> Skip to content
  • Published: 2 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9781742282398
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 408

Thirteen Tonne Theory



We were all equal, but sometimes the band could be led by whoever shouted the loudest. 
Step inside one of Australia's most beloved and hard-working bands.
For eighteen years, Mark Seymour fronted Hunters and Collectors - although he was never remotely in control of it. Together they released songs that remain Australian anthems like Talking to a Stranger, Say Goodbye, Throw Your Arms Around Me and Holy Grail. The band was also a great social experiment - an artistic collective that shared everything equally, from the drinks rider to songwriting copyright.
It couldn't last. In the end, the relentless touring machine known as 'Hunnas' didn't break up so much as switch itself off.
With a songwriter's eye for the perfect detail, Seymour tells the truth about the endless fried breakfasts, bewildering industry negotiations and the view from a thirteen-tonne truck on a never ending highway.
More than a simple rock memoir, THIRTEEN TONNE THEORY is a dryly comic, revealing and passionate reflection on the struggle to be heard in a democracy of blokes.

'Anyone who writes of their years in rock music must know that this is the book they are going to have to trump.' Robert Forster, The Monthly

'Very funny . . . there can be no escaping the absurdity of rock'n'roll.'
The Age
 

  • Published: 2 March 2009
  • ISBN: 9781742282398
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 408

About the author

Mark Seymour

Mark Seymour was born in Benalla, Victoria in 1956. His parents were both schoolteachers who travelled a lot, so he spent most of his childhood living in a string of country towns. His mother Paula taught him to sing in the family choir, which comprised everyone except his Dad, who unfortunately failed the audition, though his tenor sometimes soared. Together they competed in talent quests and meetings of various Country Women's Associations, and Mark began to nurture dreams of a singing career. Eventually the family arrived in Melbourne and, some time after that, Mark stumbled into the Tiger Lounge in Richmond on a Tuesday night in 1978 - and subsequently became a devotee of rock'n'roll.

He was the frontman of a band called Hunters and Collectors for eighteen years. Since then, Mark has continued to perform and record. He lives somewhere on the Victorian coast with his wife Jo and their two daughters Eva and Hannah.

penguin pop image
penguin pop image