Bruno Benini

As the sweetheart-darlings among you would undoubtedly know, it’s the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival this week. To be honest, I don’t consider that great cause for excitement, given the banality of most Aussie fashion these days, but it’s a mighty convenient excuse for today’s post.

After all, if today’s fashion looked anything like this, I’d be fighting my way to the front row by any means possible...

Behold, the genius eye of fashion photographer Bruno Benini (1925-2001)!

Too cool for words. Model Jan Stewart wearing Simona mini-dress for Sportsgirl, 1966. 
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

These boots were made for posin'. Unknown model in a Sharene Creations number, 1963.
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

Born in a medieval Italian town, Bruno Benini migrated to Melbourne with his family in 1935. After studying science at Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT) and working briefly at the Holden plant in Fisherman’s Bend, he returned to Italy by way of London in the late 1940s. It was during this trip he decided he wanted to be a fashion photographer.

Ahoy! Vida Elekna, Lynn Richmond, Terry Taylor and Gay Vardis at Station Pier, 1962.
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

His first studio, established in the mid-50s, was in Cotham Road, Kew. While he was honing his skills, he worked as a male model, learning the finer points of lighting and fashion photography in the process.

Gillian Dickson in grey flannel Sportsgirl suit with four cut outs of model Eric Hoek, 1965
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

After Kew, he moved his studio to several locations around the city before settling in McKillop Street. This is where he was based during the 1960s, sharing the space with his wife Hazel, a fashion display artist/stylist and his regular collaborator.

Talk about a dynamic duo: Bruno and Hazel singlehandedly cranked up the fabulosity factor of Melbourne’s fashion scene for many years!

Jan Stewart glamming it up in Stephen Glass evening gown, at the Lido nightclub (Russell St), 1968
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

Benini’s photos were primarily black and white, and appeared in publications across the country. He photographed all the top models of the time, from the divine Jan Stewart (girl crush alert!) and Maggie Taberer to Janice Wakeley and Maggi Eckhardt, capturing them in beautiful portraits that simultaneously stand the test of time and encapsulate their time.

Marg Hanna in heart-stoppingly groovy Norma Tullo ensemble, 1969
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

Benini’s photos are so much more than mere fashion snaps. They’re works of art, drop-dead gorgeous and super-creative, with a fun-loving streak a mile wide running through them. I love that they often feature recognisable Melbourne locations in them, yet there’s absolutely nothing provincial about them — they are universally swoonworthy.

Where oh where can I find a frock like this? Anne Hamilton in Simona dress for Sportsgirl, Black Rock, 1966. 
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Bruno Benini archive collection

Check out the Powerhouse Museum’s inspiring Bruno Benini photography archive for more photos of his work, spanning the 50s to the 80s.

Related post:
Groovy Prue

Melbourne song of the month: 'The Real Thing'/Russell Morris (March 1969)

It’s been honoured on a postage stamp, and covered by artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue (!), Midnight Oil and Ollie Olsen. It was in the soundtrack of the movie The Dish, and has featured in countless TV commercials: most recently, for the Subaru Forester (ugh). It’s “The Real Thing” by Russell Morris, and it was unleashed onto unsuspecting Australian listeners 45 years ago this month.

The stamp! Wish I had one of these...

The history behind this iconic track is fascinating. Written by Johnny Young, it was originally earmarked for pop singer Ronnie Burns, but legend has it that Molly Meldrum decided it was perfect for his then-protégé Morris, and cajoled Young into recording a rough demo of it for him.

Russell Morris. Photo: National Film and Sound Archive

In an interview on ABC Radio’s Into the Music program in December last year, Russell Morris explained how he first came to hear the song.

Planning to leave his band Somebody’s Image and launch a solo career, he went to see Johnny Young for advice on how to strike out on his own. Young was more patronising than helpful, but shortly afterwards the two men crossed paths again on a TV show where Russell was miming to one of his band’s hits. Seeing how wild the live studio audience went for the spunky teenage singer, Young was waiting for him when he returned to his dressing room, insisting that Morris listen to some of his songs.

Of the three songs he heard, Russell quite liked one, but asked if Young had anything else, as he didn't want to be lumped in with other pop stars of the day such as Johnny Farnham, Ronnie Burns and Normie Rowe. All Young could offer was a song he’d written ‘as a joke’…

“Ian had come in at that stage, Ian Meldrum, and Michael Barnett, who was managing me as well. And we heard it and all of us looked at each other and went, That’s the song and he [Young] went, What? You’re crazy! A solo artist couldn’t do this song. And we said, That’s the one we want. The way he played it is vastly different to what Ian Meldrum envisaged and achieved.”

Molly and Russell in more recent times. Photo: news.com.au

In the same interview, Morris reveals that Young’s rendition was actually a bit too close for comfort to Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” so Molly’s reimagining of the track probably prevented some nasty legal wrangling.

“Ian changed it and said, Right, we’re going to do it like ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ meets ‘I Am the Walrus.’ John was banned from the studio for that reason.”

In the studio

Produced in Armstrong’s studio in South Melbourne over several months, the song involved a cast of thousands. Members of The Groop formed the main backing band; John Farrar (lead guitarist of The Strangers) did the arrangement; and a session singer called Maureen Elkner sang backing vox. Then there was that haunting acoustic guitar part, apparently one of the last pieces of the puzzle to be added…

Says Molly (in the same interview):

“I wanted acoustic because I was a Cat Stevens fan. The opening with the acoustic guitar is a guy who used to be in The Zoot … Roger Hicks, who was a great guitarist. So it’s his intro and the rest, with Hitler and the bombs, is my part.”

And let's face it, without Hitler and the bombs, "The Real Thing" wouldn't be "The Real Thing"! After a deceptively beautiful start showcasing Hicks’s sweet guitar and Morris’s even sweeter voice, the song gains ever-more layers and trippy effects to reach a manic, mind-bending finale featuring Molly imitating Winston Churchill, Brian Cadd of The Groop reading instructions from the side of a tape box, the Hitler Youth choir, Hitler himself, atomic bombs exploding, and enough phasing to bring on spontaneous hallucinations. According to Molly:

“Because of the Small Faces with ‘Itchycoo Park’, I loved phasing, and so … we [worked] out a way we could do the phasing … connecting two studios and putting lines across. I wanted it to be world-class [with] some … of the different effects that had influenced me. So you’ve got the Donovan thing, and the Cat Stevens, you’ve got part of the psychedelia of the Beatles with the Magical Mystery Tour…”

But before any record label executives could hear the final product, Molly started freaking out about how they’d respond (after all, it was 6 minutes 20 seconds long, almost unthinkable for a single), grabbed the tapes from the studio and fled into the night. Russell Morris and recording engineer John Sayers eventually tracked him down in Albert Park.

Turns out Molly’s fears weren’t groundless: when the EMI/Columbia honchos heard the song, they were somewhat less than impressed. Without the label’s support promoting it, Morris and Meldrum saw no alternative than to hand-deliver their psychedelic epic to radio stations themselves. Their efforts paid off.

Top of the pops! The Go-Set Top 40, 31 May 1969

Not only was “The Real Thing” a number one hit in Australia, but it made the top of the charts in Chicago and New York. In 2001, it was voted fourteenth in APRA’s Top 30 Australian songs.

All together now: There’s a meaning there but the meaning there doesn’t really mean a thing….

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What would you give Molly for his birthday?

The golden Holden

One of my colleagues has a saying: “to whine like an EH diff.” As in “She whined like an EH diff when I told her she couldn’t play Justin Bieber in my house” or “He whines like an EH diff every time I ask him to do the dishes”. To be honest, I know bugger-all about differentials in general, much less whether EH diffs are especially noisy, but the expression is kinda cute — and leads me neatly into this post’s subject.

You got it in one: the EH Holden.

Image: www.holden.org.au

I may be a proud Morris owner, but that doesn’t mean I’m immune to the charms of a sexy old Holden. And with the impending closure of its Australian manufacturing operations, we need to take every opportunity we can to celebrate the Holden legacy. Ever since the first 48-125 (or FX) rolled off the production line at Fisherman’s Bend in 1948, it’s been part of the Australian motoring landscape.

Image: Aussie Automobilia

First released in August 1963, the EH went on to become Australia’s fastest-selling car ever, with more than 250,000 sold in just 18 months of production. Part of its appeal was its powerful ‘red engine’, a step up from the grey engine used in its predecessors. The red engine was super-reliable and high performing, which probably explains why there are still plenty of EHs on the roads today, 50-plus years later.

Image: www.holden.org.au

The EH was spacious, powerful enough to tow a caravan (a pursuit that was becoming more popular in the 1960s), and amazing value for money, providing more bang for its buck than any other comparable model on the market. ₤1051 a pop! Who's going to argue with that?

But let’s face it, a huge part of the EH’s appeal was — and remains — its sleek, stylin’ looks.

Image: NAA

From the Standard, Special, Premier and S4 Special (a very limited edition racing variation) sedans, to the Standard, Special and Premier station wagons, plus the panel van and ute versions, the EH is a bonafide eye-popper with its neat lines, long rear and squared rear guards.

An EH ute. Image: signag

 

GM Holden's Dandenong manufacturing plant, 1963. Image: Wolfgang Sievers

These days, driving through the streets of Melbourne, it's all-too easy to imagine there's some kind of sick SUV breeding program being carried out in secret, with the hideous offspring being covertly released onto our roads when we're not looking. 

Hard to believe that, 50 years ago, a scene such as the one below wasn't entirely inconceivable...

Image: www.holden.org.au

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Then and now: Tram Town!

The Go!! Show: they don't make 'em like that anymore...

“Welcome to Australia’s swinging-est teenage show… GO!!”

Bandstand? Bah. The cool kids watched Go!!
Between August 1964 and August 1967, music-mad teenagers from Melbourne (and, eventually, other states) tuned into channel 0 three times a week for their fix of the hippest, most happening sounds around.

A hit from the, ahem, get-go, and modelled on overseas pop shows such as Ready Steady Go! and Shindig, The Go!! Show regularly attracted an audience of 400,000 viewers — an impressive achievement for such a new TV channel (Go!! premiered the same month that ATV-0, which would ultimately evolve into Channel 10, started broadcasting).

The program’s live studio audience shared its viewers’ enthusiasm, as the screams in this clip attest…

 

A dream line-up

Now brace yourselves, and get a load of some of the artists who performed on Go!! during its short but illustrious existence: The Purple Hearts, The Groop, Normie Rowe, The Masters Apprentices, The Easybeats, The Cherokees, Mike Furber, The Twilights, Billy Thorpe, The Flies, The Loved Ones, Bobbie & Laurie, Dinah Lee, Olivia Newton John, Lynne Randell, The Running Jumping Standing Still — to name just a few. Pretty mind-boggling, eh? Oh, and let’s not forget the illustrious house band, The Strangers, who were sponsored by Melbourne’s own Maton Guitars. 

Cast of season 1, including young singer April Byron, who went on to collaborate with the Bee Gees. 
Photo: Amyhausen

Sadly, very little footage remains, except for some Youtube clips and a couple of DVDs available from America (go figure). Still, judging by the little I’ve seen, Go!! was beyond fab and thoroughly deserving of its iconic status in Australian TV history.

Check out this priceless video of Merv Benton, complete with silhouetted go-go dancers as his groovadelic backdrop. I’d love to know the male dancer’s story — that boy is so far out, he deserves his own TV show!



Much-loved TV personality Ian Turpie, seen in the above clip counting down the Top 10, was one of three Go!! hosts over the years. Alan Field (left), a British comedian who came to Australia with The Beatles as their MC on their 1964 tour hosted the first 26 episodes; followed by Turps (centre); and finally pop-star Johnny Young (right).

  

I heard a rumour once that Johnny Young was a real wild child behind the scenes, but you’d never guess it from the shy, bemused way he introduces Running, Jumping, Standing Still in the following clip. But then, I guess this bunch of bad boys would've made most folks seem shy in comparison!  



I think it's safe to say that many an unsuspecting teenage mind would've been blown by that particular performance...(of course, if anyone out there saw it back in the day, please feel free to share your memories in the comments!)

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Dreaming of Denise

Groovy Prue

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Crappy TV. Synthesizers. Kids in the Kitchen. Ugly cars. Pat Cash. The 1980s have a lot to answer for.

However, one of the main reasons for my enduring personal grudge against the era is the fashion. The ruffles and bubble skirts, the stonewash denim and permed hair, the puffy sleeves and shoulder pads, the satin, taffeta and technicoloured makeup — yucko. (And to think we’ve been living through an 80s revival the last few years! Seriously, wasn’t it bad enough the first time round?)

As a disgruntled teenager at the time, I considered Melbourne designer Prue Acton to be just another tasteless purveyor of mass hideocrity. Little did I know that she was once referred to as Australia’s own Mary Quant, and almost singlehandedly made Melbourne mod. Shame on me.

A one-woman youthquake

Groovy Prue, c. 1967 (Getty Images)

Prue Acton was among the first Aussie designers to really plug into the youth-centric vibe of the 1960s. Recognising that young women and teenage girls didn’t want to dress like their mothers, Acton (who was barely 20 when she opened her own business in 1963, with support from her parents) offered them a much-needed alternative.

As Prue herself put it, “It was about looking cute and very youthful, very young, not like Mum.” (George Negus Tonight, ABC TV, 2004)

You could even sew your own Prue designs, like this adorable scallop-hemmed mini-dress

Her designs were frisky, fun and fabulous — and before long, she was designing more than 350 garments a year and selling 1000 frocks a week across Australia and New Zealand.

1969 Courrèges-inspired, Star Trek-style mini-dress (Museum Victoria collection)

Her background in art and textiles served her well: she had a real eye for colour and the possibilities of different fabrics. 

This fabulous woollen coat sold for $78 in 1968 (Museum Victoria collection)

Not only were Prue’s designs embraced by a whole generation of swinging chicks, but her talent was soon recognised at an industry level, resulting in widespread acclaim and awards. In 1967, she became the first female Australian designer to show in NYC, and she did a roaring trade in department stores across the US.

Linen and knit mini-dress, 1969 (Museum Victoria collection)

Just like Mary Quant, Prue Acton wasn’t shy of a rising hemline. Following the sensation caused by British model Jean Shrimpton in 1965 when she turned up at Melbourne’s spring racing carnival wearing a mini-dress and no stockings (much less gloves or hat), the young designer happily obliged her customers’ desire to flash some leg: 

“All the kids who I was supplying, all the 18- to 20-year-olds, said, ‘That's what I wanna look like.’ And overnight, we were cutting the skirts. We were cutting two inches off, and the next week, another two and another two. By Christmas, we were up to something quite disgusting, just covering the bum.”

Ah, fun times! 

Check out Museum Victoria's comprehensive Prue Acton collection for more photos of her designs, spanning the 60s to the, ahem, 80s.

Related posts:
Bruno Benini

Then and now

Where once there was this…

Wolfgang Sievers: Elegant shopping at La Pastorale Frocks, 125 Collins Street, Melbourne, 1965 (National Library of Australia)

…and this…

Wolfgang Sievers: Pedestrians in Collins Street, 1964

There is now this…

Image: Grand Hyatt Hotel (http://melbourne.grand.hyatt.com/)

Was La Pastorale boutique one of Whelan the Wrecker’s innumerable demolition victims? I’ve been unable to find out. But the demolition company did become notorious in the 1960s for its role in the destruction of many Collins Street buildings, so it’s not inconceivable. 

To be honest, I have nothing against the Grand Hyatt (well, besides the fact that it's far beyond my budget), and it certainly lives up to expectations of what a five-star hotel at the Paris end of Collins Street should be … but it’s not exactly La Pastorale, is it? Not a crazy paving stone in sight, much less a hoity-toity shop mannequin.


A note about the photographer

You’ll be seeing a lot more of Wolfgang Sievers’ (AO) work on this blog. A German-born photographer who arrived in Australia aboard the P&O Cormoran in 1938, he settled in Melbourne, where he lived until his death in 2007 at the ripe old age of 93. 

Having fled Germany after being conscripted by the Luftwaffe to be an aerial photographer, he later enlisted in the Australian Army, serving between 1942 and 1946. On his return, he built a prolific and influential career photographing primarily architecture and industry. 

Melbourne song of the month: 'The Loved One'/The Loved Ones (May 1966)

The first in a monthly series celebrating Melbourne’s coolest tunes...

Those handclaps. That relentless, rhythmic guitar. That crazy intro — all 38 wild seconds of it, building in intensity until finally… finally… we hear those unforgettable lyrics ‘Yonder she’s walking’ and we have lift-off! 

Ah yes, 'The Loved One'. 
What a masterpiece. Totally unlike any other song of its time (or any since, for that matter), The Loved Ones’ amazing second single made #15 in the Melbourne charts and #2 in Sydney, effectively catapulting the band to the screaming heights of the local music scene. 

Released in the same year as two other eternal Australian classics, The Easybeats’ 'Friday on My Mind' and 'Sorry', 'The Loved One' holds its own in this illustrious company. All five members of The Loved Ones previously played in respected Melbourne jazz outfits (The Red Onions and The Wild Cherries), and it shows. The level of musicianship; the deviation from the 4/4 time so popular with beat, rock and pop groups of the day; the unusual structure — make no mistake, this ain’t some predictable three-chord stomper. 

Actually, it’s bloody hard to dance to! But who cares, when you’ve got Gerry Humphreys' beautiful bluesy vocals to enjoy, and that famous, soaring chorus to sing along with?

Brown-eyed handsome man: Gerry Humphreys (photographer unknown)

Voted number 6 in APRA’s list of 10 Best Australian Songs in 2001, 'The Loved One' remains a treasured part of Melbourne’s musical heritage to this day. 

** PS The clip for this song is actually part of a larger film, Approximately Panther, an absolute time-capsule of a doco following Go-Set journo Douglas Panther as he delves into Melbourne's 60s youth culture and chats with some of the key personalities of the day. I won't say too much more at this point, as Approximately Panther deserves its own dedicated post -- sooner rather than later... (And now it has one...check it out here)