The songs that best represent the spirit and legacy of Melbourne, Australia’s music capital, are… by two New Zealanders.
Australia’s always had a habit of co-opting talent from across the pond as its own, and its happened once again in the results of a new music poll that asked Aussie fans to vote on the songs that best soundtrack Melbourne’s music history, with New Zealand’s Neil and Tim Finn coming out on top as the clear favourites.
The Kiwi-bred songwriting siblings have taken out the Top 5 slots in a poll of the best Melbourne tunes of the past 40 years, with selections from Crowded House and Split Enz filling up the higher echelons of the list and overtaking the likes of Hunters & Collectors, AC/DC, and Paul Kelly in the list of 40 finalists, as Herald Sun reports.
The Top 40 list was compiled to fill a music jukebox that’s a central feature of the new Melbourne, Music & Me exhibition that opens at RMIT Gallery tomorrow (Tuesday 19th November); celebrating 40 years of Aussie music history with unique collections, memorabilia, and interactive displays.
Crowded House, who Neil Finn formed in 1985 with Melbourne musicians Paul Hester and Nick Seymour, are crowned in the two prime positions on the Top 40 Melbourne jukebox, with their international hits ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over (at #1) and ‘Four Seasons In One Day’ (at #2), an ode to Melbourne’s erratic weather written by Neil Finn while in East St Kilda.
Meanwhile, Finn’s time with his older brother Tim in Split Enz is also recognised on the poll, occupying the next three slots on the Top 40, including their 1980 chart-topping single ‘I Got You’ (at #3), followed by ‘Six Months In A Leaky Boat’ (at #4) and ‘I See Red’ (at #5).
Split Enz also appear at #9 with ‘History Never Repeats’, while Tim Finn’s solo hit ‘Fraction Too Much Friction’ sits at #7, rounding out the Finn brothers dominance of the Top 10.
Coming in at #6 are the newly reformed Hunters & Collectors, the highest placing ‘purely’ Aussie act to appear on the poll, whose classic ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ places at #6, capitalising on the band’s popularity since the news of the band reuniting for several new tours – including a headline tour next year following acting as special guests at Bruce Springsteen’s two Melbourne concerts in February.
Ironically, ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ gained popularity when it was covered by frontman Mark Seymour’s brother’s band, Crowded House. Hunters & Collectors’ ‘Holy Grail’ also comes in at #10 on the new poll, following the band performing the unofficial footy anthem at this year’s AFL Grand Final.
Legendary Aussie rockers AC/DC, whose ties to Melbourne’s music scene are immortalised by AC/DC Lane in the CBD, also appear on the fan-voted list with multiple entries from the band’s Bon Scott-fronted era. ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top’ ranks at #8, along with ‘Jailbreak’ (at #34), ‘High Voltage’ (at #36) and ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’ (at #38).
Meanwhile, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Paul Kelly earns the most entries on the list, with five songs, with ‘Before Too Long’ being the highest charting at #11.
The newer generation of Aussie music is also represented on the Melbourne music jukebox. Gotye’s Kimbra-featuring duet ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ – which has reached #1 in 23 countries and shifted more than 13 million copies – ranks at #16 on the list; written at Gotye’s home studio on the Mornington Peninsula.
Coming in at #38 is ‘Sweet Disposition’, the 2008 breakout single from The Temper Trap, who recently lost their founding member Lorenzo Sillitto as the band continue to work on their third studio album.
The Temper Trap are one of many bands voted into the Melbourne music jukebox that are associated with the Mushroom Group, which fittingly forms the backbone of the new Melbourne, Music + Me exhibition, with the label’s founder being the driving force behind the new public exhibition.
Gudinski – Frontier Touring boss, 2012 Melburnian of the Year, and now Future Music Festival presenter – is donating a treasure trove of material from the Mushroom archives, following the company’s 40th anniversary and rebranding back in February; including vintage promotional material, tickets, merch, posters, awards, and even a full blown replica of his Mushroom office.
Melbourne, Music + Me will also display items from the private collections of Kylie Minogue, Skyhooks, Split Enz, and Melbourne music guru Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, who is hoping the exhibition will stoke support for a more permanent music history fixture in the city. “There should be a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Australia and it has to be in Melbourne,” Meldrum said.
Top 40 Melbourne Songs
To be featured in the Melbourne, Music + Me jukebox
1. Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House
2. Four Seasons in One Day – Crowded House
3. I Got You – Split Enz
4. Six Months in a Leaky Boat – Split Enz
5. I See Red – Split Enz
6. Throw Your Arms Around Me – Hunters & Collectors
7. Fraction Too Much Friction – Tim Finn
8. It’s a Long Way to the Top – AC/DC
9. History Never Repeats – Split Enz
10. Holy Grail – Hunters & Collectors
11. Before Too Long – Paul Kelly
12. Eagle Rock – Daddy Cool
13. How to Make Gravy – Paul Kelly
14. To Her Door – Paul Kelly
15. I Touch Myself – Divinyls
16. Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye ft. Kimbra
17. You’re the Voice – John Farnham
18. Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy – Billy Thorpe
19. Horror Movie – Skyhooks
20. Solid Rock – Goanna
21. The Horses – Daryl Braithwaite
22. Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
23. From St Kilda to Kings Cross – Paul Kelly
24. Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
25. Can’t Get You Out of My Head – Kylie Minogue
26. The Boys Light Up – Australian Crawl
27. Where the Wild Roses Grow – Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue
28. Say Goodbye – Hunters & Collectors
29. Women in Uniform – Skyhooks
30. Who Can It Be Now? – Men at Work
31. Ego is Not a Dirty Word – Skyhooks
32. Reckless – Australian Crawl
33. The Ship Song – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
34. Jailbreak – AC/DC
35. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap
36. High Voltage – AC/DC
37. From Little Things Big Things Grow – Paul Kelly
38. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC
39. Shine – Vanessa Amorosi
40. Prisoner of Society/Second Solution – The Living End
Melbourne, Music + Me Exhibition
19th November 2013 to 3rd March 2014
RMIT Gallery, 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Admission: Free
Opening hours:
11am till 5pm – Monday to Friday
11am to 7 pm – Thursdays
12noon – 5pm – Saturdays
Closed public holidays
