The text opens in 1884, when Jacques Albert and his family immigrated to Australia from Russia. Jacques and his son, Frank, recognised ‘the public’s growing demand for music and other entertainment’. The Albert family gained initial success selling musical instruments, sheet music and concert tickets. In the century that followed, ‘Alberts’ (as the family’s company was known) became one of the most prolific music labels in Australian history. They have signed up such acts as AC/DC, The Easybeats and John Paul Young. In the early 1990s, Alberts branched out into film production; they collaborated on the internationally acclaimed Strictly Ballroom.

House of Hits is long, and has some very dry sections. On the plus side, the book contains fascinating insights into the evolution of Australian popular culture since the late nineteenth century. A highlight is the chapter that covers the production of Strictly Ballroom, a pet project of Ted Albert’s. His death in 1990 (two years before the film was released) represented a major loss for the Australian entertainment industry.

Refreshingly, Albert avoids recounting salacious stories about Australian celebrities. She does describe the singer Stevie Wright’s drug addiction, but this section evokes the tragic and non-sensationalist picture of an artist whose creative genius was for years over-shadowed by demons.

House of Hits is not a lively read, but it does provide a comprehensive and richly deserved overview of one of the most important Australian music companies.