Go-Set: the magazine that put Australian pop music front and centre

February 1966 to August 1974

Go-Set was the pop music magazine in Australia during the late 1960s and early ’70s, back when pop culture suddenly felt loud, young and very Australian. Launched in Melbourne on 2 February 1966, it did for local music what Rolling Stone was doing overseas, but with more colour, more cheek, and a strong sense that Australian acts mattered just as much as the imports. For the first time, local bands weren’t just filler between Beatles stories — they were on the cover.

The magazine began in 1966 when Melbourne teenagers Phillip Frazer and Tony Schauble saw a gap in the market for a youth-focused pop paper that actually took rock music seriously. Inspired by the British New Musical Express, they started small, printing locally, but quickly tapped into a growing, music-hungry generation.

Go-Set mixed charts, gossip, interviews and opinionated columns with a real sense of discovery. Writers like Ian “Molly” Meldrum and photographers like Colin Beard helped shape how Australian pop was seen and talked about, often championing artists long before mainstream radio caught on. The magazine also wasn’t afraid to stir the pot, whether that meant pushing back against conservative attitudes or questioning the music industry itself.

During Go-Set‘s eight-year run, its impact was huge. It helped create a national pop conversation, boosted countless careers, and proved Australia had its own vibrant music scene worth shouting about. Long gone, but still legendary.