Now being a Monday I could share the exciting tales of my weekend (feat: Mowing the lawns before the storms rolled in again and watching my team die over and over again in the challenging X-Com 2) but instead we're going to crack into some awesome music. Speakers up kids, this is going to be a fun ride!
Also an update on my life as a Zimbabwean trillionaire, because it's been a while.
WE START AT NUMBER 300...
So the Oztober 300 countdown kicked off today, a list of 300 Australian songs fans of the station voted through the website on as 'The best Australian songs ever.' A tough question really, because obviously there's a lot more than just 300 awesome Australian songs out there. Today for this entry, I humbly present:
ALMIGO'S TEN AUSSIE SONGS HE'D LIKE TO HEAR IN THE OZTOBER 300 (AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF THEM LANDING SOMEONE IN THE COUNTDOWN.)
For readers who aren't aware of some of these Aussie awesomeness, I've included their respective YouTube to watch and bang your head along to. You're welcome.
In no particular order they go:
INXS - DON'T CHANGE
My love of Inxs is similar to the TV series 12 Monkeys - it starts in the middle of things. I turned up around their Full Moon Dirty Hearts album time which was well on in their timeline, having missed quite a lot of their earlier stuff, especially this one. But if there's one thing about working in commercial radio, it doesn't take long to play catch up - which is how I ended up on their Don't Change train.
It's early Inxs (1982) but it's the perfect taste of the success to come. Great lyrics, great energy and great longevity and potentially one of their most cherished songs, well it is for me. It goes off live, it's been covered by a few bands (even Bruce Springsteen has had a crack at it) and the tribute version in memory of lead singer Michael Hutchence is just as good.
Chance of it making the countdown?: It'd be a huge upset if it didn't make the countdown at all because it's one of their most famous and beautiful songs ever, whether the original version or the tribute version by Kirk and Tim from the band. Don't be surprised if it finds its way into the top 20 of the countdown or by the fact that it may just be the highest ranking INXS song in all the voting.
RUSSEL MORRIS - THE REAL THING
Whoo boy, is there a lot going on in this one. It started off as a simple pop acoustic but then entered the production suite where Molly Meldrum went to town, creating something completely different. It doubled in length, went heavy on the dubs and effects and ended up costing the worth of an entire album to make. The result? Something so awesomely different, you couldn't miss it. And while a few have tried to capture that brilliance (Kylie and Midnight Oil for example), original Russell can't be beat.
(I was stoked to interview him a few years ago too - such a lovely bloke and we shared many a story about growing up Richmond Victoria - at different time periods of course!)
Chance of it making the countdown?: A very good chance. Yes it might be one of the oldest songs in the countdown but there's a lot of history to it and it still sounds just as good today as when it first hit the speakers back in 1969.
SETH SENTRY - TRAIN CATCHER
Fun fact: I went to a Bliss and Eso concert and walked out a Seth Sentry fan. How does that work exactly? Well Seth and Horrorshow were supports and both did so well up on stage, I couldn't wait to get into more of their work. (Yeah it's rare that supports outshine the main act but for me here they certainly did.)
Since then I've been a huge fan of Seth's lyrical brilliance including his more recent Brambles and Wrong One but I've chosen Train Catcher here because it's so relatable. It takes me back to one particular relationship where I spent a lot of time on the train just to see her and I remember vividly the station and the path to get to her house. While that relationship went south in a bad way (just like in the song), the beat of the tune captures the sound of the train travelling while Seth's journey of self discovery and story why his own relationship failed makes it a gripping adventure to listen in on. It's sad but great at the same time.
Chance of it making the countdown?: That's a big fat negative there Ghost Rider. Seth might get a few votes but in MMM land we don't play his work at all so the majority won't know of this one or much of his work.
SILVERCHAIR - IF YOU KEEP LOSING SLEEP
I was an avid Triple J listener when Silverchair won their (first from memory) Unearthed search and heard the band rise from there. Their Frogstomp album was on my want list forever and yet I can't recall why I never got around to actually buying a copy. This song however? I don't think too many Chair fans actually rate it - but I do. It's different, it's quirky, nobody remembers it but if I hear it once, it'll be in my head for the rest of the day, which in this case is a good thing.
Chance of it making the countdown?: Slim chance. This came later on in the Silverchair timeline and will probably face stiff competition from their own back catalogue including Anna's song and Anthem for the Year 2000. If it doesn't land in the first 25 songs played back from the countdown then I really don't give it much chance of appearing anywhere else.
BOOM CRASH OPERA - THE BEST THING
'These here are crazy times' by Boom Crash Opera is an album that I put up in a special group alongside Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon', Semisonic's 'All about Chemistry', Massive Attack's 'Mezzanine' and Fatboy Slim's 'You've come along way baby' - it rarely puts a foot wrong. Both my brother and I loved this growing up and while it's difficult to pick a best track from the effort, I can't go past the abundance of happy loving energy of The Best Thing.
I really should have had it as a wedding song come to think of it, it's that good.
Chance of it making the countdown?: I think it'll be in there somewhere but I reckon the people will vote Onion Skin (another big hit of theirs) higher.
HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS - GRINDSTONE
(NO VIDEO FOUND, SOZ)
On the album Cut, not on YouTube. Firey, haunting, awesome.
Chance of it making the countdown?: Not going to happen. There's too many hits by Hunters and Collectors already on radio making this lesser known track from the Cut album stand even less of a chance of a spin.
KYLIE MINOGUE - CONFIDE IN ME
Am I a Kylie fan? Outside of this song, no. But when this one came along in 1994, wow did it stick out in my mind. I had a crush on a girl that looked like her in the music video at the time, I've played it a lot when I was single and lonely, I just loved how different it was back in the mid 90's when I was still working myself out and punching on with puberty.
Interestingly it still gets covered by other artists from time to time - The Superjesus was the last band I'd expect to do a take but the rockiness works a treat and Sarah McCleod's vocals are absolutely killer here. An absolutely stellar take.
Chance of it making the countdown?: 50/50. I really hope so because it would definitely stand out - but do the people love this one from Kyle as much as I do? That remains to be seen.
ICEHOUSE - NOTHING TOO SERIOUS
If you're Australian and remember your trips to the movies in the 90s, you might remember the health insurance ad before the movies where skiiers keep tumbling down a mountain. The song telling you that 'I've had a little accident, nothing too serious' was this one.
Incredibly in chatting to Iva Davies, he revealed that it's actually a song from the perspective of Iggy Pop, waking up from a bender and thinking 'Oh god, a trashed hotel room. What happened here exactly?' And I love that - for years having no idea of it's true meaning but happily like most songs, finding my own.
Chance of it making the countdown?: It'll be in there but no matter where, both Electric Blue and Great Southern Land will land higher. GSL especially so because it's one of the countries unofficial national anthems.
TOMMY EMANUEL - THE JOURNEY
Now the video for this is Tommy playing all parts on an acoustic (to show his versatility and how much is going on in this piece) but the electric version is actually the one I love because it does exactly what it says on the tin, it's a journey. It's a high energy roller coaster journey that sends tingles through my spine each and every time. One of my favourite instrumentals of all time (another notable there includes Prodigy - Climbatize) I am so thankful I got the chance to see him perform it live, putting his guitar and a huge series of effects pedals to amazing use. Unforgettable.
Chance of it making the countdown?: No chance. This guitar piece rocks though, onya Tommy.
NATALIE IMBRUGLIA - LEAVE ME ALONE
Since my teens and ever since, I've been a big fan of trip hop style tracks from the likes of Massive Attack, Portishead and Hooverphonic, the type of songs you'd find in small underground bars where an overdressed crowd come to drink and groove slowly in no particular order. Rumoured to be in conjunction with Portishead, you can easily close your eyes and imagine you're right there next to Natalie as she decides she's grows increasingly frustrated with her subject and decides she just wants to go home by herself. Amazing.
Chance of it making the countdown?: Her song Torn definitely, this one no. Considering I accidentally came across it on YouTube years ago and not on radio tells you how much chance it has.
The countdown is across this week, so an update on where some of these songs (if they made the list) when it happens!
UNTOLD TRILLIONS
So today Lu came across an ad on Facebook explaining how easy it is to become a Scottish Laird (lord or lady) - just buy a square foot of one of their conversation areas and they'll send you a certificate explaining that you are now the laird of that domain, all 12 x 12 inches of it.
Personally Lord Almigo does sound very regal (and go well with my other recently acquired title 'The Earl of East Albury) but then I realised I have another title already - for I am a Zimbabwean Trillionaire.
Yes roughly 11 years back I bought myself the tidy sum of 100 Trillion Dollars (in a single note form) and became an instant trillionaire. Zero to trillionare hero in one easy transaction, go me!
But has life changed since then after acquiring such riches I hear you ask? Er..no. As much as I tried to pay for the radiator work on the Subaru today with part of my trillions, the bloke there asked for aussie dollars instead.
Everyone thinks it's a fake note until I point out that no, it;'s legit. Or it was, back when this version of the currency was active.
Not it's a nice little reminder of the effect of hyper inflation. About as effective as a bit of paper proclaiming you're a Scottish Lord really - just a bit of fun more than anything else.
Hope you enjoyed the music today!
Chat soon
-Almigo
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