Dear Chrissie, Pleasure? Pain? I don't know, but I love you.
A Love Letter To Australian Music
by Jo Michelmore
The last day of Australian Music Month. I’ve been talking to
a lot of people about Australian music the last couple of weeks. I’ve had a few
requests as to what I should write about. One of my favourites was ‘Mullets Of
The Australian Music Industry’ but there’s some awesome mullets that weren’t
Australian, so I decided I would save that one to encompass many countries
instead. I’ve gathered a lot of opinions about Australian music; who people
love, who people hate, what people think and you know what I’m going to do
about those opinions? Something quintessentially Australian. Nuttin. All those
opinions taught me were that everyone has their own opinion. Some people love
Kylie, some people prefer Dannii. (Ok, just one person I know prefers Dannii.)
Some people think Australian music peaked at Cold Chisel. Some people know
better. Some people think Australian music is rubbish. Some people enjoy
listening to Coldplay. I know, right? Go figure, you really can’t account for
taste. You know what this leads me to? My own thoughts of Australian music and
thinking about it, there have been some incredible Australian songs that have
made their way onto my life’s soundtrack. Songs that take me to times and places
of my life as soon as I hear them. Everyone has their own, but since it’s the
very last day of everything It’s My Kind Of Australian Scene, let’s talk about
some Australian ones on my soundtrack. Songs I love, like….
Friday On My Mind
by The Easybeats (1966)
I know, this is one of those songs that makes it to all the great Australian song lists all the time. You know why? Because it’s a damn catchy song, that’s why. It has the ability to translate genres and time, someone could record it today as indie pop, rock, dance, dubstep; it would still be as awesome. When I hear it, it takes me straight to my Mum and Dads house, to my childhood, to my teenage years, to chatting with my Dad about all the music that has made it onto his own soundtrack, which then in turn has made it onto mine. This song also contains the lyrics “Monday I’ve got Friday on my mind” which translates all time and space, right? What day is it? Oh thank God, it’s vintage Thursday, which means it’s almost Friday….love.
Pleasure And Pain
by the Divinyls (1985)
Everyone should have their own Chrissie Amphlett. That rock star that grabs you by the back of your head, turns your face to theirs and changes the way you listen to things. Chrissie, things were simple before I saw you. Girls were just pop stars and wore pretty clothes and sung about flowers and clouds and unicorns and things. Then you started singing about the fine line between pleasure and pain and even though I had absolutely no idea what you were talking about I knew there was something going on that I should know about. I distinctly remember being terrified and impressed all at once. This song takes me to that fabulous feeling every time I hear it. It also contains the lines “It's a fine, fine line between pleasure and pain, it's all the same, it's all the same” which you can take any way you want, but whichever way you take them, they’re true. Love.
Thunder
by The Mavis’s (1996)
Godamn, for a good couple of months there, I LOVED this band. I listened to their album ‘Venus Returning’ nonstop which must surely have annoyed my fellow housemates/parents/bus passengers so much. This song and another – ‘Do You Have A Brother?’ were played endlessly and this song, ‘Thunder’, had that magic ability to get stuck in one’s head for days on end. Hearing it now, I’m returned immediately to that annoyingly long bus trip that I used to make to work, every single day, the trip I knew back to front and could probably still drive with my eyes closed right now if I had to. Don’t worry, I’m not going to do that. I will however be singing this song for hours to come. In my humble opinion, this is also still one of the cutest indie pop songs ever written. Love.
Crazy
by Cordrazine (1997)
I have absolutely no idea who this band ever were, where they came from or where they went, but they were the little darlings of Triple J at the time and this song had me absolutely mesmerised at one stage. It’s one of those songs, I forget it exists for years on end, then suddenly it comes back to me, I listen to it a few times REALLY loudly, it takes me straight back to the exact time in my life when I first heard it and that godamn nasty boy, then bam, I’ve forgotten it again. That vocal, that falsetto, that note and the line at the end “don’t ever leave, leave me now”. Thankfully, that nasty boy did. Love.
Light All My Lights
by Seeker Lover Keeper (2011)
It’s future vintage and I’m including it because I love it. I lovelovelove it. I’m including it because Seeker Lover Keeper never got enough recognition for being as amazing as they were. I’m including it because hearing takes me right back to the very first time I heard it two years ago and loving it. Thinking about it now, the very first time I heard it was a really pleasant time of my life. Things were looking up. It also takes me back to one of the best things I’ve ever done, one of the first things I ever contributed to this blog, my first Splendour text review! Look where that got me! You’re reading me now, right? Yep, this song reminds me of times and people I love. It ends with some of my fave lyrics ever; “We'll all be so strong, we'll all be so strong, we'll all be so strong”. Love.
