Freak Out: How a Musical Revolution Rocked the World in the Sixties

Description

Freak Out is Australia's coming-of-age story, how we as a nation responded to the global events that filled our daily news coverage, and how the music of the era was anthemic to that process. The gun was fired on a period of unprecedented innovation and creativity in pop and rock music, the likes of which have never been repeated. Music spoke to young people in their own bespoke language, urging them to view themselves as decidedly separate from mainstream society - even suggesting they might 'drop out' altogether. For a brief time, millions of young people across western culture believed they could successfully reinvent society. Liberation for pacifists, women, people of colour, homosexuals, students and the oppressed seemed just a short revolution away. There was no room for complacency or apathy in the face of the Vietnam War, Cold War, and dual threats of nuclear and environmental annihilation. Australians were spared the fear of bomb blasts, assassinations and kidnappings. Yet the ructions abroad invaded our national psyche, and the music that was generated in that milieu infiltrated Australian culture and transformed society forever. 'I just finished Freak Out. I literally couldn't put it down. The combination of the strong memories it evoked and the new knowledge it delivered was irresistible. Right to the end Spotify allowed me to experience big gaps in my knowledge. King Crimson? I'd never heard of them but Wow! Over and above the superb research your moral concerns made this more than just a knowledge book. Your sympathy for bands that really cared about the horrors of Vietnam and attacked the brutal and stupid western Governments that prosecuted it was evident, as it was for bands that tackled injustice and racism and inequality. A lament in some ways for the time when the common good seemed important.' - David Williamson

Tony Wellington has worked in a broad range of creative arts fields and even dabbled in politics as the Mayor of Noosa Shire. Tony is the author of Happy?: Exposing the Cultural Myths about Happiness, plus a history book, Noosa and Cooloola, and is co-author (with John Shand) of Don't Shoot the Best Boy! The Film Crew at Work. He has also produced several photographic books, the most recent being Wild About Noosa. Over the years, Tony has provided articles, op eds and photographs for many newspapers, magazines and books. Tony graduated from Macquarie University in 1976 majoring in Media and Communications, receiving a university prize for his media studies. For many years he worked on a freelance basis in the feature film and television industry as a scriptwriter, first assistant director, editor and director. He also lectured in media studies and film craft. He has had exhibitions of his quirky, super-realist paintings around Australia, and provided illustrations for book jackets and other publications. Whilst living in Sydney, Tony ran folk clubs, hosted a radio show, wrote for music magazines and recorded and released his own music. He has three grown children and lives in the Noosa hinterland with his wife.