APRA 2006 WINNERS

A quirky pop song that has captured Australia’s imagination has been named the coveted APRA SONG OF THE YEAR. In his first ever APRA outing BEN LEE, Australia’s reigning king of pop, has taken out the peer voted SONG OF THE YEAR with his impossibly infectious song “Catch My Disease”. In a taped acceptance by BEN LEE, who is currently touring the US, he had this to say, “When I was 14 I started making records, recording in my bedroom. I had no technology. I had no money, I didn’t have a lot of style, I didn’t have much musical technique but what I did have were songs that I believed in. Over the last 14 years I’ve started to get a bit more ability, more consistency and bigger budgets but what still matters is the songs. I’m really glad to be part of an industry and really grateful that the Australian music industry still recognises the value of a songwriter and realises that the song is the most important part of a record.”

The APRA SONG OF THE YEAR is the biggest peer voted music award in Australia. BEN LEE’s “Catch My Disease” has also won the award for MOST PERFORMED AUSTRALIAN WORK.

BERNARD FANNING, who has had phenomenal success in the past year as a solo songwriter, has been named the prestigious APRA SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR. With his band Powderfinger, he has taken out APRA Song of the Year twice (in the year 2000 for “The Passenger “and 2001 for “My Happiness”). This time BERNARD FANNING is acknowledged as a solo composer with his breakthrough album <I>Tea and Sympathy</I>. Recorded mostly at the world famous Real World studios in England, the album is chock full of musical riches – running the gamut of lyrical emotion and style. Mr Fanning – we salute you.

Two other artists who are in the midst of world domination have won some of the major awards at the 2006 APRA MUSIC AWARDS.

The BREAKTHROUGH SONGWRITING AWARD has been bestowed upon Sydney trio WOLFMOTHER who have had great domestic and international success with their unique blend of flat out rock and other wordly song lyrics. WOLFMOTHER are currently touring the US and in a recorded acceptance speech singer Andrew Stockdale said, “What a great honour….when we were first going through this stuff, we didn’t even know what a verse or chorus was. We just followed our instincts so to get a songwriting award – this is cool.”

Proving that rock n’ roll is alive and kicking on international airwaves, JET have won the category of MOST PERFORMED AUSTRALIAN WORK OVERSEAS with “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” for the 2nd year in a row. The band are currently in the US putting the finishing touches to their much anticipated new album.

Awards in the brand new categories of MOST PERFORMED URBAN WORK and MOST PERFORMED BLUES AND ROOTS WORK were handed out for the very first time. GUY SEBASTIAN was the winner of the inaugural award for MOST PERFORMED URBAN WORK with his song “Oh Oh” while previous Song of the Year recipient JOHN BUTLER has won the inaugural award for MOST PERFORMED BLUES AND ROOTS WORK with “Something’s Gotta Give”.

KASEY CHAMBERS continues her extraordinary winning streak by taking out the award for MOST PERFORMED COUNTRY WORK for the fourth year, this time with her song “Pony”.

In the category of MOST PERFORMED JAZZ WORK, legendary outfit THE NECKS have won an APRA Award for the 2nd year running, this time for their composition “Mosquito”.

Electro dance outfit ROGUE TRADERS have had their first APRA win in the category of MOST PERFORMED DANCE WORK for “Way To Go” while ex Matchbook 20 songwriter ROB THOMAS has won the category of MOST PERFORMED FOREIGN WORK with his solo hit “Lonely No More”.

The legendary BILL ARMSTRONG was named this year’s recipient of TED ALBERT AWARD FOR OUSTANDING SERVICES TO AUSTRALIAN MUSIC. His recording studios were considered to be the engine room of Australian music in the 60s and 70s. Armstrong Studios were the largest studio complex in the Southern Hemisphere at the time, featuring the latest state of the art technology, which had the first 8 track recorder in Australia and were responsible for 80% of the hit records for the major labels. A tireless contributor to Australian music and the arts his resume is rich and varied. But anyone involved with making music in Australia over the past 50 years knows the name BILL ARMSTRONG. He broke new ground, set new standards and played an integral role in the evolution of Australian music over the past six decades and is still going strong.

The 2006 APRA MUSIC AWARDS were held at the Four Seasons hotel in Sydney and were hosted by JONATHAN BIGGINS. The event featured very special performances by JADE MACRAE, BECCY COLE, END OF FASHION, JOEL TURNER AND THE MODERN DAY POETS and LIOR. APRA’s 2006 Professional Development Award winner AMIRA (TECOMA) performed a sensational version of “Catch My Disease” while AUGIE MARCH’s GLENN RICHARDS performed with DAN KELLY AND DAN LUSCOMBE a special tribute to the late, great GRANT MCLENNAN. And in a nod to IVA DAVIES one of the great all-time Australian songwriters, ICEHOUSE performed a rare version of the evocative 1982 smash hit “Great Southern Land”.

APRA would like to congratulate winners and nominees for their musical contributions.