Ego is not a dirty word sang Skyhooks. It could well be the anthem of Michael Gudinski.

Michael Gudinski was a music man, impresario, and natural born hustler. What chutzpah he had! He repeatedly risked everything for his one obsession: Australian music. At age 19 he launched Mushroom Records and went on to sign and nurture iconic artists including Skyhooks, Split Enz, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Hunter & Collectors, Kylie Minogue, Archie Roach and Yothu Yindi.

Not content with just a label, his hunger extended to being on the road promoting legendary international acts such as Foo Fighters, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen, and Sting. It’s unlikely there’s a living Australian whose life hasn’t been touched by the ear-worms he farmed.

It’s a tired old cliché, but Gudinski was instrumental in providing the soundtrack of our lives spanning generations. Don’t believe me, see this movie.

Self aggrandising and self deprecating, shy yet flamboyant, a groupie yet happily married man and doting dad, Gudinski was a swirling whirlpool in the music world, a maverick, a maven, a marvel.

A disappointment to his conservative Jewish father – if only his dad had lived to see Michael promote Frank Sinatra! From nebbish to mensch, Michael’s family stories of members of his family being Stolen by the Nazis made him sensitive to the Stolen Generation of Australian indigenous children, becoming an advocate of Indigenous music in this country.

If you want a warts and all dirt dishing doco you’ll be disappointed. EGO is a celebration, not to bury but to praise. The misfires like not picking up Men at Work and selling out to Murdoch are given short shrift.

Helmed by acclaimed feature film, documentary and music video director Paul Goldman and produced by Bethany Jones for Mushroom Studios, EGO: THE MICHAEL GUDINSKI STORY luxuriates in personal accounts from Gudinski himself, exclusive interviews with the some of the world’s most influential artists, rare archival footage and an electrifying soundtrack.

Rock on!