Brian Cadd

Brian George Cadd AM (born 29 November 1946) is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and the United States, he has performed as a member of numerous bands including the Groop, Axiom, the Bootleg Family Band and in America with the Flying Burrito Brothers before carving out a solo career in 1972. He briefly went under the pseudonym of Brian Caine in late 1966, when first joining the Groop. Cadd produced fellow Australian acts Robin Jolley, Ronnie Burns, Broderick Smith, Tina Arena and Glenn Shorrock; and established his own record label called Bootleg Records. He also composed or performed music for the films Alvin Purple, Alvin Purple Rides Again, Fatal Vision, The Return of the Living Dead, Vampires on Bikini Beach, Morning of the Earth and The Heartbreak Kid and for television Class of 74, The Midnight Special and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. His songwriting for other acts includes the Masters Apprentices, the Bootleg Family Band, Ronnie Burns, the Pointer Sisters, Little River Band and John Farnham. In 2007, Cadd was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. He was awarded in the Queens Birthday Honours in 2018, along with late musician Phil Emmanuel for his 50-year service to the music industry as a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, mentor and producer and his work in production. Early years Cadd was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, and was a child prodigy: winning a TV talent quest when 12 and being offered his first professional job as a pianist for a children's TV program. His family relocated to Tasmania and then Melbourne, where Cadd became involved in jazz music of the early 1960s, playing with the Beale Street Jazz Band [Rick Mabin, tpt; Frank Turner, d.] and The Castaways. He was also widely renowned for his zany hats. By 1965 The Castaways became The Jackson Kings playing R&B, with Cadd on piano and Ronnie Charles on vocals they recorded two singles "Watch Your Step" and "Watermelon Man" by April 1966.