‘This Could be Serious’ – Grafton pens a book for hard times

Former CX publisher Julius Grafton has released a 340 page memoir that reveals more than most – and contains some stunning admissions. Proceeds go to the CrewCare charity, with pre-sales already hitting four figures in as many days.

With chapters such as ‘Lighting a strip show is boring’ and ‘Blowing shit up’, the book ricochets between characters in the technical community like Tom Misner and Bruce Jackson, to notorious nightclub queen Dawn O’Donnell and her henchman Todor ‘The Torch’ Maksimovitch. It details the gritty streets of east Sydney during the brothel wars of the 1960s, viewed through Grafton’s bedroom window.

Starting with psychedelic lightshows in 1973, Grafton went on to became a protege of the late Roger Barratt, acclaimed as one of Australia’s greatest lighting designers. Tony Davies and Gavan Swift were later beneficiaries of Roger’s mentorship. In 1980 Grafton flipped over to audio, and started a touring production firm with his late wife Caroline. That spawned the Australian Monitor brand which led him into the shady world of venture capital which became an obsession.

The pages of CX Magazine would sometimes explode with features on the crazy mad money ventures like Ted Pretty’s pillage of Hills, or the Staging Connections value destruction decade. Also getting a shellacking in the book are some larger than life music industry characters like A. J. Maddah, and a very recent crazy train wreck where Grafton became a (short-term) music promoter.

“I tested the book across a lot of people, and then hired a real editor to polish it off”, Grafton told CX. “It’s designed so you can read any of the 63 chapters in isolation without worrying about losing your place.”

The book is available at Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and as a paperback direct from www.juliusgrafton.com – where the funds go directly to CrewCare.