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The most popular Australian bands?


Carl

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Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn.[1] Finn is widely recognised as the primary songwriter and creative direction of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand (himself, Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner), Australia (Paul Hester, Nick Seymour, Peter Jones and Craig Hooper) and the United States (Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod).
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Thanks guys. This is very helpful, especially CS's master list and Levi's top 10.

I saw Crowded House about 2 years ago at a little club in Mass, since they're my girl's favorite band. We got all groupie and waited by their tour bus after the show. I can tell you based on their wives/girlfriends that they are definitely not half and half. They were, however, very generous about spending some time with the 20 or so people hanging out in the lot. They signed autographs, posed for pictures and were very pleasant. Some of those pictures are in my girl's Crowded House shrine.

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One of my favourite Australian bands - tho' I confess I became a fan long after the fact- is The Triffids. I believe they were recently inducted into the Australian "Rock Hall Of Fame"; certainly their singer/songwriter frontman David McComb was awarded posthumous recognition. (McComb died a few years ago at the age of 37 after a period of illness aggravated by heroin abuse. :( )

I'd strongly recommend The Triffids albums "Born Sandy Devotional" and "Treeless Plain" to anyone into....well, to anyone, I suppose. Just great songs.

The last couple of years has seen a welcome programme of re-issues of The Triffids substantial back catalogue. Well worth investigating.

Link to more info on The Triffids

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Carl,

You are probably correct that AC/DC and Cold Chisel are the two near-universally loved bands in Australia, but you could certainly add the Easybeats and Midnight Oil to that list too. (Of course, Australians are probably thinking of Bon Scott's AC/DC, or at least nothing much after Back in Black.) There's also John Farnham (massively popular but a bit embarrassing) and Paul Kelly (not as rich, sure, but probably considered our finest ever songwriter).

The most popular Australia bands of recent years would be silverchair and Powderfinger, but they are probably too recent to acquire that kind of legend status.

Beyond these, there are any number of great Australia acts whose popularity (or cult status) has more or less endured. Off the top of my head: Johnny O'Keefe, Seekers, Billy Thorpe, Daddy Cool, Masters Apprentices, Skyhooks, Little River Band, Angels, Australian Crawl, Hoodoo Gurus, Saints, Radio Birdman, Divinyls, Men At Work, Hunters & Collectors, Nick Cave, INXS, Models, Jimmy Barnes, Go-Betweens, Icehouse, Cruel Sea, You Am I, Regurgitator, etc.

On the other hand, some bands fall out of fashion, and it's almost like they never existed. Sherbert would be the classic case, or the Zoot (with Rick Springfield on guitar).

And don't get me started on all those wonderful New Zealand-ish acts that *become* Australian: Dragon, Split Enz, Crowded House, Dave Dobbyn...

Anyway, here is the ARIA Hall Of Fame. It should give you some idea:

http://www.aria.com.au/pages/hall-of-fame.htm

See ya,

LeeBB

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  • 2 weeks later...

Overlooked throughout this (and every other Australian-themed thread that I can recall): psychedelic rockers The Died Pretty. I believe they were quite popular in the mid/late 80s. Don't know about their longevity. I have this track "Out Of The Unknown" - The Died Pretty on a 12" EP from 1984. I also have an album of theirs "Lost", but I can't remember whether it's any good. I just started singing "Out Of The Unknown" today, for the first time in donkey's years, and thought "Chuffing 'ell, they're Australian! Why did none of us ever mention them?"

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  • 4 months later...

Top 10 Most Successful Australian Acts in the U.S.

1. AC/DC

2. Olivia Newton-John

3. Air Supply

4. INXS

5. Men @ Work

6. Little River Band

7. Jet

8. Silverchair

9. Midnight Oil

10. Easybeats

Just my opinion...couple of comments about list - Aussie friends of mine (I'm currently in Sydney) claim Air Supply as their own, as well as the Bee Gees. I'll give them one of those - can't give Bee Gees, as they were British and became successful upon their return to the U.K.

I put Silverchair and Jet over Midnight Oil because Oil is only really known because of the Blue Sky Mining album, whereas the other two had successful releases off two separate albums.

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Top 10 Most Successful Australian Acts in the U.S.

1. AC/DC

2. Olivia Newton-John

3. Air Supply

4. INXS

5. Men @ Work

6. Little River Band

7. Jet

8. Silverchair

9. Midnight Oil

10. Easybeats

Just my opinion...couple of comments about list - Aussie friends of mine (I'm currently in Sydney) claim Air Supply as their own, as well as the Bee Gees. I'll give them one of those - can't give Bee Gees, as they were British and became successful upon their return to the U.K.

Well, in my experience as an Australian, very few people here ever claim the Bee Gees, and we also tend to ignore Air Supply (for different reasons). You might want to add Savage Garden to your list, and The Seekers, who had more prolonged international success way-back-when than the Easybeats.

And there's always a lot of debate about whether Crowded House are Australian or not ;-) Formed in Australia by two Australians and one New Zealander. But to be honest, I say they are not Australian, as the Kiwi is the super-dominant force. Wonderful band, though.

MMmmm... Seekers...

LBBB

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If people migrate to, and live in, Australia.....

I like Air Supply. :) And they're Australian as far as I'm concerned.

And John Farnham. His version of 'Help' is second only to The Beatles'.

Someone else said in this Thread Crowded House is 50/50 OZ/NZ. I agree.

I liked The Delltones, Skyhooks and Sherbert (not mentioned yet).

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Oh, I think we have mentioned all of those, but not in this little side-discussion on Oz acts popular in the US. I for one think that Sherbet are the great forgotten Australian band.

Btw, I'd love to hear any opinion on the Farnham cover of Help! I put it up their with Cat Stevens' version of ANother Saturday Night, if you know what I mean ;-)

L.

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