Tex Perkins has been around the ruthlessly ageist Australian music industry to know an opportunity when he sees it. “As far as Boomers and Generation X punters go, it’s all about anniversaries these days,” he says with a dry chuckle, somewhere on top of a hill (the mobile reception is better) near his home in […]
The Cruel Sea: Honeymoon spark returns Read More »
Outside the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane’s biggest nightclub strip, two hours before showtime, a long line snakes up and around Brunswick Street Mall. It’s been well over a decade since the Cruel Sea played here, and the 3,000-capacity venue is soon overflowing to the point of feeling oversold. It’s a reminder of just how
The Cruel Sea: Fortitude Music Hall, 30 November 2023 Read More »
In Terry Southern’s classic short story You’re Too Hip, Baby, a white hipster hangs around the jazz clubs in Paris in the 1950s, desperately trying to ingratiate himself with the Black musicians. They quickly see through the schmuck, blowing him off with the snappy comeback. It’s an unlikely premise for a song. But in 1993,
Dave Graney & Clare Moore: still hip Read More »
One for my French readers, on one of the great unsung Australian songwriters, Peter Milton Walsh, of the Apartments. Peter Milton Walsh was on a roll. It was 1996, and the singer-songwriter behind the Apartments – who had emerged from the same post-Saints Brisbane scene that gave birth to the Go-Betweens and the Riptides – was
“I thought it put a stop to songs forever” Read More »
As promised from yesterday. I’ve tried to cover as many bases as possible in terms of decade and genre, avoiding multiple selections for the same artist. Without further ado, here’s the list from 40 to 31. 40. COSMIC PSYCHOS – Lost Cause (1988) It was Spinal Tap who pointed out the fine line between clever
The Great Australian Songbook II (40-31) Read More »