Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager, tour promoter and radio entrepreneur.
In early 1968, Wheatley was hired as the bass player in a new line-up of the Melbourne-based pop-rock band The Masters Apprentices, then one of Australia's most popular groups.
The band endured many "rip-offs" and in their later career they suffered greatly from poor management decisions and inadequate support from their record labels, problems which eventually led to the group's demise in 1972.
[3] According to Wheatley's memoir, a key incident took place in late 1969 when the Masters took part in a nationwide package tour, "Operation Starlift".
The concert at Brisbane Festival Hall drew a then-record crowd of over 7,000 people, breaking the venue's previous attendance record set during the Beatles' Australian tour in 1964.
After the concert, Wheatley reflected on the event, with it becoming a turning point in his life and career - helping drive home just how badly the group were being exploited.
[4] Under Glenn Wheatley's management, he has the two highest selling Australian albums of all time - John Farnham's "Whispering Jack" and Delta Goodrem's "Innocent Eyes".
In late 1974, Beeb Birtles, Graham Goble and Derek Pellicci (ex-Mississippi) and Glenn Shorrock (ex-Axiom) met with Wheatley in London.
After Little River Band were dropped by Capitol Records in 1986, Wheatley returned to Australia and began taking over management, from Kenn Brodziak,[9] of his friend John Farnham who had been a leading pop singer in the late 1960s and early 1970s but his career had been reduced to playing club gigs before he replaced Glenn Shorrock in 1982 as the lead singer of Little River Band.
[11] In 1999, Wheatley published his autobiography, Paper Paradise, which was based in part on a ribald memoir he had begun during his stint in the Masters entitled Who The Hell Is Judy in Sydney?.
"[20] During the trial, many high-profile Australians presented character references for Wheatley, including John Farnham, Sydney Swans' chairman Richard Colless and entertainer Bert Newton.
[22] On 14 May 2010, Wheatley was charged with drink driving after recording a blood alcohol level of 0.08 by a random breath testing unit in Rushcutters Bay.
[28] Wheatley produced the "Spirit of Christmas" series of albums for 25 years, with over $5.5 million being raised in that time for both the Salvation Army & the Starlight Children's Foundation.