She was one of Australia's most recognisable and popular personalities in the 1990s — and it all began with singing for Jo Beth Taylor. After starting out in her hometown of Perth on a local TV show, she was snapped up by Molly Meldrum for his label, Melodian Records, shortly after she relocated to Melbourne. Jo Beth tells us about getting eased into the music industry as a backing singer for Indecent Obsession, building a lifelong friendship with Debbie Gibson while on tour, and going to New...

As important as the fictional story of The Takeaways was to the success of Sweet And Sour, an equally crucial factor was the show's soundtrack. Johanna Pigott and Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup (formerly of The Angels and The Party Boys) talk us through the process of reaching out to the cream of Australia's songwriters for material to include in the show. Both Johanna and Buzz also contributed songs themselves, and the latter tells us about joining forces with three other writers who he'd go on to...

At 6pm on July 2, 1984, a new ABC series debuted and would go on to become one of the most popular shows aired on the national broadcaster all decade. Created by Johanna Pigott and Tim Gooding, both former members of punk band XL Capris, Sweet And Sour depicted the rise and fall of fictional group The Takeaways. In this first episode in a two-part special, Johanna shares her memories of being in XL Capris and how that experience formed the basis for Sweet And Sour. She reveals the false start...

In this special podcast crossover event, the teams behind A Journey Through Aussie Pop and A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman unite to discuss the legacy of Tania Lacy, who went from dancer on Countdown and choreographer of Kylie Minogue's "Locomotion" music video to maverick presenter on spin-off series The Factory and Countdown Revolution. Tania talks about being co-host of those music programs and entertaining a generation of music fans with her comic characters and outrageous...

As the '90s became the 2000s, two bubbly teenagers came seemingly out of nowhere to score back-to-back top 5 singles, "Sister" and "What's A Girl To Do", but Christine and Sharon Muscat had been preparing for that moment for years. First, growing up with their musician father, Joe, helping them to develop their talents and then, being spotted by Tina Arena on TV and signed by her then-husband/manager, Ralph Carr. Sister2Sister were quickly launched overseas, with UK chart success and key...

With every one of their four singles reaching the ARIA top 10, dance duo Madison Avenue had a perfect chart strike rate. Formed by DJ/producer Andy Van and singer Cheyne Coates, the pair crossed over from the clubs to the top 50 in 1999 with "Don't Call Me Baby" — a song Cheyne was never meant to sing. Andy tells us about how that track came together — from the sample he based the song around, the Mousse T tune that served as inspiration and how Cheyne's hastily recorded guide vocal ended up...

In 1983, Australian synthpop exploded with a surge of new bands hitting the ARIA chart, Front and centre was Melbourne's Real Life, which had been plugging away since forming in late 1980 through a couple of newspaper ads. Electronic anthem "Send Me An Angel" was a massive success locally and took off overseas, becoming a hit in North America and Europe. Singer David Sterry talks about the band's great start on Wheatley Records in Australia and Curb Records internationally, as well as the...

She might have taken the well-worn path from soap opera to pop music, but former E Street actress Toni Pearen actually turned down the first record deal that was offered to her. The singer, actress, presenter and reality TV favourite talks about why she waited to sign with Mushroom Records and the process of putting together her back-to-back top 10 hits, "In Your Room" and "I Want You". Toni also explains why there was such a delay in releasing further music and describes how her album,...

Following solo success at home in New Zealand, Tina Cross relocated to Australia in the early '80s, eventually teaming up with singer/songwriter Leon Berger, who was born in Russia but had also made the move down under. Together, they formed the foundation of synthpop band Koo De Tah, whose debut single, "Too Young For Promises", was a top 10 smash in 1985. Tina and her former band-mate John Bettison, who played guitar for Koo De Tah, reveal how some missing demos almost scuppered the band's...

Their album ...ish remains one of the all-time best-selling debuts in Australian music history, but no record company wanted to sign 1927. Lead singer Erik Weideman talks about putting that multi-platinum album together after he was spotted on Hey Hey It's Saturday talent quest Red Faces by former Moving Pictures member Garry Frost and how it was producer Charles Fisher who took a chance on the pop/rock quartet. While the music industry might have been unsure about 1927, the Australian public...

In the early '90s, there was no hotter Australian pop music label than Westside Records, who pounced on Radio Freedom, a project fronted by Paul Snashall. Fresh off an appearance on talent show Star Search, the singer otherwise known as Pehl put together a track called "I Can Feel It", an infectious mix of dance, Latin and hip-hop that stormed the ARIA top 10. In our interview with Paul, he reveals all the behind-the-scenes details of what inspired that tune, how the song and his profile...

In 1989, four young, energetic performers crashed onto the Australian chart with their debut single, "Say Goodbye" — an instantly catchy piece of synthpop that took them into the top 10. One of the first signings to Molly Meldrum's Melodian Records, Indecent Obsession had the good looks that saw them regularly in the pages of Smash Hits and the killer hooks that made for some great pop tunes. But even though their second single, "Tell Me Something", was another hit in Australia and broke...

We continue the story of Australian girl group Girlfriend, with Melanie Alexander, Jacqui Cowell, Siobhann Heidenreich and Robyn Loau telling us about the promotional trips they made overseas, especially to the UK and Japan, in an attempt to break internationally. Back in Australia, the group moved on to second album It's Up To You, although "Heartbeat" and "Wishing On The Same Star" didn't achieve the chart highs of the singles from their debut album. But the girls had other issues to worry...

Exactly 30 years ago, Melanie Alexander, Jacqui Cowell, Siobhann Heidenreich, Robyn Loau and Lorinda Noble burst onto the pop scene with their debut single, "Take It From Me". The all-singing, all-dancing girl group were like nothing Australia had seen — and they were ahead of their time internationally with their girl power message (the words were literally in the lyrics of their second single, "Girls Life") and diverse line-up. In the first episode of a two-part special, Melanie, Jacqui,...

They were at the forefront of Australia's synthpop scene and Pseudo Echo were rewarded for toughing it out on the rock-dominated live music circuit with a string of hits, including debut single "Listening", which the band played an early version of as an unsigned act on Countdown. Lead singer and principal songwriter Brian Canham tells us about that breakthrough appearance and the success that followed with albums Autumnal Park in 1984 and the next year's Love An Adventure, which yielded...

From his pioneering work on Australia's dance music scene in the 1990s to becoming a pop star in the 2000s, Paul Mac has had a long and impressive career. In a candid and insightful — not to mention F bomb-laden — interview, the recording artist, songwriter, producer and remixer discusses some of his standout musical moments. Paul reflects on releasing the ARIA Award-winning club track "Sweetness And Light" as part of Itch-E & Scratch-E and what it was like as a dance artist in Australia...

In the early '90s, indie pop band Frente! enjoyed a meteoric rise in Australia, going from the Triple J Hottest 100 to regulars in the top 5 of the ARIA chart in just a couple of releases. In this episode, we hear from singer Angie Hart about the band's early success and the backlash they suffered following the release of "Accidently Kelly Street", which was brutally parodied by The Late Show. This episode also covers a different — but linked — music industry story. In 1995, Angie provided...

Twin sisters Sherine and Zan Abeyratne made a huge impression on the Australian pop scene in the 1980s. Individually, they were members of two of the most innovative, era-defining bands to emerge locally that decade: Big Pig and I'm Talking. In this episode, the siblings look back on their time in those groups, whose sound pushed Australian music out of its pub rock comfort zone, and talk about singles like "Hungry Town", "Breakaway" and "Holy Word". They also discuss their work — both...

In the first episode of Chart Beats: A Journey Through Aussie Pop, we take a look at dance-pop band Euphoria, who were massively successful in Australia in the early '90s, albeit for only a brief period of time. We have a frank conversation with founding member Andrew Klippel and hear about the ill-fated decision to show model Holly Garnett lip syncing to singer Keren Minshull's vocals in the music video for chart-topping debut single "Love You Right". Andrew discusses subsequent singles "One...