User Reviews

It's about time a film was made about the amazing but true story of the Easybeats, one of Australia's most important rock bands. An unlikely group of working class immigrants who met by chance in a Sydney migrant hostel, they had a worldwide hit with the single Friday On My Mind in the 1960s. William Rush is outstanding in the lead role of George Young, the guitar and songwriting genius who drove the band to success. Rush plays Young as a tough, wisecracking Scottish immigrant who is also super smart and very driven. Rush stands out in every scene he's in. The character's maturity, despite his youth, is a sharp contrast to Stevie Wright, played by Christian Byers. Wright is portrayed as the villain, in a way. He has the charisma and singing ability to draw people to the band. He can be charming and cheeky. But he is just not reliable, and he spoils all the wonderful chances he gets, after the band moves to London, by turning to drugs and bedding women. He keeps threatening to return to Australia and can't see the big picture. Young has to ditch him as a songwriting partner. It's a tragedy. You wonder whether, if the Easybeats had had a more solid lead singer, they would have gone on to more success. In the end, they had a paltry few hundred dollars to show for all their fantastic pop songs. They broke up after only a few years together. But maybe they were too hard on themselves. They were competing against the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and many other incredible bands. They did give it a shot. The Easybeats' songs are shown off with fantastic staging and sound in this mini-series. It's not easy to make a biopic but somehow the mini-series comes across as affectionate without being too hokey or nasty. The other band members have some good scenes, such as Dick Diamonde (Du Toit Bredenkamp) who, interestingly,had to deal with his mother's strict religious beliefs - she thought rock music was the work of the devil. Also memorable is the band's Australian record producer Ted Albert (Ashley Zukerman) who comes across as a wonderful person. From a posh background, the son of a music publishing dynasty, he somehow clicked with Young, a working class Glaswegian, and fellow Easybeat, Dutch immigrant Harry Vanda, and was a strong support for the band. Albert is the exact opposite of the clichéd sleazy record company producer, and he would go on to work with Vanda and Young for decades, producing bands such as AC/DC. So there was a happy ending, after all.