Shake Some Action: My life in music (and other stuff)

(Paperback)

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The story of how a gangly, music-obsessed kid from Tassie did everything and met everyone - Shake Some Action is a rip-snorting rock 'n' roll ride through a life of power and passion. First as a music writer and then as an editor, promoter, manager, broadcaster, publicist and author, Stuart Coupe has experienced the giddy highs and crushing lows of a life lived in the creative fast lane. Shake Some Action is your backstage pass to his remarkable story, from starting his first magazine at the age of fourteen to hoovering heroic amounts of cocaine before interviewing Boy Dylan (who asked him where he got his drugs from). From getting garbage bags full of fan (and hate) mail as the music critic for the teen magazine phenomenon Dolly to managing the Hoodoo Gurus and Paul Kelly - he has been at the centre of Australian cultural life for over four decades. This is a book about fandom. About excitement. About some very bad behaviour. About writing. About talking. About being driven. About loving music and words and trying to explain that love to others - and having a myriad of adventures and encounters in the process. This is the wild life and times of the a man who has never anything by halves. Get ready to kick out the jams!

Author Bio

Stuart Coupe has worked as a journalist, author, editor, manager, record label director, radio presenter, publicist and tour promoter. After growing up in Launceston, Tasmania he attended Flinders University in Adelaide where he became editor of the university magazine, Empire Times, and founded the music magazine Roadrunner. In late 1978 he was poached by Rock Australia Magazine (RAM) and moved to Sydney. After 18 months at RAM he became the music writer for the Sun Herald for the next decade as well as freelancing for countless publications ranging from the National Times to Dolly. Stuart is the only Australian to interview Bob Dylan twice and has conducted thousands of conversations with musicians from around the globe. He estimates that he has had in excess of eight million words published over the years. Stuart also managed the Hoodoo Gurus, and then Paul Kelly through the period when Kelly recorded the quartet of classic albums Post, Gossip, Under the Sun and So Much Water, So Close to Home. As a tour promoter Stuart was responsible for Australian tours by musicians Lucinda Williams, Link Wray, Dick Dale, Harry Dean Stanton, Rosanne Cash, Mary-Chapin Carpenter and others. He also promoted events and tours with authors James Ellroy, Ed McBain, Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard and PJ O'Rourke. After a stint co-presenting the album show on 2MMM in the 1980s, Stuart has spent the past fifteen years presenting a weekly show on FBi radio in Sydney. For five years he has also presented the nationally syndicated radio show entitled 'Dirt Music' on radio 2SER and 'Wildcard' on FBI radio. He is also a frequent commentator on radio, TV and in print media on matters relating to music and popular culture. Stuart has frequently worked as a publicist, starting with The Clash, The Cramps and other international artists. He currently runs Stuart Coupe Publicity with a wide range of clients from the independent music world in Australia as well as international touring artists. He was a founder and director of Laughing Outlaw Records which released music from predominantly new and emerging Australian artists. For 17 years Stuart was the crime fiction book reviewer of the Sydney Morning Herald. He also founded and edited Mean Streets magazine, co-edited three crime fiction anthologies and co-founded the Ned Kelly Awards. In 2005 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Ned Kelly Award for his contribution to the crime fiction genre. Among the books he has written, edited or collaborated on are The New Music (1980), The New Rock 'n' Roll (1983), The Promoters (2003), Gudinski (2015), Tex (2017). Roadies (2018) and Paul Kelly (2020). Stuart, the father of four adult children, lives in the inner west of Sydney. He likes talking about Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the Sydney Swans, not necessarily in that order.