Full Coverage: A History of Rock Journalism in Australia

by Samuel J. Fell

For over fifty years, Australia has maintained its own rock press – a vibrant, passionate, sometimes volatile industry of dozens of papers and magazines committed to the coverage of the country’s robust music scene. From the glossy and glamorous to the punk and pernicious, these publications were the medium that brought Australian music culture to international attention and launched the careers of countless musicians, as well as writers, editors, publishers and photographers. Go-Set started it all; the Australian Rolling Stone, RAM and Juke defined their eras; music newspapers such as Beat and Inpress brought indie music to the streets; and sites like Mess+Noise, Tone Deaf and Junkee harnessed the digital age. Drawing on comprehensive research and scores of interviews with key figures including Molly Meldrum, Lily Brett and Phillip Frazer, journalist Samuel J. Fell captures the vibrancy of music journalism in Australia with colourful anecdotes and rollicking stories. Full Coverage is the tale of how the Australian rock press was born, grew and evolved to become an integral part of Australian culture.

Genres: Music

352 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2023

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally someone has documented the history of Australia’s music journalism! Samuel is a great writer and has an obvious passion for the subject. I actually interviewed him a few years ago while researching the street presses myself when he was in the middle of finishing his book. I’m glad to finally get to read it.

While I enjoyed reading the history, this is more a history of music magazines than “rock journalism”. Things start with Go-Set in 1966, but music journalism had existed prior in newspaper sections like Downbeat in the 60s. There was also an Australian section of US based industry magazine Cash Box reporting on the Aus scene, among other avenues. Although these are minor omissions (and the book makes clear it’s not aiming to look at newspapers and instead just cover the Australian music press), it would have been interesting to hear about how Australian music was being reported by Australians writers in international publications.

The book is set out in three sections, covering years 1966-75, 75-93, and 80-2023. The first covers Go-Set and some other early music magazines, the second Juke, RAM, Australian Rolling Stone, and Juice. Finally, the street press and online are covered (although online is skipped over a bit in my opinion, and the loss of Mess + Noise’s archive thanks to Junkee Media deserves more criticism).

Things aren’t exactly linear though, which is fair enough due to all the overlapping timelines of magazines starting and shutting and merging, but at times it felt like I was reading about Juke and RAM closing for the nth time, and I wondered if something more linear might have helped.

For people who grew up reading these magazines or street press, it’s fascinating to go behind the scenes and hear how some of these publications were put together, and the repeated turmoil in staying afloat. So many industry people are interviewed, and there’s fantastic insight into their work alongside a detailed history of an important part of Australia’s culture and history.

I’d recommend this for anyone with an interest in music journalism, publishing, or the music industry in general.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

History of some print music media in Oz - all of the interview subjects throw shade at each other throughout.

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a long time in the 90s and 2000s (Sydney) Street Press was my guidebook to the weekend. Who would I go see and where ! Sometimes my weekend started in a Wednesday - So much music so little time!

This book gave me insight into what came before, the people who made that happen and the changes over the years including those bought about by social media.

Loved it
Nostalgic and Informative !