'I had his ear and that was powerful': Kate Ceberano and other women on Michael Gudinski's influence

Michael Gudinski was more than a giant of the Australian music industry: he championed women long before movements demanded blokes in power do just that. At Mushroom Records and Frontier Touring, he put women in charge from A&R roles to label managers, PR and marketing departments and signed many of them too – from Kylie Minogue to Deborah Conway and Kate Ceberano.

Four of the late music promoter’s friends share memories of the man they knew.

Kate Ceberano

Michael and I circled each other for years when I was in I’m Talking. I was 23 when MG properly landed in my world. Mum was manager, which was rare at the time to have women in music management. After recording [an] album, he said, “It’s great, but you need another hit.” That’s when I wrote Pash. He loved it; told me it was genius. It is a quirky piece of pop art at its best.

The main thing was I had his ear, and that was powerful.   

I started my career busking in Bourke St Mall. There is never any promise one could make a life from music; it’s a pie in the sky ambition. Michael was the kind of guy who, out of a sea of people, sees you and knows you’ve got something. I know there are many talented people who don’t get an opportunity to give it a crack, but when you have his attention on you, it seems all those people who are in doubt suddenly say, ‘oh yes, I see it now’.

 You always need a champion like that – whose decision can cut through a sea of lukewarm “maybe” people.

It doesn’t take much to keep artists going – a word from the boss, and then you’re pumped up and want to go back out there again. From Kylie, Renee Geyer and Deborah Conway, when he put his attention on us, we became something.  

Linda Bosidis

Mushroom Music Publishing 1996 -2018, Head of Artists and Repertoire.  Currently Managing Director.

I can’t remember the first time I met Michael – he just appeared and was larger than life. I first came to work with him in 1996 when interviewed for the A&R position at Mushroom Music Publishing. I had known him while I was working at APRA. He always said you’ll work for me one day – and you realise a lot of what he says actually comes true. 

I’ve been at Mushroom for 25 years now, and it’s an equal balance of men and women running the show. Michael built an incredibly unique space for women in the music industry. What Michael loved about women was their gutsy style. Some were loud, some quiet achievers, but he liked the out-on-a-limb, gutsy, rebellious style. He instilled in me to believe in what you love and have a go, get it done, just do it.  He used to call me platinum ears. I always thought it was pretty funny; I never took it seriously.

Mushroom afforded flexibility to mothers, including myself, to enable us to return to work and continue with our careers. We were able to work from home, drop off and pick up from school, flexibility during school holidays and when the kids were ill. In the 2000s, Michael wanted to convert the house next door to the office into a creche and call it Mushroom Creche. He tried but couldn’t obtain local council permission. Life was never boring with Michael. I was the most successful in my A&R career after becoming a mother. 

Reegan Stark

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer 

Frontier Touring, Chugg Ent, Illusive Presents

It was a rare day in the past 18 years that I didn’t speak with Michael or get a text from him. I’ve sat in a pool in Bali, on a mountain top in NZ, and on a beach in QLD and spoken to Michael. Every time I went on holiday, he would say to me, ‘now I might have to call you…’ and he did.  For Michael, work wasn’t work; it was a passion.

Michael offered me the role of Frontier’s national publicist in 2003.  In 2007, we created Mushroom Promotions, which looked after PR for Frontier and all of Michael’s record labels.  

Michael had females in senior positions within Mushroom from the beginning.  He really did hire people on their merits and ability to do the job – he didn’t care about anything else. He just wanted the job done and the best person doing it.

I’ve been fortunate to have an incredibly close relationship with Michael, and he really did treat me as family. I can’t imagine many people out there would say they love their boss in the true sense of the word, but I did love Michael. He was inspiring, loud, engaging and incredibly creative, and the world is a poorer place without him.

Adalita – Magic Dirt

I met Michael in the ’90s when he wanted to sign my band Magic Dirt. I remember noticing a lot of women in the workplace and in senior positions in the office, and I thought that was cool. I was from the grunge era of DIY indie, and major labels were something we were suspicious of, but Michael made us feel like family.

I always felt a loving vibe at the label, and MG championed that. He would turn up to my shows and always made you feel like you were the most special person in the room. To get a call from Michael was rare, but when he did, I had to pull over because it’s MG, the boss, the big man!

Michael was never jaded about music, he loved it, and it showed. He taught me if you love something or someone, you show it, don’t ever keep it to yourself.