From John Farnham to Kylie Minogue to Parcels and Parkway Drive, we’ve got a vast and exciting world of music here in Australia. People aren’t afraid to do things a little bit differently — and the world can see that.
Now author Glen Humphries is looking back on it all in a new book, Aussie Rock Anthems, a collection of our most iconic hard driving songs. Each song is discussed in detail with quotes from the artists, alongside a behind the scenes look at the tracks.
Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
“I really like the Cold Chisel (‘Khe Sanh’) story,” Glen notes. “It’s such an iconic song. I had interviewed Don Walker before and he told me about how he knew it wasn’t an Australian battle (Battle of Khe Sanh).”
“He was concerned about whether people would catch him out on that when the song was actually released and appeared on the first album.”
You just have to look at our industry to see the interesting journey local music has taken — moving from rock to folk and now techno. Glen notes whether there’s a specific thing that makes a song Australian.
“In the 70’s and 80’s, there certainly was a lot of iconic songs that came through that pub rock world; guitar oriented stuff like AC/DC, The Angels, Midnight Oil, and the like.
“But as you sort of move forward, the sound does evolve. So you get lasting songs that are a bit more melodic and a bit softer, like ‘Scar’, by Missy Higgins springs to mind.
“More recently, we’ve had that with the electro sound with groups like The Presets.”
As music fans, it’s easy to look at the scene on our doorstep and ponder why certain acts didn’t make it as famous as others — John Farnham and Cold Chisel never received as much international acclaim as groups like Silverchair or Midnight Oil, so what was different?
“Groups like The Angels made a bit of headway in the US, they got sort of known and I think they influenced the likes of Guns and Roses, but they never really made it big themselves.
“Famously Cold Chisel tried to make it over there and sort of blew up in their face and it didn’t happen. But they ended up getting that song ‘You Got Nothing I Want’ out of it.
“They just realised they didn’t want to have to live over there for two/ three years breaking through. But I really think they should have been a success in the US. They had that sort of really hard grinding pub rock sound that would have gone well in the clubs over in the US.
“They understandably just didn’t want to hang around for two years, three years, start at the bottom and have to do it all over again.”
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Another element of a band’s level of success comes down to the era they’re trying to break through — if the US or the UK aren’t into the genre, the chances of getting attention are low.
When we look at some of the biggest artists currently representing Australia on the world stage, they represent something the world’s looking for at the time. Like Tame Impala coming to life with the indie wave, Troye Sivan getting known for his hyperpop stylings, and The Kid Laroi finding his fans in the world of hip-hop.
“Timing does make it a bit easier to get heard, that would be the case with Cold Chisel when they went over there. At that time the soft rock / yacht rock sound was big, so no-one was really interested in what they [Chisels] were trying to sell.
“You can benefit from timing too, like the payola scandal fallout, this left a gap open for records, and radio stations started playing Midnight Oils’ ‘The Beds Are Burning’, US radio stations loved that song.”
Humphries is the first to note there are a number of songs that missed the cut for the book, and some weren’t considered as they need some gesticulation time to be considered an iconic song.
“There is that idea that a song has to have a certain length of time, it has to be still hanging around 15/20 years later, and become sort of embedded in the culture.
“But you could also argue like Alex Lloyd’s ‘Amazing’ has the potential to be one of those. That’s probably one of the ones that could have made the cut in the book, but didn’t.
“And in terms of the songs that got left out, you could almost write another top 40 book about another 40 songs that were anthemic. There were that many that didn’t make the cut this time around.”
See what songs did make the cut when Aussie Rock Anthems drops on Wednesday 17 July.
Glen Humphries will also be launching Aussie Rock Anthems (Gelding Street Press) in conversation with Jeff Apter, as Ryans Hotel Thirroul (31 July 6:30pm). Entry is FREE, bookings essential via Collins Thirroul.
Aussie Rock Anthems by Glen Humphries (Gelding Street Press $39.99)
When: Wednesday 17 July
Where: All good bookstores
