Ian McFarlane | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959 (age 66–67) Australia |
| Occupation | Music journalist, music historian, author |
| Subject | Rock, pop |
| Notable works | The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop |
Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australianmusic journalist,music historian andauthor, whose best known publication is theEncyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.
As a journalist he started in 1984 withJuke, a rock music newspaper. During the early 1990s he worked forRoadrunner Records while he published a music guide,The Australian New Music Record Guide Volume 1: 1976–1980 (1992). He followed with twofanzines,Freedom Train andPrehistoric Sounds, both issued during 1994 to 1996. McFarlane'sThe Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop is described by theAustralian Music Guide as "the most exhaustive and wide-ranging encyclopedia of Australian music from the 1950s onwards". Subsequently, he was a writer forThe Australian and worked forRaven Records, areissue specialist 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.
Ian McFarlane was born in 1959,[1] and started as a freelancemusic journalist in 1984 writing for Melbourne-based newspaper,Juke,[2]The Edge andFrom the Vault.[3] During the late 1980s to early 1990s he was a writer with Sydney music magazineHot Metal and 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 rock between the 1970s and the 1990s.[5] Issue 1 ofFreedom Train comprised a series of articles, interviews and discographies of bands, includingSpectrum,Ariel,Madder Lake,The Masters Apprentices andKahvas 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 rock from the 1970s and 1980s.[3][5] Issue 1 contained articles onThe Saints,Models, The Psycho-Surgeons, The Lipstick Killers,The Thought Criminals andAu-Go-Go Records, together with interviews withEd Kuepper,Sean Kelly and Mark Taylor. Issue 2 included articles onThe Scientists,The Birthday Party,Citadel Records andThe Laughing Clowns and interviews withKim Salmon,Rowland S. Howard and Kuepper. Issue 3 had articles onRadio Birdman,The Visitors,New Race,Deniz Tek,New Christs,Fun Things andThe Hitmen, as well as interviews withRob Younger andBrad Shepherd. Issue 4, which was also the final issue, contained articles onBeasts of Bourbon,Died Pretty,The Moodists andGreasy Pop Records, as well as interviews withTex Perkins, Brett Myers,Ron Peno,Dave Graney andClare Moore.
McFarlane wroteThe Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop in December 1999.[1][3] Hismagnum opus is described by theAustralian Music Guide as "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, areissue specialist 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 Age newspaper 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]
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