CBS - Biography

Biography - CBS

Australia

This company had no direct presence in Australia until 1960. As a result, its product was usually released by companies that were based locally. CBS recordings were distributed by EMI until March 1956, when the latter bought Capitol Records, then one of the USA's strongest labels. As a result, the Australian Record Company (ARC), which formerly distributed Capitol, began handling CBS' catalogue that month. ARC itself became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS in 1960; it continued to trade under the former name until 1977. The timing of the launch of CBS Australia coincided with the winding-down of CBS Coronet, whose story will be documented on its listing.

CBS immediately hired a new A&R director, Sven Libaek, who also became the CBS Australia house producer and developed its strong roster of pop, jazz and folk artists. One of his first signings on the local scale were the Atlantics. The Sydney-based group had a giant hit in 1963 with "Bombora". It launched the label in the Australian record-buying public and became a classic in the genre of "surf music."

Successful 1960s artists on CBS' Australian roster included Gary Shearston, who had a Top 10 hit in Australia with "Sydney Town" in the mid-1960s, The Groop, Lynne Randell, The Jackson Kings (Melbourne band that featured Brian Cadd and Ronnie Charles, two future members of the Groop), Vyt and the World, the D Men, the Jet Set, Python Lee Jackson, the Kinetics, Johnny Byron, the Delltones, Johnny Devlin, John Rowles, the Wesley 3, and the Idlers 5. CBS-ARC also issued independent recordings, the most collectible LP of these being the one by a Sydney underground band calling themselves Tamam Shud, whose Evolution was the soundtrack to the film of that name. After a few hours spent on independent sessions for this LP, the masters were leased by the group and the film's director, Paul Witzig, to CBS. It and the single "Lady Sunshine" rack up collector's prices today.

In approx. 1970, Sven Libaek left this version of the label, and, as a result of the 1970 Radio Ban, it was not allowed to make a local recording for the next five years. The last Australian-made recording issued on CBS was "10,000 Children" by the Mixtures, issued in March, just before the Ban was imposed. CBS focused on its huge American and British rosters of artists during this time.

In 1975, CBS Australia was revived with a string of singles released by Rabbit, a hard-rock group fronted by ex-AC/DC lead singer Dave Evans, and by issuing a few of Jim Keays' singles. Keays was the former lead singer of Masters Apprentice. CBS re-built its Australian roster under the direction of Peter Dawkins, who formerly headed EMI. It critically and commercially succeeded with artists like Ariel, Mi-Sex, Dragon, and Ross Ryan. It changed its corporate name from Australian Record Company to CBS Records Australia, Ltd. in 1977. It had further success in the '80s, with the multinational LP hits 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and Red Sails In The Sunset by Midnight Oil, and Business As Usual by Men At Work, all recorded by CBS in Australia.

The CBS Records group was globally overtaken by Sony in 1988; Sony changed the name to Sony Music Australia, Ltd. in 1991.

« Discography

Edit This Biography : Biography Credits