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My Impressions of Australian Music I've listened to the radio just about everywhere I've traveled in Australia during these last two months. My Toyota Camry's radio has been great company during my long, solo drives around the country. Sometimes I listen to Australian talk radio and sometimes to the local pop or country station. Aussies are very proud of their musicians and there's a lot of great Australian pop, country, and rock music here that you never hear in the U.S., which is a shame.
While traveling around Australia, I've gotten hooked on several Aussie singers including a young pop-folk-country artist named Kasey Chambers. I hear Kasey's music just about everywhere I go, so yesterday I drove down to a shopping mall here in Brisbane and bought one of her CDs. They don't play her music in the U.S., or at least they didn't when I left the U.S. four months ago, which is too bad. Kasey is about as Aussie as they come, having grown up on the desolate Nullarbor plain (that's Null-arbor as in "no trees") of southern Australia's Outback, and she's a darn good singer. I've posted her current hit here so Americans can get a taste of what they're missing.
During my first few weeks in Australia, I couldn’t figure out why they played so much Bee Gees music on the radio stations. But after hearing Jive Talkin’ and How Deep is Your Love for about the millionth time, I learned that the Brothers Gibb are from Australia. Well, o.k., they were born in England but they moved here to Brisbane when they were young.
Another song they frequently play in Australia is the 1960s hit, Georgy Girl. I hadn’t heard that song in 30 years but they play it everywhere here: it’s on the radio, in grocery stores, and even in the restrooms. I just can’t seem to get away from it. I couldn’t figure out why Georgy Girl was so popular here until I learned that the group who sang it, The Seekers, are Australian. It may be old music, but by God, it’s Australian music! Of course, they play a lot of American and British music on the radio here, too. However, unlike in New Zealand, they don’t play much from The Monkees here. Why Kiwis love The Monkees so much is something I still haven’t figured out.
I really like country music and since there's so much "country" here, it's not surprising that country music is as popular in rural Australia as it is in rural America. There are a lot of really good, and yet little-known, Australian country singers, though some of them are, um, a bit different. When I was in the Outback town of Tennant Creek a few weeks ago, the country radio station there played a touching song called, She’s My Butcher and I Think I Love Her. Yes, I’m serious. As the guy sang it, “…she has nice thighs, firm breasts, sells me t-bones and pot roasts…”
Country music always makes me laugh, even if it has an Aussie accent.
Above left: The resort of Surfer's Paradise, located in the heart of the Gold Coast, is a cross between Daytona Beach, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada. I got out of there as fast as I could – definitely not my kind of place. Above center: Byron Bay was named by Captain James Cook in 1770 during the first European exploration of Australia. Now it's big with surfer dudes. Above right: The trail to the the easternmost point in Australia near Byron Bay.
Above left: And here's the easternmost point of Australia. Next stop, South America. As a geographer, I've always been fascinated with geographic extremes. In the U.S., I've been to the easternmost, southernmost and westernmost points of the country (and the same with New Zealand). I gotta break this crazy habit, huh? Above center: I'm sure my nephew Evan will get a kick out of this sign. Above right: The marina in the town of Coffs Harbour, just down the street from where I'm writing this update.
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