Wow! What a cool and simple instrument! Not at all what I imagined! Thanks! Been wondering about this for years.
My opinion of this tune is similar to my opinion of The Rolling Stones' "Gomper." The first two minutes of that are really interesting, but unfortunately, it then goes on for another three minutes. With "Australia," the first 2:45 are great, but unfortunately, it then goes on for another four minutes. It almost sounds like Ray is getting back at the Doors for "Hello I Love You," by giving us this "Soft Parade" in an alternative universe. I've always liked the line, "We'll surf, like they do in the U.S.A." Australia has numerous beaches that are known for their gigantic waves. When you talk about big wave surfing in the U.S, you're mainly talking about Hawaii's northern shore and northern California's "Mavericks Beach." All of those places mentioned in "Surfin' U.S.A." and most of those places that are alluded to in numerous Jan & Dean songs certainly have surfable waves, but they seldom get any higher than 10 feet.
Speaking of the Kinks, Australia & surfing, here's a piccy of them at Bondi Beach in 1965 (there was another piccy of them w/a surfboard that was in Jon Savage's bio, but I was unable to download it).
OMG! I was born and raised in Lowell. Lived there until 1992. Did you go to the university? small world
LOL Untied work boots, man! Anyway, agree with this Around the Dial was huge in the Boston area. And the playing of the live album (where one or two of the songs were recorded in my hometown of Lowell and some in Dartmouth, MA as well as Providence). I think the Northeast US in general had a huge hankering for the Kinks. They knew what side their bread was buttered on. Just wish I could have been in the position to have actually experienced a 70s/80s show. bah!
I was a nut and saw them about a dozen times all over New England, and in NY, in the 70s. They were always great. Last time I saw them was in Houston in the 80s... not so great.
A-ha, another WAAF listener. I'm sure I was exposed PLENTY to WAAF as I often did not have control over the music in various settings, so I bow down to your superior knowledge on this. Between my friend's house and the radio, there was a lot of 70s/80s Kinks happening.
My friend Jimmy, who is about a decade older than me, got to see the Kinks probably every time they hit Boston in the 70s. He told me that the Preservation tour was the best. He also saw many other concerts, including the infamous Rolling Stones concert in 1972 where everybody waited for 4 hours while they got out of jail in RI.
Another wonderful Kinks song with some very sarcastic lyrics by Ray. I get the feeling he, or the character portrayed, is not in the least convinced that emigrating to Australia was the golden opportunity the advertising campaigns would have you believe. Do Brits really want to spend a sunny Christmas day on the beach in 25 degree heat, or would they prefer sitting in front of that cosy log fire, all snuggled up, listening to "In The Bleak Mid-Winter"? Here's an extract from Wiki: "In return for subsidising the cost of travelling to Australia the Government promised employment prospects, affordable housing and a generally more optimistic lifestyle. But upon arrival, migrants were placed in basic migration hostels and the expected job opportunities were not always readily available." It goes on to say that the scheme reached its peak in 1969 (the year Arthur was released) when more than 80,000 migrants took advantage. By 1973, the cost had risen to £75 - equivalent to nearly £1000 in 2019 money. It also goes on to mention how difficult, and expensive, it was to return home if you changed your mind: "Assisted migrants were generally obliged to remain in Australia for two years after arrival, or alternatively refund the cost of their assisted passage. If they chose to travel back to Britain, the cost of the journey was at least £120 (in 1945 pounds, equivalent to £5,217 in 2019), a large sum in those days and one that most could not afford." My neighbours daughter, who was a nurse, left for Australia sometime in the late 1960's. I remember my mum saying to my aunt that we would never see her again. She was right, we didn't, and neither did her parents. Not being English and not having any family who emigrated to Australia I can only imagine the heartache it must have caused to many families across these islands. So Mark, Christmas day on Bondi or Morecambe Bay?
One of them (can’t remember which one) sort of disparaged this photo session, saying how absurd the whole situation was. I’ll try to find the quote later. It might’ve been Pete, actually.
We moved to Mass in '89, working in Bedford. At that time, Boston was in a surge and passed 'Frisco, DC and NYC as the highest cost of living metro area in the country. As such, to get an affordable place, we rented an apartment in Lowell. It was very close to the Chelmsford line with easy access to Rte 3 to minimize the commute. I jokingly referred to myself as a "lowell-life," and there's no doubt a good chunk of the city was pretty rough at the time, but we absolutely loved our time there. Interestingly, the only part of the country I'd not spent time in growing up was New England, so getting to live there was very cool, and Lowell was a great base from which to explore. Easy train ride to downtown Boston, concerts at the Centrum in Worcester, not a bad drive south to the Cape, and a really short hop up into New Hampshire and even Vermont. Eventually, we moved into Bedford to shorten the commute and that also put me closer to BC for my masters. Overall, spent 4 1/2 years in the area and never had a bad day year round. It was almost all pre-kids too, so we were completely free to explore (first born arrived at Brigham and Womens Hospital shortly before we left).
According to the credits in the most recent Super Deluxe Arthur Box Set, John Dalton is credited with wobble board. He’s also credited with kazoo which is on She’s Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina. I don’t remember seeing these two instrument credits on earlier Arthur sets/reissues. I like the long instrumental section myself. Ray says in the liners of the 2011 2 CD Deluxe Set: “That was definitely a nod to the demands of the TV show. We extended that song to go with a visual sequence, almost like writing soundtrack music.” I’ve always thought of the lyrics as a TV commercial advertising and selling this idea of Australia, hence the different vocalists and singing affectations. I believe I read somewhere that this was a thing in 60s England which inspired Ray but I don’t know where I saw that now, it’s been many years ago. True?
I had typed this up two days ago so I could post first thing before reading others thoughts on this song. Clearly I failed to post timely, but I am still posting without reading anyone’s opinion. Australia: I don’t quite understand where this one goes wrong for me, but it just does. I love long jams. Give me UFO’s Rock Bottom (from Strangers in the Night of course), Humble Pie doing I Don’t Need No Doctor or maybe more applicable here, give me the Stones doing Can’t You Here Me Knockin’ all day every day and I’ll eat up every second of those long instrumental sections. …and I clearly love when Dave plays guitar (I’ll also note that I just love the live version of Celluloid Heroes with the long opening solo on One from the Road, so its not like Dave can’t jam) so why is this, one of his longest jams ever, just not my “cuppa tea”? the song starts catchy enough and the first part of the solo keeps me interested, but then it just sort of meanderzzz z ….. …oh shoot, sorry, nodded off for a minute there. I am hoping that some of the other Avids on here will jump up and down about this song and how great it is and I will be forced to revisit it in shame, but without someone helping me hear what I am missing, I am just not getting this song. Catchy chorus though, I keep singing it against my will
Nah mate, Christmas day at my house lol Certainly not Bondi If I was going to the beach Christmas day in Perth, it would be Scarbrough, Cottesloe or Hillary's....unless we were going to Fremantle for fresh seafood. it would likely be 25c on the east coast, but more likely 40c on the west. We never made it back to England. We were never wealthy. My mum's sister and her husband had moved out to Aus a few years before us. They were quite well off, he was a master builder, so plenty of work for him. They went back a few times. My dad was a first class machinist, and went on to become TQA manager/inspector in his later years. Plenty of work, but less money than a master builder. It's like the predicament I find myself in now. I get by comfortably enough, but I doubt I will ever be able to afford to go home again. I miss my folks and some friends, but thank God for Skype, i say.
Especially during Covid! My wife is from France and all of her family are still there, and she's starting to miss them, but I can't see any visits happening in the next year (we were last there in 2019) - Australia's borders have been closed for over a year now (!), except to New Zealand for a few months before Delta hit.
Yea. There's that. Don't get me started on the king size hypocrisy surrounding all that .. I'll get banned lol
"I miss my folks and some friends....." I know how you guys are feeling. My family emigrated from Poland to the US in 1959-60 (I was born here several years later) & my mother (who just turned 95)didn't get to see her family again until she visited in 1970 & 1989. She keeps in touch w/her brothers by phone & couple of times by Skype & her grandniece visited us a few years ago, which was nice.
Hugs to your mom. That's a good age to reach. xo Whereabouts in Poland is your family from? Was just in Krakow a few years ago. Half of me is from Poland.
Australia My initial listening to this song left me feeling...meh. It didn't hit me in any manner. But then upon listening 3 0r 4 times...BAM. When Ray is using his "not silly" voice, it's really quite remarkable. He's just singing out without holding back. I just love it. In the nasally hit-pitched bits really Ray's voice without any studio tricks or what? anyone know? I like that the horns are used only intermittently. When they sneak in it's so welcome. and during the jam, words just drifting in and out are so cool. You very much have to be in a certain mood to hear this song totally. It's not always going to be the right time to hear it. But when the mood strikes just right *chef's kiss* Bravo, boys!
