The T. F. Much Ballroom or Too Fucking Much Ballroom was a music and cultural institution in Melbourne from 1970 to 1974. The venue was promoted by Bani McSpedden and
John Pinder, initially to raise money for a Carlton youth club. Its successors were Much More Ballroom and Stoned Again.
History
The full name of the music venue was Too Fucking Much Ballroom, which was usually abbreviated to T. F. Much Ballroom, and began in 1970 at
Central Hall in
Brunswick Street, Fitzroy with Bani McSpedden and
John Pinder as promoters.
Later incarnations included the Much More Ballroom, and Stoned Again.
Bands which frequently performed at the venue were
Sons of the Vegetal Mother
Sons of the Vegetal Mother (also known as The Vegetals to fans) were an Australian "esoteric special-occasion progressive band", formed in late 1969, with a floating line-up based around the nucleus of Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford. A side-proj ...
(and its offshoot,
Daddy Cool),
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
(and its offshoot,
Indelible Murtceps
The Indelible Murtceps were an Australian progressive rock and dance-pop band, which formed, as a side project of Spectrum, in October 1971. Sometimes referred to as the shortened name, Murtceps, they were "a stripped-back version... hatcould pl ...
), and
Tamam Shud
Tamam Shud is an Australian psychedelic, progressive and surf rock band, which formed in Newcastle in 1964. The initial line-up were known as The Four Strangers with Eric Connell on bass guitar, Dannie Davidson on drums, Gary Johns on rhythm g ...
.
Solo artists included the wizard-like magician, Jeff Krozier (Crozier), the blues and soul singer,
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington (26 September 194921 June 2013), also known as Gandharvika Dasi, was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper ''Go ...
, and Australia's first synthesiser performer, Steve Dunstan.
According to Duncan Kimball of ''MilesAgo'' website, "events were usually held monthly and typically featured long concert-style performances, with multiple musical acts on the bill, interspersed with comedy, poetry readings, theatrical, dance and novelty performances."
Pinder later described the hall, "it belonged to the Catholic Church. And in fact, it was the sort of hall for the Catholic Cathedral. And I think they had no idea what we were up to. But I used pay the rent to whatever they call the office of the Archbishop of Melbourne."
Central Hall became part of the
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome.
History
Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...
's St. Patrick campus. As from March 2012 the original ballroom still existed, and was used for some university functions.
See also
*
Brunswick Street, Melbourne
Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues and alternative fashion shops.
Route
Brunswick Street runs north–south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, f ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Website of Spectrum members Mike Rudd and Bill Putt, with information on T.F. Much Ballroom
Former music venues in Australia
Music venues in Melbourne
Ballrooms in Australia