Music, Murder and Mayhem: Stuart Coupe and Jeff Apter

Next date: Friday, 17 October 2025 | 06:00 PM to 08:00 PM

Wherever you find entertainers performing in neon-lit pubs and clubs, chances are you will find a wannabe gangster or two hanging around.

Selling sex and drugs has always been a way to make a fast buck - and potential customers are more open to temptation in pubs, bars, dance halls and nightclubs. Abe Saffron figured all this out very quickly, says music industry legend Stuart Coupe.

So too did one of post-war Australia's most influential rock’n’roll promoters - Lee Gordon. He brought us Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr, Johnny O’Keefe and the Roller Derby. To some he was a typical yank: crass, loud, outspoken and focused on one thing – making money. But one thing is undeniable - without Lee Gordon, there would be no billion-dollar entertainment industry in Australia today, says author Jeff Apter.

Friends of Kiama Library are thrilled to have both these authors together to talk about how these two Kings of the Cross influenced music and the mafia.

Drinks and finger food will be served after the talk, and books will be available for purchase and signing.

$15 Friends members | $20 Guests (includes drinks and finger food)

Everyone welcome.

Saffron Incorporated by Stuart Coupe

Let's get the story of Abraham Gilbert Saffron down. Just the facts, Your Honour.

Music industry legend Stuart Coupe shows how showbusiness and the underworld are intrinsically linked - nightclubs, corrupt cops, drugs, vice, rock'n'roll promoters, dodgy accountants and gangland shootings - and it was Abe Saffron, the original King of the Cross, who laid the foundations for more than fifty years of intrigue, murder and mayhem.

Saffron was a chancer who kickstarted his criminal career SP bookmaking and receiving stolen goods. While he earned himself a quid or two, he wanted much more, and he was ruthless enough to seize any moment to get it ... no matter what he had to do.

Running pubs opened up opportunities for young Abe. By the 1940s, American servicemen on leave from the war were flooding Sydney looking for booze, food, girls, sex and entertainment - and a lot of all of it. And they had cash. Lots of cash.

Saffron was ready to take their money. A wily operator, his rise coincided with the arrival of the nightclub era. He was not the first crime figure to tap into the world of entertainment, and others would emulate him, but he would become one of the most feared and most powerful in Australia. His tentacles stretched around the country and his name dominated news headlines and police briefs for decades. Even after his death, his shadow still hovers over the industry.

Lee Gordon by Jeff Apter

Lee Gordon by Jeff Apter Post-war Australia didn't know what to make of promoter Lee Gordon. To some he was a typical Yank: crass, loud and outspoken, focused on just one thing - making money. But to others, such as rocker Johnny O'Keefe, Lee Gordon was a mentor, a guru and a lifeline to the big time. One thing is undeniable: without Lee Gordon, there would be no billion-dollar entertainment industry in Australia today; and names like Michael Gudinski, Harry M. Miller and Michael Chugg would mean little. Gordon was a true original, who lived fast and hard, spent big - he had a private bank vault - and died far too young, just as he had predicted. 'Lee Gordon was the pioneer,' said Harry M. Miller. 'He created and invented for Australia large-scale entertainment in big arenas. He was very imaginative, way before his time.'

When Lee Gordon arrived in Sydney in September 1953, the only place Australians could see international stars like Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope was on the big screen. But over the next 10 years, Gordon would promote tours for almost 500 international acts, everyone from Sinatra (a close friend) to Sammy Davis Jr, Liberace to Bill Haley, Buddy Holly to shock comic Lenny Bruce. Thanks to Gordon, Aussies grew accustomed to seeing showbiz legends up close, in person, rather than simply staring at them on a cinema screen. Gordon also opened Australia's first drive-in restaurant, introduced local audiences to the Roller Derby and ran discotheques and strip clubs.

By the time Gordon died in mysterious circumstances, alone in London, in 1963 - aged just 40 - he'd not only established the entertainment industry in Australia, but also changed the country's culture forever.