Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) delivers a comedy inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival one of the biggest events in musical history. Unfortunately there are no concert scenes in the film, rather the focus is on Elliot, who never got to see any artists perform either. Sexual awakening (well it was the Age of Aquarius), relationships and survival are the dominant themes, washed down with a whole lot of mud and the odd joint. Some great scenes and laughs amidst the backdrop of this generation defining event.

For the last five years or so I have been a keen fan of the homage nights put on by CCEntertainment. When I think of the top live acts both local and international that I have seen, I would rate several CCEntertainment shows up there with the best of them. Why is it always such a great night out? Maybe the sum of various parts, quality artists, being physically close to the band along with the great atmosphere venues like The Basement generate.

The recent Stones “Beggars Banquet” show was no exception. With a great selection of Stones classic songs, musical director and band member, Joseph Calderazzo, seems to know how to get the best out of his artists.

Preparation and planning are the key elements which ultimately shape the quality of the final product or, in this case, a live concert. CCE’s Music Director, Joseph Calderazzo, highlights the key planning and pre-production steps he takes when putting together a concert experience.

The Songs

Finding the right songs is the first step, then I need to get the right order. The order is very important. The order of the songs tells the story and defines the journey, it gives a starting point, a middle and an ending to the whole show. I’ve got a vision of how the show needs to go, then I need to find the songs that fit within that vision.

The Musicians

The musicians are picked because they have something special and unique to bring to the table and their input comes naturally. A lot of the singers have their own style, and I’ll try and marry up a song that will suit somebody’s style or a song might take on a life of its own because of the style of a particular singer.

By 1973, Led Zeppelin ruled the world. On Houses of the Holy, their 5th album, they rose to the challenge of breaking new ground. The continual move away from heavy metal got the album mixed reviews. But it topped the charts and sold 11 million in the US alone.

The mellotron-driven 7 minute The Rain Song was inspired by George Harrison’s complaint that Zeppelin didn’t do ballads; the opening two notes borrowed from Something. While Page used guitar riffs as architectural motifs on The Song Remains the Same, No Quarter was a John Paul Jones showcase for a tale of a battle in a snowstorm. They tried reggae (D’yer Mak’er), funk (The Crunge) and doo-wop (The Ocean - a tribute to their fans). It came wrapped around the gorgeous cover of children at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End.

For the music listener who appreciates rich sounds and technique of the guitar, Peter Northcote’s album Poindexter and the Genius Sex Act is simply a ‘must have’ in your collection. The sitar, Rock and a Japanese flavour are prevalent themes throughout the album. Peter lends his voice to some of the songs throughout the album (such as Japanese Girlfriend) while narrative by the well-known astrologer, Dadhichi, adds further depth and ambience. The album is crafted with attention to detail in almost every aspect, from the arrangements and mixing to its physical presentation. The CD comes in a beautiful, high quality case which in itself is a work of art.

Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” is credited with taking the blues into the space age.

Last year, at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics during the handover to London as the host of the 2012 games, the song chosen to represent the moment was Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. A white-haired Jimmy Page performed it with singer Leona Lewis. Naturally, with a global audience of 2 billion watching, organisers moved to change the lyrics from “every inch of my love” to “every bit of my love.” Nevertheless, it was still a thrilling moment.

Whole Lotta Love — especially THAT RIFF — has that impact on people. It was used as the theme song for the BBC’s Top of The Pops — although ironically the band never appeared on the show because their manager Peter Grant refused to let them do TV. In 2004, it ranked #75 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. A year later Q placed it at #3 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2009 it was named the third greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. Interesting versions are by Tina Turner, Alexis Korner and Jack Johnson.

Robert Plant, when asked by Spin magazine what he regarded as Page’s “coolest, heaviest, most metal” riff, had a couple of choices. But he finally opted for Whole Lotta Love — “it’s quite a sexy track.”

DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcast Plus) is open for business, although only in the capital cities so far, and is proving once again that Australians are quick on the uptake when it comes to new technologies. It is also showing us just how many people love listening to radio, indicates that it is anything but a played-out medium.

The first question that comes up is why we are going digital.

The reasons are partly technical ones, such as raising the audio quality and fitting more channels into the crowded EM spectrum, and partly about new features.

Laurie Sellers began playing guitar in 1959 at the age of 11. From his roots in the 60s and 70s Laurie has researched and gathered together an assortment of vintage and collectable guitars, including some interesting instruments inspired by the iconic rock legends of the time. We asked Laurie if he would share his passion with you by showcasing one of his guitars in each edition, and telling the story behind it.

There are three guitars that come to mind when I think of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page: the Gibson SG Double Neck as used on Stairway to Heaven, the Fender Telecaster used on the first Zep album, but mostly Jimmy’s favourite guitar, a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, bought from Joe Walsh in 1969.

The first series of Jimmy Page Limited Edition guitars was produced by Gibson, from mid 1995 to 1998, as a replica of his favourite instrument. Fortunately, the example that found its way into my collection is an early one made in 1995.

This project began with Gibson’s luthiers measuring and analysing every aspect of Jimmy’s 1959 Les Paul. They discovered heavy customising and unique characteristics, including an unusual hand carved neck profile that is thinner at the 7th fret than the first, whilst becoming fatter at the 12th fret again; and modified electronics allowing each of the four control knobs, two volume and two tone, to be pulled out or pushed in, enabling some extraordinary tone options.

He’s a successful Australian songwriter, with great hits like Noiseworks’ Hot Chilli Woman. But there is much more to Balbi than many realise.

An inauspicious ad in a local newspaper - “WRITER WANTS WRITER TO WORK WITH” - founded a rock group that went on to become one of the most iconic bands of the late 80s in Australia.

Noiseworks had a string of hits leading up to their final album, but Hot Chilli Woman is the track that remains in the Australian psyche when we think of The Works. It can therefore come as something of a revelation that their most famous track wasn’t created by lead singer Jon Stevens, but was instead penned by founding member Steve Balbi.

A successful Australian songwriter, there is much more to Balbi than many realise, having worked with musical icons such as David Bowie, Tom Jones, Jimmy Barnes and Michael Hutchence.

Noiseworks Days

The early beginnings of Noiseworks can be traced back to Balbi responding to that simple ad. Upon arriving at the meeting, another musician who also responded to the ad was there. His name was Justin Stanley, and he would become the keyboard player of Noiseworks. Whilst this initial songwriting trio didn’t work out, there was a “synergy” between Balbi and Stanley.

The duo soon were soon joined by Jon Stevens, Stuart Fraser and Kevin Nicol, with whom Steve Balbi was already playing. “We had a play and it felt really good, and then we thought it can’t hurt to see what happens, so we wrote some songs.” Their first round of songs was written with LA-based producer, Louie Sheldon, who took the tracks to Sony, landing them a record deal.