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FOR THOSE ABOUT TO RUCK
The AFL missed a great opportunity last year. Instead of
having Meat Loaf perform at the Grand Final, they should
have booked The Angels, who could have dedicated Am I Ever
Gonna See Your Face Again to Mick Malthouse. The big question
is: Who will perform at this year's game? Seeing a band
stuck in a stadium in broad daylight is not Howzat!'s idea
of entertainment, but if it promotes Australian music, it's
a good thing. And surely, after the Meat Loaf debacle, the
AFL will look locally this year. We're still staggered that
Paul Kelly has never performed at the Grand Final. The AFL
has booked acts such as Irene Cara and Lionel Richie, but
ignored a legend who's actually a footy fan and has a song
that mentions the MCG. How good would it be hearing Leaps
And Bounds on that one day in September: "I'm high on the
hill, looking over the bridge to the MCG …" With Cold Chisel
back on the road, they should also be on the AFL's wish
list. Chisel plus Paul Kelly doing Leaps And Bounds, Russell
Morris singing The Real Thing, Mike Brady reprising Up There
Cazaly, with a supergroup doing the AFL's new theme song,
It's A Long Way To The Top … now, that would be Grand Final
entertainment. Despite licensing It's A Long Way To The
Top to the AFL, the Acca/Dacca guys reportedly don't think
that music and sport is a good mix (even though Thunderstruck
is also the unofficial Melbourne Storm anthem), which is
why they have never performed at events such as the Super
Bowl. So I doubt that we'll be seeing AC/DC at the 'G, though
it would be sweet to see them doing the rightful Grand Final
anthem: Back In (red and) Black.
EVERYBODY KNOWS
Speaking of Cold Chisel, their new album, No Plans - their
first in 14 years - will be out on 6 April. The album's
second single, Everybody, is a gem, with a marvellous melody
that creeps up on you, and a biting Don Walker lyric. It's
a savage song about the state of the nation. "Everybody
wants to be famous," Barnesy sings, "Everybody wants to
be a tragedy in a supermarket magazine … Everybody wants
their name on the guest-list, everybody wants to get in
free … Everybody wants to be an individual, everybody else
does, too … Everybody wants complete fidelity from two or
three lovers simultaneously." Barnesy concludes: "All I
want to be is idiot-free."
RAMPING IT UP
Howzat!'s favourite album right now: Aleks and The Ramps'
third album, Facts. Left-field indie pop that's clever and
compelling. It's launched on Friday at the Northcote.
CLASSIC SHOCK
It's the station that's had more name changes than John
Mellencamp. It pioneered FM talk in Australia when it started
out as Vega in 2005. Then, in 2010, it became known as Classic
Rock, with a playlist led by the might of Midnight Oil and
the class of Cold Chisel. But the station is now known as
Melbourne's 91.5FM, with an '80s format that's clearly pitched
at women aged 35 to 49. Howzat! tuned in the other night
to hear Air Supply's All Out Of Love and 1927's Compulsory
Hero, as well as Karma Chameleon and Eternal Flame, songs
that could never be called "classic rock". Will 91.5 steal
listeners from Gold and Mix, or will it forever be seen
as a great wasted opportunity? It could have been the station
that owned the wealth of Aussie "heritage" artists, such
as Chisel, The Black Sorrows, Mark Seymour, Stephen Cummings,
James Reyne, Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Kelly and Renee Geyer; artists
still at the top of their game.
LOW SUN TAKES HIGH ROAD
Has anyone seen a bad review of the new Dirty Three album,
Toward The Low Sun? It appears that one of the music critic's
commandments is: Thou shalt not give less than glowing reviews
to Dirty Three, Nick Cave, The Drones and Eddy Current Suppression
Ring.
CHART WATCH
After nine months in the Top 40, Gotye's worldwide smash
might finally be on the way out.
Boys Like You 360 & GOSSLING (number six)
Into The Flame EP MATT CORBY (11)
I Love It HILLTOP HOODS & SIA (16)
Set It Off TIMOMATIC (29)
100% No Modern Talking EP KNIFE PARTY (31)
Somebody That I Used To Know GOTYE (40)
Hilltop Hoods beat Bruce to confirm their status as Australia's
leading hip hop act. The number one debut follows 2009's
chart-topping State Of The Art and 2006's The Hard Road.
The Hoods are the seventh Aussie act to have three number
one albums this millennium, joining Powderfinger (who have
four), Kasey Chambers (three solo and one with her husband,
Shane Nicholson), the John Butler Trio, Kylie, Delta and
Pete Murray. The Hoods have three albums in the Top 50 this
week, with The Hard Road at 49 and 2003's The Calling at
50.
Drinking From The Sun HILLTOP HOODS (number one, debut)
Falling & Flying 360 (six)
Vows KIMBRA (26)
Home TROY CASSAR-DALEY (27)
Making Mirrors GOTYE (28)
Moonfire BOY & BEAR (30)
In A Million Years LAST DINOSAURS (32)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Crocodile ALEKS AND THE RAMPS
Black Coffee HOWL AT THE MOON
Behind Every Door JACK HOWARD
5678! BUTTERFLY BOUCHER
Everybody COLD CHISEL
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