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Music legend John Farnham has alleged how he was manipulated by his manager while UK songstress Lily Allen’s feet bring in more income than streaming royalties. Just some of the latest music news brought to you by IA’s music maestro, David Kowalski.
IN THE NEWS this week is the release of John Farnham’s new tell-all memoir, The Voice Inside. A section was excerpted in The Australian this week and, requoted by The Music, it contained the salacious revelation that his first manager, Darryl Sambell, used to drug him. He allegedly did so for years, by slipping a little something in his coffee every morning.
Farnham claims he “had no f**ing idea, until [he] saw a half-dissolved pill at the bottom of [his] coffee cup”. When Farnham questioned Sambell about it, he claimed it was “something to keep you awake”.
Farnham also said that Sambell tried to exert total control over his talent, determining exactly when and where Farnham worked, what he wore, and what songs he sang. This checks out to me. Watching live concerts on TV of Farnham from a beanbag on my parents’ lounge room floor in the 1980s and 1990s, it was clear he loathed his first hit single, ‘Sadie The Cleaning Lady’, with a passionate fervour. He wanted to be a rock’n’roller, not a singer of twee pop like that.
The crowds in those concerts used to taunt him to sing it, much to his (real or imagined) disgust. No wonder he recorded versions of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin songs when he was let loose.
Lily Allen’s feet cause a minor social media uproar
UK indie pop songstress Lily Allen has been a little quiet on the music front in recent years. There’s only been a few scattered singles appearing online in recent years, however, that seems to have ceased around 2020. None of them seemed to have caught alight, in the same way she caught the attention of the world for a brief period in the mid-2000s.
Anyway, Allen made a post this week on her social media pointing fans towards her OnlyFans page, where she posts photos of her feet. One fan protested, saying, ‘Imagine being one of the biggest pop stars/musicians and then being reduced to this’.
Allen then retorted with something that cuts deep to the core of the modern media consumption industry:
‘Imagine being [an] artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more money from having 1,000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.’
It’s a sad state of affairs when photos of feet are a bigger source of income than royalties for the artistry she is known for.
Georgie Winchester’s pretty things
Hunter Valley NSW-born and raised songstress Georgie Winchester has spent the last few months touring around Australia, living in the back of her van and playing to far-flung places as far away as Albany in Western Australia. During her travels, she wrote and workshopped new tracks for her latest EP release, pretty things (stylised all lowercase).
This is deeply introspective music, influenced by the glorious west coast beach sunsets and the feeling of desolate remoteness, being so far away from everything and everyone Winchester loves. There is also a spirit of adventure and freedom within these tunes. She plans to tour Canada in 2025 and she should be releasing a new album next year too. Georgie is definitely an artist to watch.
CJ Commerford helps your soul
It’s often by accident I find amazing new music. Scrolling through Facebook instead of cleaning the kitchen after dinner a few nights ago, I came across a Memphis-styled soul band from Melbourne called CJ Commerford and the Supertones, with a song so fresh off the press the ink was barely dry.
The band’s bio describes their sound as having ‘the power to ease your mind, sweeping you back to the golden era of ’70s soul… allowing listeners to step into a world of sepia-toned warmth’. This track has plenty of rich Hammond organ tones and sweet backing vocals to put the truth to these claims.
From his Instagram page, CJ writes about the new single, ‘Help Your Soul’, and its long gestation:
‘A track that’s been in the works since July 2023. With intermittent vocal surgery and a bunch of other speed bumps, “Help Your Soul” is ready [to] zoom full speed ahead!’
This track laid down an undeniably great groove, punctuated by a small brass section and some funky guitars. I was captivated. I can’t wait for their new album coming later in November 2024.
North Arm stays young
Roderick Smith is a wunderkind musician, capable of playing several different instruments and recording his own material for a while now. He was raised in Newcastle, but after years of summer holidays on the mid-north coast of NSW, his spiritual home is now North Arm Cove. It is this sleepy little village on the Myall Lakes that gives his creative project its name: North Arm.
The band’s fourth album has just been released. Entitled Stay Young, it bears all the hallmarks of music bathed in sunlight and surf. The record was recorded with the help of mixing engineer Robin Waters, who also played a huge swathe of instrumentation on the record, along with J Walker, of Machine Translations fame, adding string overdubs to the music.
The band’s press bio states:
‘North Arm songs always hypnotise, question, console and intrigue. It’s meditative indie folk music with an endlessly inventive art-rock and pop aesthetic.’
The lead single, ‘Everything You’, has the sort of home-spun charm that amuses me every time. This is music to sink one’s teeth into, with plenty of rewards for those who devote their attention to it.
Until next time…
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David Kowalski is a writer, musician, educator, sound engineer and podcaster. His podcasts ‘The Sound and the Fury Podcast’ and ‘Audio Cumulus’ can be heard exclusively here. You can follow David on Twitter @sound_fury_pod.
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