Mark Opitz and the inside story of making the great albums of Oz rock.
Iβd like to take this opportunity to say my career wouldnβt be anything without Mark Opitz, and I say that on behalf of many Australian musicians.
-Jimmy Barnes
From Cold Chisel to The Angels, from AC/DC to INXS to Australian Crawl, Mark Opitz has left an indelible imprint on the Australian music scene. The producer of such iconic albums as Cold Chiselβs East, The Angelsβ Face to Face, INXSβ Shabooh Shoobah and Jimmy Barnesβ Bodyswerve, Opitz is one of the most influential figures in the history of Oz Rock.
Sophistopunk tells Opitzβs remarkable story, from his early days serving a musical apprenticeship as an engineer with AC/DC, under the legendary producers Harry Vanda and George Young. Opitz soon struck out on his own with a little-known Adelaide band, The Angels. He helped shape the groupβs trademark edgy sound β Mark described it as βsophistopunkβ β which propelled The Angels to rock stardom and launched his extraordinary career.
Filled with frequently hilarious, sometimes poignant, anecdotes about Markβs experiences recording with Australiaβs rock greats, this book is a unique journey inside the bands, tours and studios of the music that defined an Australian generation.