Great Read: The 100 Best Australian Albums by John O’Donnell, Toby Creswell & Craig Mathieson

OK, I'm going to write something about this book that is not too long. It came out late last year so it's taken me a while to read. I read bits and pieces then went and started at the introduction and it made a bit more sense. To start with I just thought it was a bit silly because of the selection of albums but there are some rules they have gone by which are briefly: No greatest hits after 1970's because singles were the main format at this time. No live albums but they broke that by including Billy Thorpe's album, they have to be Australians of-course but artists and bands who fuck-off overseas like Kylie Minogue, AC/DC and Bee Gees are included and also New Zealanders who have based themselves in Australia are here too. The albums are NOT their favourite but have to have "had a enormous effect on the the culture and the nation." Anyway record sales they say are a consideration but NOT the main reason for ranking, it's amazing though how many are here. So I have about 30 of these 100 albums on vinyl or CD but a few on the computer as mp3's but if I can't hold it in my hand I don't really count them or if I can't be stuffed going out and buying it in a shop, it's not that important then, yeh?

The top ten have a few pages written about them each and the next ninety have one page of writing and a page is the album cover art. It's good writing about each album and all have valued points about each band/artist/album. I could say it's great because this book has even got me to revise my view of Cold Chisel which for years and years I couldn't stand listening to because my dad would play them all the time as a kid, it was like not this bloody music again but it didn't change my mind about solo Jimmy Barnes. So the four pages did it for Circus Animals but not the one page for For The Working Class Man but I do now have my dad's vinyl copy so maybe one day I'll put it on turntable.

Triple J is now doing a Hottest 100 voting poll thingy and their industry list is even more totally silly compared to this book. It includes 8 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds plus 2 Birthday Party is overstating his importance just a bit too much and I'm a fan but really only three of these albums were recorded in Australia anyway. I think there are to many repeated artists/bands on their industry list but they did included three The Drones albums. A voting poll I think will be even worse but I never agree with Triple J any-more because they're too mainstream and play too many major label records these days.

There are some records I don't think should be included in the book too but I think I'll make my own list as my next blog posts. I think I would rate this book: The 100 Best Australian Albums by John O’Donnell, Toby Creswell & Craig Mathieson, 4 stars or 4 out of 5. I did also get the 5 CD set too so it can't be all bad. Hearing just one song for those albums I don't like was OK because there's so much good or even great stuff here and like the authors point out nothing like it has been done before. So go a read it yourself too or just listen to your favourite Aussie albums again.Stay tuned for more soon...

Great Read: Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? by Stephen Cummings

Well, I read this last year but I was re-reading it the other day so I thought I'll write a blog post about it. So to start with this is the most enjoyable rock music memoir since Bob Dylan's. It was first published in 2009 but I picked it up at a book shop sale and read the first page and with sentences like this in the first paragraph: "The past smells like rotten eggs and apparently you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette." and second paragraph: "I had protracted periods of anxiety, migraines, hysteria and dread." so I knew I would like it but in the end I loved it. To be honest I didn't even have any of his albums but did buy Good Bones, his latest album after I finished reading it. I really had only a vague idea who he is but now I'm a fan and would like to get some more stuff by him. I would recommend this book to anyone, it's that great.

He's brutally honest about the music industry. Why would anyone want to be a rock star but of-course he is one - this is a perfect example of what this book is like, he likes to contradict himself. He's got a few too many could have been story's too. He tells a story about a school trip to Alice Springs and being bitten by a dog and what happens next which sets up the rest of the book absolutely splendidly in the first few pages. He writes about growing up in Melbourne in the 60's, so many Aussie bands people have long forgotten but should be remembered and why he loves music so much which leads to starting a band. One of the early chapters is about his first bands residency in Perth which is where I'm from so extra special and funny too. This is not the band he's remembered for but if you don't know who that is they were called The Sports maybe I thought because Aussies love their sport more than anything else really but to quote Stephen Cummings it's because "Being Not much of a sportsman, I decided to call it The Sports." They signed to Australia's biggest major label, Mushroom Records and one of England's biggest indie labels at the time called Stiff Records. Then recorded four or five albums, E.P.'s and a hand-full of of hit singles. Michael Gudinski got shot down in flames but then again he does that to himself throughout the book too.


I'll not tell you everything that happens in his book because I want you to read it yourself. A few bio details just to finish of after The Sports broke up Stephen Cummings has had now sixteen solo albums and two novels but has kept a very low profile as a solo artist which is fair after what he writes in this book. The last thing I'll say is he's worked and toured or just some name-dropping of some great Aussie artists The Church's Steve Kilbey, Neil Finn, Paul Hester, The Go-Betweens, Paul Kelly, Kim Salmon, Don Walker, David McComb all make cameos plus the chapter on Nick Cave is the reason why I haven't written anything more about him after finishing my top 50 songs last year, it's so completely perfect about Cave nothing more needs to be said or written. Plus after that new song "I'll take the money and run, rabbit" rubbish why bother. Anyway stop reading this and go out and find Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? by Stephen Cummings, you'll find out who Billy is too. I would give it 5 stars or 10 out of 10 and tell you to read it yourself today or tomorrow.

Here's an old song from youtube video of classic Sports' Who Listens To The Radio track.

So than was Stephen then and the middle photo is now by Fred Kroh and the top image is the front cover of Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy?

Stay tuned for more soon...