched the Australian edition of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone Australia
Rolling Stone Australia is an Australian-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published monthly, it is the Australian edition of the United States' Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone was initially released in Melbourne in May 1970 as a supplement in Revolution, an...
magazine first as a supplement in the fourth issue of Revolution, then as a fully-fledged magazine in late 1972. Frazer left Rolling Stone Australia in 1974 but continued with The Digger until December 1975, after which he moved to United States.
Go-Set reached its peak in circulation, with 72,000 copies per week, in June to December 1970. After Frazer left as editor in 1972 to concentrate on The Digger, Piotre Olszewski was editor from May to July before Nimmervoll took over with Meldrum as co-editor. Nimmervoll remained until December 1973 when Sungravure Ltd bought Go-Set and relocated its headquarters to Sydney.
Last edition and beyond: 1974–current
In December 1973, Nimmervoll left Go-Set and founded Juke magazine in 1975, subsequently he established Take 40 Australia and since 2000, he has edited HowlSpace, a website detailing Australian rock music history. He is also an author of books on the same subject.By January 1974, Go-Set was sold to Sungravure Ltd with Jenny Irvine as editor. Reprints from UK and US papers replaced staff writing during 1973 and 1974, when Sungravure was taken over by IPC Magazines
IPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...
after which Go-Sets circulation declined until the final issue on 24 August 1974.
Meldrum had remained to the last issue and became an integral part of Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
TV pop music series Countdown, which began broadcasting nationally in November 1974. Meldrum was initially behind the scenes as a 'Talent Co-ordinator' but from 1975 he became an onscreen host and developed a news / gossip segment titled Humdrum. Countdown re-united him with Grant Rule from his Kommotion days. After Countdown ended in 1987, Meldrum continued his music commentary for various TV shows including, Hey Hey Its Saturday.
Frazer has edited and managed political magazines in America, and with Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower
James Allen "Jim" Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, activist and author.-Life and career:Born in Denison, Texas, Hightower came from a working class background. He worked his way through college as assistant general manager of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and later landed a spot as...
since March 1999, is publisher and co-editor of the Lowdown, a progressive political newsletter.
Go-Set Australian National Charts
From March 1966 Go-Set published radio station 3UZ3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...
's Top 40 singles for Melbourne and 2SM
2SM
2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, New South Wales, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group...
's King 40 for Sydney. A national Top 40 chart appeared on 5 October 1966 alongside top 15's from 2SM, 3UZ, 4BC in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, 5AD in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and 6KY in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. February 1967 Ed Nimmervoll
Ed Nimmervoll
Edward Francis "Ed" Nimmervoll is an Australian rock music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock magazines Go-Set and Juke both as a journalist and as an editor...
compiled the national chart, with commentary and statistics. The newspaper began publishing Australia's first national weekly album chart on 23 May 1970.
In May 1974, the first Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
was published by David Kent
David Kent (historian)
David Kent is an Australian music historian and pop-culture writer, he produced the Kent Music Report from May 1974 to 1996, it was known as the Australian Music Report from 1987. The music reports were a weekly listing of the National Top 100 chart positions of singles and albums...
, which became Australia's official national charts. The Kent Music Report appeared just before the last Go-Set charts were published on 24 August 1974.