NEIL DIAMOND THE ‘THANK YOU AUSTRALIA’ CONCERT LIVE 1976 DVD REISSUE SET FOR RELEASE ON JANUARY 19, 2024
7 DECEMBER 2023 (TORONTO, ON) —On January 19, 2024, Mercury Studios will reissue the historic and formerly long out of print concert event The Thank You Australia Concert Live 1976 DVD, from the legendary and inimitable songwriter and performer Neil Diamond.
Performing to a record-breaking crowd at Sydney’s Sports Ground and telecast live to the largest viewer audience in Australian history, Neil Diamond’s explosive performance in March of 1976 electrified and mesmerized an entire nation for one amazing night with nearly three hours of phenomenal showmanship and entertainment. With a stunning set packed with hit singles and classic musical gems, this special release DVD captures the magic of this unforgettable concert from a cultural icon and is truly a must have collectible for any music fan.
This concert from the Sydney Sports Stadium was the final show of Diamond’s 1976 Australian New Zealand tour, an event that marked his comeback to the stage after a creatively fruitful four-year sabbatical from live performance that resulted in the creation of the ground-breaking, Grammy winning album; Jonathon Livingston Seagull and the autobiographical album Beautiful Noise, produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band. Just ten years after “Solitary Man” rocketed into the charts and introduced us to the musical magic of Neil Diamond; the 1976 tour is still one of the most memorable in Australian history. The Neil Diamond Thank You Australia Concert Live 1976 delivers the enthralling performance of a consummate showman.
Neil Diamond is an international legend. Throughout his phenomenal and wide-ranging career, he has performed and sold-out stadiums and arenas around the world, dominated the charts for more than five decades, sold over 130 million albums worldwide and achieved record sales.
His songs have been covered by everyone from Cliff Richard to Elvis; UB40, Urge Overkill, Smashmouth and Frank Sinatra. Today, Diamond and fans are enjoying the successful Broadway run of A Beautiful Noise, the biographical musical that boasts a score of Diamond’s greatest hits, based a book by three-time Academy Award-nominated dramatist Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour, The Theory of Everything) that has been thriving and selling out shows on Broadway for over a year.
The Thank You Australia Concert Live 1976 is presented with a host of bonus features including priceless moments of entertainment history: Neil Diamond’s first ever full-length Television interview – an intimate 50 minutes filmed during the March ’76 tour; Sponsors’ commercials performed live on stage by Neil Diamond himself; David Frost’s original TV feature building up to the concert for Channel 9 and a Photo Gallery of previously unreleased images. The telecast of the concert – hosted to thank Australia for their incredible support of the tour - was watched by hundreds of thousands of people via 37 affiliate stations nationwide and broke viewing records. Clocking in at nearly three hours of top-quality entertainment The Thank You Australia Concert Live 1976 release is a testament to one of music’s most original, successful and enduring stars. The ultimate fan’s collector’s item, essential viewing.
Tracklisting
1) Missa
2)Soolaimon
3) Play Me
4) Solitary Man
5) Cherry Cherry
6) Sweet Caroline
7) The Last Picasso
8) Longfellow Serenade
9) Song Sung Blue
10) Cracklin’ Rosie
11) Holly Holy
12) I Am…I Said
13) Anthem
14) Be
15) Dear Father
16) Skybird
17) Lonely Looking Sky
18) Anthem (reprise)
19) Be (reprise)
20) Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show
21) I’ve Been This Way Before
ABOUT MERCURY STUDIOS
Mercury Studios is a full-service production studio.
Current and recent projects include Telluride Film Festival selections American Symphony, a feature documentary by award-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman that follows Jon Batiste and If These Walls Could Sing, the untold story of the world-famous Abbey Road Studios directed by celebrated British photographer and filmmaker Mary McCartney for Disney+; “My Life as a Rolling Stone,” a four-part docuseries of intimate portraits of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts for the BBC and MGM+; Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl, a career documentary about the superstar currently available on Netflix; Mixtape, the critically acclaimed feature documentary from Omar Acosta focused on the DJs and artists who shaped the sound and culture of Hip-Hop through mixtapes for Paramount+; and the forthcoming “This Town,” a six-part series for the BBC from writer, creator, and executive producer Steven Knight. Mercury Studios also produced “Sam Smith Live at the Royal Albert Hall” (BBC/Tik Tok) and Billie Eilish’s livestream event, “Overheated,” at The 02 London and the upcoming “Lang Lang Plays Disney” for Disney+.
Editorially independent, Mercury Studios is powered by Universal Music Group and represents the world’s leading catalogue of music-related content, consisting of thousands of hours of premium music-driven film and television programming.
About Neil Diamond
A Grammy Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and The Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has been presented with The Johnny Mercer Award, The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and The Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, three of the highest honors bestowed on songwriters and artists. He has also been the recipient of the NARAS Music Cares Person Of The Year Award and the prestigious Kennedy Center Award for his contributions to American culture.