The ARIA Awards first kicked off in 1987. Elton John was the Master of Ceremonies, and John Farnham's Whispering Jack album won nearly everything. The coming together of the music business with all its egos, vibes, competitiveness, and divided opinions, all under one roof was the night the music industry grew up and openly acknowledged each others talents.

Peter Rix was the Chairman and Producer of the first ARIA Awards on that night in 1987 and for the next 14 years through to 2000. In this first conversation, he speaks with two of the founding fathers of the ARIA Awards: former ARIA board director Phillip Mortlock and the former long time producer of the ARIA Awards, Mark Pope. In part 1 of their conversation they talk about how it all began, how the awards still mean so much to recording artists, along with all the war stories in getting the awards up and running.

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