Wikipedia

Ian McFarlane

For other people with similar names, seeIan Macfarlane (disambiguation).

Ian McFarlane(born 1959) is an Australianmusic journalist,music historianandauthor,whose best known publication is theEncyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop(1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.

Ian McFarlane
Born1959 (age 64–65)
Australia
OccupationMusic journalist, music historian, author
SubjectRock, pop
Notable worksThe Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop

As a journalist he started in 1984 withJuke,a rock music newspaper. During the early 1990s he worked forRoadrunner Recordswhile he published a music guide,The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980(1992). He followed with twofanzines,Freedom TrainandPrehistoric Sounds,both issued during 1994 to 1996. McFarlane'sThe Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Popis described by theAustralian Music Guideas "the most exhaustive and wide-ranging encyclopedia of Australian music from the 1950s onwards". Subsequently, he was a writer forThe Australianand worked forRaven Records,areissuespecialist label, preparing compilations, writing liner notes and providing research. He fulfilled a similar role at Aztec Music from 2004 to March 2012. From July 2013 he has been a contributor toAddicted to Noise,writing a column.

Biography

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Ian McFarlane was born in 1959,[1]and started as a freelancemusic journalistin 1984 writing for Melbourne-based newspaper,Juke,[2]The EdgeandFrom the Vault.[3]During the late 1980s to early 1990s he was a writer with Sydney music magazineHot Metaland during 1992 to 1994 worked forRoadrunner Records (Australia).In 1992 MacFarlane published his first music guide,The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980,which provided a chronological list and brief description of all independent records released by Australian bands in Australia, together with a year-by-year summary of how local independent music developed during that time. This series however did not progress beyond Volume 1, although he did commenceVolume 2 – 1981–1983,which was intended to be published at the end of 1994.

In 1994 he wrote and edited thefanzine,Freedom Train,[4]published by Third Stone Press, which covered Australianprogressive rockbetween the 1970s and the 1990s.[5]Issue 1 ofFreedom Traincomprised a series of articles, interviews and discographies of bands, includingSpectrum,Ariel,Madder Lake,The Masters ApprenticesandKahvas Jute.[5]Issue 2 covered bands and musicians includingChain,Phil Manning,Taman Shud,Sebastian Hardie,Healing Force andGaladriel.[5]At the same time he also wrote and editedPrehistoric Sounds,[4]published by Dark City Press, which dealt with Australianindie rockfrom the 1970s and 1980s.[3][5]Issue 1 contained articles onThe Saints,Models,The Psycho-Surgeons, The Lipstick Killers,The Thought CriminalsandAu-Go-Go Records,together with interviews withEd Kuepper,Sean Kellyand Mark Taylor. Issue 2 included articles onThe Scientists,The Birthday Party,Citadel RecordsandThe Laughing Clownsand interviews withKim Salmon,Rowland S. Howardand Kuepper. Issue 3 had articles onRadio Birdman,The Visitors,New Race,Deniz Tek,New Christs,Fun ThingsandThe Hitmen,as well as interviews withRob YoungerandBrad Shepherd.Issue 4, which was also the final issue, contained articles onBeasts of Bourbon,Died Pretty,The MoodistsandGreasy Pop Records,as well as interviews withTex Perkins,Brett Myers,Ron Peno,Dave GraneyandClare Moore.

McFarlane wroteThe Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Popin December 1999.[1][3]Hismagnum opusis described by theAustralian Music Guideas "the most exhaustive and wide-ranging encyclopedia of Australian music from the 1950s onwards".[6]Fellow music journalist,Debbie Kruger,describes it as "brilliantly researched, unfailingly thorough, never boring. Essential".[7]

From the late 1990s he was a writer forThe Australian.[3]He worked forRaven Records,areissuespecialist label, preparing compilations, writing liner notes and providing research.[8][9]He wrote most of the liner notes for Aztec Music releases from its establishment in 2004 to its closure in March 2012.[10][11]McFarlane detailed the importance of Aztec Music's reissues after decades of recovery from a mid-1970s punk-inspired backlash "those punk bands came in and said 'Anything pre-1976 is crap'... That carried over well into the '80s and '90s'... It took a long time for people to get over that post-'76 thing of 'No, we don't care about our heritage'".[10]

In June 2008The Agenewspaper commemorated 50 years of Australian rock 'n' roll (the anniversary of the release ofJohnny O'Keefe's "Wild One") by selecting the Top 50 Australian Albums, with McFarlane selected as one of the industry judges.[12][13][14]From July 2013 he has been a contributor toAddicted to Noise,writing a column.[15]McFarlane updated his encyclopaedia for a second edition in 2017.[16]'The Sydney Morning Herald's Steven Carroll observed, "It's so easy to get lost in this revised edition: one band leading to another, and so on, until you're suddenly asking yourself what happened to the last hour."[16]

Bibliography

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  • McFarlane, Ian (1992).The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980.Golden Square, Vic.: Moonlight Publishing.ISBN978-0-646-13267-9.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1994). "Vol. 1 Issue 1".Freedom Train – Aussie Progressive Rock 1970–1976.Third Stone Press.ISSN1327-6387.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1994). "Vol. 1 Issue 1".Prehistoric Sounds – Aussie Indie Music 1976–1989.Dark City Press.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1995). "Vol. 1 Issue 2".Freedom Train – Aussie Progressive Rock 1970–1976.Third Stone Press.ISSN1327-6387.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1995). "Vol. 1 Issue 2".Prehistoric Sounds – Aussie Indie Music 1976–1990.Dark City Press.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1996). "Vol. 1 Issue 3: The Australian Progressive, Hard Rock and Blues Record Guide".Freedom Train – Aussie Progressive Rock 1970–1976.Third Stone Press.ISSN1327-6387.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1996). "Vol. 1 Issue 3".Prehistoric Sounds – Aussie Indie Music 1976–1990.Dark City Press.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1996). "Vol. 1 Issue 4".Prehistoric Sounds – Aussie Indie Music 1976–1990.Dark City Press.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999).The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop.St. Leonards, N.S.W.:Allen & Unwin.ISBN1-86448-768-2.

References

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  1. ^ab"McFarlane, Ian, 1959–".National Library of Australia.Archived fromthe originalon 3 July 2017.Retrieved29 November2008.
  2. ^McFarlane, Ian (14 July 1984)."Hunters and Collectors, Separate Tables".Juke Magazine.Ed Nimmervoll.Retrieved8 April2014.
  3. ^abcd"The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop".Allen & Unwin.December 1999. Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2014.Retrieved30 November2008.
  4. ^abCulnane, Paul (2004). Duncan Kimball (ed.)."Recommended Reading –Foffle".Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived fromthe originalon 25 November 2010.Retrieved7 April2014.
  5. ^abcd"Other Books".Moonlight. Archived fromthe originalon 26 July 2009.Retrieved8 April2014.
  6. ^"Australian Music Books"(PDF).TheMusic. March 2004. p. 4. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 February 2005.Retrieved8 April2014.
  7. ^Kruger, Debbie."Essential Reading".Retrieved8 April2014.
  8. ^"Ian McFarlane | Credits".Allmusic.Retrieved8 April2014.
  9. ^Marchese, Joe (27 February 2014)."Gotcha! Raven CollectsThree Essentialsfrom Saxophone Great Tom Scott ".The Second Disc.Retrieved8 April2014.
  10. ^abBlackman, Guy (8 August 2008)."National Treasures".The Age.Fairfax Media.Retrieved29 November2008.
  11. ^Jones, Nicholas (21 March 2012)."Melbourne Distributor/Label Aztec Music Goes into Receivership".Tone Deaf.Retrieved7 April2014.
  12. ^"The Top 50 Australian Albums of all Time".The Age.Fairfax Media. Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2009.Retrieved8 April2014.
  13. ^"Best of the Best".The Age.Fairfax Media. 27 June 2008.Retrieved8 April2014.
  14. ^"The Top 50 Australian Albums of all Time: The Judges".The Age.Fairfax Media.Retrieved8 April2014.
  15. ^Wise, Brian (ed.)."McFarlane Column Archives – Exiled off Main Street".Addicted to Noise.Retrieved8 April2014.
  16. ^abCarroll, Steven (13 March 2017)."The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Popreview: a glorious journey ".The Sydney Morning Herald.Archivedfrom the original on 8 May 2018.Retrieved8 December2020.
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