Shake Some Action: My Life in Music

by Stuart Coupe

First as a music writer and then as an editor, promoter, manager, broadcaster, publicist and author, Stuart Coupe has experienced the giddy highs and crushing lows of a life lived in the creative fast lane. Shake Some Action is your backstage pass to his remarkable story, from starting his first magazine at the age of fourteen to hoovering heroic amounts of cocaine before interviewing Boy Dylan (who asked him where he got his drugs from). From getting garbage bags full of fan (and hate) mail as the music critic for the teen magazine phenomenon Dolly to managing the Hoodoo Gurus and Paul Kelly – he has been at the centre of Australian cultural life for over four decades. This is a book about fandom. About excitement. About some very bad behaviour. About writing. About talking. About being driven. About loving music and words and trying to explain that love to others – and having a myriad of adventures and encounters in the process. This is the wild life and times of the a man who has never anything by halves. Get ready to kick out the jams!

Genres: Music, Audiobook

352 pages, Paperback

Published December 8, 2023

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always remember paying attention whenever I saw a review by Stuart Coupe pop up, he was an early influencer on my impressionable mind as a young teen girl who was forever hungry for the next music discovery, even as a teen I was always reading, I’ll admit it was mostly music magazines, hey it’s not literature but it still counts as reading! I knew I’d get a kick out of reading this and I wasn’t disappointed, I envy the life of a music journalist being up close and personal to some of the biggest artists of our generation, getting paid to attend gigs and interviewing your idols. Stuart got to live out his dreams but it wasn’t all glamorous as he also dabbled in the lifestyle a little too much and a little too hard which probably clouded some of the enjoyment but I guess that’s rock and roll baby! I had a good time reliving my own music memories so this was such a fun read for me.

[Marles Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuart Coupe was always passionate about music, and still is. In his memoir, Shake Some Action, Coupe captured the power of music throughout the my year of his life working within the industry. He is an advocate for radio, and even in these Spotify years provide strong and fervent championing community radio’s role, and the importance of going out ad buying vinyl or a CD, and always attending live gigs. And his previous writing about the music industry are other shining examples of his love and admiration for it.
Stuart was really about to capture in his words the joy of what music can bring to you. In his anecdotes, you can hear the delight and ecstasy (as well as the indulgence) in meeting and interviewing music bands and musicians. He reflects on the way in which there was more ability to work with musicians in order to tell their story and bring their interviews to life. It made me reflect on the old street newspapers in Sydney like On the Street and Drum Media – I had to walk to the local record store and grab a copy each week, it was like a religious experience to get the music press in your hands and marvel in what music was coming out and what bands were playing. The voices of the musicians that Stuart Coupe was capturing were full of honesty, were original and gritty and were not based o repetitive press questions circulated over the internet.
Some fun fact to share were that Stuart managed the Hoodoo Gurus in the early days, and was also renowned for his very vexing music column – when referring to Duran Duran as Yawn, he learned very quickly how comments like this could aggravate teenage reader market! It is a whirlwind of a book, filled with booze, music, drugs and hundreds of jobs in order to crate the renowned reputation Stuart Coupe has today.

[Jenny Esots · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere in my house I have a copy of a book Stuart Coupe wrote (with Glen A. Baker) in 1980 entitled The New Music. This was his first published book. I have bought a lot of rock music books, records (when they were still called records) and magazines in my time. Some of the books and records remain, sadly all the magazines are long gone.
I have also read a lot of music reviews and interviews by Stuart via Roadrunner and RAM magazine, but definitely not Dolly Magazine - which I didn't even know he wrote for. In fact Stuart has had a crack at all sorts of facets of the music business, journalist, author, publicist, publishing, promoting, radio announcing, managing, editing, interviewing, even owning his own record shop. This has taken him all over the world and he tells many tales in this book. The book is engaging, conversational and confessional.
Like another recent memoir by Sam Neill Stuart doesn't divulge much detail on his personal relationships. They are mentioned almost in passing, but I feel in both cases that this is out of respect for those significant others past and present.
Stuart Coupe has had a lifelong obsession with music, his taste swerves all over the place from soul to country to punk and funk, jazz, rock and pop and everything in between, but Springsteen and Dylan lead the way. Those two artists are still creating and it looks like Stuart will be for some time to come too.

[Aidan Prewett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy heck this is good. Flew through it in just a couple of days. If you’re looking for an all-access backstage pass to the inner working of the Australian & international music industry, this is the next book you have to read. Really wonderful stories with some big names - and lovely introductions to some brand new and unforgettable characters. Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Sting, U2 and many, many many untold stories. Loved it.

[Tim Chmielewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough stories but I thought it glorified his own drug abuse a bit too much. The author did not agree with me on this specifically I had a bit of an exchange with him on a friend's Facebook wall. Same old men bragging about their involvement in the music scene in the past, it's so boring.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of interesting stories. It would be a rare music-lover who didn't enjoy some of the yarns about his interactions with a plethora of immensely talented artists.

If you want something deeper, the only theme is how ongoing drug use will ruin your relationships, mental health and finances.

[Tim Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read - I recall reading his band reviews in Ram magazine. What a life of experiences

[Victoria Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plodding, dull, lacking any real insight. Disappointed.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been wanting to read this book since it came out last year as I've read a couple of his other books. Mr Coupe has been a album reviewer for various publications, a promoter, artist manager, publicist, label owner, record shop owner and broadcaster, including on our very own 5UV back its early days of 1977. He is also an avid music collector owning thousands of LP's, CD's and cassettes. He talks of his early love of music, and how it would take 5 weeks of saving his allowance to buy a single 45 and the first that really blew his mind was Friday on My Mind by The Easybeats. He so wanted to share his intense joy with his family that he had them all sit to listen to it and was heartbroken when his parents called it rubbish and left the room. And while he loves rock music, he is no music snob, saying there is 'good' music and 'bad' music (not performed well), but that it is just a matter of taste as to what one enjoys. He expresses early on his love of classical music, especially Vaughan Williams and film music: Henry Mancini's Moon River gets specific early mention (one of my Mom's favourite songs.) He currently still does a radio show on Sydney community radio stations FBi and 2SER. He also continues to write regularly for Rhythms magazine (which I love to read) and the odd other publication. This was also a fun remembrance of some of my favourite music.