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Deb Doyle music archive
MadeParts of this object
Summary
Object No.
2008/53/1Object Statement
Archive, Australian pop and rock music, paper, designed and made by Deb Doyle, Australia, 1966-1986Physical Description
Archive, Australian pop and rock music, paper, designed and made by Deb Doyle, Australia, 1966-1986Archive of Deb Doyle, nee Deborah [Debbie] Baer, that comprises a portfolio, a sketchbook, three scrapbooks containing original illustrations, printed handbills and clippings, compact discs of recordings made by The Proteens and Cafe Society, and a set of lyrics written by Deb Doyle of songs recorded and performed by The Proteens and Cafe Society.
The black portfolio of original artwork contains poster illustrations of zodiac signs, girls' fashions and works that Deb created as a freelance illustrator. It includes two significant psychedelic posters she created to promote the Twilights and Phil Jones & the Unknown Blues.
The Croxley sketchbook contains a series of hand-painted, colour, poster-style images inspired by pop groups, singers or songs, designed in the bold colours and swirling shapes of the psychedelic style. Some feature a slogan of the hippie subculture, such as 'Flower power', 'Turn on. Go underground' and 'Join the in crowd'. Others feature a name of a pop-music artist or group, such as Zoot, Simon and Garfunkel, Flying Circus, and Donovan. Yet others feature a song title such as 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', 'My Old Man's a Groovy Old Man' and 'Part 3 into Paper Walls'.
The first orange scrapbook contains articles and illustrations about music performances and other university events that Deb publicised in her role as Assistant to the Union Activities Officer between 1977 and 1982.
The green scrapbook contains handbills that Deb created to promote performances Sydney rock-music venues between 1978 and 1981.
The second orange scrapbook contains articles Deb wrote and illustrations she created between 1978 and 1982. The first 11 articles are examples of her column 'Permanent Waves' published in 'The Sydney Shout,' a local Sydney newspaper.
Short URL
https://ma.as/377719Production
Made
Notes
Archive compiled by Deb Doyle comprising original artworks she created, printed handbills she designed and articles she wrote between 1966 and 1986, under her original name, Debbie Baer.Black portfolio
The earliest works in the archive are colour paintings Deb created in 1966, when she was 11 years old. At the age of 12, she began to frequent the Op Pop disco in Castlereagh Street, at which pop artists and groups performed Sunday-lunchtime shows. The venue's manager, Ivan Dayman, commissioned her to paint two front-door posters to advertise two of the bands - the Twilights and Phil Jones & the Unknown Blues - as well as a foyer mural featuring band names and pop slogans.
Croxley sketchbook
Eventually banned by her mother from attending the disco, Deb found solace in creating these posters, which were 'born of love and pain, because I loved the pop culture of the day but was struggling to cope with the many changes occurring in my life . . . Without my poster art, who knows how I would have coped? . . . I was crazy for local and overseas pop singers and songs, and wanted to make everything nice' (correspondence with Powerhouse Museum, 31 July 2007).
First orange scrapbook
Deb studied Arts-Law at Sydney University but dropped Law after three years. In a subsequent job as Assistant to the Union Activities Officer (1977-82), she had the opportunity to create publicity material for concerts and other events. She conducted interviews, and wrote a column and reviews, for the 'Union Recorder' under the nom de plume Tanya Hyde.
Green scrapbook
Deb also worked as a freelance illustrator, creating handbills and posters for rock-music venues between 1978 and 1981. She first designed the handbills in 1978 for the music promoter Bob Yates, to advertise gigs at the Rex Hotel, in Kings Cross, and the Civic Hotel, in Pitt Street. In 1999, Mr Yates donated to the Powerhouse a remarkable scrapbook of Deb's Civic Hotel handbills (Powerhouse Museum object number 99/113/34). In Deb's words, the Civic Hotel 'was no palace, but for many live-music fans it was a beacon of the Sydney pub-rock scene . . . Back then, it was a long way to the top, and the Civic was on a low rung, but it was a venue for the times' (Deb Doyle, correspondence with Powerhouse Museum, 31 July 2007). Between 1978 and 1981, she designed more handbills for gigs that Bob Yates promoted at various venues, and for Mi-Sex, a band he managed. The handbills are a valuable record of the flourishing Sydney pub-rock scene at the time, at venues such as the Royal Antler Hotel at Narrabeen, the Bondi Lifesaver and the Family Hotel at Rydalmere.
Second orange scrapbook
The second orange scrapbook contains articles Deb wrote and illustrations she created between 1978 and 1981. The first 11 articles are examples of her column 'Permanent Waves' in 'The Sydney Shout', a local Sydney newspaper. In reading the articles, we gain an insight into the variety of bands playing around Sydney and the nature of the pub-rock culture during the 'new wave' period.
History
Notes
Deb kept the artwork she created in her pre-teen and early teen years, along with the handbills and articles she created as a young adult. She compiled them in scrapbooks as a record of her achievements.Deb lent two of the original posters in the black portfolio, one to promote the Twilights and the other to promote Phil Jones & the Unknown Blues, to the Powerhouse Museum for display in the 1994 exhibition 'Real Wild Child: Australian rock music then and now'. At age 12, she painted a similar psychedelic-style mural in the foyer of the Op Pop disco, and in early 1968, it was featured in 'Everybody's' magazine.
Source
Credit Line
Gift of Deb Doyle, 2008Acquisition Date
13 March 2008Cite this Object
Harvard
Deb Doyle music archive 2021, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 22 October 2021, <https://ma.as/377719>Wikipedia
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