Bill Armstrong (music producer)

Bill Armstrong AM (born 1929)[1] is an Australian music producer.

Career

Armstrong grew up in Melbourne and began his career recording his friends band's onto wire, before being hired to record court proceedings and civil ceremonies. These included recordings of Robert Menzies opening Geelong's Shell Refinery.[2] He recorded live jazz performances, including the 1949 Australian Jazz Convention, and created acetate copies for the performers to purchase.[3]

He started Bill Armstrong Sound in December 1949,[4] and in the early 1950s began releasing local jazz records on his own record labels, Paramount, Magnasound, and Danceland.[3][2] He worked for ABC Radio producing broadcasts, and was in charge of the PA system at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956.[2]

Between 1956 and 1960, Armstrong worked for W&G Records, and recorded musicians such as Graeme Bell and The Seekers,[3] and commercial jingles.[5]

After sound engineer Roger Savage arrived from England, he and Armstrong set up Armstrong Studios in 1965 and recorded bands such as Russell Morris, Daddy Cool, John Farnham, Skyhooks,[2] Graham Kennedy.[6] They were credited with recording 80% of the music in the Australian charts at the time.[7]

In 1977, Armstrong left the studio to work for SBS Radio, before starting EON FM, Australia's first commercial FM radio station where he worked as managing director.[2][8]

He left EON in 1986, and set up the jazz label Bilarm Music, where he continued to work into 2015.[2] The label released compilations of old 78 RPM recordings, co-curated by Barry Humphries.[1][2] In 2015 Armstrong purchased Swaggie Records.[9]

Awards
  • 1995 - Advance Australia Award
  • 1995 - Audio Engineering Society (of USA) Australian chapter, Lifetime Achievement Award[8]
  • 1995 - Australian Sound Recording Association award for "Outstanding Service to The Australian Recording Industry"
  • 1999 - ARIA Special Achievement Award[8]
  • 2006 - APRA Ted Albert Award[8]
  • 2011 - National Film and Sound Archive's Cochrane-Smith Award[10][11]
  • 2015 - Member of the Order of Australia[12]
  • 2015 - The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame[2]

References
  1. Smith, Michael. "Bill Armstrong And His Unwavering Passion For Music Recording". The Music. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  2. Northover, Kylie (2015-11-10). "Bill Armstrong: the most prolific music recorder you've never heard of". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  3. "W & G, ARMSTRONG'S AAV, METROPOLIS (1950's-1990's)". Recording Studios Living Archive. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  4. "Armstrong's - A Recording Studio With More Bounce To The Ounce Than Even The Famous Kangaroo!". Billboard. 87 (6): A-15. 8 Feb 1975.
  5. "The Legendary Bill Armstrong". ABC Radio National. 2013-08-25. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  6. "Graham Kennedy Sings the Shows". The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  7. Cork, Gail (August 1988). "Growing Up Tough -The Story of Sound Recording in Australia" (PDF). Mix. 12 (8): 104.
  8. Smerdon, Peter (March 2016). "Bill Armstrong – Audio Engineering Society – Melbourne Section". aesmelbourne.org.au. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  9. "Bilarm Music Catalogue". www.bilarm.com.au. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  10. Davies, Matthew (2011). "WINNER OF THE NFSA SOUND HERITAGE AWARD". The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  11. "CELEBRATING THE PRESERVATION, SURVIVAL AND RECOGNITION OF SOUND HERITAGE". The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  12. "Industrial Strength: Music industry's Queen's honours list; Does Murdoch have a label called Empire?; Live performance industry to focus on mental health; MTV programming changes". The Music Network. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
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