Australian Music Legend Martin Armiger Passes Away

Australian musician, composer and producer Martin Armiger is confirmed to have passed away this week.

Armiger's brother, Keith, announced on Facebook on Thursday that Martin "passed away peacefully yesterday in France".

After starting his career as a performer in bands like The Toads, The Bleeding Hearts and The High Rise Bombers with fellow local legend Paul Kelly, Armiger's first break came as the guitarist for Melbourne outfit The Sports, in which he wrote one of the band's biggest hits, Strangers On A Train.

Stephen Cummings, Armiger's bandmate and The Sports frontman, paid tribute in a Facebook post. 

"Generous friend, great musician, ran the music dept at the film & Television School for past ten years," Cummings wrote.

"He was a beauty!"

Armiger went on to compose for 14 feature films, a dozen telemovies and TV miniseries and many documentaries, long-running TV series and short films. Credits include Come In Spinner, The Secret Life Of Us, Young Einstein, Thank God He Met Lizzie, Police Rescue and hugely popular '80s Aussie TV series, Sweet And Sour.

He won the Australian Film Institute award in 1986 alongside William Motzing for his work on Young Einstein, as well as the ARIA for Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Recording in 1989 with You've Always Got The Blues; the soundtrack for ABC series Stringer.

In 2017, Armiger was honoured at the Screen Music Awards with the inaugural Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award, which recognised "outstanding contributions to the film and television industry by producers, directors, music supervisors and more who provide promotion, opportunities and education for Australian screen composers".

Armiger also served as the Head of Screen Music at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) for 14 years. 

“It is hard to put into words the extraordinary contribution that Martin made to the School and to the industry," AFTRS Director of Curriculum and Student Registrar, Nell Greenwood, said in a statement.

"His skill and generosity shaped the careers of so many students. His incredible intelligence, his musical genius, his kindness, his wit and his daring, disrupting mind influenced so many of us and will be so missed.”

Armiger produced a number of notable works for big names including Paul Kelly, Stephen Cummings, Renee Geyer, Kate Ceberano, Vince Jones, Allniters and even ABC's iconic children's show, Play School.