Australian Music Icon Glenn Wheatley’s Audio Book Posthumously Released Next Month
Eight weeks after the death of Australian music industry icon Glenn Wheatley comes the announcement today of a new edition and audiobook of his bestselling book, Paper Paradise a memoir of the man behind the music who broke into America with Little River Band, reinvented John Farnham with Whispering Jack, and brought FM radio to Australia – set for release May 19.
Among Glenn’s final projects was the audiobook he recorded late in 2021 with the release marking a rare occurrence in publishing where an author passes before their book is released, that Glenn narrated his own life story for the audiobook mere months before his death is even more unique. “I have always loved his speaking voice and it doesn’t disappoint in this,” says Glenn’s wife Gaynor. “He was never happier than when he had ten balls in the air, with the hope of catching just one.”
Complete with a foreword from Glenn’s son Tim, the audiobook also features Tim’s cover of Because I Love You (lifted from his forthcoming EP), originally made famous by Glenn and The Master’s Apprentices fifty years ago, a moving tribute from a son to his father.
“To know that I have his voice telling his life story, has left me with an odd sense of relief,” Tim says. “The fact my old man took it upon himself to record his first book to audio a month before he passed didn’t really surprise me because he was always so sentimental. But there’s no way he would have been happy just telling the first part. So indeed, finishing the rest of his story is something we need to do. He has already done the hard part.”
Paper Paradise is an honest and entertaining memoir about ambition, success and rock and roll – a story about one man’s meteoric rise and spectacular fall set against a classic Australian soundtrack. Few others have had the impact on the Australian music industry as Glenn Wheatley, from working class boy to rockstar and star manager; he worked with some of Australia’s most recognisable and successful musicians including Little River Band, John Farnham and Delta Goodrem; pioneered the FM Radio industry; made national headlines, experienced failure and resurrected his career. After an extraordinary rise in the fast lane, and an equally mighty fall, he made it back to the top. Wheatley was the ultimate rock and roll survivor.
Paper Paradise by Glenn Wheatley (audiobook) is out May 19 through Wilkinson Publishing. The paperback edition is available now.
