T. F. Much Ballroom
The T. F. Much Ballroom or Too Fucking Much Ballroom was a music and cultural institution in Melbourne from 1970 to 1974. The venue was promoted by Bani McSpedden and John Pinder, initially to raise money for a Carlton youth club. Its successors were Much More Ballroom and Stoned Again.
| TF Much Ballroom | |
|---|---|
 Central Hall or T. F. Much Ballroom | |
| Former names | Cathedral Hall |
| General information | |
| Address | Brunswick Street |
| Town or city | Fitzroy, Victoria |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 37°48′25.5″S 144°58′38″E |
| Opened | 1970 |
| Closed | 1974 |
| Client | Bani McSpedden, John Pinder |
History
The full name of the music venue was Too Fucking Much Ballroom, which was usually abbreviated to T. F. Much Ballroom, and began in 1970 at Central Hall in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy with Bani McSpedden and John Pinder as promoters.[1][2] Later incarnations included the Much More Ballroom, and Stoned Again.[3]
Bands which frequently performed at the venue were Sons of the Vegetal Mother (and its offshoot, Daddy Cool), Spectrum (and its offshoot, Indelible Murtceps), and Tamam Shud.[1] Solo artists included the wizard-like magician, Jeff Krozier (Crozier), the blues and soul singer, Wendy Saddington, and Australia's first synthesiser performer, Steve Dunstan.
According to Duncan Kimball of MilesAgo website, "events were usually held monthly and typically featured long concert-style performances, with multiple musical acts on the bill, interspersed with comedy, poetry readings, theatrical, dance and novelty performances."[1]
Pinder later described the hall, "it belonged to the Catholic Church. And in fact, it was the sort of hall for the Catholic Cathedral. And I think they had no idea what we were up to. But I used pay the rent to whatever they call the office of the Archbishop of Melbourne."[4]
Central Hall became part of the Australian Catholic University's St. Patrick campus. As from March 2012 the original ballroom still existed, and was used for some university functions.[2][5]
See also
References
- Kimball, Duncan (2002). "Venues: Too Fucking Much (TF Much) Ballroom / Much More Ballroom". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- McFarlane, Ian (Spring 2016). "A Rock'n'Roll Freak Show – The Story of the T.F. Much Ballroom/Much More Ballroom 1970-1972". Third Stone Press. Sounds of the City. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- Nichols, David (2016). Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music 1960-85. Portland: Verse Chorus Press.
- Smith, Amanda. "Interview with John Pinder by Amanda Smith ABC Radio National (transcript)". CultureVictoria. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
- Harris, Maria (30 March 2012). "The chequered history of Central Hall". The Weekly Review. Retrieved 27 June 2017.