Awesome Aussie Songs

Kevin Johnson is one of the countries finest singer / songwriters. While he has had plenty of success in Australia, it is on international scene where his thought provoking music has been truly appreciated. Kevin has made the charts in the US, UK and across Europe and his songs have been covered by the likes of Tom Jones and Mac Davis. Rock & Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life) is one of t...

The episode is on The Groop and their song Woman You’re Breaking Me. As a recording act, The Groop had two distinct periods featuring various different members. The Groop Mark 1 was a folk band and spanned 1964 to 66, while The Groop Mark 2 1966 to 69, had a pop rock sound. Our Special guest is former member of The Groop and one of Australia’s greatest songwriters, Brian Cadd.

When looking back at the biggest bands of the mid to late 1960’s in Australia, The Easybeats and The Masters Apprentices immediately spring to mind and rightly so, both these bands were absolutely massive, however, ranking right alongside them in the popularity stakes was Adelaide band, The Twilights. The Twilights had 9 singles make the charts over a 2 year period including a No.1 hit with Needle...

 John Farnham is an Australian music icon. In this episode we take a look at the highest selling Australian single of all time, You're the Voice. Our special guest is Farnsie's musical director, keyboardists and right-hand man, Chong Lim.

This episode is on Spectrum and their No.1 smash hit, I’ll Be Gone. Spectrum formed in Melbourne in 1969 with Mike Rudd providing vocals, guitar and harmonica, Bill Putt on Bass, Drummer Mark Kennedy & Lee Neal playing Keyboards. One of the highlights of the episode is the original demo for I’ll Be Gone, and it’s quite different to the song that we now know and love. We also take a look at Spectru...

This episode is on Diesel and his first solo single Love Junk. Love Junk was the first release from his hugely successful debut solo album Hepfidelity. Our special guest is the man himself, Diesel.  

This episode is on the legendary band The Atlantics and their instrumental classic, Bombora. We speak with The Atlantics lead guitarist Jim Skaithitis. When it comes to surfing, Australia has always been at the forefront of the sport and that’s no different when it comes to surf music, with Sydney band The Atlantics leading the charge. The instrumental rock craze was inspired by the UK band The Sh...

This is our 50th episode at Awesome Aussie Songs and we are proud to release an episode on one of the most important songs ever written in Australia, I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) by Redgum. Our special guest is the writer of this iconic song John Schumann. Here is the link to songs updated film clip from the movie  Danger Close https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNTb9_zTvcQ  

Long before Bluey, the Emmy Award winning animated series and in a time prior to becoming an international cartoon-voicing mega star, Dave McCormack fronted one of the coolest bands in the land, Custard. In this episode, we take a look at Custards biggest hit Girls Like That (Don't Go For Guys Like Us). The video for the song won an ARIA Award and in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 for 1998 Girls...

Spectrum are an iconic band from the 1970's, that has continued to make great music into the 2000's and beyond. The band is best known for their classic No.1 hit single, I'll Be Gone and it is a song that continues to be ranked amongst the "Best Aussie Songs of All Time" lists. Our special guest is Spectrum's Mike Rudd and this episode takes a look at his song Xavier Rudd is Not My Son. Its a grea...

Lucky Starr has had an amazing 60 year career. He has had No,1 hit records and was the first Australian Rock n Roll star to gain any real sustained success in the USA. Together with songwriter Geoff Mack, Lucky is best know for his smash hit song I've Been Everywhere, however, Lucky Starr's career is far more than just one hugely successful song. Lucky Starr is still performing today and wowing cr...

Lonnie Lee is a legend of Australian music. Together with his band The Leemen, they found chart topping success when the first wave of Rock n Roll hysteria was at its peak. With over 60 years of living the Rock n Roll lifestyle, Lonnie has carved out a career that commands enormous respect.  Lonnie Lee and The Leemen were the first Australian act signed to Lee Gordon's record label, Leedon...... y...

Just like the success he had with his No.1 hit single Bloke, when Aussie comedian Chris Franklin wrote the Covid 19 lockdown anthem 'Stay The F*** At Home', he instantly hit the mark. Chris reached out to a host of Australian music icons and he formed the lockdown band The Isolaters. These legends included Angry Anderson, Russell Morris, Murray 'Red Wiggle' Cook, Ella Hooper, Bob Spencer, Dave Gle...

The Ted Mulry Gang were one of Australia's most popular bands throughout the 1970's. Best known for their classic song Jump in my Car, the Ted Mulry Gang had 10 hit singles, as well as 4 albums making the charts. In terms of popularity as a band, TMG stood alongside contemporaries such as Sherbert, Skyhooks and they often had a young AC/DC along for the ride as their support band.  I sat down with...

Ted Mulry's solo career is often overshadowed by the enormous success of his time as leader of the the Ted Mulry Gang. The singer / songwriter first found fame working with Harry Vanda and George Young at the famed Albert Studios in 1970. A creative pop balladeer, Ted found chart success with 5 singles prior to meeting up with the Gang. I sat down with Ted's younger brother Steve and we had a grea...

The Mighty Guys - Leon's Story Part 4 At a time when The Fonz was king, The Mighty Guys and their brand of authentic Rock 'n' Roll proved to be a winner. In 1981, they released their debut album, Rockin' All Thru The Night and it went Gold on the ARIA Album charts. The Mighty Guys also had a mighty reputation as a live band. The line up of The Mighty Guys were Mick Hamilton (formerly of The Moods...

The Beatles to Bee Gees - Leon's Story Part 3 Long before social media, The Rajahs fame blew up literally overnight. If there was a Twitter in the 1960's #THERAJAHS would have been sure to be trending in the 'twitter-verse'. The Rajahs had already achieved plenty of success as Dig Richards and the R'Jays, however, when Dig went solo, they changed their name from to The Rajahs and it was the start...

Digby Richards - Leon's Story Part 2 As Australia's very first teenage idol, Dig Richards was the pretty boy of Rock n Roll, often compared in looks to actor James Dean, he was a serious musician who realised there wasn't much of a future in being a 'teenager pop star pin up'. Going by his full name Digby Richards he went on to carve out his own place in Australian music  history. As a singer / so...

"Digging" with Louis Armstrong and JOK - Leon's Story Part 1 In the early days of Rock 'n' Roll in Australia, Dig Richards & the R'Jays were one of the biggest bands in the land. With movie-star good looks, Dig was Australia's very first teenage idol, and with his band the R'Jays, they were at the forefront of the Rock 'n' Roll revolution. They were the first Aussie band to release a full length a...

The Dynamic Hepnotics were one of the coolest bands in the land during the 80's. Their smooth, soulful style saw them stand out on the Aussie pub rock scene. They topped the charts with the single Soul Kind of Feeling and backed it up with another Top 10 hit, Gotta Be Wrong. Our special guest is the bands frontman and the songwriter of Soul Kind of Feeling, 'Continental' Robert Susz.

Ayers Rock were the first Mushrooms Records band to sign an international recording deal. And not just with any old 'Mickey Mouse' American record label either - no less than A&M Records run by the legendary Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss Ayers Rock created some incredible rock jazz soundscapes and they were the first Australian band to tour the American stadium circuit, playing before massive crowds...

This episode is part of our Anzac Day Special. We speak with the legendary singer Normie Rowe. Normie was conscripted into the Army and was sent to Vietnam to fight the Viet Cong - from Pop Star to Soldier - Normie talks about his experiences in the jungle and also about the struggles that Vietnam Veterans faced once they returned home to Australia.

This episode is part of our Anzac Day Special. We speak with Australian music royalty Col Joye and his experiences touring Vietnam.  Col was on stage performing for the troops at the base in Nui Dat when the ferocious Battle of Long Tan broke out. Before he could take a chopper ride to safety, he was kidnapped by some well meaning Aussie soldiers.

This episode is part of our Anzac Day Special. We take a look at Digby Richards and his tour of Vietnam entertaining the troops.

This episode is part of our Anzac Day Special. We take a look at legendary group The Delltones and their time touring Vietnam entertaining the troops. We speak with The Delltones bass man Pee Wee Wilson, as well as their lead singer Col Loughnan