Comments on: Songs heard a million times

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:22:34 +0000

Sass: Yup, like finding out that the only people who know that Errol Flynn was Australian is us Aussies. (Love the name of your blog!)

By: sass

sass — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:10:13 +0000

ted I think you might mean midnight oil ‘beds are burning’…. goanna did have a hit about indigenous australians / land ownership too though – ’solid rock’.

as for all the songs you posted … they’re the kinds of things that really make me realise I’m australian when I go overseas and no one has hard of them, even though I feel like I have the words imprinted in my dna somewhere.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:33:06 +0000

Songs by INXS or Midnight Oil would possibly be more well know. Not just because they’re a little more recent but also because, correct me if i’m wong, they had a huge US following.

By: Ted Lemon

Ted Lemon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:33:41 +0000

Nope, never heard of it. And i would have – it sounds like it was done in the seventies.

The first thing I heard from Australia that I /liked/ was a song by Goanna. Something about beds burning. Dunno if they were actually big in Australia, but they got radio play in the U.S.

By: Lindsay N

Lindsay N — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:19:22 +0000

I didn’t know any of them, but I really enjoyed listening to From Little Things Big Things Grow and Treaty. Both were amazing.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:08:03 +0000

this is utterly off topic, but….is it true that mangosteens are available in the u.s. now? wikipedia says you can get them for $45 a pound in nyc. (my mother has recently become obsessed with mangosteens. apparently they are very healthy for you.)

By: Lizabelle

Lizabelle — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:27:16 +0000

ms cynic: Trees contain too many Australian spiders. I live in a beach suburb, work from home, tend to avoid places that play SHIT FM music and when I do (rarely) listen to the radio it is generally to indie-ish stations. All of which prob makes me sound horribly insular, but I like it that way .

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:02:58 +0000

I’m pretty sure Elton John wrote Crocodile Rock in response to Eagle Rock. What about some Cold Chisel clips – Choir Girl for eg.

By: ms cynic

ms cynic — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:43:57 +0000

Lizabelle. You are obviously living in a rare Australian town without access to a SHIT FM station (also known as the Austereo Network) or you would have heard all of those songs more times than I’ve had hot breakfasts.

Do you live up a tree?

By: emily beth

emily beth — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:50:32 +0000

none, i’m sorry

By: hillary!

hillary! — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:27:21 +0000

Nope.

By: Lizabelle

Lizabelle — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:47:26 +0000

Justine: Nope, I didn’t know any of these before coming to Australia, and I still don’t recognise Treaty (I did just google Yothu Yindi, though, and will be looking out for their stuff. I like).

Also, the actual Sounds of Australia list is fascinating!

By: rebecca

rebecca — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:42:04 +0000

i had never heard of any of them, but i really like “treaty.”

By: Amber

Amber — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:20:13 +0000

Paul Kelly’s grey hat should be in the national archive, if only it could be crowbarred from off the man’s head.

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:12:28 +0000

Stop apologising, people. There are gazillions of USian songs I'd never heard of until I lived here. I am seeking information not breast beating. Jenn: Kasey Chambers is very Aussie. We has people what writes all genres of music. I have friends who produce some of the finest electronic music going. And then there's all our fabby composers like Peter Sculthorpe. Aussie music is wide and diverse.

By: Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:17:44 +0000

USAian, and not a one I’m afraid.

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:54:36 +0000

Well, as you might know I’m Canadian and the only song I knew was From Little Things Big Things Grow and I heard it from you! Sorry.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:34:15 +0000

I’m not Australian, but I have heard “Treaty.” Not sure where, prolly my husband found it, since he loves looking for different kinds of music.

One of our favorite Australian performers is Kasey Chambers. Not sure if that is a very Australian sound, but her CDs will be accompanying me to CA for the ALA con, since I always take them with me when I travel. Saw her live once at Old Settler’s Festival in Austin, and she was great!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:47:33 +0000

I think I might have heard Most People I Know but I didn’t know it was Australian. It doesn’t have any of the usual references I would expect, such as Paul Hogan. Never heard of the others.

Best Aussie song ever–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew

By: Leila

Leila — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:01:04 +0000

Yes, of course! I know it from PK albums (and the Jimmie Dale Gilmore/Butch Hancock Live in Australia — he shows up near the end of that one and the three of them sing it), so that tends to be how I remember it.

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:53:50 +0000

Leila: Thank you! Though don’t forget is not just Paul Kelly song, is also by Kev Carmody.

By: Leila

Leila — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:51:40 +0000

Nope! Just the Paul Kelly.

Well, actually, the first song sounded vaguely familiar, but I’m not counting it because vaguely familiar is just so… vague.

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:38:58 +0000

Lizabelle: Did you know those songs before you came to Australia? Do you know “Treaty”? (You didn’t mention it.)

Leila: Had you heard of the other songs?

Blog overlord says: Is scientific survey! Please to answer all questions!

By: Leila

Leila — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:11:52 +0000

I know the older Paul Kelly version of FLTBTG by heart — I own most of his albums and have seen him play twice. Thanks for posting the newer video, I hadn’t seen it!

By: Liset

Liset — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:15:14 +0000

Sorry, haven’t heard of any of them!