STACK #150 Apr 2017

FEATURE MUSIC

TINA’S TREK

including Jessica Mauboy, The Veronicas, Katie Noonan, Ainslie Wills and Jimmy Barnes covering some of Arena’s biggest hits. “I think it’s really beautiful when you’ve grown up with a song, and sometimes you may not like it growing up but when you get older it may take on something else. There’s all sorts of reasons," she says of the guest artists and the motivations behind their selections. "There’s been some pearlers. I just let the artist choose what they wanted to do – I put the concept out there, and people embraced the idea, and once the ball got rolling it kind of took care of itself.” Most of the initial logistical concerns Arena stepped back from, because she is keenly aware of her other callings. “First and

give with strength and dignity’, [and] to say to men, ‘Please don’t be threatened; we need to do this together.’” The question of mens’ exclusion from feminist discussion sets Arena afire. “It is very, very important, darling – it’s very important that we talk about it,” she says fiercely. “The music industry in Australia, for women, has been a very difficult industry. That is categorical. Women have not been treated equally in the music business. The reason for my comment [to including men] is that I do not have a problem with men – I adore males. I have a lot of really close male friends, whom I adore. I have a partner in my life whom I adore. He is a beautiful man with great empathy, and everything that a person or a woman could ever ask for. So the reason for my comment is that I don’t want men to feel I am attacking

Nov 1, 1967 – Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is born in Victoria, Australia, to Italian immigrant parents 1972 – Arena makes her first public performance at five years old, singing Daryl Braithwaite’s You’re My World at her cousin’s wedding 1976 – Arena is dubbed ‘Tiny Tina’ and becomes a regular performer on Young Talent Time , at nine years old 1977 – Arena records her first album, a split release with fellow Young Talent Time vocalist John Bowles (‘Little John’) 1982 – At 15, Arena becomes a ‘coach’ for new Young Talent Time performer Dannii Minogue 1987 – Arena supports Lionel Ritchie on his Australian tour, and performs at several charity events 1990 – Arena’s debut album Strong As Steel is released and reaches #17 on the ARIA chart 1994 – Arena’s second solo album Don’t Ask is released; she co-wrote all of its 10 tracks. It becomes the highest-selling album of 1995, peaking at #1 and remaining in the top 50 for 83 weeks. It spawns singles Chains , Sorrento Moon (I Remember), Heaven Help My Heart , Wasn’t It Good , Show Me Heaven and That’s The Way A Woman Feels 1995 – Arena is nominated for her first six ARIAs and wins four: Best Pop Release, Song of the Year (for Chains ), Album of the Year and Best Female Artist 1997 – Arena releases her third solo album In Deep , which peaks at #1 2000 – Arena performs The Flame at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games; she’s also awarded an Outstanding Achievement statue at the ARIAs 2001 – Arena’s fourth album Just Me is released; it’s certified Gold in Australia and France 2005 – Arena’s debut French language album Un Autre Univers is released 2008 – Arena releases her 10 th studio album, Reset , which becomes her sixth top 10 album in Australia 2009 – Arena is the first Australian to receive the Knighthood of the Order of National Merit, presented by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for her contributions to French culture 2013 – Arena’s memoir Now I Can Dance is released and is an instant hit; the book is now in its fourth reprint 2015 – Arena is inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and releases her 11 th studio album, Eleven 2016 – Arena is appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, in recognition of her contribution to the arts and for her philanthropic work

foremost, I’m a mother, and I have the responsibility of an 11-year-old little boy, who is my priority,” she says. “My family and my partner – his father – they’re my priority, and frankly there are periods where they really stand back and

The hits and the misses and the good choices and the bad hair... are all part of the journey

them. I want [men] to understand the female perspective.” Arena describes an in-depth article she read about the musician Ke$ha, whose ongoing personal and legal tribulations with her former producer, including sexual assault, have been displayed through the courts

watch me work around the clock, and it can be frustrating for them.” The teaser video for

Greatest Hits and Interpretations is a marvellous collage of Tina’s

and the media. “The running gags and the commentary that was thrown at her left, right and centre... Nobody deserves to go through that. I mean, Jesus Christ, where are we? The support that she received from Adele and so forth, people saying ‘Stand up for your rights. Don’t feel that you have to be a possession.’ That’s all I’m saying. We’re not possessions, we don’t deserve to be treated like that – we deserve to be treated respectfully.” Arena’s participation in the Good Friday Appeal – held April 14 at Melbourne's The Plenary – is something the musician feels incredibly strongly about too, and she’s been a part of the project since she was “a little girl.” “When you’ve got kids, and if something happens to your child, the service that the Royal Children’s Hospital – any Children’s hospital in the country – provides is so pivotal,” she says. “It’s pivotal to the foundation of mankind, really. [We] must do everything in our power to ensure that it continues to evolve, and provdes a service to absolutely anyone and everyone regardless of where you’ve come from, what you believe in… it crosses every border for me. They deserve all the commitment that we can give them.”

life in the spotlight, presenting a fascinating chronology from her first singles Turn Up The Beat and I Need Your Body , through smash hits Chains and Now I Can Dance and up to more recent hits like Only Lonely . It must be odd to have such concrete examples of your place in each era and its various aesthetic trappings, but Arena eschews any awkwardness in the name of the greater odyssey. “I think when you’re nearly 50 years of age, you don’t really care about the hair, the costumes, whatever,” she says. “It’s all part of your journey. I don’t believe there’s any individual on this planet Earth that has had an incredibly perfect journey because it doesn’t exist.” And if it did, wouldn’t it be kind of dull? “Yes, life would be incredibly boring, Zoë, if that was the case – absolutely. I certainly wouldn’t want to be a part of it. The hits and the misses and the good choices and the bad hair and everything else are all part of your journey. You go through a lot of different performers' lives and they’ll all tell you the same story. It’s all part of the process.” Zooming out even further, Arena also views her journey’s role within the context of her gender and the music industry. She lent her words to the recent Her Sound Her Story photography exhibition and campaign, which highlighted important females in music across the last several decades, and upon her induction into the ARIA Hall Of Fame in 2015 she remarked she wanted “to say to a younger generation of women, ‘This is not just about me, it’s about us, our community; that you can

Greatest Hits And Interpretations by Tina Arena is out April 7 via EMI.

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