New horizons … Australian hip hop has to find an international audience or stagnate. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied

No one speculated about musical differences or an imminent split when Thundamentals producer and rapper Tuka released his debut record Will Rap For Tuka in 2010 or the second Feedback Loop in 2012.

When he dropped the third offering Life Death Time Eternal last month, it peaked at No. 6, signalling Tuka has struck a resounding chord with hip hop audiences in Australia both with his group and on his own.

It’s a stunning, diverse album which genre hops from 90s r&b flavours through to drum and bass feels.

Is it traditional hip hop? Not even he is sure — probably more of the old school de La Soul variety than Straight Outta Compton — but he is deservedly proud it is part of the paradigm shift in Australian music which has seen electronic music in all of its many forms dominate the charts.

“The music is slowing down too,” the astute observer notes.

“Even Flume’s new one is so different from what people would consider to be dance culture.

“Rock is always going to have this crazy hold on the Australian landscape but the emotional pulse has moved on and maybe that’s because the audience is more emotionally mature.”

If that’s the case, he has the songs to connect with that audience from the stunningly beautiful r&b of Tattoo to the thought-provoking orchestral pop of Nirvana.

But this deep thinker didn’t just broaden his sonic palette on LDTE. He made a clever lyrical shift which would immediately achieve a connection with his listener.

And it’s so simple, it is brilliant.

“The biggest change I did was stop using me’s and I’s. By the eighth studio album (including Thundamental releases and other projects), I really have got everything off my chest,” he says.

“When people share a song or like a song, there’s a moment when you are going to sing it to someone.

“If you are singing I or me, it’s not sharing a moment.”

It wasn’t the only new rules he tried to impose on his creativity in an attempt to find new ways to make his own music.

Collaborators included Count Bounce, Alex Hope, Nick Martin and his Thundas brother Poncho.

Other experiments included exploring the colours of his voice, reversing the Chili Peppers approach of rapping verses and singing chorus.

Side projects … Tuka and his Thundamentals bandmates all pursue solo projects. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied

He wanted to write a record which explored duality.

“I wanted the songs to be not too positive, not too negative; not too pop, not too underground; not too feminine, not too masculine,” he says.

Love, however, does seem to be a prevailing theme.

“Yeah, love has a lot to do with it; if it wasn’t for love songs, I don’t think I would have been able to make it,” he says.

“Smiles Don’t Lie came because I f … ed up a relationship really bad. the failure of it got me in a successful situation.

“I studied psychology and I love people in love, all that positive reinforcement, as cheesy as it is. The eternal search for happiness, it really does drive humans.

“But I still want a bit in the song that will punch you in the your face. Positive and critical.”

Tuka doesn’t say it exactly but one sense he would like to give Australian hip hop a kick up the butt rather than a punch in the face.

He fears it has reached a plateau and won’t grow its audience without achieving international success.

Love songs … If it wasn’t for messing up a relationship, Tuka wouldn’t be having solo success. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied

In fact, he fears the clock is ticking on its presence in the upper echelons of the pop charts in Australia.

“I don’t think it will be a prolonged force like dance is. I don’t want to put down my own genre at all and people like Remi coming through show there is opportunity.

“But it’s too patriotic at the moment and people aren’t patriotic about dance music and it needs to break internationally to be sustained.

“The other difference is when I first started there were so many people doing hip hop and there are far less now.”

Tuka performs at The Gov., Adelaide on October 23, The Cambridge, Newcastle, October 29, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney on October 30, The Corner, Melbourne on November 6, Woolly Mammoth, November 7, Amplifier, Perth on November 13 and Mojos, Fremantle, November 14.

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Aussie fem-cee … Tkay Maidza is coming back to Australia.
Source: Supplied

Luckily, the stern directive came from a security guard who was merely trying to protect Mark Ronson’s backstage area.

“There was a small crack in the fence and we ended up in some strange alleyway,” she begins. “My friends and I were like ‘Where are we?’ and somehow we ended up in his dressing room, just us. A security guard burst in and was like ‘Go back to where you came from!’ We were like ‘But we have artist’s passes!’” she says.

Coincidentally, the 19-year-old was about to begin her support slot on the Uptown Funk hitmaker’s mega-show. “I met him at Splendour later that night. He spotted me and came up and said ‘Teee-kay!’ I was holding a huge American beef burger and a massive plate of fries and was about to start eating them — embarrassing — so I had to get my friend to hold it so I could shake his hand,” she says, pealing into laughter. Tkay loves to LOL.

“I thought he would barely know who he has on his shows as support but he’s down to earth, he pays attention to the small people like me.”

Young and on the rise … Tkay Maidza. Picture: Secret Service
Source: Supplied

Maidza (pronounced My-dza) may be five foot nothing but she won’t be small for long.

Having arrived in Australia aged five, it wasn’t until a music teacher introduced Tkay to Azealia Banks’ music where she found an esoteric hip house and electronic rap sound she could relate to.

After building her name with singles Brontosaurus, U-Huh and Switch Lanes — recorded with her producers Bad Cop and Paces — she replaced an ill Lykke Li on this year’s Laneway Festival tour and grabbed her chance like a rottweiler.

During a recent UK tour, she appeared in Vogue and Nylon Magazines as much for her sharp fashion as her music. We’ll get to that Splendour outfit in a second. When pressed, she names American art-pop waif Grimes as a feminist hero.

Triple J are all up in Maidza’s grinning grill, the Splendour set was recorded for Live At the Wireless and her first singles and newbie M.O. B have all been given the high rotation nudge by the tastemaking national broadcaster.

“I’ve written a couple more new ones, one is called Slopes (SCOOP!) and one is called U Want, which I played at Splendour,” she says. Maidza wore a “$ 1000 custom made black-and-purple satin pilot suit made by Emma Mullholland, it was sick. I only got it sent from Bali 12 hours before we went on stage. We had new gear, like inflatables we hadn’t used yet and money cannons,” she says.

Hot act … Tkay Maidza performs for fans during Splendour in the Grass. Picture: Getty
Source: Getty Images

Maidza may need to listen back to her slamming Splendour set.

“I forget what happened up there, it was an amazing feeling, I was just so relieved it went well, I guess I have photos I can look at,” she says. “People were singing the words to songs that are only on Soundcloud … that I couldn’t believe,” she says, flicking back to the pilot get-up. “Oh man, $ 1000 is easily the most I’ve spent on a piece of clothing, I don’t know when I’ll bring it out again.”

Things got a little bit Altamount when a male stage invader tried to board the stage. He was intercepted by security guards. Thankfully, they weren’t Hells Angels’ heavies. “Whoa. He was cute,” she quipped to the crowd, unperturbed.

Maidza picks up the thread. “He wouldn’t get off stage, he was high on drugs apparently and when he finally got off he jumped a fence and bailed,” she says. “It was intense.”

At least the security guards kicked out the right person that time. Maidza will be trying to aim the money cannons over crowd controllers’ heads and out to her fans on the M.O.Bsingle tour, which begins early September. FYI, M.O.B stands for Money Over Bitches. When we speak she is decompressing from the Byron Bay and the Ronson tour experience, eating oats and bananas to stay healthy and get her strength up before this 14-plus date tour.

“I’m trying to get as much work done. I’m trying to write as many songs and hang out with friends before I leave in ten days when I’m gonna be like AHHHH!” she says, mock-screaming.

“I’m taking my DJ Willow Beats and Porsches along and we’re gonna get some local DJs in every state. The tour has been selling out, Melbourne has sold 500 tickets so far for the Corner Hotel, I think we’ll do a second,” she says.

Don’t forget those artist passes.

SEE: Oxford Art Factory, 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, Sept 10, 12; Academy, Canberra, Sept 11, The Lair, Sydney, Sept 13; Uni Bar, Adelaide, Sept 17-18; HQ, Leederville, Sept 19; Capitol, Perth, Sept 19; Oh Hello, 621 Ann St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Sept 25; Sol Bar, Big Top Market Fresh, 10/12-20 Ocean St, Maroochydoore, Sept 26; Republic Bar, Hobart, Oct. 1-2; Wrangler Studios, Whitely Pde, West Footscray Melbourne, Oct. 3; Corner Hotel, 51 Swan St, Richmond, Melbourne, Oct. 3, $ 25+bf.

facebook.com/TkayMaidzaMusic

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Tyler the Creator wants to come to Australia, but his fans might’ve ruined his chance.
Source: Supplied

US RAPPER Tyler the Creator has been accused of using “dog whistle tactics” to rally fans to attack an Australian woman who wants him banned from entering the country.

His fans took to social media to launch their attack, and the results were deeply disturbing.

Tyler, aka Tyler Okonma, is due to appear in Australia for a national tour starting on September 3.

The 24-year-old from California burst onto the music scene in 2009 with his first self-released album, Bastard.

His music earned him fans around the world, including many in Australia, but his lyrics were deemed offensive towards women.

It’s easy to see why. His songs include the lyrics: “Rape’s fun”, “Rape(d) a pregnant b*tch and told my friends I had a threesome” and “I wanna tie her body up and throw her in my basement.”

Coralie Alison from Collective Shout — an organisation campaigning against the objectification of women in the media and in popular culture — took particular offence.

She was so offended that she wrote a letter to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton requesting Okonmo be refused a visa.

“Tyler the Creator seeks to enter Australia in order to profit from the broadcasting and selling of these lyrics,” she wrote.

“While his activities are therefore commercial, the content of the product he sells propagates discriminatory ideas about women and other groups, and represent a danger to a segment of the Australian community on the potential basis of incitement to acts of hatred.”

On Monday Okonmo took to Twitter to congratulate Ms Alison for her success, though the Department of Immigration has yet to confirm Okonmo will be banned from Australia.

“T IS NOW BANNED FROM AUSTRALIA, YOU WON @coraliealison IM HAPPY FOR YOU <3,” he wrote.

Okonmo’s fans followed by threatening to rape and murder Ms Alison, who retweeted the threats to her followers.

The tweets, many of which were unsuitable for reproduction, included great detail about how the Australian would be murdered and sexually assaulted.

“F***ing kill yourself you worthless peice (sic) of f***ing shit,” @FaythIX wrote.

“Drink bleach and die slut,” @Bigjsweg wrote.

“Take a bath with your toaster please,” @Nacitynac wrote.

“We will all rape you b*tch,” @Aaronboy31098 wrote.

Author and advocate for women Melinda Tankard Reist said the threats were the worst she has ever seen.

“The treatment of Coralie Alison demonstrates what happens to women when they speak out on social media,” she told news.com.au.

“This is just the latest example of the vilification and online hatred, the rape threats, death threats, mutilation threats women receive when they dare have an opinion.

“He has set his attack dogs onto Coralie, illustrating our case (to deny him a visa).

“How can we possibly roll out the red carpet to this women hating rapper who promotes and eroticises and glamorises that very same violence.”

Over 48 hours of non-stop online abuse directed at me and it’s still coming. @fucktyler knew this would be the outcome when he tagged me

— Coralie Alison (@CoralieAlison) July 29, 2015

She said Okonmo “incited discord”, which would put him in breach of a visa.

“We hope Dutton will take urgent action,” Ms Tankard Reist said.

“He is performing at all ages concerts. He is grooming and conditioning and socialising boys to think violence against women is normal and glam.”

It’s not the first time Collective Shout has gone head-to-head with an American rapper.

Last year the group asked then-Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to ban rapper Eminem and had previously tried, unsuccessfully, to have Snoop Dogg’s visa revoked.

In 2013 the group led a similar campaign against Tyler the Creator and its then-campaign leader Talitha Stone was also threatened online.

On Twitter on Thursday Okonmo appeared resigned to the fact he would not be gracing Australian stages in September.

“I am so bummed that I can’t go to a place that I fell in love with,” he wrote.

“But yo, I am not responsible for what others say. No way. Ever.”

I AM SO BUMMED THAT I CANT GO TO A PLACE THAT I FELL IN LOVE WITH, IT SUCKS, BUT YO, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT OTHERS SAY, NO WAY, EVER

— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) July 29, 2015

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Mystery man … Recognise this guy? He’s one of Australia’s most successful, and low-profile, musicians.
Source: News Limited

He was the quiet half of Savage Garden, the member who hated touring so much it led to the demise of the chart-topping band after just two albums (which sold over 20 million copies).

Lucratively and uncommonly, the pair own the rights to their own music, which they haven’t put on streaming sites, and have remastered their albums and released a new singles compilation.

That has got Jones doing his first interview in many years, but he’s politely declined to send updated photos of himself, still happy to live off the radar.

Do you find it funny that people think you’re a mystery man?

People have a misconception about who I actually am. Because Darren was the extrovert at the start of Savage Garden my manager said ‘Whatever you are, turn it up to 100-per-cent’. I said ‘What if I’m a little quieter?’ and he said ‘Turn it up to 100-per-cent’. So I did. I just didn’t say much. And my manager said that’d be easy next to Darren. He was right. It just worked. That was our identity. And by accident really. I am quieter than Darren, he’s a full-on hyperactive person. He gives so much. There is no off button. He’s fantastic at it too. I don’t think I’d like to have the publicity or the profile of a Taylor Swift. I never want that in my life, ever. That’s giving away your freedom and to me there’s no price you could put on that.

Woolly, mammoth … Savage Garden’s Daniel Jones and Darren Hayes sharing a joke.
Source: News Corp Australia

With some distance do you look back on Savage Garden more fondly?

Yeah it’s like a bad road trip. During the time of it happening you think ‘Oh my God, I need to get out of here’ and then five years later it’s the best story you can tell your friends over a drink.

The timing was magic, you had global success at the time people still paid for music and bought albums. You made a living off music. It’s harder to do that now.

We were lucky enough to come in on the last real sexy wave of the music industry. iTunes came out 2001/2002, we’d put the game aside at that point, at least I had, with the band. So we were very fortunate.

You’ve said that Truly Madly Deeply has been a financial gift to you that you can pass on to your kids.

Absolutely. I remind myself of the guy in that Hugh Grant movie Music and Lyrics where he inherited royalties from some old songs. Sometimes I feel like that character in that I’m still getting paid for something I did nearly 20 years ago. That in itself is quite amazing. But it’s how the beast works, it’s how residuals and royalties happen. I’m so appreciative of the fact I’m still getting paid today for something I did so long ago. I did it not to get paid, I did it because I loved doing it. It was that innocent. For someone today to still be putting their hands in their pocket and buying our music, I’m so honoured by that.

At least you’re not making money from Crazy Frog, they’re songs people still love.

I’m sure some of our songs piss a lot of people off!

Are you protective of the Savage Garden legacy? Do you say no to the hits being used on ads for example?

I don’t think I’m as protective as Darren. It always has to be something both he and I agree upon if a song gets used for anything. I’m not overly protective. The fact we wrote and recorded the songs originally, that art is never going to change.

Early days … Savage Garden makin’ some hits in a Brisbane studio, pre world domination and stylists.
Source: News Corp Australia

There was a lot of drama around the split, people think there was a huge falling out with you and Darren.

The truth behind it all is that Darren and I had and still have an amazing amount of respect for each other as people, as human beings. Regardless of our differences, and believe me there are differences. But in some aspects we were very similar at the same time. We don’t really have a relationship anymore, because of the distance and he’s moved on and I’ve moved on, but we still have a great respect for one another. I still hear him speaking highly of me and it’s reciprocated.

You left the band because you didn’t want to tour and hated the spotlight — that’s been more than validated by the fact you’ve pretty much stayed out of the public eye since the band ended.

Absolutely. The one thing I never wanted Darren to think is that it was personal against him. My decision of walking away from the limelight wasn’t directed to anyone but myself and my own happiness. Years later I can tell you I don’t miss that lifestyle. The decision I made back then today is still the right decision. The who said what gets out of control, the reality is I never loved the lifestyle and the existence of touring.

A lot of bands say they will stop when it stops being fun. You actually did.

When it stops being fun it stops being fun. It’s just not for everyone. And you don’t know that until you do it.

Have there been many offers to reform Savage Garden?

There has been, the reality is the band will unfortunately never get back together. What we have to do is remember what we did do, if that’s touched your life to some degree, you’ve got to look back fondly rather than wish for more.

Family time … Jones with wife Kathleen de Leon daughter Mikayla in 2007.
Source: News Limited

You had to listen to the albums again for this project. Were you listening back fondly?

Good question. Sometimes I look back and think `I can’t believe I ever let that go to radio’ and some days I listen to a song and I think `Wow’ because I can’t think of where that came from within me. I do look at it proudly. It depends what mood I’m in on what particular day. Mixed emotions.

Is there one song that you’re most proud of?

A few. One song that was underrated was The Lover After Me on the Affirmation album. Probably my best body of work in the one song was To the Moon and Back. I just feel that was a really credible pop/rock song, it was intellectual yet it was pop. That to me was the guts of what Savage Garden sounded like.

Do you have a favourite of the two albums?

The first one (Savage Garden) by far. I was a lot more involved on the first one. The second one (Affirmation), America got involved, the big time Grammy winning producer got involved, Sony Music got involved, Darren took further control. I felt it kind of slipping from me a little bit, it wasn’t my baby so much anymore. It went from a baby to a toddler who could start to do things for themselves. I felt like I nurtured the first album, I felt it was more me than the second album, which is a little bit selfish I guess.

Have you followed Darren’s solo career?

I haven’t, to be honest. I heard the Spin album. I fell off the face of the Earth from music, it’s not just Darren’s music I haven’t heard it’s everyone’s music.

Loved up … The most recent picture of Daniel Johns and Kathleen de Leon Jones is this one, from 2008.
Source: News Limited

So what does Daniel Jones do now?

There’s not a lot of mystery about it. I’m number one a father, number two a husband and number three I dabble in property. Music is sitting on the backburner now. I still enjoy it, I still write and record and play around with it purely for fun, the same way I did 20 years ago with Darren. But I don’t take it as seriously any more as far as the dream I dreamt. Which I realised wasn’t really my ideal dream. The dream I’m dreaming now is another one I’ve dreamt but I’m happy and that is a family. Two beautiful daughters and a beautiful wife, everything’s good.

You’ve got two kids, you must hear modern music?

My kids are oddballs. I’ve got a wife (Kathleen de Leon Jones, formerly of the children’s group Hi-5) into musical theatre. I hear the Wicked soundtrack, my kids are nuts for Xanadu and Grease. Yes I hear Taylor Swift, think she’s fantastic, a great songwriter. But I still hear people from the `70s saying there won’t be music like there was in the `70s and I kind of agree. The sound of music from the `70s and some of the `80s, I don’t think can ever be replaced. Nothing will ever come close to that. I’m a bit of a throwback guy.

What’s worse, the sharks in the music industry or in real estate?

Ha! Real estate is easier. Buy low, sell high.

So you’re flipping houses?

Yep. I’m pretty good on the tools and quite hands on. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed doing hard work. I’ll be painting one day, putting up stud work one day, plastering the next day. I’m doing that on houses mainly through Las Vegas where I purchase them at a low deflated price and then hold onto them and flip them. I’ve got a small crew who work with me … for me. It’s so far away from music right?

On the town … The pair also pictured in 2008 before their move to California.
Source: News Corp Australia

You had a record label for a while back there …

Yeah, for me, honestly, I came out of the touring world and thought I wanted to pass onto others the experience I was given that, to a certain degree, I felt guilty that I’d got. I didn’t really embrace it the way others perhaps would or would want to. So I thought what can I do to give back? And basically the reality is I spent a whole lot of money on projects that never really went anywhere. I couldn’t keep doing that forever otherwise I’d end up with no money. I had every good intention to give back and give people opportunities but the reality is it didn’t go so well.

Do your kids know what you used to do for a living?

To a certain degree. They know more what mum did because she was in Hi-5. My eldest likes a couple of Savage Garden songs, there’s a video or two on the iPod. I’d love to sit them down and watch our live DVD with them. But they have an attention span of about ten seconds and then they’re gone.

How long will you be in America for?

We’ve been in Las Vegas for five years and we were in LA before that. I thoroughly enjoy living here but I miss Australia a lot. Kathleen and I were talking seriously about when we’d move back. In the back of both of our minds there’s a return trip home. We’re an oddball family. I was born in England, Kathleen was born in the Philippines, my eldest daughter was born in Sydney and my other daughter was born in LA. None of us were born in the same country, only one of us is a true Australian, but it is our home. Our parents are there, our siblings are there. I miss Australia a lot.

Singles (Roadshow) is out now as well as remastered versions of Savage Garden and Affirmation.

Superstar and cannonballs … Daniel Jones on stage in 2000, Savage Garden’s final tour.
Source: News Limited

www.news.com.au/entertainment/music

Jackie Trent was distraught when her songwriting work was overlooked, while her ex-husband received accolades. Picture: Adam Head
Source: News Limited

The woman whose lyrics are still heard around the world on the Neighbours theme was losing her long battle with illness.

There was no fanfare for Jackie Trent’s cremation. The only mourners were her devastated husband, Colin Gregory, and her two children, Michelle and Darren, from previous marriages.

It was a sad and inauspicious end for the once-famous and successful singer-songwriter, who early in her career had managed the seemingly impossible task of dislodging the Beatles from the top of the British charts.

Not only was Trent the lyricist on hits such as Don’t Sleep in the Subway and Colour My World, she also dated Elvis Presley, worked with Frank Sinatra and counted Sammy Davis Jr as a friend.

“Jackie was a true star,” her oldest friend, Margo Thatcher, recalls. “She was glamorous and talented. It’s no wonder so many people loved her.”

In her later life, Jackie had slipped into obscurity, retiring to the Spanish island of Menorca, battling ill health brought on by her addiction to alcohol and cigarettes.

Lurking, too, in the background was an expensive and heartbreaking legal battle with her ex-husband, Tony Hatch, over the rights to some of their many hits.

They had split in the most acrimonious fashion on Jackie’s 55th birthday, when her husband announced he was ending their 30 years of marriage and leaving her for a mutual friend he had secretly loved for many years.

British-born Trent was once the toast of the town in Sydney where she and Hatch made their life together for more than a decade in the 1980s.

There, Hatch and Trent were regular fixtures in the social pages performing at Carols by Candlelight, doing charity work for the Variety Club and enjoying late-night sessions around the piano with their friends Maria Venuti and Barry Crocker.

Jackie Trent with then-husband Tony Hatch in 1983.

It was during their years in Australia that the couple were invited by another friend, producer Reg Grundy, to write a theme song for his new series tentatively titled Ramsay St.

Trent was later to reveal that it was her idea to rename the show Neighbours after arguing that Grundy’s original title sounded too similar to the British soap Coronation St.

Trent also claimed to have written those famous Neighbours lyrics while peeling the vegetables for dinner.

And then inviting their own neighbour, Crocker, over to record it for them and make TV history in the process.

This sort of star-studded anecdote was once commonplace for Trent, who spent her earliest years rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous in London and abroad.

Venuti says the couple were quickly accepted into their adopted home in Australia, winning over friends with their talent, generosity and love of a good time.

Maria remembers the couple fondly and still keeps in touch with Hatch.

“I wish it could have been a happier ending for her,” Venuti says.

“I liked her a lot. And I think it’s fair to say she never got the recognition she deserved.

“I like to think she will live on through the beautiful lyrics she wrote to those iconic songs.”

Neighbours theme writer Jackie Trent with entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.

CERTAINLY, it stung Trent when, in 2013, Hatch was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York and she didn’t receive so much as an invitation.

Most of Hatch’s best-known music had been accompanied by lyrics written by Jackie Trent.

Together they had been a tour de force musically and were at the peak of their professional powers when they were performing together.

To outsiders they were Mr and Mrs Music. Hatch at the piano and Trent by his side belting out songs from a catalogue that numbered 400 or more.

After the split, Trent eventually found happiness again when she met Colin Gregory, a retired policeman, at Luton airport while they were both waiting for an early morning flight to Spain.

But the wounds of her marital split 10 years earlier continued to weigh heavily on her.

“Jackie was easily the most spontaneous warm and sincere person anyone could meet,” Mr Gregory recalls with great affection.

“Plenty of fans out there who met her around the world will testify to that. She loved everyone and, I think, she trusted everyone, sadly.

“She immediately gave me her heart, her life and her full commitment: can you believe that of a world icon?”

Giving up his life in the UK to settle in Spain with Trent, Mr Gregory made it his mission to help her get back on track, starting by taking legal action against Hatch over seven songs Trent long insisted they wrote together.

Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch, right, with actor Philip Quast and singer Judi Connelli.

Hatch disputed Trent’s claims and the matter remains in court. Gregory says he will pursue the fight for Trent’s “professional reputation” even though she has gone.

Her husband admits that ultimately his love was not enough to save Trent from herself.

“Jackie died of a broken heart: aided and abetted by alcohol and cigarettes,” he said.

“Any why wouldn’t she, after what she’s endured, certainly over the past 20 years?”

In an exclusive excerpt from the memoirs Trent penned before her death and which are yet to be released, she describes her devastation at discovering Hatch was in love with her friend Maggie Clough, the woman he would later marry.

She writes of confronting her husband on the dance floor after noticing him spending “too much” time with Clough.

According to Trent, it ended there: “I just stood there on the dancefloor, like a piece of stone, while he walked away.”

The breaku-p took its toll on Trent’s health and she became so depressed that she once claimed it left her bedridden, blind and having to be handfed by her mother.

Even in her last weeks, Trent was emailing her old friend, Margo Thatcher, detailing her ongoing distress and anger over the breakup with Hatch.

Adding fuel to the fire was the ongoing legal battle over the credits to those seven songs.

“She never got over it,” Margo Thatcher said.

“She gave her best years to Tony. It was devastating. When they met, she was the star. He was just the guy at the piano.

“She had so much personality and talent. And she was so glamorous. She always looked immaculate. One look at her and you could see she was a star.”

Ms Thatcher, who met Trent when they were teenagers entertaining troops overseas in the 1950s, says Hatch had been a notorious womaniser throughout their marriage but Trent had turned a blind eye because she loved him.

She says the former couple were happy together but Hatch’s infidelities and their penchant for partying probably took its toll on the relationship.

Given the animosity between the pair, Ms Thatcher said she was stunned when she read, on Hatch’s Facebook page, that he had planned to attend Trent’s memorial in Menorca until he was warned by Mr Gregory to stay away.

Worse still, she couldn’t believe that he had planned to bring his wife, the woman for whom had left Trent all those years ago.

Ms Thatcher was so incensed by what she perceived to be Hatch’s insensitivity that she took him to task publicly on Facebook and was promptly unfriended.

Hatch has stayed silent on his relationship with Trent and the ongoing legal stoush, declining several requests to be interviewed for this article.

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford said blog posts that Trent posted in her final years revealed her heartache and the solace she had sought in drinking.

“It (the break-up) was a personal loss as well as a professional loss that came at a time when she was getting older and so the work opportunities had already begun to dry up,” Ford said.

“It’s ultimately a very sad story. The anniversary of Neighbours perhaps gave her death some gravitas because without that she had largely been forgotten.”

Originally published as True star who died of a broken heart
www.news.com.au/entertainment/music

Second chance … Could Jessica Mauboy be back at Eurovision this year but this time as a contestant for Australia? Picture: Ragnar Singsaas / Getty Images.
Source: Supplied

SBS will reveal the artist and song to represent Australia at the world’s most prized music competition at the Sydney Opera House this morning.

Fans fave … Minogue has ruled herself out of Eurovision contention despite a fan-lead campaign. Picture: Henning Bagger / AFP
Source: AFP

Minogue was a strong contender among fans, who organised a petition campaign on her behalf, and organisers with SBS managing director Michael Ebeid joking that she would be our best bet to gain a boost in votes from the UK.

But the 46-year-old pop superstar is just a tad busy on her own world tour to be able to devote the weeks of rehearsals required for a Eurovision performance.

“That’s not going to happen,” Minogue said.

“It’s amazing how everyone is getting behind it and I’m very touched they all thought I could do it. I think it’ll be amazing to have someone else do it and I’ll be supporting them 100%,” she said.

“It’s such a huge event. I think Australia will be in with a shot of doing really well. We had prawns on bicycles at he Olympics I’m sure we can do something as spectacular as that for Eurovision.”

Pick me! Singer Megan Washington can do a song and dance number as good as anyone in the country. Picture: Justin Lloyd
Source: News Limited

Having represented us at last year’s event in Copenhagen with Sea Of Flags, Mauboy seemed to firm in the running because of her experience and the fact she is currently writing new songs for her next album.

Washington made herself available via social media, announcing her desire to represent her country with ‘JUST LET ME DO EUROVISION OK’

She would be an extremely viable choice considering she can pull off a grand Broadway-style performance, as demonstrated when she was about the only great moment at the plagued 2010 ARIA Awards.

Triple threat … Kate Miller-Heidke has the songwriting, singing and drama chops to pull off a great Eurovision spot. But not the money. Picture: Tara Croser.
Source: News Corp Australia

It is believed representatives for Kate Miller-Heidke were approached to gauge her desire to take on the challenge.

The prodigiously talented pop star who is currently celebrating the success of her score and performance in new opera production The Rabbits would be the perfect candidate for Eurovision.

But it is believed her independent status ruled her out as SBS required the artist or their representatives to contribute to costs associated with travelling and performing in Vienna.

Organisers met with the bosses of the four major labels based in Australia — Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner — to discuss the availability of their artists.

Publishers were also sounded out to find the perfect song for the contest.

Early contender … Karise Eden’s name was on organiser’s long list for Eurovision. Picture: Supplied.
Source: AAP

Euro-Aussie … Anja Nissen has the pipes and the presence for Eurovision. Picture: Supplied.
Source: News Corp Australia

Former The Voice winners Karise Eden and Anja Nissen are believed to have been considered in the early stages of casting.

But the short odds remain on Sebastian, who was spotted meeting with his manager Titus Day and SBS bosses at the headquarters of his label Sony just days after the announcement Australia would be going to Eurovision.

Is he the Guy? Sebastian was spotted meeting with Eurovision organisers at his label headquarters. Picture: Bianca De Marchi.
Source: News Corp Australia

Sebastian is not only adept at big event gigs — a prerequisite for the drama demanded by the multi-million dollar Eurovision production — but he has just finished his national tour and always has new songs in his vault.

He would also have the required backing of Sony who would be keen to use the performance to launch his career in Europe.

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Rising star … R’n’B singer and songwriter Tinashe put critics on notice with debut record Aquarius. Picture: Sam Ruttyn.
Source: News Limited

Milking the applause pause has become standard schtick at most pop concerts — we’re looking at you Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kylie, Katy Perry and One Direction — but it was the first time the 22-year-old triple threat had received such hysterical adulation.

“Taylor Swift is the Queen of that. ‘Oh, you are all here for me?’” she said, laughing.

Applause pause … Taylor Swift and her fellow pop stars will let the fans cheer. And cheer. And cheer. Picture: Nick Milligan.
Source: News Limited

“They were screaming for three minutes and I was ‘OK, thank you. Enough, you guys.’”

She will get used to it.

The talented singer, songwriter and dancer is set for a breakthrough year thanks to her current hit 2 On with rapper Schoolboy Q and will open for Australian hip hop chartslayer Iggy Azalea on her American arena tour in April.

She also has co-written on the recent hit albums for Calvin Harris (Dollar Signs) and visiting American girl group Fifth Harmony (Them Girls be Like).

And eagle-eyed television trainspotters will recognise her as Jake’s girlfriend Celeste in Two And A Half Men.

But it was her debut record Aquarius released late last year which had critics and fans proclaiming her as an artist to watch in 2015.

Triple threat … Tinashe hits the stage as hard as the charts and will open for Iggy Azalea’s on her US tour. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied

Tinashe said the challenge was now to not be a “fad artist” after the success of 2 On and her other “featuring hit” Pretend with A$ AP Rocky.

“I don’t know why but female artists have a lot of a harder time than male artists to reach a level where people take them seriously,” she said.

“For some reason, they never feel there’s room for everyone, that if there is a Beyonce or Rihanna, there can’t be another female artist like them. Oh, we already have Katy Perry.”

When she is not on a stage, Tinashe spends most of her time in the studio working on songs for her next album, her regular mixtapes or other artists.

“In this day and age, there’s a sense everyone has super ADHD; there’s new music available every single day,” she said.

“It is importantant to be releasing (music) consistently.”

Tinashe performs at the Metro in Sydney on Wednesday and The Hi-Fi in Melbourne on Friday.

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Solo tour … Midge Ure has reinterpreted his most famous songs for world acoustic tour. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied

But not Midge Ure for his solo tour. The former Visage and Ultravox frontman, the man partly responsible for one of the biggest charity hits in history — Do They Know It’s Christmas? — is travelling the world alone.

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Legend returns … Former Ultravox singer and Do They Know Its Christmas writer Midge Ure in Australia in April. Picture: Supplied
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He is also booking his own flights and hotels, lugging his own baggage and instruments and driving his own hire cars.

Before you jump to any conclusions about his sanity or financial health, there is a method to Ure’s madness.

He has become a regular guest lecturer at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and other “fame” schools and decided he better be telling it like it is to the starry-eyed students.

Talking about his experiences of the music industry as a recording artist would be irrelevant to these millennials because “there isn’t an industry anymore”.

“They aren’t going to walk out of college with a piece of paper and get a five-album deal,” he says.

Further fearing graduates would be well-skilled in the songwriting and production departments but not in the realities of the touring musician, Ure decided to give himself a crash course in Gigs 101.

Charity legend … Adam Ant and Elton John with Live Aid bosses Midge Ure and Bob Geldof. Picture: Supplied.
Source: News Corp Australia

He didn’t have to do it — he has people.

“Yeah maybe I could have made it up and sat at home in bath, got on the internet and blogged about how tough it was in Arizona,” he says, laughing.

Instead, he got on the internet in his home in bath and searched for cheap flights and car rental deals for his Fragile Troubadour tour of America last month.

He filmed the experience for a documentary which one senses will eventually screen beyond his college classes.

“I am quite good at spending time on my own. And I quite enjoyed the process of doing this. Maybe if I had to do it, it might not have been fun,” he says.

“I didn’t leave things to chance — I can’t stand that sensation of the mad panic so I would get to the airport two hours before.

Organiser … Ure planned everything precisely to avoid any mad panic. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied

“At least I was smart enough to tour the warm parts of America in the middle of winter.”

While his DIY solo tour doco will no doubt prove educational for future students, it is likely they will also be keen to hear the untold stories from a man who has enjoyed an illustrious career from co-founding Visage in the late 1970s, playing with Thin Lizzy, creating Ultravox, co-writing that charity hit and right up to releasing his latest solo record Fragile last year.

His current world tour draws from his entire repertoire and the Scottish musician and writer said the acoustic show allows him the flexibility to play any one of 100 songs as it occurs to me, or the audience demands.

Considering much of his early work was of a pioneering electronica nature, you can’t help but wonder how Fade To Cry or the epic Vienna are reimagined as acoustic pieces.

Ure said it took much trial and error to figure it out.

I was doing a tour in America many years ago, it was four singer songwriters and all the way across America I kept being told I needed to do Vienna,” he says.

Brownie points … Ure introduced his daughters to Ed Sheeran which put him in the good books with his daughters. Picture: Supplied
Source: Supplied

“But I didn’t know how to go about it, I couldn’t get out of the arrangement, the heartbeat and the bass drum and the viola. I tried it but it was pretty ropey.

“By the end of the tour, I got a handle on it and I realised, that because the majority of the audience knew the song, they heard all the parts in their head.”

Another of his hits, Do The Know It’s Christmas? got a reworking last year to raise funds to fight the ebola crisis in Africa.

Ure laughs when asked if he had any diplomatic missions in a room which included ex-boyfriends and girlfriends and chart competitors.

But he did have to soothe some nerves when the song’s younger contributors found out all some of their pre-recording research was redundant as he had tweaked some lyrics.

All of the hysteria around the recording paled when he scored Father Of The Year points introducing his daughters to their favourite pop star Ed Sheeran.

“Oh I went up in their estimation. Almost as much as the day one of my daughters found an old chart when she was rummaging in the loft. She came downstairs saying ‘Dad the chart says your record is above David Bowie’s. How did that happen?’”

* Midge Ure performs at The Basement on April 12 and Lizottes, Newcastle on April 15.

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