Part one of an occasional series, just as it says on the tin. Ok it’s quite fashionable to be a boring old fart, B.O.F., these days but Mainman’s title goes back to analogue satellite television, remember that? The beauty of that was that you could have the channels that you most watched where you wanted them, so after 1,2,3,4, (note no five!) you could have for example Sky, Nickleodeon then VH1 or MTV etc. However if the mood took you, you could actually rename them as well. Consequently you could make Nickleodeon – RUGRATS TV, Sky – WCW, because of the amount of wrestling, anyway I’m sure you get the drift!
There was only two music channels, MTV for the under 25s and VH1 for the over 25s, with a lot of individual music programmes on Sky to supplement.
I suppose it was almost automatic for the young Rafman and the even younger, yes he was then as well as now, Devonish Entertainer both being considerably under 25 to want to watch MTV so that became KIDS MUSIC well so far so good. I think you know what’s coming! Wkd and Mainman being not so considerably over 25 (lie!) by far preferred and still do, VH1 which if space had allowed would have become BORING OLD FART MUSIC but in reality became BOF MUSIC then eventually B.O.F. when we worked out how to put the full stops on the display!
MIDNIGHT OIL – 20,000 WATT R.S.L. – Wow where the hell did that come from?! Well the ‘oils’ have been long time WILKO NEWS favourites but apart from a music cassette of Diesel and Dust, an LP home recorded on cassette when borrowed from the record library, no that can’t be right, no one used to do that!, five copies of Beds Are Burning on 12” vinyl and the same track on numerous compilation CD’s there has been very little Midnight Oil in the vast WILKO NEWS collection of CD’s. That is until now!
This album is an American import with 18 smash hits and I do mean smash hits, unfortunately for us Brits only the aforementioned and two other very minor flurry’s in the UK charts. Every track including Beds are Burning of course are without doubt protest songs but protest songs that the words push their way to the forefront both in content, the way they were written and in delivery. Let’s not forget that Midnight Oil are one of the most rocky bands to come from ‘down under’ and not even in America have they ever received the recognition as they deserve or as they did and still do in their homeland, Australia.
The passionate support of the issues keeps this whole album rocking along and makes you reach for your keyboard and google away at aboriginal issues and CND benefit concerts and nuclear testing in the Pacific so that you are better informed about just some of the strongly lyricised issues. All in all as far as protest albums go this makes efforts by such people as Bob Dylan look extremely tame and as a rock album is easily in the same league as compatriots AC/DC and such rockers as early Bon Jovi and Aerosmith.
The most amazing thing about this CD is that it covers music from, wait for it, 1979 and finishes its musical output in the year it was released, 1997. We’ve missed so much in the UK when you consider Beds are Burning charted in 1988.
WILKO NEWS acquisition 2006 via E Bay. What took us so long?
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