Sue Hammersley played an influential role in West Australian music across a couple of decades. She championed gigs on university campuses, booked gigs at numerous venues, promoted interstate tours, and gave up and coming bands a helping hand. She was infamous around town – always at gigs, always loud, always with a drink in hand. Opinionated, passionate, hilarious, and more than anything, dedicated to WA music.
Sue passed away suddenly in August 2012.
A small collection of Sue’s favourite gig posters, which were kept by her family are being donated to WAM. We are raising funds to cover the costs associated with framing this collection professionally to ensure they are kept for many years to come as a tribute to her passion and commitment to what she loved best – music. Any funds raised over and above the framing costs will contribute to WAM’s range of programs and services.
Bob Gordon published a beautiful obituary and tribute to Sue on her passing; if you didn’t know Sue, everything you need to know about her relevance to the WA music community is captured here.
Sue was a force of nature, to say the least. Music mad from the get-go, at the age of 17 she managed to score an internship at the BBC in London, working on such shows such as Top of the Pops. Returning to Perth in the early ‘80s, she studied Film & Television at WAIT (now Curtin) but it was Sue’s passion for music that saw her emerge as a pioneering presence and consistent motivator in original, live music in this city.
It was a heartfelt mission and Sue fought the good fight in all of the many roles she took on in the WA music industry – at WAIT, the University Of Western Australia, The Red …