Rain, rain, rain and more rain has been to order of the day (and night) in the nation’s capital. What a mess. I think the dog is swimming in the backyard. And the cat is a soggy orange mess. If it doesn’t clear up soon I’ll begin to think we’ve all moved to New Zealand.
Last week after publishing the week’s ramblings and congratulating myself on such an awesome job of work I remembered that I had been going to play some Howard Jones. Why? Something twigged in my mind about music when I was in my final year of high school – and a couple of friends were right into that stuff. It wasn’t really my scene but on looking back it’s not all that bad. I consulted the oracle of all things Howard (thanks Doc) and here we go.
DJ Cushy probably thought he was being amusing when he told me he was listening to a whole lot of Mushroom Records artists and that wasn’t much help for me this week. But he was wrong. Mushroom Records feature heavily in my collection of 45s. So, let’s drag out a few. It’s an iconic Australian label and we let some New Zealanders on there too.
Chain were a great bluesy rock band. This footage is from the Myer Music Bowl in 1982. In the background is a poster for radio 3XY. That’s one of the stations we couldn’t receive in the country when I was a kid and I was gutted as it was THE station to listen to prior to FM radio.
Chain are also on the soundtrack for the great Aussie movie “Dirty Deeds” – you need to watch it – a great gangster movie set Down Under.
This next song is a stone cold classic. It’s got everything; great beat, massive horn section and zebra skin print drums! Seriously though – it was always a favourite at any school disco!
I bought Deborah Conway’s “String of Pearls” album on the strength of this next tune. The chords in the verse are a real treat to play – they ring out beautifully. It’s definitely a song I’d like to try with a band.
And finally, Choirboys. A pub rock band that really made it big on the back of one song. But if you take the time to delve into their albums the songwriting is great and their singer has a great set of pipes. I saw them once live at the Queanbeyan Leagues Club on a Sunday night. I think there were 10 others in the audience. The band were great and played a fantastic show. Almost like the time Alison and I saw Dragon at the Yass Soldiers Club and there were more people in the band than in the crowd!
So there you go, a quick introduction to Mushroom Records. Kylie’s on Mushroom too, a definite bonus!
I wasn’t going to talk politics but I can’t help myself. The PM has announced that Bob Carr is the new Foreign Minister. Really? He’s not even in the Parliament yet and he gets a top spot. Ok, so he was the Premier of NSW but he’s hardly proven in federal politics. Gareth Evans is spinning in his grave and he isn’t dead yet. It’s looking more and more like we’ll say goodbye to the Australian Labor Party being in power when the next election comes along.
In 1990 Midnight Oil played a live show in front of the Exxon Building in New York. I remember recording the concert from the radio on a 120 minute tape – I was worried I might miss some of it! I discovered that cassette last night and I better get it onto CD soon. Those C120s really don’t last. Of course there are classic Oils tracks in the gig but this cover is my favourite. It gives a Lennon classic an extra bit of oomph…
I’ve started watching The Wire on TV. I’m only 4 episodes into season 1 but I like it a lot. Gritty police drama with good character development. The theme song is great too – it’s how I got into the show along with a recommendation from DJ Patriot. Every season someone else sings it. And given that they’ve had Tom Waits AND Steve Earle it must be good. Let’s finish with Tom doing his thang.
That’s all folks. I guess it will rain all weekend and that means no cycling. I can’t bring myself to ride on the home trainer yet – I’ll do something else instead!
DJ Rob
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