Kevin Jacobsen
Encyclopedia
Kevin George Jacobsen OAM
(born 29 July 1937 in Sydney
) is a well-known Australia
n entertainment
entrepreneur
.
Along with his brothers Colin (Col Joye
) and Keith, he was a member of prominent Australian 1960s band, The Joy Boys.
In 1965, together with Col and Tony Brady, he formed ATA Allstar Artists, initially managing acts and promoting tours by Joye, The Joy Boys, Little Pattie
, Sandy Shaw and Cathy Wayne
; and later recording artists for their label ATA Records distributed by Festival Records.
His company in Australia, Jacobsen Venue Management, has presented many acts including Barbra Streisand
, Bruce Springsteen
, the Bee Gees
, The Three Tenors
, Slim Whitman
, Kiss
, Simon and Garfunkel
, Bob Marley
, Shania Twain
, Billy Joel
, John Denver
, Pearl Jam
, Cyndi Lauper
, Julio Iglesias
, Barry Manilow
, Meat Loaf
, Olivia Newton-John
, Peter Allen
, Sammy Davis Jr, and many more, in addition to shows like Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Fame
, and Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage. He was also the Executive Producer of the musical theatre
production The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular
.
In 2002, the Jacobsen enterprise was floated as a public company, but was only half subscribed. The following year the new company suffered heavy losses from a disappointing Bruce Springsteen tour and the failure of the musical The Witches of Eastwick. The company eventually went into receivership.
Kevin Jacobsen was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
(OAM) in 1985 for his services to the performing arts
and entertainment industry.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 29 July 1937 in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
) is a well-known Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
.
Along with his brothers Colin (Col Joye
Col Joye
Colin Frederick Jacobsen AM , better known by his stage name Col Joye, is an Australian popular entertainer and entrepreneur...
) and Keith, he was a member of prominent Australian 1960s band, The Joy Boys.
In 1965, together with Col and Tony Brady, he formed ATA Allstar Artists, initially managing acts and promoting tours by Joye, The Joy Boys, Little Pattie
Little Pattie
Little Pattie is the stage name of Australian singer, Patricia Thelma Amphlett OAM later Patricia Thompson, who performed as a 1960s surf pop singer and then in adult contemporary music...
, Sandy Shaw and Cathy Wayne
Cathy Wayne
Cathy Wayne was the stage name of Australian entertainer Catherine Anne Warnes who was killed during the Vietnam War by United States Marine Sergeant James Wayne Killen. Wayne had just finished a song for US Marines at a non-commissioned officer's club near Da Nang in South Vietnam...
; and later recording artists for their label ATA Records distributed by Festival Records.
His company in Australia, Jacobsen Venue Management, has presented many acts including Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors is a name given to the Spanish singers Plácido Domingo and José Carreras and the Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti who sang in concert under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s. The trio began their collaboration with a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla, in...
, Slim Whitman
Slim Whitman
Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. , known professionally as Slim Whitman, is an American country music singer and songwriter, known for his yodelling abilities. He has sold in excess of 120 million albums in unit sales and has had numerous successful recordings...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
, Peter Allen
Peter Allen
Peter Allen was an Australian songwriter and entertainer. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, Arthur's Theme, winning an Academy Award in 1981...
, Sammy Davis Jr, and many more, in addition to shows like Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
, and Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage. He was also the Executive Producer of the musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
production The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular
The Man From Snowy River: Arena Spectacular
The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, which was based on Banjo Paterson's poem The Man from Snowy River, was a very popular musical theatre production which toured Australian capital cities twice during 2002....
.
In 2002, the Jacobsen enterprise was floated as a public company, but was only half subscribed. The following year the new company suffered heavy losses from a disappointing Bruce Springsteen tour and the failure of the musical The Witches of Eastwick. The company eventually went into receivership.
Kevin Jacobsen was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(OAM) in 1985 for his services to the performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
and entertainment industry.
See also
- Greg Tingle (2003) Kevin Jacobsen interview, 28 August 2003 - Media Man Australia
- Frank Van Straten (2007) Profile, Hall of Fame, Live Performance Australia
- Valerie Lawson (2009) Jacobsens' Dirty Dancing family feud on show, 9 May 2009, The Australian
Further reading
- Ian McFarlane (1999) The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop, Allen and Unwin
- Max Moore (2003) Some Days are Diamonds, New Holland Publishers
External links
- Kevin Jacobsen at IMDb
- The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular at IMDb