Sister Janet Mead is a living legend in the Australian music industry. Her claims to fame range from the highest selling Australian song by either a male or female performer, the first Australian-made record to sell more than 1 million copies in the USA, biggest selling Australian Gospel recording artist, widest international Top 40 hit song by any Australian artist and probably the most truthful of any artist who actually 'gave it all away to charity'.
Born in 1938 and raised in Adelaide, South Australia, Janet showed a keen interest in mixing rock music and her faith at an early age, and she formed a group with an original name - "The Rock Band" when she was just 17 to provide music for the weekly mass at the local cathedral.
Janet had studied piano at the Adelaide Conservatorium and when she joined the Sisters of Mercy order she became a music teacher at two local Catholic schools. She began to explore the "rock mass" concept in the early 70's, wishing to make the Catholic Mass more interesting and accessible for students at the schools where she taught. This in turn led to a successful series of "rock masses" that she conducted at Adelaide Cathedral. She read the mood of the time perfectly, as these were very popular with packed houses with numerous occasions the need to have outside PA system to cater for the overflow crowd - one service estimated at some 2,500 people.
In 1973 she began making professional recordings of her music for churches and schools. During the year she came to Sydney for a recording session produced by noted Festival house producer Martin Erdman. (Martin was also behind the Du Monde label with bands like Flake, King Fox, McPhee, Harry Young & Sabbath, and the producer of The Winners for Hardrush). One of the tracks they cut was a cover of the Donovan song Brother Sun, Sister Moon which had been written for the soundtrack of Franco Zeffirelli's 1973 film of the same name. As an afterthought, they cut a rocked-up arrangement of The Lord's Prayer, which had been put to music by one of her parishioners and musical collaborators, Arnold Strals.
Festival were impressed enough with the performances to release these two songs as a single. It was timely, given the contemporary interest in the blending rock music and religious themes, and the interest many in the clergy had in exploiting rock music to get their message across in an increasingly secular age. In fact there were numerous precedents for this kind of work. The most obvious predecessor was The Singing Nun, Sr Luc-Dominique (whose real name was Jeanine Deckers), - her surprise hit Dominique extolled the virtues of St Dominic, founder of the Dominican order.
Whilst she obviously had talent, only Erdman could see the potential as he painstakingly worked in full orchestral backing and rock band accompaniment to Sister Janet's 3 octave range voice. Aussie DJs picked it up and started to play "The Lords Prayer" which was marked as the A Side. On its first play a local Sydney radio station had their telephone lines jammed with requests to buy even though it wasn't yet in the shops.
It became so popular that A&M Records (with whom Festival had a licensing agreement) took it up for distribution to more than 31 countries. It became a huge international hit, peaking at No. 4 in the USA, No. 5 in Canada, No. 3 in Australia and subsequently Top 10 in South Africa, Germany, Philippines, Mexico, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, amongst others in 1974 The record went on to sell almost three million copies worldwide (almost 2 million in the USA), and on April 8 1974 Sister Janet earned the distinction of being the first Australian recording artist to sell over one million copies of an Australian-produced record in the USA.
Sister Janet was nominated in 1975 for a prestigious Grammy Award, in the category 'Best Inspirational Performance' but she was beaten for the award by Elvis Presley's version of How Great Thou Art. Both her gold record (pictured below) and her Grammy nomination certificate are held in the National Film & Sound Archive. In 2004, she along with Martin Erdman, were presented with the Golden Gospel Award for their services to Australian Gospel Music.
Sister Janet donated all her royalties to charity, but Festival ploughed their share into a major refit of Studio A in Sydney, including the purchase of a top-of-the-line Neve mixing desk and a 24-track recorder -- it was consequently renamed 'Studio 24'. The runaway success of the single naturally led to an album for Festival, called "With You I Am", which was the first LP recorded in the newly renovated studios. It also sold well, reaching No. 19 on the national chart in July 1974. Her second album, "Rock Mass", featured a complete recording of one of her now famous rock masses. Sister Janet crept into the US charts once more with the follow-up single "Take My Hand" but never replicated the immense success of her debut.
Ever so humble, dedicated and media-shy, she was not interested in pursuing a pop career, despite intense media interest and requests made, especially to Martin Erdman who had to handle truly worldwide interest. In fact the record's success introduced what she now says was a "horrible time" in her life -- worldwide success brought a pressure that led her to question her faith. A third album that was recorded during 1975 was filed away in the Festival vaults after Sister Janet withdrew from the public eye. The tapes were rediscovered in the 1990s by Warren Barnett (now with Sony Music) and with Martin Erdman as producer, another album "A Time To Sing", was released in 1999 as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the hit single. It also included an updated and critically acclaimed superior version of the "Lord's Prayer".
One interesting trivia note is that drummer Clare Moore (who is married to singer-songwriter Dave Graney) owes much to her original music teacher in Adelaide -- none other than Sister Janet. "We played in her band for rock mass at the cathedral. She had a gold record for The Lord's Prayer and was presented with a framed gold record at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide. There were all these record company dudes in white '70s suits and sunglasses and big moustaches, and a bunch of us 13-year-old schoolgirls in the uniforms. But, fortunately, there were plenty of nuns about to scare them all off."
Another aspect of Sister Janet that many media missed was the diversity of songwriters she used and the huge exposure to world markets she gave several Australian composers. She recorded works by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Simon & Garfunkel, Donovan, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Schwartz and Tim Rice. Yet it is the Australian songs and arrangements that really brought out her pure voice and creativity - "The Lord Our God Is King" composed by Helen Lawrie is one of the best modern Gospel songs you will hear anywhere.
In the period since being a pop celebrity, Sister Janet assisted in some music works and religious performances. Her legacy in educating and inspiring countless Christian musicians across the globe can not be underestimated. Contrary to some press, she is still very active in her faith and also community social services - assisting aged care, destitute men and women, refugees and the oppressed in Australian society and beyond. As a woman who had it all, gave it away and continued to be very committed to equality and social justice, she leaves many in the fickle music industry of today something to admire.
PLEASE NOTE I DO NOT SELL MUSIC - SO DO NOT SEND EMAILS REQUESTING SONGS. If you want music both the CD "A Time To Sing" and the new Hardrush Music compilation CD "The Winners" are available online from the Hardrush Music website .
