Becoming Yesterday: Changes in Music, the Music Industry and Musicians' Careers in 1960s Melbourne

Abstract

The 1960s was a time of considerable musical change that largely established the shape of the Australian popular music industry until the beginning of the digital era. This article explores seismic shifts in Melbourne's music scene that resulted equally from changes in the local industry and musical developments occurring overseas, and the extent to which careers could be built beyond the brief cycle of commercial success, with extensive interviews documenting the varying fortunes of Melbourne and Melbourne-based musicians of the period. Performers' ability to cross over between commercial genres and fringe styles including country, jazz and folk, and the shifting commercial fortunes of these movements towards the end of the decade, are also discussed.