Mike Brady (musician)#Early life and career
{{Short description|Australian singer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
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| name = Mike Brady
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AM}}
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| birth_name = Michael Brady
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|2|28}}
| birth_place = England
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| occupation = Musician, radio presenter
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Michael Brady {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 28 February 1948) is an English-born Australian musician, most commonly associated with the Australian rules football anthems "Up There Cazaly", referring to 1910s St Kilda and 1920s South Melbourne player Roy Cazaly, and "One Day in September", which were released by The Two-Man Band. Both songs have become synonymous with Australian rules football and are traditionally sung on AFL Grand Final day in September.
Biography
=1948–1977: Early life and early releases=
Brady was born in England in 1948 and migrated to Australia in the 1950s with his family. His first job was at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory in Port Melbourne, Victoria, as a sheet metal worker.[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/queens-birthday-honours-2013/brady-gets-up-their-into-the-honours/story-fniq0r66-1226660956234 Brady gets up there into the honours | The Australian 10 June 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013] He started performing when he was 15 and he was one-third of the 1960s pop act MPD Ltd (which stood for Mike, Pete [Watson] and Danny [Finley]) which had hits in Australia including "Little Boy Sad" and "Lonely Boy". The band toured Australia and the U.K. Brady also toured Vietnam entertaining troops, with a different band which included Wayne Duncan, Gary Howard and country brother and sister act Ricki and Tammy.
After the breakup of MPD Ltd., Brady released two singles which reached the Australian top 50 and sang backing vocals for Renée Geyer's second album It's a Man's Man's World.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-a-mans-mans-world-mw0000471875/credits |title=It's a Man's Man's World – Renée Geyer {{!}} Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=1 June 2023 }} In the mid-1970s, Brady started his own record company called "Full Moon Records" and a publishing company called "Remix Publishing".{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
=1978–1980: Two-Man Band & "Up There Cazaly"=
{{main|The Two-Man Band}}
In 1978, The Mojo Singers had reached the top of the Australian charts with the single "C'mon Aussie C'mon" which had been written to promote World Series Cricket, shown on Channel Nine. Seven Network reached out to Brady to write a jingle for the Victorian Football League (VFL), which Brady wrote "Up There Cazaly", referencing footballer Roy Cazaly. He worked with Pete Sullivan on recording the jingle.
The popularity of the jingle led to the release of the song in July 1979 credited to The Two-Man Band and it reached #1 on the Australian charts in September 1979 and was the most popular single recorded by an Australian artist that year. The song became the highest selling Australian single ever with sales of over 240,000 as of October 1979{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1979/CB-1979-10-13.pdf|title=Up There Brady|magazine=Cash Box|via=World Radio History|page=50|date=13 October 1979|access-date= 1 December 2021}} and 260,000 as of the end of 1980.{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1981/CB-1981-02-14.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|title=International Dateline|via=World Radio History|page=38|date=14 February 1981|access-date=4 December 2021}}
The Two-Man Band released a further three top 100 singles in 1980 and 1981.
=1981–present: Continued success=
In July 1981, Brady released, Mike Brady Presents: The Songs of Football's Greatest, an album referencing numerous VFL players. the album peaked at number 44 on the ARIA Charts.
In 1982 Brady wrote "You're Here to Win" as the theme song for the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
Brady has continued to work in advertising, writing jingles such as "Dodo, Dodo, internet that flies" for Dodo Internet and "Lucky you're with AAMI".[http://www.theage.com.au/news/Livewire/Settling-the-score/2005/06/14/1118645815412.html "Settling the score" by Denis Brown, Melbourne Age 16 June 2005]
In 1987, Brady recorded versions of all of the VFL team's theme songs for an album in 1987. Brady also co-wrote and produced another popular AFL (Australian Football League) jingle, "That's What I Like About Football", sung by Greg Champion.
In 2003, "Up There Cazaly" was reworked as "Up There Australia" to show support for Australian troops in the War of Iraq in 2003.
In addition to his jingle writing and performing, Brady also works at Melbourne radio station, 3AW He is the host of Mike to Midnight, Saturday nights from 6pm until Midnight, during the non-football months and occasionally fills in on other 3AW programs such as Nightline.[http://www.3aw.com.au/mike-brady-profile/20080823-40vt.html Mike Brady: Profile | 3AW website. Retrieved 11 June 2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426085516/http://www.3aw.com.au/mike-brady-profile/20080823-40vt.html |date=26 April 2013 }}
Brady is also the chairman of [http://www.cogmetrix.com.au Cogmetrix], a predictive people analytics company that uses cognitive neuroscience software for talent management; recruitment, productivity and organisational development.
Brady has for a number of years sung the Australian national anthem before the start of the Puffing Billy Great Train Race in Belgrave.[https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/racing-billy-leaves-thousands-puffing-20130505-2j1ig.html "Racing Billy leaves thousands puffing" by Caroline Zielinski, The Age 5 May 2013]
Community and charity work
Brady is a board member on the Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia Victorian Board and has performed at many men's health events.[http://www.theage.com.au/national/jingle-writer-takes-charity-seriously-20130609-2nxyr.html Jingle writer takes charity seriously | The Age 10 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013] He has been a board director of Variety Victoria and is a Life Member of the organisation.[http://www.variety.org.au/VIC/About-us/Board/Life-Members/ Variety Life Members | Variety Victoria. Retrieved 10 June 2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319213010/http://www.variety.org.au/VIC/About-us/Board/Life-Members/ |date=19 March 2012 }}
Brady is a patron of the Bali Children Foundation and the Australian Huntington's Disease Association (Vic), and is involved with the Bluearth Foundation, Melbourne Legacy and the Yooralla Society. He is also an Australia Day ambassador.
Personal life
Brady lives in Melbourne, Australia. He has four children, including Michael Brady Jr., a maritime history researcher and illustrator that runs the YouTube channel Oceanliner Designs.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of albums, with selected details and chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions |
| scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:90%" | AUS {{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|authorlink=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=44}} |
|---|
| scope="row" | Invisible Man
|
| — |
| scope="row" | Mike Brady Presents: The Songs of Football's Greatest
|
| 44 |
| scope="row" | Country to Country
|
| — |
| scope="row" | Bloodlines (The Australian Irish Story)
|
| — |
=Extended plays=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of EPs, with selected details ! Title ! EP details |
| scope="row" | Up There Mike Brady
|
|
|---|
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:25em;" | Title ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
| scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:90%"| AUS {{cite Ryan|page=300}} |
|---|
| rowspan="2" | 1970
! scope="row" | "Finger Poppin'" / "Big White Bird" | 76 | rowspan="4" {{Non-album singles}} |
| scope="row" | "Sympathy"
| 42 |
| 1971
! scope="row" | "Oh Lord, Why Lord" | 50 |
| 1972
! scope="row" | "Hello Mum" | — |
| 1981
! scope="row" | "The Cube" / "The Headless Horsemen" | — | |
| 1982
! scope="row" | "You're Here to Win" | 49 | |
| 1988
! scope="row" | "We'll Be There" | — | |
| 1995
! scope="row" | "The Diggers Legacy (How Could We Forget)" | — | rowspan="7" {{Non-album singles}} |
| 1998
! scope="row" | "Courage in Their Eyes" | — |
| 1999
! scope="row" | "Up There Cazaly '99" (with Haley White) | 78 |
| 2014
! scope="row" | "Up There Cazaly" (re-release){{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/up-there-cazaly-35th-year-anniversary-2014-single/919032113|title= Up There Cazaly|website=Apple Music|accessdate=15 September 2020}} | — |
| 2017
! scope="row" | "Come My Children" {{small|(live - featuring Russell Morris)}}{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/come-my-children-live-feat-russell-morris-single/1264257493|title= Come My Children|website=Apple Music|date=May 2017|accessdate=15 September 2020}} | — |
| 2018
! scope="row" | "This Place"{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/this-place-single/1439762462|title= This Place |website=Apple Music|date=October 2018|accessdate=15 September 2020}} | — |
| 2019
! scope="row" | "When I Was Young"{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/when-i-was-young-single/1481174371|title= When I Was Young |website=Apple Music|date=September 2019|accessdate=15 September 2020}} | — |
=See also=
Honours and awards
In the 2013 Queens Birthday Honours List, Mike Brady was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) "For significant service to the community, and to music as a composer and performer".[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/queens-birthday-honours-list-2013/story-fni0xqrb-1226661027332 Queen's Birthday Honours List 2013 | Herald Sun 10 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013]
In 2017 he was named Victorian of the Year by the Victoria Day Council.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}
=TV Week / Countdown Awards=
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.{{Cite web | url = http://www.countdownmemories.com/magazines/pdfs/1987_03.pdf | title = Countdown to the Awards | work = Countdown Magazine |date=March 1987 | publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) | format = Portable document format (PDF) | accessdate = 16 December 2010 }}
{{awards table}}
|-
| 1979
| himself
| Most Outstanding Achievement
| {{nom}}
|-
{{end}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/02/1048962816264.html "Footy anthem boost for troops" Melbourne Age 3 April 2003]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060225174128/http://www.boomerangbooks.com/reviews/up_there_mike_brady.htm Book review of Up There Mike Brady]
- [http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/whats-a-matter-you-hey/2005/07/23/1121539192279.html "Whats a matter you, hey" Melbourne Age 24 July 2005]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130426085516/http://www.3aw.com.au/mike-brady-profile/20080823-40vt.html 3AW personalities Mike Brady]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050703161353/http://www.shock.com.au/releases/info.asp?release_ID=90276 Shock Records information on 1999 version of "Up There Cazaly"]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051122022138/http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/AUS/79.htm Oz Net Music Charts Top Hits of 1979]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051029215757/http://www.australiaday.vic.gov.au/events_ambassadors_details.asp?view=130 Australia Day ambassador page on Mike Brady]
- [http://www.mikebradybloodlines.com.au/ "Mike Brady Bloodlines"]
- [http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/afls-music-man-mike-brady-has-an-irish-awakening-20141016-1168uh.html "AFL's music man Mike Brady has an Irish awakening" Sydney Morning Herald 18 October 2014]
Further reading
- Noel Delbridge Up There, Mike Brady, Coulomb Communications Port Melbourne Victoria {{ISBN|0-9580737-4-0}}
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Category:English emigrants to Australia
Category:Australian male singers