tism

Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Producer
By Tony Cohen with John Olson
(Black Ink)

“Unputdownable” is a word and it officially entered the English lexicon in 1947. That’s a full decade before Tony Cohen came into the world, but the descriptor could have been custom-built for “Half Deaf, Completely Mad”, his posthumous autobiography.

This is a tale of hyper-energy and off-the-wall sonic experimentation cleverly disguised as a 230-page paperback. It’s a weaving, sometimes wobbling story told through Cohen’s often bloodshot or pinned eyes, with dry wit and self-deprecation. 

People who worked with the man and saw his excesses first-hand might question his ability to recall fine detail, but in the same manner that Tony would feverishly splice three-inch tape to insert a crucial edit, his co-writer John Olson stitched the bits together.

Not familiar with Tony Cohen’s work? The music he produced was the soundtrack of the life of anyone into Australian underground music in the 1980s and ‘90s. The Boys Next Door, the Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Michael Hutchence, The Johnnys, Beasts of Bourbon, Go-Betweens, Hunters and Collectors, Kim Salmon, Laughing Clowns, The Cruel Sea, The Saints, X, TISM…the list goes on. Flick through your own record collection and get back to me.

_{Colin Blum photo}

1. Craig McRae
I’ll get to music in a second, but I need to give kudos to the Human Fly, Craig McRae, for his amazing job as first year coach of Collingwood. From second last to one point off a grand final appearance. I don’t want to overhype him and I’m aware he’s only just started the role, but I think it’s safe to say McRae is on track to be Munster’s person of the decade.

2. TISM- The Croxton and Prince of Wales Bandroom
After nearly two decades of nothing, it was wonderful to see the return of the band that put Melbourne’s South East on the map. Two brilliant warm up shows (missed the third), I was amazed that after all these years, the band, now approaching retirement age, put on a no holds barred show that included crowd surfing and the full contact dancing that you only see at a TISMshow. The crowd was mixed of people that came back to relive the glory days, and plenty of young people seeing TISM for the first time. The songs are still brilliant, and hearing two new Ron Hitler Barassi diatribes proved that TISM are just as relevant now as they were in there 90s heyday. And these secret shows were a godsend, meaning I could keep well far from that odd festival they were on at.

 Ten musical things I dug in 2024.

• The Hard-Ons got to celebrate 40 years of ravaging the stage. Still as high-energy and still as true-to-form, brutally honest as ever. And a brand new doco to boot. Go see it. It’s great. Oh, and next year marks 40 years since the release of their debut EP, “Surfin’ On My Face” (ED: On Mark’s label Vi-Nil Records). Just sayin’!

• Middle Kids released an album that was completely hitsville from go to woah. Their previous releases all had a couple of great standout tracks, but “Faith Crisis Part 1” is their ultimate opus. Infectious indie pop that sits on the edge of mainstream and subsequently shits all over half of the commercial shit that has been released this year. 

• Elestial are a band that hails from Newcastle in Australia, and their nicely structured dream-pop is a beautiful shot of razored honey.  I was lucky enough to have them do a chunk of the INDIE SOUNDS launch tour throughout July, and they nailed every show. A nicer bunch you couldn’t meet. 

• Chamberlane are an indie pop punk band out of the Sunshine Coast. They jumped onto a last minute slot on the INDIE SOUNDS tour to help us out, and despite being hungover to the max from a festival the day before, they kicked the shit out of it. They’ve just finished a bit of an east coast tour and I was lucky to have them on board as part of the recent Vi-Nil Records showcase at The Recky Pacific Palms. Fun at a furious rate!