Gee muses

Australian rock’n'roll is 50 - and I am proud to have been part of it for well on 35 years now as a writer, broadcaster (on public radio and online), TV identity (minimal exposure, thankfully), occasional promoter, scriptwriter for the ARIA Awards, and more. And if sounds like I’m pushing my own barrow - there’s a reason. It’s not sour grapes - I’m simply justifying why I can make the following comments. The Age has decided to put together a panel of judges and get them to deliver their 50 Top Australian albums of all time - you can find it at http://www.theage.com.au/multimedia/top50/list.html and sadly it’s rather blinkered. There’s a big difference between ‘favourite’ records and ‘best’ records. There have been a lot of lists of best albums over the years but this one falls far short of the mark. Many of my favourite Australian albums are on The Age’s list but I wouldn’t consider some of them amongst the best Australian albums of all time.

The judges seem largely to be in their 30s-early 40s and, frankly, reliving their own frantic youth - inner Sydney and Melbourne 1980-1995 … extraordinarily more than 30 of their nominations come from 1980 or later … even more extraordinary is only six of the albums come from the period from 1958-1973 - arguably the richest period in Australian music history and certainly the period identified worldwide by collectors as containing the many of Australia’s most significant and collectible records.

Incredibly not one woman gets a guernsey and even more incredibly only two women - Lindy Morrison and Amanda Brown, both of The Go-Betweens - are actually band members.

This is a list driven by what appears to be blatant ignorance - how else could you possibly explain Skyhooks’ Living In The ’70s at #2 - I love the band, the record, the whole ‘Hooks thing and I was in Melbourne when they were huge - but the second best Australian album ever - no way! And what about the inclusion of Victorian cult band Even’s Less Is More - honestly, only a diehard Melburnian could possibly even consider Even - good they may be but Top 50 material! In your dreams. The same can be said of Flowers’ Icehouse, Stephen Cummings’ Lovetown, regurgitator’s Tu-Plang, Jet’s Get Born (give us a break - token 2000s record, no more, wouldn’t make the top 200 of all-time), even The Church’s Starfish - and I’m a massive Church fan who believes Steve Kilbey is some kind of lesser God - is off the beam. And The Gurus at #4 - again, love ‘em, but Stoneage Romeos is a top 30 to 50 at best album.

Hell this list even includes The Easybeats’ Absolute Anthology - a compilation album … you have to be kidding.

So, you’re thinking, ‘okay big mouth, your making a lot of noise but what have they missed - put out or shut up’. In no particular order other than that in which they appear in my head, the following records should all have a place in the Top 50 Australian Records Of All-Time.

1. Extradition - Hush, 1971 - revered by collectors of folk and folk psych as one of the most extraordinary records ever released in that genre. Copies change hands for up to $1200. The lead singer, Shayna Karlin, has an astonishing voice.
2. Kahvas Jute - Wide Open, 1971 - extraordinary blues/prog rock album that also fetches massive prices and is revered by a worldwide audience as up there with anything in this genre ever released.
3. Tamam Shud - Goolutionites And The Real People, 1970 - masterful concept suite based on a song cycle bedded in acid rock. Good copies sell for $700+ - regularly makes world top 100s!
4. Jackie Orszaczky - Morning in Beramiada, 1975 - jazz rock/fusion album made with John Robinson of Blackfeather (At The Mountains Of Madness - yet another contender here). Absolutely superb.
5. Dave Miller/Leith Corbett - Reflections Of A Pioneer, 1970 - cross-genre, psych to country, album that regularly makes world top 100s. Again, a real collector’s item.
6. Madden & Harris - Fool’s Paradise, 1974 - one of the most collectible folk, acid folk records in the world. Issued on a private label, it brings to mind Nick Drake, the UK’s Mellow Candle and the like. In the $800-$1000 region.
7. Company Caine - A Product Of A Broken Reality, 1971 - many good judges believe this is Australia’s finest progressive record and arguably its best ever record. It is certainly mind-blowingly good.
8. Wendy Saddington - Looking Through A Window, 1972 - Australia’s greatest female blues soul singer on her only album which is actually a reissue of Wendy Saddington And The Copperwine Live (1971) with the title track, produced for her by Billy Thorpe and written by Aztec Warren ‘the Pig’ Morgan, added on.
9. Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs - Aztecs Live! At Sunbury, 1972 - Arguably, the greatest homegrown heavy rock album of all-time. A legendary set at the legendary rock festival. For studio Thorpie look no further than More Arse Than Class (1974) - which could easily be included here.
10. Coloured Balls - Ball Power, 1973 - A classic Oz Rock guitar album that recognises the late, great Lobby Loyde, formerly of two other seminal acts the Purple Hearts and Wild Cherries (with Dave Miller). Also check out Lobby’s remarkable solo set, Plays With George Guitar (1971), another classic.
11. Missing Links - Missing Links, 1966 - The definitive Australian garage/r’n'b album. As wild as it gets, this masterpiece of aggression sells for well over $1000 in good condition. Again, recognised worldwide as a true gem of its kind.
12. Pirana - Pirana and Pirana II, 1971/1972 - take your pick which is better. This was Australia’s Santana (think Soul Sacrifice era), capable of mixing jazz, blues, Latin and prog and blowing free. Very collectible and critically adored.
13. Bakery - Momento, 1972 - Perth-based heavy progressive rock outfit who even gained Frank Zappa’s attention. Has been rated one of the best records of its kind in the world.
14. Baby Animals - Self-Titled, 1991 - their debut was, for a time, the biggest selling Australian debut record ever and indeed one of the biggest sellers ever. A definitive hard rock record that has rarely been bettered. Lead singer Suze DeMarchi had a voice to die for.
15. Thought Criminals - Speed., Madness.. Flying Saucers …, 1980 - Primitive, raw, brilliant Australian punk album that’s up there with The Saints’ definitive (I’m) Stranded.
16. TISM - Great Truckin Songs of the Rennaissance, 1988 - It’s doubtful if there ever has been a greater electro funk/rock/pop Australian album. The most savagely satirical band in Australian history.

And that is just the beginning, ladies and gentlemen. Now, before you chuck up the old elitism and ‘most-people-never-heard-these-records’ (with a few exceptions) argument, let me say they have all - except for the Thought Criminals (the excellent compilation Chrono Logical is available though) - been issued on CD in the past few years and are easily available from any good record shop or online. And I’ve deliberately picked a bunch from the early 1970s to show what’s been missed from one period alone. There are many other records that have claim to making this list. Just think … Spectrum, Jeff St John, Levi Smith’s Clefs, McPhee, Not Drowning, Waving, Buffalo, The Cleves, The Scientists, Tully, Fraternity, Mike Furber, Galadriel, SPK, Makers Of The Dead Travel Fast, Severed Heads, Scattered Order, Sun, Madder Lake, X, La De Das, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, Yothu Yindi, and there is still more.

The Age list is a collection of favourite albums - not necessarily the best Australian albums ever. Check out the music above and see for yourself.

Also, and I won’t say anymore than this, question why Fairfax publishers of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald put this together in the first place. Now what was it you can win?

Australian music is rich and diverse and has enjoyed 50 great years but it is far more, unfortunately, than The Age effort gives it credit for.