HIGH FIDELITY MOMENT With Darryl Bailey, EMI Music Australia’s Director of Publicity and Promotions.

August 11th, 2011 | By

1. Driving down the Gateway Motorway with Paul Kelly in the backseat of my car rehearsing some cover versions of songs that he was about to perform at the ABC. “Long May You Run”, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “Me & Bobby McGee” and an original “They Thought I Was Asleep” thrown in for good measure. How could anything I hear in my car again top that. Best look was when I went through the toll gates to pay.

2. Sitting around a table in a Brisbane hotel with Neil & Tim Finn during their “Everyone Is Here” Finn Brothers tour. We were waiting for a journalist to arrive so the brothers Finn decide to write their set list for the evenings show. Where to start…..and where to finish! Just watching Neil write them down was something I will never forget. Tim got in “Shark Attack” for that night which was amazing.

3. I was lucky enough to be invited into the backstage area for The Rolling Stones Forty Licks tour. They have this set up called The Shebeen Lounge which is just a fancy catering room….with everything you could possibly want! I was walking along the bain marie’s serving up my plate with Charlie Watts right behind me. I came to the chicken breast…..one left…..what should I do. I had the spinach cannelloni instead. I think he appreciated it.

4. Every time Grant McLennan dropped into the office was always a moment for me. He loved to raid the CD cupboard for new releases. His appetite for new music was ferocious. Robert Forster said that Grant was his best sounding board for new music because he would filter out all the crap.

5. Hanging with Katy Perry’s Mum and Dad in Cleveland Ohio the week her single “I Kissed A Girl” went #1 on the Billboard chart. After a day of promo with Katy and then standing side of stage at her Van Warped performance (yep…..Katy played Vans Warped) and watching the crowd go nuts when she launched into the song I thought, it’s not every day you get to be this close to a bit of pop culture history.