C&L's Late Nite Music Club with Midnight Oil
By MaxMarginal Tuesday Feb 17, 2009 8:00pmOne of the best political bands of all time, the criminally underrated Midnight Oil somehow managed to chart in America with protest songs about their homeland down under, like this gem about workers at the Wittenoom asbestos mine in Western Australia.
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Carrying the protest music genre forward into the 21st century.
PS-- YouTube's currently down for "site maintainance" it says...
...and that intensity made for the best live show I've ever witnessed. So good, in fact, that I stole my handle from one of their songs.
But like most Aussie bands who make it in the States, they were at their best about 3 or 4 albums prior.
"Hercules"
"Kosciosko"
1985 live (with bad audio)
These guys are great.
back in the 80's. Listen to the lyrics; they are about man's damage to the environment.
One important point that I am disappointed that Max didn't mention. One of the members of this band was elected to the Australlia's Federal government( I think they call it Parliament) in the late 90's or early 2000's.
This band was way ahead of its time, and the music still sounds great. One of my all time favorites.
and when he was put p, he was one of the very few sitting who actually had a degree in political science.
and this is a great song. Music really can change the world for the better!
The lead singer, Peter Garret, is the current Federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts.
As an Australian, I quite enjoy that thought.
http://www.petergarrett.com.au/
Great to see.
The recent fires in your Land Down Under were so tragic. It is all just so horrendous.
You are in our thoughts, mate.
I had incorrectly thought he hadn't won. Trying to think of others who've made the rock and roll to politics switch... sonny bono, rep. Hall from NY, amato :)
(Sent from my phone)
There are a lot of people who enjoyed the thought until he got in there. So far he's shut down an elite music school and given the go-aheads for dredging and desal plants. I get the feeling that Garrett the Oil would be deeply disappointed in Garrett the minister.
But Rob Hirst wrote most of the songs anyway.
Unfortunately, for Peter, he had to compromise his position to even get a look in at one stage. I used to wonder how he slept at night after all the years of blowing the "conservation & cultural whistle". Now with his foot in the door, he may be able to use a bit of muscle.
As for ANAM, I have my own bone to pick with those snobs & was quite happy to hear that they were going to be cut off. It would have made room for Garrett to broker the deal he wanted for other areas to open up to a more diverse musical culture, but he caved in to pressure from the bloody old Howard liberal bastards and now those old pricks will carry on thumbing their noses at the people that want to further their studies who might otherwise not be able to do so on a financial level.
Bill, you said an elite school, and you're right.
Beds are Burning
Forgotten Years.
One Country
The Call. I Still Believe.
great music, great comedic horror. The "cory"s were never as good again. Classic line: "I just killed Freddie Munster"
From Western Australia myself.
One of my favourite 'Oils' songs along with King of the Mountain
Let the Day Begin
They are a wonderful band. One of my favorites.
Truganini
They always reminded me of another favorite band (from a much earlier time) - Spirit.
Spirit was a very spacey band. I saw them liye in the late 90's, and they were still great. Randy California started in the band when he was 12(?) and died saving his son off the coast of Hawaii. A great musician and a better person.
Sublime.
I always love some late-night caressing ...
Sublime. Garden Grove.
Ok, that's all folks. Ga nite. Be Well.
And thanks for all the great tunes tonight.
Paul Kelly: God Told Me To
The lyrics are listed in 'More Info' ~ 'Holiday'
Follow immediately with this one ~ 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'
and those two songs are fantastic.
ps, thanks for The Black Crowes music last night. I enjoyed that very much!
Time for zeds now ... Goodnight to all.
And my record would say that this band sucks. Yeah, I agree with their politics, but it doesn't change the fact that they sound like crap, their lyrics are lame and they just plain blow. I genuinely hate this band. Seriously, I hate them.
Political bands that I love:
R.E.M.
U2
Bob Dylan
Bright Eyes
Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Credence Clearwater Revival
There's more, but I'm tired. I genuinely think that Midnight Oil blows ass. I hate the way they sound. But I love music.
Place without a Postcard. A much older oils album. Simpler style. More subtle. Broader topics.
If you give that a listen and hate it, then you'll never come 'round!
Well Joe, I've seen everyone on your list except for Bright Eyes and Creedence.
And I've also seen the very obscure, legendary bands that inspired Midnight Oil's move from spacey, surfer music into hard rock .....
And I can tell you, in their day they blew everyone in your list off stage.
Live music in Australia in the late '70's/early '80's was a wonder to behold and the Oils (a band that I've never had a huge brief for - apart from this song) were just killers live.
And yes, that does mean they could kill Springsteen. The Boss is good, but the bands I saw in Australia in those years destroyed anyone internationally, and still would.
and get away with it. fuck x5000.
one works though.
The tall bald one who dances like a scrub turkey on heat (Peter Garrett) is indeed our Minister for the environment - but he has,unfortunately, lost his balls in the shuffle and is now an environmental disaster on many fronts.
Like the band then, can't stand to watch the hypocritical dipshit now.
These guys have never been afraid to speak their minds.
'Testify'
'No Shelter'
'Sleep Now In The Fire'
And of course acapella at the RNC in 2008
The Dead Kennedys, The Stars and Stripes of Corruption
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfGXF3gXXKw
Jello Biafra with DOA, Full Metal Jackoff
part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9-97gZaM-c
part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHiJDTgBeq4&fe...
I understand Jello looks like he's having a seizure most of the time on stage. Listen to the words though, they tell the story of how it REALLY is.
Thanks for that. Love Jello.
Moon Over Marin is tops.
The Church-Reptile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWhV2l9QPxw
The Church - "Under the Milky Way"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Ny7q2VlR8&fe...
The Church - Destination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nidAGwtYGuA&fe...
Big Pig - Breakaway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBDE7WABCvY&fe...
Big Pig - Hungry Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8zJ8KIqgko
Big Pig - Big Hotel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH2ycbKsvyQ&fe...
Big Pig - Boy Wonder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgyV9VGld4c&fe...
Decoder Ring - Somersault
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4_z7rQFFqI&fe...
Does that come flavored?
well I remember this time period fairly well. There was a lot more respect for and demand for international perspectives once, in this country. Other bands like U2 and INXS (who had their political side) opened up a whole field for modern rock bands to sing mostly about politics. That has long since died off as a vein of vital rock, but there's no need to get too nostalgic for older Aussie music when there are such good AU bands out there now. I mean, I respect Midnight Oil's politics and some of their songs were pretty interesting. But as works of pop art, they leave something to be desired.
I like a couple of bands from Australia these days who are less overtly political and more about where the personal turns into the political/universal. Cut Copy & Midnight Juggernauts are my 2 current faves, but there are a bunch more cool bands percolating around.
1. Gang of Four.
TO HELL WITH POVERTY
AT HOME HE FEELS LIKE A TOURIST
I LOVE A MAN INA UNIFORM
2. Au Pairs.
COME AGAIN!
ARMAGH
3. Dead Kennedys
POLICE TRUCK
CALIFORNIA UBER ALLES
I don't think Peter Garett has lost his political balls at all, he's just not the screaming maniac everyone thought he was. Compared to the former Liberal(Aust conservatives) govt. who took a long time to even recognise global warming, favour big business, and did not recognise Kyoto,he is far more active. He has just okayed a project to stop aboriginal artists and artists in general to get more royalties for their work, he is active in the extremely difficult Japan in anti whaling. Don 't follow the Liberal camp who refuse to take Garrett seriously because he was a singer and see im as someone they can use as a sot taret. He's not going to make all your idealistic dream come true; politics doesn't work that way. I'm from Western Australia too, and will not be influenced by the media propaganda in Australia who persuade soft lefties that Labor politicians aren't good enough. Please we need the labor govt in for more than one term to get anything done. The firt year was spent unravelling the 11 years of harm Howard's regime did to us. It's exatly the same as the Obama admin. The Dms need to stay in power for years to get the US back in shape.
Midnight Oil is a great and intense band. But the message in this song is equally intense. As someone very interested in asbestos (see my user name which is the most common form of asbestos, and not the type MO sings about in Blue Sky Mine), and the health effects it causes, this is the single best song (perhaps the only?) ever written about asbestos and the terrible consequences to those who breath it. Not only does the song tell the terrible story of the plight of those who worked the Blue Sky Mine, but it also rocks!
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