Tony Wellington on Freak Out and Vinyl Dreams: How the 1970s Changed Music

Sun 14 May 2023

Tony Wellington + Andrew Stafford

slq The Studio

Main Festival

BWF123

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

Writer and music aficionado Tony Wellington reflects on the seismic cultural changes wrought by the rock’n’roll revolution of the sixties and the still more radical turn of the seventies. In conversation with Brisbane rock scholar Andrew Stafford, Wellington maps Australia’s evolution from sleepy, parochial island to a vital part of the global sonic landscape.

#Artists

Tony Wellington

Tony Wellington has authored three books on the history of popular music: Mixtapes and MTV - Triumphs and Tragedies in 1980s Music, Vinyl Dreams - How the 1970s Changed Music, and Freak Out - How a Musical Revolution Rocked the World in the Sixties. He also authored Happy? Exploding Cultural Myths about Happiness and a history of Noosa titled Noosa and Cooloola. With John Shand, he co-authored Don’t Shoot the Best Boy! The Film Crew at Work, and he has produced several photography books, the most recent of which is The Nature of Noosa. For many years Tony worked in the film and television industry as a scriptwriter, director and editor, and he lectured in media studies and film. He also worked as a visual artist and book illustrator. Tony holds a degree in Media Studies from Macquarie University and is a former mayor of Noosa Shire.

Andrew Stafford

Andrew Stafford is a freelance journalist and the author of Pig City, a book about Brisbane, and Something to Believe In, a music memoir. His journalism appears regularly in the Guardian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Griffith Review and more.