How Stuart Coupe Got To Write The Gudinski Book That The Mogul Never Wanted

Stuart Coupe's new biography Gudinski: The Godfather Of Australian Rock'N'Roll tells the fascinating life story of Australian music mogul Michael Gudinski, a man who for decades has cast such a huge shadow over Australian music via his touring companies, record labels and booking agencies. The tome paints the picture of a passionate and driven man who loves his music, but also one not without his foibles, and along the way shines a light on the behind-the-scenes machinations of the industry - the partying and hedonism is all there, but it's the human condition and relationships which prove most fascinating.

"Michael has never wanted a book, for reasons I still don't know he's just totally opposed to one," Coupe explains. "I first started talking to him back in 2003 because he was a big figure in The Promoters book, and I said, 'What about a whole book about you?' He was, like, 'There's never going to be a book. Don't want a book'. This went on for about ten years, and then about 18 months ago my publisher and I just decided that it's too important a story - I don't think there's any question that he's anything other than the most significant figure in the Australian music industry in the last 50 years."

"I said, 'Michael, if you'd called me up and said, "I love every page of this book" then I wouldn't have done my job,"

Gudinski was granted the right of perusal of the manuscript to correct factual errors (he eventually made only minor corrections) - did the fact that he and Coupe have a history together contribute towards an element of trust?

"He knows that I'm fond of him, and he claims that he read it all, and when he called up he said, 'There's a few things that I'm pretty fired up about', and I said, 'Michael, if you'd called me up and said, "I love every page of this book" then I wouldn't have done my job," Coupe chuckles. "You're not meant to like all of it. People aren't going to take a book seriously if it's 350 pages of 'Michael Gudinski is God, Michael Gudinski does everything right, Michael is a genius'." I said we can deal with 185 pages of 'Michael is God'! I had to remind him with all due respect that I kind of like him and asked whether he'd like me to send him a list of people who were less affectionate about him who can string a sentence together. I said to him, 'Not only can I spell defamation but I know what it means. It's going to be okay'."

And this wart-and-all approach is partly why Gudinski... ends up such a fascinating rendering of this larger-than-life character.

"I'm hoping that people get some insight into the machinations - 'How does this all happen? How do you build an independent label up to the point where you can sell it for tens of millions of dollars to Rupert Murdoch? How do you negotiate with The Rolling Stones?'" Coupe tells. "Michael's gone through numerous times where things have been really precarious, and I'm hoping it's both entertaining and that I've captured a semblance of the erratic craziness that is Michael."