Remembering the music of our youth
Barbara Binland is the pen name of a senior, Julie Grenness, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a poet, writer, and part-time English and Maths tutor, with over 40 years of experience. Her many books are available on Amazon and Kindle.
This is a trip down memory lane. Yes, aging baby boomers, we are old enough to recall when a humble black and white television appeared, like a stranger, in our lounge rooms.
As youngsters of post-war Australia, we were introduced to “Bandstand”. This was a music show, featuring some Australian ‘talent’. It was first hosted by Johhny O’Keeffe, regarded as the legendary founder of Australian rock n’roll. On Bandstand, ‘clean-cut’ acts, such as Col Joye and the Joy Boys, were presented for family viewing.
In 1964, the British pop band, The Beatles, toured Australia. This brought a new wave of pop/Oz rock music to our eardrums. A lot of artists, such as the Bee Gees, and The Easybeats, were formed by lads who had migrated to Australia. The Bee Gees gained international success, with “Spicks and Specks’, and later songs. The Easybeats did have some English and European success with their hit, ‘Friday on my Mind’.
Our trip down memory lane continues. Concerts were held at Festival Hall in Melbourne. Local bands found their early starts in Mechanics’ Institutes, or neighbouring suburban town halls. They added their own version, as they practised in garages, to the overseas ‘pop invasion’. What is more, “Go-Set” was published during this time. This weekly magazine, until 1974, influenced a generation of teenagers, with Hit charts and Number Ones. This was based on times when Normie Rowe was King, and toured Vietnam with Little Pattie, to entertain our deployed diggers.
As teenagers, growing up in Melbourne, we aspired to own transistor radios, and to have a little record player, to play vinyl records produced by Festival and EMI labels. These were very popular in our land of Oz at this time. “Lock up your daughters, Billy Thorpe and The Atzecs are in town…”
Then, following this wave, along came “Countdown”, this began with good ole’ Molly Meldrum, in `1974. This show, courtesy of our ABC, introduced us to pub rock bands. Daddy Cool, Sherbet, Skyhooks, Max Merritt and the Meteors, Russell Morris, John Paul Young, and, of course, AC/DC.
I shall tell you a story, down memory lane. As younger teenagers, we had to attend school dances at our local suburban high school. Older boys had formed a band, and played Oz rock. We were forced to socialize. The band played their version of “Simon Says”. Classic. “No one dance when teacher says!’ So we didn’t. Our principal, a little Hitler, stood up and announced, “You louts are a bunch of deadbeats, and you’ll never amount to anything.” Two or three members of that band became Skyhooks! They could have bought and sold the whole suburb. Our boys did really well.
But Skyhooks were not an international success, like their rock n’roll contemporaries, AC/DC. This band, too, gained early fame in Melbourne, playing in local pubs and town halls, doing ‘gigs’. Yes, we had our own Oz rock, with pop bands as well. I wonder, sometimes, if a muso popular today, will last as long as AC/DC, or even Elvis Presley, or The Beatles.
So, were you living in a suburb in the seventies? Now we are the aging baby boomers, we are not forced to attend school dances anymore. Whew! On the flip side, the groupies of all these great way back when bands, are now grey haired grannies at U3A and Probus. Scary, very scary. Finally, to paraphrase, “Oz rock is not noise pollution!” A little trip down memory lane…