BOOK REVIEW: FRIDAY ON MY MIND by Jeff Apter

Shane | 10 February 2021 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: FRIDAY ON MY MIND by Jeff Apter

Allen & Unwin
August 2020
Paperback, $29.99
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

Biography
90%

Oz rock biographer Jeff Apter takes a deep dive into the life of George Young, who might arguably be the most influential and pivotal Australian music industry figure of the twentieth century.

Not only was Young a founding member and – alongside long-time partner in crime and music Harry Vanda – main songwriter of The Easybeats, perhaps the first Aussie band to play on the world stage legitimately, but he (and Vanda) went on to become producers, writers and hitmakers to an extraordinary array of acts through the sixties, seventies and eighties.

In fact, so close what Young’s association – both personal and professional – with the Dutch-born Vanda, that it’s surprising this bio doesn’t tackle them both in equal measures. The difference, of course, is that Young – born in Scotland – was also elder brother and mentor-in-chief to Malcolm and Angus Young, the lynchpins of AC/DC.

Working at Alberts Studios after The Easybeats dissolved, from AC/DC to The Angels, Rose Tattoo, Choirboys, John Paul Young, William Shakespeare, Cheetah, Stevie Wright’s solo albums and their own outfit, the ground-breaking genre-defying Flash And The Pan, Young and Vanda created the “Alberts Sound” and scored countless hits for the acts they worked with. It’s fair to say that their contributions to the sonic landscape are – although very different – on a par with the influence of Phil Spector’s “Wall Of Sound” production techniques.

Apter’s reading of Young’s story focusses mostly on the professional life, with scant personal details. Hardly surprising: the Young clan have always been fiercely private. Apter navigates around this silence with respect, intelligence and damn fine research – all the trademarks he is renowned for.

Friday On My Mind shares Apter’s affinity for his subject, a man who preferred to work behind the scenes rather than take all the glory, but for whom glory is appropriate. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that without George Young (and Harry Vanda) Australian music post-1965 would look and sound very, very different, and probably far less vibrant.