My mate Asho, owner of the Footstomp label was so excited about Paul Kelly’s new album Life Is Fine that he wanted its release date to be declared a national holiday. Too right I say! The man is a national living treasure, or as Archie Roach put it so succinctly, he is our bard. But even Paul Kelly’s most ardent fans may have been feeling a little perplexed of late. Paul … [Read more...]
Mental As Anything – Podcast
Mental As Anything have been Australia’s party band of choice for generations of music fans. The humble beginnings of five unassuming art students who first got together for a lark playing covers of their favourite songs by performing on top of a pool table in a pub is one of the most endearing tales in Australian music. They held no lofty ambitions other than to play for … [Read more...]
East – Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel, one of the most dynamic live acts Australia has ever produced. A band of outsiders driven to succeed at any cost and a band that lived as they played – hard and fast. A band of fractious temperaments that could implode at any moment and often did. If ever an Australian band embodied the sex, drugs and rock and roll ethos it was Cold Chisel and their record company … [Read more...]
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – Midnight Oil
It’s the summer holidays and I’m in the heart of Midnight Oil’s turf on Sydney’s northern beaches. The house where I’m staying is just off Powder Works Road, the winding piece of bitumen that paved the way down to the coast and brought the wax heads from the city’s leafy north shore and beyond down to the nirvana of one of Sydney’s best breaks. It’s also the road that gave name … [Read more...]
Living In The 70’s – Skyhooks
Skyhooks exploded as an entity in 1974 with Living In The 70’s. It was an astonishing debut that changed the face of Australian music and went on to become the highest selling independent album by an Australian artist, a record held until the release of The Whitlams' Eternal Nightcap in 1997. The album’s success ensured the fledgling Mushroom Records would go on to become a … [Read more...]