I keep getting caught by the nostalgia bug lately. At the moment I’m leaning into it. Last night it was quite the mixed bag of stuff. Firstly, I watched the latest episode of In Your Room – the monthly video chat that Th3 Minds have. This month I was very excited to see that they’d be chatting with Steve Hillage and the subject would obviously be focused on his involvement in producing Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call.
After that I wanted to watch that sadly really poor quality bit of video that is up on YouTube of the band being on (and “co-hosting”) Countdown in 1982. Still feeling incredibly drawn to the most delicious 1981/1982 era of Jim Kerr. Enough of that!
Then it was the usual Friday night BBC Sounds podcasts fayre, followed by a bit of late night Spotify. I was thinking about the music I grew up with and how my vinyl collection only shows a smattering of the Antipodean music I love. I have a couple of Crowded House albums, a Split Enz album and just a solitary INXS album.
There were bands when I was younger that I just couldn’t get into. I wasn’t much of a listener of 2JJ (or 2JJJ as it later became – more widely known as Triple J). I wasn’t an “experimental” listener, although my taste could be eclectic, it was very much dictated by the influence of my brothers. One of my brothers had much more eclectic taste than the other. That’s how I learned about acts like Talking Heads, Grace Jones, Nina Hagen and U2. That was all his influence. My other brother gave me a love for The Beatles and Sherbet. Oh, and Suzi Quatro.
When I opened Spotify, I didn’t really have the intention to listen to anything Oz based. I played the latest from Nation of Language at first, thinking ahead to the excitement of seeing them in Glasgow again in November. They were one of my favourite shows of 2023 when they played the QMU.
But that nostalgia soon again took hold. I wanted to hear something not only Oz, but more obscurely Oz. One of those bands I didn’t really appreciate when I was younger, at least not until they became more mainstream was Models. Early Models had that strange Oz alternative sound that was like a mix between pop rock, art rock and post-punk/new wave. It’s probably within the last 10-15 years that I’ve grown to appreciate that sound. I listened to a few songs off one of their early EPs, then wanted to hear the song that really hooked me when they released a full album a couple of years later. I know they are synth drums but it’s such a great sound! I loooooooooooved this song when it came out.
I then thought about playing some Mondo Rock but couldn’t decide on what I wanted to hear. I then went right back in time to Sherbet. I played their cover of The Beatles ‘Nowhere Man’ (which was my first knowledge of the song) recorded live at one of their shows. I then played ‘Summer Love’ and what a nostalgia kick that was. I felt like a 6 year-old again. Lol
Then I played some Dragon. Mid 80s again. I played ‘Rain’ followed by ‘Body and the Beat’ (which I always felt was a stronger song than the former, but I don’t think it charted as well). I then wanted to hear Split Enz’s ‘Dirty Creature’ and then wanted to hear some Tim Finn solo stuff but couldn’t find the tracks I wanted to hear. I guess they go too far back in time. I finished with Do Re Mi – another band I hardly gave any time to, except for their most well-known hit ‘Man Overboard.’ What a track that was!
I came away from it feeling pissed off with myself that I wasn’t a more experimental listener when I was younger. I feel like I missed so much stuff that I’d probably love now had I been more adventurous. One of my favourite Australian albums from the past that I love listening to on the odd occasion is called Quasimodo’s Dream by The Reels. I adore that album now. But I never really gave much attention to The Reels in the early 80s. I’ve never owned a copy of the album. It is something I’d like to rectify.
Where’s this post going? I don’t know! Probably to the point that I need to add more Australian/New Zealand music to my collection of music on vinyl/CD. Not the easiest thing to do when living on the other side of the world, but I guess there’s always eBay.
It’s a good question though, for a country whose first language is English why are there not more successful Australian bands?
I had an obscure album (to me anyway) as a 16 year old by a band called The Australian Crawl. My pal who was into all sorts of weird shit gave it to me. Was alright.
Yes, they were pretty successful in Oz in the early 80s. I liked selected bits of their catalogue. James Reyne’s voice is a bit Marmite (or maybe Vegemite?), really. He had some success as a solo artist too. Sometimes his voice would piss me off. I had to be in the mood for it. Sirocco is my favourite album of theirs.