New Wave Outpost Forum

Someone under the 'German Welle' post alluded to a time when you heard Australian pop on US radio. I'm Australian and I lived in the states when this was going on, not all the bands were New Wave but there did seem to be a lot of them. It was in and around the summer of 1988. The bands that led the way, from memory, were INXS, and Midnight Oil, they were supported by Icehouse "Electric Blue", The Church "Under the Milky Way", Wa Wa Nee "Sugar free", Big Pig "Breakaway", James Reyne "Fall of Rome" and Crowded House. The Australian scene certainly produced a lot of New Wave gems. I am new to this site and most of you would have heard of them. But for those that haven't some of the Australian 80's artists that are worth a look are Kids in the Kitchen (Australias answer to Duran Duran with killer hits 'Current Stand', and 'Change in Mood'), the Venetians, the Vitabeats (look for "Boombox"), Beargarden had a top notch song with "I write the news", Electric Pandas (I'm not making this stuff up), Australian Crawl (whose lead vocalist was James Reyne), and more recognisable were the Models with hits like "Barbados", and "I hear Emotion". If you add to the mix bands like Men at Work, the Divinyls, the Eurogliders, Split Enz, Hunters and Collectors, Real Life, and Stephen Cummings then Australia along with such countries as Sweden, Germany, Canada, Scotland, and Ireland were in the second tier of New Wave producers behind England, and the USA.

Not to mention the bands Pseudo Echo, Goanna, JoJo Zep & The Falcons, Burning Sensations. Yes, The Land Down Under has lifted my ears over the years. [8D]

Lest we not forget the great bands The Crystal Set and The Ups And Downs....at least aussie or NZ.

Maybe also Died Pretty??

For me, it started with Split Enz "True Colours" (can we call it an Aussie/Kiwi invasion?) which my grandmother in Oz sent to me as a b-day gift. Also had albums from Australian Crawl and Goanna, in addition to the obligatory INXS, Midnight Oil, and Men At Work, but for my money - it started with the Enz [;)]

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

The 80's and later also saw a huge and influential psych/garage/pop scene in Oz. In addition to the superb Mental As Anything, The Church, Go-Betweens, Hoodoo Gurus, etc., they were less "commercial" but just as great. Bands like The Screaming Tribesmen, The Stems, DM3, Someloves, Ups And Downs, Ice Cream Hands, Rainyard, The Chevelles, Little Murders, Autohaze, Superscope, Early Hours, Pyramidiacs, The Summer Suns, Rosebuds, Lime Spiders, Garden Path, Johnnys, Celibate Rifles, Hard-Ons. Not really garage/pop but just as good: Falling Joys, Triffids, Reels.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were always a favorite. I think Nick has always been a bit underrated - everywhere.

I like alot of the Oz hard rock. I'm a huge fan of The Angels (aka Angel City) and Rose Tattoo.

As for Aussie New Wave anyone who is a fan MUST see the film "Star Struck" featuring The Swingers.

Also, the Saints were an incredibly seminal Aussie band...and another favorite.

Saints were smokin'. And let's not forget The Birthday Party, Boys Next Door, and Radio Birdman.
There's an Australian New Wave compilation listed in the discography to the very comprehensive England's Dreaming. Aggh! Forget it's name at the moment. I'll have to go check...
Anyway, the Aussie scene is even more criminally overlooked than the LA punk scene. They had a crackling atmosphere going there.

Australian industrial:

SPK

Severed Heads

Single Gun Theory (more synthpop, but on Nettwerk in the late 80s, so industrial enough)

Weren't Young Fresh Fellows Aussies as well?

I've got a book thick as a telephone directory all about Australian records. I forget what it's called (packed away from the last move) but it is pretty thorough covering Aussie records from the 50's up til 2000. From Birthday Party to Olivia Newton John.

Also the 2 books Glenn Baker and someone else wrote had Aussie sections: The New Music and The New Rock and Roll.

Young Fresh Fellows were from my neck of the woods, Seattle, Washington, USA.

These are some great comps of Australian Bands from back in the day:

Murder Punks Vols. 1 & 2

Tales From the Australian Underground
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... cacticecom

Do The Pop! - Australian Garage-Rock Sound
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... cacticecom

ElectricLash mentions The Someloves. What a great band. Does anyone know what became of them? Their cd is one of my all time top ten faves.