Month: May 2017

#18 – Take Me Back by Noiseworks

Formed in Sydney in 1986, Noiseworks was a hard rock band with a melodic edge in the Honeymoon Suite/Bon Jovi mold. They produced four Top 10 albums in Australia, along with three Top 10 singles. Although their first two albums were released in the U.S. they failed to chart at all. New Zealand-born lead singer Jon Freeman, was of M?ori descent, and became the lead vocalist for Inxs in 2000 for three years after Michael Hutchence’s death. Take Me Back was their first and highest-charting Australia single reaching the #7 spot.

https://youtu.be/MQveDjot__g

#17 – Breath by David Bridie

As mentioned in yesterday’s entry, David Bridie first rose to prominence in the band Not Drowning, Waving, which was active through the early 1980’s through the early 1990’s and released six albums. As that band was nearing the end of its run, Bridie started a second band in the early 90’s called My Friend the Chocolate Cake which also released 6 studio albums. In 2000, Bridie released the first of four solo albums, his latest as recently as 2013. Breath  is an atmospheric track taken from his first solo album, Act of Free Choice.

A friend of mine asked if I would send him my Top 10 Australian pop songs for an article he was writing on books about the music industry, and I jumped at the chance. I was a huge fan of Australian music in the 80’s and it was quite easy for me to come up with a lot of great songs for this list. In fact, I couldn’t stop at just 10, and ended up with a list of my top 20 Australian pop songs. I’m not sure if my friend was able to use my list for his article, but I thought I could definitely share it here.

So here they are, #20 and #19 of my Top 20 Australian pop songs!

#20 – Back on the Breadline by Hunters & Collectors

Formed in 1981, Hunters & Collectors was fronted by singer-songwriter/guitarist Mark Seymour. The band’s signature sound was their three piece horn section including a trumpet, trombone and french horn, and muscular blend of rock and funk. Seymour’s gruff, masculine presentation was underscored by a lyrical sensitivity that really elevated their music to something unique and special. I had the opportunity to meet Seymour backstage at the Channel in Boston, and he’s always been someone I’ve admired as a performer.

Back on the Breadline was one of three songs added to the U.S. version of their fifth studio album, What’s a Few Men? It peaked at #6 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks. Funny story: the first time I heard it on the radio, I thought it was a new track by Joan Armatrading.

#19 – Spark by Not Drowning, Waving

Melbourne Australia band, not drowning, waving, was formed in 1983 by keyboard player/vocalist, David Bridie and guitaris, John Phillips. Their musical style combined rock, ambient sounds, and world music, and they released nine studio albums. David Bridie also released solo albums, and he appears three times on this list, once here, once as a solo artist, and once as songwriter for another musician. A couple of interesting side notes, Bridie and fellow members of not drowning, waving, formed a side-project, My Friend The Chocolate Cake to play more acoustic-based material. They also scored the film Proof starring Russell Crowe and Hugo Weaving in 1991.

Spark was a cut off their 1993 album, Circus.