Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Australian-Charts-EP.42 1966 March
Australian Music Archives
Building on the work of many others, this series of podcasts charts the development of Australian Music. The Chart series commences at 1957 with the introduction of Top 40 charts. Other series will focus on Singers and Groups. Whilst 1957 is the starting-point, we will also be moving back in time to chart the rich history of Australian Music in many forms, before the beginning of the Top 40 era. The general principle in the development of these podcasts is 'let the music do the talking'. Thus, there will be a premium on musical content, with less emphasis on the narrative. Occasionally, when there is a good story to be told (and there are many!), I may wax a touch lyrical, more so in the Singers and Groups series. The key reference work is David Kent's "Australian Chart Chronicles 1940-2008", a truly monumental work in its breadth of detail. Many people/sites have contributed to the research for the podcasts; too many to name them all but special thanks to the History of Aussie Music Blogspot, the Milesago Facebook page, the Best of Bandstand Facebook page and the Pop Archives site, where you can answer the question, "Where did they get that song from?". Many video contributors on You Tube have been a great resource in finding obscure songs including Folk Rock Australian Rock More! sallie6 and Clem Viney and there are many others! The podcasts are designed to be a permanent record and as such this is a 'labour of love' and strictly not-for-profit. I have attempted to partner with a major Australian organisation but, alas, no interest! Thus, as my late Father would have said, I am the "chief cook and bottle-washer" which means that I'm researcher, scriptwriter, digitiser, narrator and producer. As such, especially in terms of digitising vinyl records, there may appear to the ear of the listener, to be less-than-optimal sound. I work all music through Audacity, vinyl or otherwise, but, at times with old vinyl, "you can only do so much"! So, please enjoy the podcasts and let me know what you think.
Listen on:
Episodes
Episodes
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
A swag of high-charting Australian Music in February 1966: The mighty, The Throb, lead the way with Fortune Teller. Other big hits come from Normie Rowe, The Twilights, MPD LTD and The Groop. We’ll hear debut 45s for Margie Bayes and The Sonomatics, and a return to the charts for Ernie Sigley and Merv Benton. Enjoy a great month of Australian Music!
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
This week: A return to the Chart series and January of 1966; the year that some historians claim to be the pivotal year for 1960s musical culture. In Australia, 1966 began with three big hits of the weeks ahead entering the chart: Tony Barber, ex-Aztec with Someday, The Easybeats with Women/In My Book, and Ray Brown and The Whispers with Tennessee Waltz. No future No.1 entered the chart but these three 60s classics did; Gloria, Sounds of Silence and, Barbara Ann. Plenty more of course, including a vocal outing for Rob E.G. Cruise into 1966 with some great Australian sounds!
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Episode 2 of the Frankie Davidson story, covers the years 1961-63. Have You Ever Been To See Kings Cross hits high in the charts. We also learn of the unusual intent of Frankie’s LP of the same title. There’s a W&G custom recording for Lawrence Dry Cleaners which grew a life of its own and, around mid-1963, Frankie heads to London to pursue his dream of taking Australian Music to the world. The UK adventure begins with a reworking of Have You Ever Been To See Kings Cross, with “London Town” substituted for Kings Cross in the title but Soho taking its place in the lyrics as the specific destination. And, of course, plenty more! Enjoy!
Monday Sep 26, 2022
Monday Sep 26, 2022
Here’s Episode One of the Frankie Davidson Story; a bit later than expected. As it turned out there isn’t a lot that has been written about Frankie. The History of Aussie Music Blogspot has an excellent summary and Glenn A Baker wrote a thorough obituary at the time of Frankie’s recent passing. I discovered a three-hour field interview on the NLA site conducted in 2013 by Rob Willis. Then, I dug deep into TROVE and found a lot of references from original newspapers/magazines. All of that took time! Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this first episode which focusses on Frankie’s early years and his recordings from 1956 to 1960. As you will discover, whilst the comedic intent was ever present, it only emerged in a couple of instances in these early recordings. Did Frankie record Australia’s first rock ‘n’ roll record?? Enjoy the journey back to Frankie Davidson’s early years!
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Friday Sep 09, 2022
December of 1965 again sees Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs at the top of their game with the double sider, Love Letters/Dancing in The Street reaching a national high of 3. Tony Worsley also hits with the double-sider Missing You/Lonely City reaching a 27 high.There’s a couple of ‘sleepers’ this month which should have reached a much higher chart position but……The Purple Hearts, outta’ Brisbane with Long Legged Baby, and The Southern Gentlemen, outta’ Adelaide with Leave Myself To Me. In fact, there are a number of acts from both of these cities having chart success this month; the Australian ‘scene’ moving beyond Sydney and Melbourne? This will be the final Chart Series episode for a while; the Singers Series will kick back into gear in the next episode. Happy Christmas for 1965!
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Heading into November of 1965 and, in a sad irony with the recent passing of Judith Durham, we’ll hear The Seekers’ No.1 hit, the poignant The Carnival Is Over. Normie Rowe takes the 2nd highest position with Tell Him I’m Not Home/Baby Call On Me. We’ll hear from The Easybeats & The Cherokees, with national chart debuts from Sharon Black, Yvonne Barrett and Bobbie Thomas. And amongst all of that, three stalwarts have minor hits; Col Joye, Johnny Chester & Ernie Sigley. Enjoy November of 1965!
Sunday Aug 21, 2022
Sunday Aug 21, 2022
October of 1965 and Ray Brown & The Whispers score the highest-charting hit with In The Midnight Hour. We have follow-up hits for Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, The Times & M.P.D. Ltd. First chart entries from Max Hamilton & The Impacts, with Gil Matthews on guitar, and Richard Wright & The Vikings. We will also hear a rare reissue; in this instance, Midnight Bus by Betty McQuade, first a hit in 1961. And, of course, lots more! Enjoy!
Saturday Jul 30, 2022
Saturday Jul 30, 2022
September of 1965 brings us 15 Australian-artist songs that made the Top 100, highlighted by Normie Rowe and The Playboys #1 smash double-sider, Que Sera Sera/Shakin’ All Over. Groups that made the national chart include; The Easybeats, The D-Coys and The Flies. The Bee Gees make their biggest chart impression to this point. And, of course, much much more! Enjoy the Australian music for September of 1965.
Welcome
Building on the work of many others, this series of podcasts charts the development of Australian Music. The Chart series commences at 1957 with the introduction of Top 40 charts. Other series will focus on Singers and Groups. Whilst 1957 is the starting-point, we will also be moving back in time to chart the rich history of Australian Music in many forms, before the beginning of the Top 40 era. The general principle in the development of these podcasts is 'let the music do the talking'. Thus, there will be a premium on musical content, with less emphasis on the narrative. Occasionally, when there is a good story to be told (and there are many!), I may wax a touch lyrical, more so in the Singers and Groups series. The key reference work is David Kent's "Australian Chart Chronicles 1940-2008", a truly monumental work in its breadth of detail. Many people/sites have contributed to the research for the podcasts; too many to name them all but special thanks to the History of Aussie Music Blogspot, the Milesago Facebook page, the Best of Bandstand Facebook page and the Pop Archives site, where you can answer the question, "Where did they get that song from?". Many video contributors on You Tube have been a great resource in finding obscure songs including Folk Rock Australian Rock More! sallie6 and Clem Viney and there are many others! The podcasts are designed to be a permanent record and as such this is a 'labour of love' and strictly not-for-profit. I have attempted to partner with a major Australian organisation but, alas, no interest! Thus, as my late Father would have said, I am the "chief cook and bottle-washer" which means that I'm researcher, scriptwriter, digitiser, narrator and producer. As such, especially in terms of digitising vinyl records, there may appear to the ear of the listener, to be less-than-optimal sound. I work all music through Audacity, vinyl or otherwise, but, at times with old vinyl, "you can only do so much"! So, please enjoy the podcasts and let me know what you think.