It's a scarcely believable (to me, at least) nineteen years and one month since I went to Australia. Today's track was all over the radio when I was there, seemingly always somewhere in the background. So much so that I bought it on CD single at Melbourne Airport before I headed home. It's not necessarily my usual cup of tea, but it certainly gets in your head, and is a great example of how to do a cover version (it's a Lead Belly track that I bet you haven't heard, made famous by the 1977 cover by Ram Jam, that I bet you have). It's also Spiderbait's commercial highpoint, hitting #1 in the Oz chart, and even getting picked up for use in film and computer games, I think. They followed it up with a track called Fucken Awesome, which wasn't.
Anyway, because I can't believe nineteen years and one month have passed, here's my airport purchase; it does fizz along, doesn't it? And who doesn't like a bit of slide banjo?
That blows away the cobwebs nicely; I'm going to have to check out Fucken Awesome now, I mean, with a title like that...
ReplyDeleteYou must tell us more about your time in Melbourne some day. I went there too during a few weeks spent in Australia, 27 years ago for me, but some great memories. I bought one album on my travels there (in Sydney as it happens), in cassette form, which was by the jangly 60s-influenced outfit the Someloves (think you might like them too).
Might 'Airport Purchases' be the start of a new series?
Maybe I will, but it seems so long ago now. I wasn't there long - just long enough for Sydney, Uluru, Melbourne, Ballarat and Phillip Island. I don't think I've bought much else noteworthy in airports either (tasteless tea, stale sandwiches, duty-free chocolate, Polos), so a new series might be a stretch. I might have to go and research the Someloves now though...
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