Aussie & New Zealand Rock Artists from the '70s and '80s

So great has been AC/DC's popularity over the past 30 years that it's practically drowned out some of the many excellent groups that have come from this part of the world. Here - in an effort to remind you of some of the truly wonderful music to have come from the other side of the world and reassure you that there's more to Aus than 'Back in Black' or Outback Steakhouse - are some of the best from those guys and girls down under. Thanks to All Music Guide at Allmusic.com and Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org, which I used for reference.

I was in Australia in 1987 and saw quite a few Aussie bands at the time. But hey, it was 25-plus years ago, folks.

Split Enz (N.Z.) - Auckland, New Zealand

Any New Zealander worth their salt should be as righteously proud of Split Enz Rock and Pop legacy as the native Maori people of the region. One of the very few musical exports I can think from New Zealand, Split Enz flourished in the crazy heady days of the Post Punk/New Wave between 77 and 83'. Donning insane hairdo's in the early days (hence the name) they were more musically proficient than most of the New Wave crowd and wrote fun, fast pop ditties like 'I See Red'. Unabashedly Kiwi, the seldom heard New Zealander accented vocals were a perfect accompaniment to the manic merriment that constituted most of their albums and culminated in 1980 with the perfect pop album gem of a record 'True Colours'. If ever the God's of Pop had come together it was in the making of this record. 'I Got you' is a blissful piece of classic Pop that still gets played on rock stations today. The whole album beautifully produced by 'David Tickle' and littered with memorable tracks like the bubbly 'Shark Attack' or the happiest depressing song ever written: 'Nobody takes me seriously anyway', all inspired with early Beatles influenced pop craftsmanship that hasn't been matched since. This was most definitely their high-point although not far behind was the 'Time & Tide' album released in 1983 which showed a more thoughtful and introspective band at work. On a side-note they provided just about the best Concert-going experience I've ever had back in 81' when they played the 'Hammersmith Odeon' in London. Rock solid musicianship.

Neil Finn would of course go on to front the very successful 'Crowded House' whose classic 'Don't dream it's over' rivaled 'I got you' as a seminal classic.

Mental as Anything - Sydney, Australia

If ever a band was spawned from the Australian Pub rock circuit it would surely have been this imaginatively titled group. Thankfully free of any Americanisms (or Briticisms come to that) when they started back in the late '70s - the group played like a bunch of Australian bar-room buddies. Aussie through and through and always open to extolling the virtues of having a good time. You can imagine them recording this album in-between a few cold fosters. Full of imagination and wit their sense of fun is reminiscent of 'Madness' and with inspired titles such as 'If you leave me, can I come too?' you could be assured of a good time. Culminating in the truly wonderful 'Creatures of Leisure' album from 82' which showed off just what this band was capable of. Matured beyond the pub-room bar they included some hauntingly melancholy little ditties such as 'Brain, Brain' alongside happier songs like 'Spirit got lost'. All hugely sing-along able with lyrics that showed their sense of fun was most-assuredly still in place. The whole album was very inventive and unique and if you had bought this back in the days of vinyl you would also have been treated to the Gallery quality artwork of 'Reg Mombassa' accompanying each track on the inner sleeve. Ah, vinyl how I miss you. In the early 80's they scored a hit with 'Live it up' which was on the soundtrack to 'Crocodile Dundee' the uber-blockbuster hit that suddenly made all things Aussie all the rage.

Baby Animals - Suze DeMarchi (Solo) 99' - Australia

Completely overlooked in the American and British Markets this group, fronted by the gorgeous Suze DeMarchi delivered a powerhouse debut album 'Baby Animals' back in 1992' which touched on a traditional rock n' roll nerve with the Australian public. Superbly produced power-house rock and with some of the best female rock and roll vocals in the past 20 years Suze DeMarchi delivered with a bombastic 'Joan Jett' swagger. The timing was perfect it seemed as their debut album was hugely successful in their native Aus. Their 2nd album 'Shaved and Dangerous' was unfortunately anything but and along with lack-luster sales both in Australia and the rest of the World the group folded soon thereafter. A beautiful phoenix rising from the ashes Suze DeMarchi soldiered on after a few years hiatus releasing the critically acclaimed rocker 'Telelove' in 1999'.

Jenny Morris - New Zealand

Australia it seems has no problem coming up with powerful female vocal talent. Jenny Morris started off her music career with a nifty little group called the 'Crocodiles' back in 1980' and for whom 'Tears' would be their only hit in their local 'New Zealand'. After a few fruitless musical years she finally took off in the mid 80's with solid rock efforts like 'You I Know' and 'You're Gonna Get Hurt' from her debut solo album 'Body & Soul' album from 1987. On a side note she can take care of herself on-stage also. Seeing her in a small club back in 87' in amongst one too many beers she dealt venonomously with a dopey drunken male heckler who repeated demands that she undress and quote 'show us your tits'. Her rebuttal was swift and malicious, belittling the heckler's manhood and highlighting his stupidity. Along with a rock-steady set it was one of moments that stayed with me long after the gig was over. Don't mess with Jenny, cause Jenny will mess you up.

Hoodoo Gurus - Australia

Australia's answer to Cheap Trick the Hoodoo's delivered excellently crafted rock-guitar with a pop-tinge. A rock band that delivered a sense of fun compared to perhaps the emotionally overwrought 'Midnight Oil'. Consider their best (1st) album 'Stoneage Romeos' with such fun-laded tracks as 'Dig it up' - An ode to lost and buried love to the straight down deliriously wonderful pop-rock classics 'I want you back', 'My Girl' and 'Let's all turn on'. A great anthology of their best tracks can be found on the 2 CD anthology album titled 'Ampology' which of course includes the classic 'What's my Scene' from their 'Blow Your Cool!' album. Helped along by their catchy name this band had a modicum of success both in America and the U.K and are still touring today.

Severed Heads - Australia

An acquired taste one would imagine in Australia in the 80's. Taking their cue from experimental groups such as Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Chrome, Test Department or even Einsturzende Neubaten they effectively used tape loops and experimentally discordant sounds to deliver their own brand of nightmarish electronica. Their most commercial album was probably 'Bad Mood Guy' from 1987 which included their itchily catchy beat manifesto 'Hot with Fleas'. Using slide shows and dodgy 80's lighting I remember being more confused than anything else when I attended one of their gigs in Brisbane, Australia in 1987'.

See below for a reminder of some of the other great bands to have come out of Australia. If you should want to delve further into the world of Aussie & N.Z. Rock/Pop you can get a good overview (Biographies & Discographies) of all the down-under bands listed on All Music Guide at 'Allmusic.com'.

INXS
Crowded House
Men at Work
Icehouse
Midnight Oil
Hunters & Collectors
The Birthday Party
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
The Saints
Divinyls
The Go-Betweens
Rose Tattoo
The Church
Dead Can Dance
Ed Kuepper (Formerly of The Saints)
Died Pretty
James Reyne

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