Friday on my mind: a year by year account of popular music in the Australian charts
Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014[1]) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines Go-Set (1966–1974) and Juke Magazine (1975–92) both as a journalist and as an editor.[2] From 2000, Nimmervoll was editor of HowlSpace, a website detailing Australian rock/pop music history, providing artist profiles, news and video interviews.[3] He was an author of books on the same subject and co-authored books with musicians including Brian Cadd (early history of Australian rock) and Renée Geyer (her autobiography).[4]
Born in Austria in 1947, Nimmervoll moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 and eventually entered university to study architecture. Go-Set was Australia's first national pop magazine and Nimmervoll started contributing while still at university in 1966.[6] He began compiling a national top 40 from 5 October 1966,[2] later he wrote record reviews and by 1973 became its editor.[6]
After Go-Set was taken over in 1974, Nimmervoll began Juke magazine, which was published weekly from 1975 until 1992.[6] He was involved in creating Take 40 Australia, a local radio version of American Top 40. He also worked on radio and TV music specials.[7]
Nimmervoll authored, co-authored or edited a number of books, including Friday on my mind: a year by year account of popular music in the Australian charts in 2003.[8] It was reviewed by fellow author Chris Spencer in 2004:
"Nimmervoll writes about the major artists for each year, weaving stories, anecdotes and incidental information making for an interesting read. The reader is able to pick the book up from the coffee table and turn to any page and be immersed in a particular period of our pop history."[8]
Nimmervoll attended the ARIA Music Awards of 2013 on 1 December, where he "[passed] out for four minutes", raising concerns for his health.[11] He received medical attention and, by 4 December, fellow former Juke journalist, Christie Eliezer, reported that Nimmervoll "was on the mend" and "is about to launch a new project soon".[11]
Nimmervoll died of brain cancer on 10 October 2014 at the age of 67.[12]
Written or electronic resources credited to Nimmervoll as author, co-author or editor:[4][15]
Cadd, Brian and Ed Nimmervoll, (1975), The emerging years: the Australian pop scene, 1965-1975, Stanmore, N.S.W.: Cassell Australia; ISBN0-7269-1351-0
Geyer, Renée and Ed Nimmervoll, (2000), Confessions of a difficult woman: the Renée Geyer story, Softcover, Pymble, N.S.W.: HarperCollins; ISBN0-7322-6563-0
Lawrence, Michael, (1998), Showtime: the Cold Chisel story: the first decade and beyond Ed.Nimmervoll, Belmont, Vic.: M. Lawrence; ISBN1-86503-118-6
Nimmervoll, Ed, (1999) Ready, steady, go!: rock and pop: the Australian experience 1956-1971, [essay], Softcover, Melbourne, Vic: The Arts Centre; ISBN0-646-37568-7
(Ed.) Nimmervoll, Ed (2000), Howlspace: the living history of our music, [electronic resource], Melbourne, Vic.: White Room Electronic Publishing, available here
Nimmervoll, Ed, (2003), Friday on my mind, Noble Park, Vic: Five Mile Press; ISBN1-74124-048-4
Nimmervoll, Ed and Euan Thorburn, (1977) 1000 Beatle Facts: (and a Little Bit of Hearsay), Hardcover, Sydney, N.S.W.: J. Albert & Son; ISBN0-86913-044-7 (0-86913-044-7)
Reyne, James (2001), ... and the horse you rode in on, [kit], Ed Nimmervoll; ISBN1-877035-65-3
Seymour, Mark (2005), Daytime and the dark, [kit], Ed. Nimmervoll, Malvern, Vic: Tandem Publishing; ISBN1-877035-67-X
(Ed.) Spencer, Chris, Paul McHenry, Zbig Nowara and Ed Nimmervoll, (1996), The who's who of Australian rock, [electronic resource], Melbourne, Vic.: Informit Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; ISBN0-86444-559-8
