At The Bar with Music Journalist Jane Gazzo

Australian music journalist Jane Gazzo is launching her new book this month – this time chasing a nostalgia for the 80s.

Titled I Hear Motion: Bands that Soundtracked Our Lives 1980-1989 – and named after the 1983 Models track of the same name – she dives deep into the 80s era of bands she wants us to long remember.

It’s not her first foray into writing books. Back in 2015, Gazzo wrote about Australian singer John Farnham in John Farnham: The Untold Story and in 2022, co-authored Sound as Ever! A Celebration of the Best Decade in Australian Music 1990-1999 with journalist Andrew P Street.

Jane Gazzo spoke to The Write Drop for our At The Bar series.

MY CITY

Sydney. Specifically, Erskineville. I love the little strip of boutique shops and the way the sunshine hits the narrow streets and cute little bungalow style houses. It’s definitely a place that I connect with and that has a visceral effect on me every time I visit. It’s one of my happy places.

FAVOURITE FOOD MEMORY 

Mario’s Spaghetti Amatriciana. Mario’s is an institution in Fitzroy which I started going to in my teens. When I was living in London in the 2000s, I used to dream about this pasta dish and no visit to Melbourne was complete without going there. I’m not sure if it’s the delicious dish itself or the ambience of the café that works hand in hand in hand, but whatever it is, it works for me. I still order it most times I go there.

FAVOURITE BAR 

I’ve been spending a lot of time at a new bar called Odeon Richmond, which is part bar, part live music venue. The mocktails are next level and there’s always really interesting, curated live music.  I’m more a pub gal though and my regulars are The Tote, Creatures of Habit, The Gem, Lulie and Catfish.

DRINK THAT DESCRIBES YOU

Gin and Tonic (robust but sweet).

BEST HANGOVER CURE 

A cheeseburger and fries from Lulie Tavern, Collingwood and a spicy margarita. Sorts me right out.

BEST INTERSTATE BAR  

Midnight Special and Earl’s Juke Joint in Newtown, Sydney. A trip is not complete without visiting these special spots. At Earl’s I usually order a London Calling. It’s a gin based cocktail with sherry and a splash of orange bitters.

FAVOURITE WINE 

One of my dear friends is record producer Mark Opitz (AC/DC, Models, INXS & Divinyls). Whenever he returns from his bi-annual Italian vacation, he brings me back a bottle of the same Lacrima wine from the region he holidays in. It is the most delicious wine and we usually pair it with a spaghetti bolognaise or a roast chicken.

NEXT DESTINATION 

Los Angeles. Some of my favourite people live there and the thrift store shopping is next level. I also love the Rainbow Bar. I would love to do a Lemmy and have my own permanent stool there.

Tell us about your love of the 80s -when it all began, why you can’t get enough of it?

I was born and raised during the Countdown era, so watching Molly Meldrum interview the biggest pop stars of the day was part of my formative years. The fact that he made interviewing rock stars look so easy was probably part of the appeal. I knew I wanted to do that. I loved 80s Australian synth pop bands and I was an avid reader of Smash Hits magazine, so it’s no wonder I chose the music journalist/broadcaster path.

I probably listen to more 80s music than any other decade.

Where were you in the 80s – give us a little picture of mini Jane Gazzo…

I was living in a suburb called Viewbank, (I promise, you’ve never heard of it), with my mum and dad and two siblings.

It wasn’t a musical house at all and what music there was, was usually of ethnic origin, such as Italian music (Umberto Tozzi) and Greek, (Demis Roussos and Nana Mouskouri).

If I missed an episode of Countdown on a Sunday evening, I would beat myself up for days. It was so important to me.

I kept scrapbooks of all my favourite bands including Culture Club. I spent hours with Clag and scissors, cutting pictures up and placing them in countless scrapbooks.

I entered the Boy George look-a-like contest at my local shopping centre when I was 10 and won! I wore my mother’s purple honeymoon jacket, some blue trackies and tied red shoelaces in my hair. I think the prize was a transistor radio.

We stayed in Viewbank until I was around 12 years old.

Tell us about writing your new book I Hear Motion and what inspired this project? 

I was inspired to write this book when we sadly lost Paul Gray (lead singer of Wa Wa Nee) in 2018. He was someone I had never interviewed before and I really felt a sense of loss, in that I felt the Wa Wa Nee story hadn’t really been told before. This got me thinking about the other Australian synth pop bands that were around at the time and it dawned on me that there was no book documenting this fertile and creative period in Australian music. It was also a great excuse to relive my childhood.

Three Aussie bands that sum up the 80s

Models – because they started off so avant-garde and experimental and as members came and went and changes to technology occurred around the synthesiser, they became a more commercial and poppier sounding band. I think their evolution is remarkable and their output so impressive.

Pseudo Echo – Much like the Models, Psuedo Echo started out as a haircut, synthesiser band at the start of the 80s and by the end of the decade had ditched the keyboards for a keytar and morphed into a jeans and trainers wearing band with a rockier edge. I wasn’t a fan of the latter Psuedo Echo but they are a great example of how quickly the decade changed.

Koo De Tah – A forgotten duo from Sydney who really only had 1 or 2 singles of note, but for me, really epitomised the 80s.Fronted by Tina Cross who was so exotic looking, with an exquisite soprano voice and rounded out by a Soviet synth player and songwriter called Leon Berger – Koo De Tah and their clever synth-pop songs should have been way bigger than what they were. Their albums go for hundreds on discogs.

 An 80s cocktail if you can

If I’m in a party mood, then it’s a Pina Colada – I love tropical flavours. If I’m going for something a bit more classy, it’s a Singapore Sling every time.

FAVE DECADE

Without a doubt, it is 1984. There was an explosion on the charts of great pop songs plus Madonna inspired fashions around her Like A Virgin release and great TV shows like Dynasty and Sons & Daughters. I wish I could time-machine myself back!

WHAT’S NEXT

I’m looking for my next book project. I have a couple of ideas that I need to flesh out and hopefully I can start one in the new year. I also have some unfinished screenplays which I have been working on for a long time now. I’ll hopefully get round to completing one of them over the next few months.

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