Industry [M-R]
Venues, Businesses, Community Groups and Industry Opportunities
All entries are for the Armidale district unless otherwise noted.
MADGWICK HALL, UNE
(1965 – )
Madgwick Hall was built in 1965, well before the Union Courtyard complex (behind which it is now situated) and subsequently catered for most student entertainment activities. It had become necessary to build the hall as the university by 1958 had grown to more than 500 internal and 800 external students. The hall later served as an alternative to the Arts Theatre during the late 1960s and early to mid-1970s and for more than three decades was used as an examination hall. Although musical performances have continued to be held there (more often classical or acoustic music), it was largely superseded in 1973 by the much larger Great Hall (now Lazenby Hall) and later by the UNE Bistro.
One of the best known Australian performers to play Madqwick Hall during the 1970s was Ross Ryan (best known for his hit “I am Pagasus”). Ryan’s support act was the Boorolong Bush Band (10 June 1978). Ryan returned to the University two years later and played the same venue (30 April 1980). Jeannie Lewis (left) is also believed to have played Madgwick Hall on at least two occasions – the first in 1974 with Margaret Roadknight (ca. Apr/May) and again in 1976 with Ward and Johnson (21 Mar.) Other performers known to have play the venue include melbourne-based progressive/fusion outfit McKenzie Theory (25 Ap. 1974); US singer/songwriter Jesse Winchester (22 Sept. 1975); and classical guitarist/folk performer Claude Akire (14 Aug. 1976).
Madgwick Hall was also used on occasions for university entertainments and events. In 1973, for example, the Socialist Action Movement (S.A.M.) organised the People’s Incredible Folk Rock Concert. Featuring an array of local groups and musicians the concert was held on 12 October. Key organisers of the event were Adrian Shackley and Rod Noble.
Source: Jenny Crew, “UNE Union.” Afterthoughts 7.2. Oct. (1999), p. 6. Images: Jeannie Lewis/Ward and Johnson, Neucleus 17 Mar. (1976), p. 17 • People’s Folk Rock Concert, Neucleus 9 October (1973), p. 12 • Ross Ryan advertisement, Neucleus 31 May (1978), p. 8.
NEUCLEUS
(1947-2006)
Neucleus was a student newspaper produced by University of New England Students’ Association. It had begun in 1947 with the subtitle, ’Journal of the students of New England University College Armidale.’ From 1953 it became the University of New England’s flagship student newspaper. Over the years it typically comprised articles relevant to student life and politics on the campus, along with both national and internation issues of contemporary concern. Neucleus regularly featured poetry, short stories, cartoons etc from students as well as music, theatre and other reviews. From 1979 onwards Neucleus also featured a yearly literary supplement called Kangaroo.
Reviews and interviews relating to touring bands included an interview by UNE Cultural Activities Coordinator Rod Gillet with Jo Camerileri from Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons (15 Mar. 1978). Necleus also sometimes featured photo spreads of Union Coutyard concerts – including, for example, Matt Taylor, Sidewinder, Stiletto (1978) and and the Whittle Family Singers (1979).
While Neucleus was not a strong supporter of local bands and performers it did feature semi-regular to regular gig listings – depending on the editoral committee in any particular year(s). The late 1970s (under editor Stephen Broadbent), for example, saw this increased while editors Robert Lovas and Tony Johnson in the early 1980s reduced the number articles and advertisements relating to the Armidale music industry. One local band to be given coverage was punk band The Inmates in 1978. A two page spread comprising an interview and photographs by David Povey was published in the 27 October 1978 issue.
Source: Neucleus (1977-1980). Image: 2005 Neucleus cover courtesy of the University of New England Students’ Association.
NEW ENGLAND HOTEL
aka The Newie
(1857- )
Established in1857, the New England Hotel has been one of Armidale’s most popular pubs for much of that time. Although centrally situated at the western end of the city’s Mall, the pub nevertheless had a long tradition as working class establishment. One of the ‘Newie’s’ great claims to fame is its association with Peter Allen in the mid-late 1950s. The then eleven-year old (known by his birth name Peter Woolnough) began entertaining customers in the hotel’s Ladies Lounge with his piano-playing, singing and dancing. Allen later went on to become an internationally-acclaimed entertainer and hit songwriter.
Between late 1977 and early 1978 the hotel was extensively redeveloped by its new owners the Wilson brothers. The new look included a large bistro (where patrons could cook their own steaks in return for a free glass of beer or wine), walls filled with historical artifacts from the region and an upstairs entertainment venue. The ’Newie’ also successfully competed with the Railway Hotel for the university market to eventually claim the mantle of the most popular student pub. While both establishments went head to head with regular advertisements in the UNE student magazine Neucleus, the new-look ’Newie’ had an environment that was much more attractive and comfortable for the female students (and the boys naturally followed).
3D at the Newie (1983)
The hotel’s entertainment policy initially focused on an upstairs disco on Friday and Saturday nights (as an alternative to the Imperial Hotel’s live band policy), with regular ‘unplugged’ acts downstairs during the week. By the mid-1980s, with the disco phenomenon having subsided, the management began booking live bands - including nationally touring acts like The Radiators.
Source: Clay Djubal (2009) • Neucleus (1977-1980). Images: Top photo courtesy of Flikr (online)† • Advertisement from Neucleus 13 Sept. 1978, p. 23 • 3D photo from Picasaweb (online)† • Black and white photo from Neucleus 15 Mar. (1978), p. 22† .
PUDDLEDOCK HALL
The Puddledock Hall, situated on Puddledock Road some 17 kilometres from the Armidale town centre (and 10 kilometres from the New England Highway at Tilbuster) was a popular venue for local bands and community organisations during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although acoustically poor and lcoated well outside the Armidale city limits, the hall’s low hire cost and capacity for high volume entertainment saw it utilised for numerous fund-raising events. Almost always BYO events, patrons were also invariably asked to bring a plate of food. The hall also served as a useful out of town ’try-out venue’ for new bands and parties. Some of the community groups to hire the hall and book local bands as the entertainment included the New England Unemployed Workers’ Union, the Women’s Refuge (aka Women’s Shelter) and S.A.M. Band’s known to have played at the hall include Crash Landing and Shoot the DJ.
29 May 1982 (U.W.U. and Women's Refuge)
Organisations and bands from outside the Puddledock community were banned from using the hall in early 1983 following an attempt by several drunk patrons to set fire to it during the latter stages of an Unemployed Workers’ Union gig (headlined by Shoot the DJ). Although the organisers put out the fire before it could do much damage and later paid for the repairs, the small Puddledock community had had enough of Armidale’s drunken louts and ‘druggies,’ and subseqently limited its use to locals only. The use of these ‘out-of-town’ halls was by then, however, becoming less attractive to organisers, bands and patrons due to the introduction of Random Breath Testing in New South Wales in December the previous year.
Source: Clay Djubal (2009).
RADIO UNE
aka RUNE, 2UNE FM and Tune! FM
(1970 – )
Set up in 1970, Radio UNE (or RUNE as it later became known) was the first radio station to operate on an Australian university campus. With only the conservative commercial station 2AD available at that time, students had to hope for good conditions at night to pick up the alternative station 2JJ (later Triple J). RUNE’s inception dates back to 1968 when a group of five students called the UNE Radio Committee presented a prerecorded, half hour radio show each week on Armidale’s local commercial station, 2AD. With the support of Professor Neville Fletcher of the UNE Physics Department approached the then Postmaster-General’s Department and presented the idea of establishing a service similar to the university campuses in the United States. In January 1969 the Postmaster-General agreed to license a ‘closed-loop’ system with micro-transmitters located in each of the eight residential colleges on campus, as well as the academic precint and the Claude Street flats (situated adjacent to Duval College) .
After overcoming technical and operational hurdles, Radio UNE began test transmissions on 1630 kHz on the AM band in March 1970. The station was officially opened at 7pm on 27 April that year, with a pre-recorded message from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Zelman Cowen who oversaw the license application. Richard “Swinging Dick” Mutton, Station Manager, introduced the first music track, Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talking. The station initially only broadcast during the university year. In mid-1978 RUNE and community station 2ARM FM joined forces for a period of time to broadcast all night on Fridays and Saturdays.
2UNE Logo (ca. 1986)
Interference problems and frustration with the low powered transmission system led the station to experiment, sometimes illegally, with alternative transmission methods. At times the station could be heard as far away as Uralla and Guyra. Ultimately the station was granted a licence on the FM band in 1986 and began transmission 0n 106.9 as 2UNE-FM and later as TUNE! FM.
While very few local bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s were able to provide their own original recordings for the station it nevertheless proved itself as a valuable resource by providing free advertising for gigs. As an alternative to 2AD, and even 2ARM FM, the station provided access to a wide variety of music styles that students would otherwise not have had the chance to play or hear. RUNE and 2ARM FM were, however, closely aligned for a number of years following the establishment of the community radio station in 1976. This association dates back to the original broadcasting license for 2ARM FM, which had been granted to Radio UNE Co-Operative Ltd (see 2 ARM FM entry for further details).
Sources: Phil Carrick. ‘Radio’s Future: SRC Tuned Out.” Neucleus 8 Aug. (1979), pp. 1, 3. • “RUNE.” Neucleus 8 June (1977), p. 12. • Alan Williams. ”FM Extended.” Neucleus 14 June (1978), p4. Images: Black and white advertisement, Neucleus 23 July (1970), p. 8 • Logo image courtesy of the University of New England Students’ Association.
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