Classic Aussie Music

Here’s a little piece about the Balmain indie-rock scene I grew up in. Originally published, in part, in a small article in the local Balmain paper Village Voice in 2006/2007. By the late 1970s, Balmain (in Sydney’s inner west) had already been through a sea-change of sorts with the influx of a younger, politically left-leaning…

In 1977 I was in my last year of high school and music was becoming an important part of my life, along with the beach! If you lived in Sydney like me you were listening to Ian MacRae on 2SM. You probably even went to the Rocktober Concert. We still had Malcolm Fraser as PM…

1976, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in year 9 at high school. Malcolm Fraser was our Prime Minister then, back in the days he could keep his trousers on. Neville Wran became Premier of NSW in May of 1976. Van Der Hum won the Melbourne Cup. Australia beat the West Indies…

What were you up to in 1975? It was the year that saw Sir John Kerr sack Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister of Australia. The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania is hit by a passing ship and collapses killing 12 people. Joh Bjelke-Peterson was confusing us all with his mastery of the English language and Don…

1974, I remember it well. It was my first year of High School and I was just becoming aware of how good Aussie music was at the time. Pop band Sherbet was posing for “risque” portraits, Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister, The Eastern Suburbs Roosters were Rugby League Premiers, Richmond won the VFL Final, John…