ARIA ICONS: HALL OF FAME

ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) is proud to announce the ARIA ICONS: HALL OF FAME - an inaugural event which will see the Australian music community pay tribute to those artists who have contributed to this country’s music landscape.

The Hall of Fame event will take place on Thursday July 14 at the Plaza Ballroom at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.

The HoF has been an important part of the ARIA Music Awards since the very beginning back in 1988. Traditionally taking place during the music awards ceremony, ARIA has inducted a diversity of artists into the HoF including AC/DC, Dame Joan Sutherland, Olivia Newton John, Johnny O’ Keefe, Paul Kelly, John Farnham, INXS, Slim Dusty, Jimmy Little and many more.

While ARIA intends to keep a component of the HoF for the Music Awards, the ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame will be an annual stand-alone event to honour the legendary performers, producers, songwriters and others who have had an impact on music culture in Australia. With inductees selected by the ARIA Board, on July 14th other artists will toast their peers and officially induct their forebears into the ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame

"It’s been a longstanding ambition of the ARIA Board to create a unique, stand-alone event with the specific purpose of inducting artists into the Hall of Fame. Time constraints meant we were only able to induct one artist per year at the ARIAs, and as a result we were developing an alarming backlog of truly worthy recipients. So the Hall of Fame event represents a real dream come true for the industry and it’s something we’re all tremendously excited about,” said ARIA Awards Chairman Ed St John.

“The music industry now has a long overdue opportunity to show our heritage artists the respect and recognition that they so richly deserve. These acts are truly icons of the Australian contemporary music scene, and they deserve to be honoured in a special event,” said ARIA Chairman Denis Handlin.

And now without further ado, ARIA is delighted to announce the first 3 music artists who will be inducted into the ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame on Thursday July 14th at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.

Three decades after their inception, Split Enz are still one of the most loved bands to come out of Australasia. Best-known for their early ’80s pop hits, including the Countdown anthems "I Got You," and “I See Red”, Split Enz survived a dizzying array of image and personnel changes. Founded in 1972 in Auckland by Tim Finn and Phil Judd, the two were the main song writing force of the bands early years. Judd drew his inspiration from a wild variety of often non-musical sources while Finn’s tastes leaned toward the British pop of the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Move. Fellow band mate Miles Golding came from a classical background and pushed the band into complex, neo-classical structures and arrangements. The result was an eclectic mix of styles that was beyond peer. Individual band members bought their own artistic influences, which thoroughly imbued the sound of Split Enz. Noel Crombie provided visionary designs for costumes; cover art and hair while Eddie Rayner’s unique keyboard sounds laid an inimitable texture over the band’s sound foundation. Neil Finn joined the Enz in 1977 and bought melodic gifts and vocals. They became the first New Zealand band to achieve worldwide success with a body of work that was always interesting and often reached pure pop brilliance. In the end, Split Enz had 13 line up changes, wore out 26 sets of stage costumes, played close to 1000 live shows and have been acknowledged as the lineal descent of both Crowded House and the Finn Brothers. They have had three #1 albums in Canada, been Top Ten with singles and albums in the UK, Holland, Belgium, Israel and Spain. They had numerous #1 albums in Australia and New Zealand and have sold more than 1.2 million albums in this country alone. Come July 2005 the Enz will be releasing the double live album ExtravagENZa.

"Australia became our Second Home in 1975.We of the Enz are proud to accept this honour, and gladly walk the Hall of Fame in memory of every gig we did here,” said Tim Finn on behalf of Split Enz.

Renée Geyer’s past is Australian music history. Her career has spanned 4 decades and is still going strong. A precocious jazz, blues and soul singer in her late teens; Countdown royalty in her 20s; a string of pop, soul and reggae hits spanning the ‘70s and ‘80s; her LA years in the studio with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Sting, Joe Cocker and Chaka Kahn; her ‘90s renaissance with Paul Kelly. She is a singer, a songwriter, producer, and author.

Her career began around 1971 in Sydney, when a girlfriend took her along to the rehearsal of friends who were forming a band. From there, things began to snowball. Her reputation found its way to America and led to an invitation to record an album in Los Angeles with famed Motown producer Frank Wilson. While the Movin’ Along album provided another hit at home, in America “Heading in the Right Direction” created confusion. R&B stations loved the record, but didn’t know what to do when they discovered Geyer was a white Jewish girl from Australia. For the next few years, Geyer bounced between Australia and America and released albums, which include So Lucky, Difficult Woman and Sweet Life. Her career has never stalled. At the end of 1999, Geyer released her frank life story; Confessions of a Difficult Woman through Harper Collins and 2003 saw her release the Gold selling (and self produced) album Tenderland. In 2004 Renée hooked up with Brisbane producer Magoo to co-produce her 21st album Tonight which has received stunning reviews.

In the 70s Renée Geyer had started out a sensual blues belter. Now she has evolved into a bona fide music icon - someone to look up to for never having let go of her dreams. This consummate entertainer with a proud body of work still transfixes a room with the power of her song.

“I am truly flattered and honoured on receiving this award. Given my fellow inductees I am incredibly humbled as well. It is also a very important acknowledgement of the path that these artists have laid down for others to follow,” said Renée Geyer.

Since his first record in 1965, Normie Rowe has been etching his mark in Australian culture both as an entertainer and a committed citizen. His early days had him at the top of the teenage charts with no less than 11 hit records and Australia voted him, "The first King of Popular Music". He set new standards for the Australian recording industry by being the first pop star to receive a gold record; he has a total of five, which has cemented his place in Australian recording history. Normie followed these recordings with national tours that set audience records in the sixties, filling auditoriums normally reserved, at that time, for overseas performers. His performances were electric. During this time he also crashed the UK with hit singles. After touring in the UK, Normie was inducted into the Australian Army and was sent to Vietnam. Returning to the music industry in 1970, he realised his career had to be more of a platform to help others and since then has worked tirelessly for better conditions for Veterans of all wars – including helping to organise "Vietnam Veteran’s Welcome Home" and "Vietnam Veteran’s National Memorial". From Australia’s first King Of Pop, to devoted family man and a man who promotes community awareness, Normie Rowe has made a vast contribution not just to Australian music, but also to our culture.

“The ARIA Hall of Fame is a very important cornerstone of the recording industry one that in fact defines the industry. Being elevated to Hall of Fame status is a very humbling honour for me,” said Normie Rowe.

The ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame event will be broadcast exclusively on subscription television. FOXTEL and AUSTAR Digital subscribers will be able to see this special telecast on VH1 on Sunday, July 17 at 9.00pm. FOX8 will provide an encore screening on the ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame on Saturday, July 23 at 8.30pm.

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Industry body: ARIA