Monday 22 April 2013

A-Z '13 - Straight Lines, Stevie ... and a special feature for Chrissy Amphlett


During April, a lot of bloggers are participating in the A-to-Z blogging challenge of 2013. My theme for 2013 is an A-to-Z list of classic Aussie tunes - either classic or just plain songs I like. Today's letter is "S", and I had a huge list to whittle down. Didn't do a very good whittling job as you will see, but I'm feeling liberal today with the sad news of Chrissy Amphlett's passing (I'll get to that further down the post). For now, my main two song pics:

Straight Lines - Silverchair


Stevie Spiderbait
(or unofficial vid here)

I have followed Silverchair (defunct) since their very first single release (the EP-version of "Tomorrow", at which point they were known as "Nirvana in Pajamas" - even if 14/15-year-old Daniel was channelling Eddie Vedder more than Kurt Cobain). These boys have had an amazing career, and though I generally prefer their earlier work, "Straight Lines" from their latest release strikes me as a bit of a pinnacle of sheer musical genius. As for Spiderbait, well they're a classic Aussie punk-pop/something-or-rather (they really are hard to categorise!) band who have a rather eclectic collection of songs. In my opinion, "Stevie" is one of the cutest songs ever! The video clip is rather enjoyable, too, I think. ;) SPARKLY!


Sleeping Beauty Divinyls



I already featured a Divinyls song this month, back during the letter "I" when I mentioned I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore (and here is an unofficial version I hope you will be able to hear!). But I felt it only fitting to feature another Divinyls song today, on the day I learned of Chrissy Amphlett's passing. Such a sad bit of news, but also a cause to celebrate her amazing contribution to the Australian music scene. This woman was a huge inspiration for generations of female musicians and just women in general, and a groundbreaking artist who won't soon be forgotten. May you rest in peace, Chrissy - and thank you so much for the brilliant music. I'm glad I got to see you live in concert!

Honourable mentions (see what I mean about failing to whittle?):

17 comments:

  1. Great post! Such great tunes. Loved Sleeping Beauty. And Suicide Blonde? You've brought me back. :)

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  2. Knew the third but the first two have never heard, at least that I can tell, as number two is not available in my country haha

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  3. I thought of you when I read about Chrissy Amphlett this morning, I was so surprised to read that she passed away. Such a shame. :(

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  4. Woo hoo! More Spiderbait and Magic Dirt! Thanks for letting me rock out on a Monday morning! Happy A-to-Z 2013! ~Angela, Whole Foods Living, http://www.wholefoodsliving.blogspot.com/

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  5. What a great selection of music!

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  6. I read about Chrissy this morning on the melodicrock.com site (you should check this site out if you do not already-it's based down under, and Andrew does a heckuva job)-very sad news, indeed.

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  7. Oh man INXS was my fave band as a teen. RIP Michael Hutchence!

    And apparently the vids arent viewable in my country yet--or so it says when I click on them.

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  8. I'm a longtime Divinyls fan, but must say I love the song by Silverchair.

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  9. Great tunes! Thanks :)

    Sorry to hear about Chrissy. Loved Divinyls.

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  10. More good songs and videos. I see you have "Somebody That I Used to Know" listed, too. I know that one and like it!

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  11. I used to Love Silverchair. And he absolutely sounded more like Eddy than Curt!
    I liked INXS too

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  12. So many good 'S' songs! New groovy folk, Shawn from Reading Practice & Laughing at Life 2

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  13. More great choices. I like the Silverchair song, especially. I was curious about the band name and, at least according to Wikipedia, they are actually named for the Narnia book.

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  14. oh I just got a few more lovely songs to add to my playlist, thank you!

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  15. So many good S songs!
    I must go through the ones I don't know too.

    But I'm going to put it out there. You've mentioned Berlin Chair.
    You've had Silverchair.

    At this point you need the other half of the Silverchair name, Silver Lizard! Tumbleweed!

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    1. OMG...can't believe I forgot that song! I love TW, and I had featured one of their songs earlier. Idiot! I am going to add it retro-actively too.

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