Australian music should be recognised with its very own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “and it has to be in Melbourne.”
So says Aussie music personality Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, who is pushing for the development and funding of a permanent exhibit to our country’s music history in Australia’s music capital.
“There should be a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Australia and it has to be in Melbourne,” Meldrum tells the Herald Sun, “We just need to find a building, or the government needs to find a building. Then it’s a matter of funding it.”
The catalyst for the ever-Akubra’ed icon’s campaign is the new Music, Melbourne + Me exhibition, opening at Melbourne’s RMIT Gallery next week; celebrating 40 years of Aussie music history with unique collections, memorabilia, and interactive displays.
Meldrum is hoping that the new exhibit will provide the catalyst for the permanent fixture of a Melbourne-based Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame that mirrors America’s Cleveland, Ohio museum, which recently announced Nirvana and KISS among its potential 2014 Hall Of Fame inductees.
“This Music, Melbourne + Me exhibition will show just how passionate Melbourne people are about music,” Meldrum says. “They’re passionate about football, sport and music. Melbourne people support the things they love. Melbourne is the music capital of Australia. There’s no question. It just is.”
Meldrum is lending items from his own personal collection towards the free exhibition, which opens on Tuesday 19th November, where patrons will be able to view stage costumes, tour posters, and vintage material from the music guru, alongside plenty of historic footage from Meldrum’s days of hosting vintage Aussie rock show, Countdown. “There should be a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Australia and it has to be in Melbourne.”
“People don’t realise Countdown was getting three million viewers in its heyday,” says Meldrum of the Melbourne-produced programme.
The ABC TV series, which ran for 14 seasons from the early 70s to the late 80s, cast a long shadow across Australia’s music scene, helping break countless domestic bands and opening the door Down Under to artists like Madonna, Blondie, and ABBA, early in their careers.
Alongside Meldrum’s contributed memorabilia, the exhibition will showcase personal items from the likes of Kylie Minogue, Skyhooks, Split Enz, and most notably, Mushroom Records founder Michael Gudinski.
It is Gudinski – Frontier Touring boss, 2012 Melburnian of the Year, and now Future Music Festival presenter – who has been the driving force of Music, Melbourne + Me, donating a treasure trove of material from the Mushroom archives, following the company’s 40th anniversary and rebranding back in February; including vintage promotional material, tickets, merch, posters, awards, and even a full blown replica of his Mushroom office.
The Mushroom boss is hoping the exhibition will draw in a large cross-section of music fans – young and old. “Kids are getting into music so much younger these days,” Gudinski tells Herald Sun.
“I was 14 when I went to my first gig. There’s 14 year olds singing on TV now and kids much younger than that going to gigs and downloading music. I want this exhibition to be something kids can go to. When I was at school I remember the excursions were sometimes boring, this is one kids should be excited at seeing,” he says.
“Retro music is really popular at the moment, vinyl has just had the most sales it’s had in over a decade, people are interested in the history of music,” adds Gudinski. “And if anyone gets inspired and ends up getting any form of job that they love to do with music because they’ve come to this exhibition, that’d be more than enough for me.”
There’s more to Melbourne, Music + Me than just showing off displays of Melbourne’s music past however. There will be an LED-lit dancefloor, a series of free keynote speeches – from Hunters & Collectors frontman Mark Seymour to former Killing Heidi frontwoman turned Spicks & Specks host Ella Hooper, and Gudisnki has also teased that a series of Mushroom-associated bands will be performing live during the exhibition’s season.
“I can guarantee a lot of my artists will be able to pop in and perform, let alone anyone who might be here on tour,” he says.
The exhibition will also featuring an interactive jukebox, to be filled with 40 Melbourne music classics that fans can vote on in a poll hosted on the Herald Sun website, featuring everything from rock icons AC/DC to Weddings, Parties, Anything, soultronica singer Chet Faker – and everything in-between.
Melbourne, Music + Me Exhibition
19th November 2013 to 3rd March 2014
RMIT Gallery, 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Admission: Free
Opening hours:
11am till 5pm – Monday to Friday
11am to 7 pm – Thursdays
12noon – 5pm – Saturdays
Closed public holidays
