Music producer-engineer Tony Cohen defined Australia’s punk and rock sounds from the late 70s through to the 90s. Working with the likes of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Models, The Go-Betweens, Hunters & Collectors, Cold Chisel, The Saints, The Cruel Sea, Paul Kelly and so many more, Tony's acclaimed career saw him work around the world, from Melbourne and Sydney to West Berlin and London’s Abbey Road, before his death in 2017. Cohen's story is told in his own words, with help from friend and fellow engineer John Olson, in this funny, insightful and moving new memoir, Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Producer. To celebrate the book’s release, join the Wheeler Centre, Triple R and Melbourne City Reads for a tribute to Tony Cohen, hosted by musician Dave Graney. The evening will feature photos, artwork and extracts from the book read by Cohen's closest friends and collaborators, including Chris Thompson, Astrid Munday, Billy Miller, Mick Harvey and Kim Salmon, alongside live performances by Leah Senior, Grace Cummings, Martin Frawley and Charlie Owen.
his event is presented by the Wheeler Centre and Triple R as part of the Melbourne City Reads series.
The Melbourne City Reads series is generously supported by George and Rosa Morstyn. Photo of Tony Cohen recording in Kongwak courtesy of Claudia Carey.
Celebrate local literary culture and the authors who shape it. Rediscover the world through writers’ eyes at monthly events, featuring authors discussing their new books. The Melbourne City Reads initiative is a collaboration with Melbourne city bookshops Dymocks Collins Street, Hill of Content, Mary Martin Bookshop, Paperback Bookshop, and Readings.
The Melbourne City Reads series is generously supported by George and Rosa Morstyn.
Fringe Common Rooms
Corner Victoria Street and Lygon Street, Carlton 3053 Victoria Australia
Get directionsThe bookseller for this event is Readings.
Raised in the suburbs of Melbourne, Phill Calvert started learning the drums at four years of age. At the private boys school Caulfield Grammar in the early 1970s he met vocalist Nick Cave and guitarist Mick Harvey and formed a rock ...
A 'soon-to-be-iconic voice' (Rolling Stone), Grace Cummings is a contemporary folk musician from Melbourne, Australia. Her songwriting is influenced by 20th century poets and luminaries, from Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan ...
Like most of us, Martin Frawley is busy trying to work himself out. He lives alongside the long shadow of his late dad, musician and songwriter Maurice Frawley, a cultural icon of the Australian underground and collaborator with ...
Dave Graney started out IN the Moodists. Then there was Dave Graney ‘n’ the Coral Snakes. Then Dave Graney and the mistLY. Involved in the writing, production, recording, mixing and releasing of approximately 40 albums ...
Mick Harvey, renowned as a founding member of both The Boys Next Door/The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and for his collaborations with PJ Harvey, has made a series of solo albums during the last ...
Billy Miller is best known as the singer of The Ferrets, who in 1977 had a number 1 hit (‘Don’t Fall In Love’) and gold album (Dreams of a Love). Between then and today nearly 10,000 gigs have passed under the bridge ...
Charlie Owen is a renowned multi-instrumentalist who has recorded and toured with just about everyone. He was a member of The New Christs, Maurice Frawley and Working Class Ringos, Tex, Don and Charlie and Beasts of Bourbon ...
Kim Salmon’s most enduring legacy, and not one that he particularly tried for, will no doubt be that many blame him, or at least his band The Scientists, for ‘grunge’ in Australia. His expansive career has seen him traipse many of ...
Leah Senior silences audiences with her ethereal vocals and unique lyricism. Hailed by critics as a divine masterpiece, her latest album The Passing Scene is a charming expansion on her previous two records lilting between springtime ...
