Last week in Melbourne, the Australian Performing Rights Association honoured Sony Music Chairman and CEO Denis Handlin AM with the Ted Albert Award.
The Ted Albert Award, named after Alberts Records founder Ted Albert, is given for outstanding services to Australia music. Few would deny Denis Handlin the honour after serving almost four decades in the Australian music industry and always with the same company.“I was truly honoured to receive the award, particularly the Ted Albert Award because I knew and respected Ted enormously,” Denis tells Undercover News. “He was a big influence on me in my early days when I moved from Brisbane in 1976. We I became head of the company he was someone I would meet with. He would listen to issues, I would learn from him and he was a real pioneer in the Australian industry. He was a great decent man”.
Denis started work at the Australian Record Company in Brisbane in 1970. It became CBS Records, CBS become Sony, Sony became Sony BMG and then Sony BMG became Sony Music.
Those early days in Brisbane pre-the Australian record company have a hidden past that may allude to why Denis is who he is today. As a kid, he used to run a pretend radio station under his parents house with his brother Des.
“The phantom radio station in Brisbane,” he laughs. “Jokingly, we had these crazy names, Dynamic Dan and my brother Dashing Des. No wonder we never got any ratings but I loved it. I always had a great passion and still have a great passion for music. I suppose those early days of being the phantom DJ was the foundation of it. As soon as I was fortunate enough to make a career out of a hobby in this business I have loved every day of it. I can’t get enough of it”.
As a recipient of the Ted Albert Award, Denis is in esteemed company.
When the award was first granted in 2000, it was given to national broadcaster Triple J.
Other winners are:
2001 Charles Fisher
2002 Barry Chapman
2003 Angus and Malcolm Young and Bon Scott
2004, Don Burrows
2005 Michael Chugg
2006 Bill Armstrong
2007 Michael McMartin
2008 Roger Davis
Watch the Undercover interview with Denis Handlin about being honoured with the award here:
