Timeline of trends in Australian music

Aboriginal music continued to be created and performed during this period.. There is evidence that Aboriginal music may have been influenced by contact with seafaring nations before European settlement.^[1]

Some Aboriginal music was documented by scientists and explorers like Lesesur and Freycinet.^[2] Surveyor Philip Chauncy transcribed examples of Aboriginal song possibly influenced by a generation of European settlement.^[3]

Rosendo Salvado and Isaac Nathan published music with Aboriginal titles which resembles their culture of origin, consequently transcriptions are regarded as 'filtered' by ear and notation.

The majority of populations in colonial settlements were born abroad or in transit. Consequently the music was mostly imported. Australians were initially in awe of European music training. It was not long before music was being written and composed by residents of the colonies. A generation after settlement, there were printing presses and pipe organs being installed. but British habits of publishing in London and printing in Leipzig were followed. We do well to remember that the recently united kingdom of Britain was allied and intermarried across Europe, especially Prussia. German composers like Hugo Alpen, Raimund Pechotsch, Karl Linger, Julius Herz, Augustus Juncker found welcome.

Staples of colonial composition included Waltz, Quadrille, Polka, Galop, Gavotte. British culture at the time favoured minimalist salon music, and this is reflected in Australian fondness for piano accompanied vocal Ballads.

The year 1900 deserves a special mention for several reasons. The silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria, celebrating the safe return of South Africa to the empire and Australian troops from the Boer war. Most importantly Edmund Barton, supported by crown representative Lord Brassey, formed the federation of the colonies into a single nation. Until this time, New South wales housed the colonial censorship office and all published material carried the mark 'Entered at Stationers Hall'. The Commonwealth of Australia formed a single archive.

The newly formed states no longer imposed tax on each other. Unfortunately, once independent the nation was no longer sovereign British territory for copyright purposes. This became important as Australia reached populations attractive as a return leg of performing arts on [English speaking] 'world' tours. Entrepreneurs began operating regular chains of theatres and performances. The Fuller Brothers represented UK companies. American J.C.Williamson managed USA contracts. Others like Rickards, Musgrove, Nicholson etc blended these with their own material.

Australia followed a worldwide trend for serious art music to separate away from more affordable and accessible forms of entertainment. Variety theatre or 'Tivoli' became a Household Australian term, equivalent to British Vaudeville Music-Hall and American Broadway musical. This was an expansive period, a golden age of live entertainment which came under threat from changes in technology - radio, phonograph and talkies all caused a drastic fall in demand in domestic music production by the end of the decade.

During this period the ubiquitous waltz began losing its primacy as the leading rhythm in dance halls The fox-trot, barn dance, tango, mazurka were found.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Still strongly reflecting American culture, in 1962 Australia experienced the Twist fad, soon followed by the Stomp fad (reflecting surf culture, which came to Australia through the Americans a few years before). In 1964, one of the biggest bands of this genre, the Beach Boys toured Australia. Other American acts also toured - rock and roll was still quite popular there - but very few American acts were just as successful.

More and more Australians were buying television sets, which gave the four television networks - Seven, Nine, Ten and ABC - an opportunity to air its own music show. In music shows of the 1950s and 1960s, every single song on the show was performed live in a small studio in front of an audience of 300 at the most, and they were nearly always teenagers.

Rick Springfield's success began in 1962 and peaked in 1981 to 1983.

The British invasion, which started with The Beatles, swept through Australia with many British acts being considered alternatives to the American ones. When the Beatles toured Australia in 1964, there were fans running to meet them everywhere. They performed to sell-out crowds in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The Rolling Stones also toured Australia in 1965, again to sellout crowds. But American singers still came to Australia for tours - Bob Dylan in 1966. The mid-1960s saw the 'mod' fad, which had been popular in Britain, come and go.

Most of the Australian acts of the 1960s were influenced by the British acts, which were more common and thus more exposable, than the American acts and so most of the Australian songs of the decade were recorded in British styles of music. However, there were some Australians who were willing to stay Americanized and record surf rock, or rock and roll songs (although for the latter genre, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles would have been bigger influences than the US acts of the 1950s).

Because of its small population at the time, not every Australian singer could be signed to an Australian label the traditional way (via a demo). So to pursue their dreams of becoming music stars, they had to enter talent shows. The winner of each talent show would get the chance to travel to Los Angeles, New York or London and be signed to a major British or American recording label. Olivia Newton-John and Helen Reddy were two of these singers, with Newton-John moving to London and performing songs with fellow Australian singer Pat Carroll. The Bee Gees, influenced by the big bands of the 1940s and 1950s also had to go on a talent show before they could start their recording careers. They became extremely successful in this style of music.

A cover of The Coasters' "Poison Ivy" (also covered by the Rolling Stones) gave Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, a surf rock band, their first #1 hit, keeping even the Beatles at bay. (Creswell & Fabinyi, 1999) 1964 also saw Jimmy Little have a hit with "Royal Telephone" - he was the first indigenous Australian to do so. (Creswell & Fabinyi, 1999)

The Seekers had two Hot 100 top 5 hits, the #4 hit "I'll Never Find Another You" in May 1965 and the #2 hit "Georgy Girl" in February 1967, plus several smaller hits.

In 1966, Australia's prestigious (but quite Anglicized) annual rock band competition, Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds began, and this ran until 1972.

By 1966, the Loved Ones (through "The Loved One") and the Easybeats (through "Friday on my Mind")had both seen success. Johnny Young was host of Young Talent Time and the Seekers became the first Australian band to sell over a million records internationally. (Creswell & Fabinyi, 1999) Their best known songs were "Georgy Girl" and "The Carnival is Over". The last three mentioned bands all list British bands as their influences (to some extent).

Pop paper Go-Set was also launched this year (1966), hosting their own televised pop awards (the Pop Poll).