Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Producer is a hilarious, tragic and triumphant memoir from influential music producer Tony Cohen.
Masterful in every sense of the word, maverick music producer-engineer Tony Cohen defined Australia’s punk and rock sounds from the late 70s through to the 90s.
Working with the likes of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Models, The Go-Betweens, Hunters & Collectors, Cold Chisel, The Saints, The Cruel Sea, Paul Kelly and so many more, Cohen’s lengthy and acclaimed career saw him work around the world. From Melbourne and Sydney to West Berlin and London’s Abbey Road, Cohen worked with innumerable bands up until his death in 2017.
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Arriving this May, Cohen’s story is now being told in his own words, with help from friend and fellow engineer John Olson, in the new book Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Producer.
Entirely funny, insightful and moving, the memoir shares details of Cohen’s decades-long relationship with Nick Cave (The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and provides behind-the-scenes access to recordings by the bands mentioned above as well as Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Cat Stevens, Jim Keays, Lobby Loyde, The Ferrets, Split Enz, Laughing Clowns, Models, Magazine, The Reels, Beasts of Bourbon, The Saints, X, Michael Hutchence, TISM and so many more.
“I first met Nick Cave… at Richmond Recorders in January. I appeared shoeless, red-eyed and late. As usual. The grand piano was overflowing with bits of metal, microphone stands, anything that wasn’t nailed down. “That should sound interesting,” I said. It was the start of a great love affair.”
Across 240 pages, Half Deaf, Completely Mad is a hilarious, tragic and triumphant memoir that reveals a chaotic genius who lived hard and LOUD.
Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia’s Most Legendary Producer by Tony Cohen and John Olson is out May 30 2023.
You can order the book here.
