As promised a while back, here is a good starter-kit for Australian rock, known locally as "OZ Rock". It is hard to explain how big this stuff is in Australia today, back in the early-mid 80s it was bigger than big. Half of these filmclips were filmed less than half a mile from our place, and where I first lived in the 70s. I am curious as to how much if any of this made it overseas. Some indie band covered Don't Change at the Neon Reverb Music Festival in Vegas when I was there in 2012 and I nearly died : )

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INXS, Midnight Oil, and Men at Work were all very popular in the US and you still hear them on the radio in steady rotation. The rest, not so much.

Been really into this band Split System lately, I think they're from Melbourne. Anyone know them? AFAIK they haven't played US yet but supposedly they're doing Goner Fest in Memphis in September (no way I'll make that).

zorg wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:51 am INXS, Midnight Oil, and Men at Work were all very popular in the US and you still hear them on the radio in steady rotation. The rest, not so much.

This. INXS was massively popular, Midnight Oil had one big hit (plus a cult following), and Men at Work had two big hits, only one of which still gets regular airplay. I also recall that the second Men at Work record was a notorious flop in the states.

Not Oz, but Crowded House were also huge for a year or two.

Ha, Dragon's "Rain"--have got that 45 around here. I'm a bit more partial to their seventies-rock staple "This Time in the Right Direction" or whatever it's called:



For something more punky, don't forget Feedtime, The Saints, and so on . . .

Split Enz (preceded Crowded House) were quite big on college radio in the 80s.
Divinyls
AC/DC
Radio Birdman
The Saints
Silverchair was pretty big here in the US for a minute, I was not a fan.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds were big enough, Birthday Party less so.

Currently, HTRK is popular with the hipper set. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Total Control, and enjoy Eddy Current Suppression Ring and all of their spin-offs to some degree.

Tame Impala was huge a couple years ago. Not a fan.

No mention of Rose Tattoo?

Krev wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:15 am No mention of Rose Tattoo?

Very fair, Rose Tattoo are OZ Rock through and through!

I shall kick of another thread about Australian punk. That is a whole other can of worms : )

Wood Goblin wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 8:24 amI also recall that the second Men at Work record was a notorious flop in the states.

noooooooo! I think it was the third which flopped, sir. Second record had "Overkill" which is the best Men At Work tune. It found a second life in the sitcom Scrubs. Yeah, I dug Scrubs and Colin Hay's acoustic rendition of "Overkill" therein.

Not rock but SPK and the latter scored films from Graeme Revell, are huge exports. Well, huge in the underground for the former and mainstream Hollywood for the latter.

Aside from being a killer band with killer records My Disco brings to mind old school prf with Albini at the helm on Paradise.

I'm not familiar with most of the bands you listed, Seb, save for the biggest exports: Men at Work, INXS, and Midnight Oil. I think Icehouse might've been a thing.