Paper paradise: Confessions of a rock 'n' roll survivor

by Glenn Wheatley

This is a story of a true rock n roll survivor, Glenn Wheatley, who went from a working class childhood to rock n roll stardom in the 1960s and early 1970s as a member of one of Australia's most successful early rock and roll bands, the Masters' Apprentices, recently immortalised in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

From rock star to celebrity manager in the 1970s he built the careers of some of the most popular bands here and in the United States, including Little River Band, friend and fellow survivor John Farnham, top entertainers and sports personalities. In the 1980s he became a pioneer of FM radio, recording producer and a millionaire entrepreneur, complete with all the trappings - a celebrity wife, a Toorak mansion with a $50,000 barbacue and a Port Douglas condo next door to his mate Christopher Skase - a business wheeler and dealer and listed in the BRW"S Top 200 and tipped to become one of the most powerful people in the music industry and pioneer of FM radio, to a bankrupt.

Then he lost it all, living hand to mouth for six long years. Once over, he brushed himself off and began the long climb back to the top. Today he is free of his creditors and planning bigger and better things.

401 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Glenn Dawson Wheatley was an Australian musician and talent manager. Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s and in the late 1960s became nationally famous in the leading pop/rock band The Masters Apprentices as bass guitarist. He subsequently formed a media empire which included radio stations and artists management. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Miranda Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

PAPER PARADISE- Do What You Want To Do
Glenn Wheatley
Wilkinson Publishing
This is a hidden Music Industry Manual of Do’s and Don’ts written by a man who climbed the heights and clearly loved his chosen field. Gudinski, Geffen, George Martin and Molly stories are all in there, side by side with mentions of all the Aussie bands and songs you love.
Glenn Wheatley sadly passed in Feb of 2022, leaving behind this amazing story filled with stunning achievements, awesome deal manoeuvres and some serious and very public mistakes. He writes clearly and honestly and actually very sweetly, his love of music and family and friends is to be admired.
He was the original bass player for Australian Chart topping band ‘The Masters Apprentices’, manager to both John Farnham and Little River Band and credited with launching the career of Delta and a radio consortium now part of Triple M. He was ballsy, clever and adventurous in his moves, dealing with all the big players and attracted dear and life long friends like John Farnham, who Wheatley famously monumentally backed by selling his own house to fund the classic ‘Whispering Jack’ album. Great call Glenn. This book also dips into his dark times due to tax evasion and within the pages he writes of those who supported him when he stood up for a well-deserved second chance.
The Bass player is like the drummer in a band- the backbone, the beat that keeps everything going- Wheatley was that for so many people and this book is a window into a life well lived and a life that leaves a legacy to the Australian Music Industry.
4 stars
M.Young

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An autobiography provides a tempting opportunity for self-aggrandizement, one which this author fails to resist. (Elvis Costello's Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink is a great example of succeeding.) And I have certainly never read another person boasting so often of being proud of himself. They do say that pride is the mother of all sins, mate. The final 3rd of the book chronicles Wheatley's financial struggles, which were clearly not all of his own making. But, by the end, I felt like I had gone through them as well. Pity. The early sections inside the Oz music industry of the 60s & 70s were turbo-charged & fascinating.