Chiquetet said:

Timmy84 said:

Don't forget INXS was big time in Australia at the time too.

INXS, Midnight Oil, Icehouse, Men At Work, The Angels, AC/DC, plus tons of other great acts.

I was talking to a friend the other day who's a bit older than me and she recalls a weekend where she had to choose between seeing Midnight Oil at one pub gig and INXS at another (amongst dozens of other possible acts). I was too young to appreciate it, but I realise now that it really was a bit of a golden age of live music here.

Who knows? Maybe the fact that international acts were more reluctant to tour here was partly responsible for the local scene becoming so strong.

I recently saw an interview with Iva Davies (Icehouse), who suggested that it was the isolation in Aus/NZ that was inadvertently driving the local music scene.

He said that he and his bandmembers and no doubt other bands around the place had a perception of this frenzy of live music activity in other cities around the world and were attempting to emulate it in Melb/Syd/etc... only to discover that the scene here, at least in terms of live activity (helped primarily by the number of large pubs and other venues regularly offering live music), was stronger even than cities like London at one point (http://www.undercover.fm/...interviews - he starts talking about it from around the 8min mark).

Sadly, many of the venues that used to offer live music have opted for other ways to utilise the space (or have closed down completely), meaning that, although there is still plenty of activity here (and of course a bit more love now from overseas acts), the local live music scene is really a shadow of what it was in the late 70s and early 80s.

Sorry for meandering OT...

If you're saying that Midnight Oil is part of your golden age then I think you've answered your own question. Yes, Midnight Oil are huge in Australia but they're an 80's one hit wonder in the rest of the galaxy (where things really count). Let's keep things in perspective shall we?

I wonder if Rick Springfield toured Australia in the 80's after he hit it big in the US and had moved there...

pald1 said:

Chiquetet said:

INXS, Midnight Oil, Icehouse, Men At Work, The Angels, AC/DC, plus tons of other great acts.

I was talking to a friend the other day who's a bit older than me and she recalls a weekend where she had to choose between seeing Midnight Oil at one pub gig and INXS at another (amongst dozens of other possible acts). I was too young to appreciate it, but I realise now that it really was a bit of a golden age of live music here.

Who knows? Maybe the fact that international acts were more reluctant to tour here was partly responsible for the local scene becoming so strong.

I recently saw an interview with Iva Davies (Icehouse), who suggested that it was the isolation in Aus/NZ that was inadvertently driving the local music scene.

He said that he and his bandmembers and no doubt other bands around the place had a perception of this frenzy of live music activity in other cities around the world and were attempting to emulate it in Melb/Syd/etc... only to discover that the scene here, at least in terms of live activity (helped primarily by the number of large pubs and other venues regularly offering live music), was stronger even than cities like London at one point (http://www.undercover.fm/...interviews - he starts talking about it from around the 8min mark).

Sadly, many of the venues that used to offer live music have opted for other ways to utilise the space (or have closed down completely), meaning that, although there is still plenty of activity here (and of course a bit more love now from overseas acts), the local live music scene is really a shadow of what it was in the late 70s and early 80s.

Sorry for meandering OT...

If you're saying that Midnight Oil is part of your golden age then I think you've answered your own question. Yes, Midnight Oil are huge in Australia but they're an 80's one hit wonder in the rest of the galaxy (where things really count). Let's keep things in perspective shall we?

I was referring to 'our' golden age.

"Where things really count" is entirely relative - I live in Melbourne, therefore a strong music scene in Melbourne counts.

I don't recall asking a question.

Militant said:

I wonder if Rick Springfield toured Australia in the 80's after he hit it big in the US and had moved there...

No. lol.

Might I ask that question as well for New Zealand, most artists that do Oz, usually slip Auckland and Wellington in too. Prince could have easily done Purple Rain or Parade here as well. New Zealand is not a complete backwater that attracts washed up has beens.

We have had Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry here. In the 80s we got Dire Straits, U2 (Twice in 1986 and 1989), the Rolling Stones, David Bowie (Serious Moonlight and the last Glass Spider show where it was torched), yet we never got Madonna or Prince (Michael came in 1992 and 1996).

Prince needs to play New Zealand before he dies (The closest he got was a Millenium concert in Gisborne (The first place to see the sun in the world) but the deal fell through and he played Las Vegas instead).

The main thing holding stars off is the distance to travel, New Zealand is at the end of the world literally. Still Australia is close and most groups that play Sydney or Melbourne should not have difficulty adding Auckland on to their schedule as well.

paniuroczy said:

MrLee192 said:

Australia is a scary place, lots of scary ass insects!

[img:$uid]http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp189/Gern186/comedy/kangaroo.gif[/img:$uid]

Not New Zealand, the scariest thing you will encounter here is a weka with an attitude problem, no snakes, no poisonous spiders and no marsupials, plus possums are pests here.

Adorecream said:

Might I ask that question as well for New Zealand, most artists that do Oz, usually slip Auckland and Wellington in too. Prince could have easily done Purple Rain or Parade here as well. New Zealand is not a complete backwater that attracts washed up has beens.

We have had Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry here. In the 80s we got Dire Straits, U2 (Twice in 1986 and 1989), the Rolling Stones, David Bowie (Serious Moonlight and the last Glass Spider show where it was torched), yet we never got Madonna or Prince (Michael came in 1992 and 1996).

Prince needs to play New Zealand before he dies (The closest he got was a Millenium concert in Gisborne (The first place to see the sun in the world) but the deal fell through and he played Las Vegas instead).

The main thing holding stars off is the distance to travel, New Zealand is at the end of the world literally. Still Australia is close and most groups that play Sydney or Melbourne should not have difficulty adding Auckland on to their schedule as well.

IMO, he should have played Australia [and NZ] during the Purple Rain Tour. Perfect timing.

As a result of not touring I remember Channel 2 running a special episode of "Count Down" (iconic music show here back in the day) that broadcast the Syracuse show here instead - reportedly "live".

Swa said:

Militant said:

I wonder if Rick Springfield toured Australia in the 80's after he hit it big in the US and had moved there...

No. lol.

yes he did ~ i went to that concert

FuzzyWitch said:

Swa said:

No. lol.

yes he did ~ i went to that concert

I stand corrected.

Swa said:

FuzzyWitch said:

yes he did ~ i went to that concert

I stand corrected.

you've got the look

Chiquetet said:

pald1 said:

If you're saying that Midnight Oil is part of your golden age then I think you've answered your own question. Yes, Midnight Oil are huge in Australia but they're an 80's one hit wonder in the rest of the galaxy (where things really count). Let's keep things in perspective shall we?

I was referring to 'our' golden age.

"Where things really count" is entirely relative - I live in Melbourne, therefore a strong music scene in Melbourne counts.

I don't recall asking a question.

Yes, I was referring to your 'golden-age' too.

Damned with faint praise.

Who cares.

Outstralia?