Sophistopunk: the Story of Mark Opitz and Oz Rock

A broken home, rags to riches, mind-blowing excess, exotic locations, laugh-out-loud anecdotes, and tragedy; this is the inside story to Mark Opitz and making the great albums of Oz Rock

Mark Opitz has lived an extraordinary life. His tale is remarkable, immediately gripping, and incorporates the making of some of the greatest music and musicians Australia has ever known. It begins in 1975 where a job with the ABC led Mark to the music label EMI, which in turn led to a musical apprenticeship with the legendary record producers Harry Vanda and George Young. Describing the next phase in Mark’s life is like recapping an Australian rock encyclopedia: engineering records with AC/DC; producing the first album for The Angels; a long, fruitful, and extremely colorful association with Cold Chisel and simultaneously running the A&R department at Warner Music; producing landmark albums for Divinyls, The Models, Australian Crawl, Hoodoo Gurus, and forming another close association—this time with INXS. The end of the ‘80s saw Mark globetrotting as “advisor to the band” on INXS’s massive Kick Tour and eventually living in Michael Gudinski’s basement. This last arrangement was more rock 'n’ roll than any of Mark’s musical ventures to date. Mark also had to manage Bob Dylan’s performance for the Academy Awards, recorded Ray Charles, and produced Kiss with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; all parts of one incredible story. This book will take readers on a unique journey inside the bands, tours, and recording studios of the music that defined an Australian generation.