Pat Wison - Strong Love

Strong Love/Tacky Too



Pat Wilson (born Patricia Mary Higgins, 11 June 1948) is an Australian singer and journalist. Wilson wrote for Go-Set, a 1960s and 1970s pop music newspaper, under the pen-name "Mummy Cool" during 1971–1972. Wilson released several singles in the early 1980s including the hit single "Bop Girl". The song was written by her then husband Ross Wilson of the bands Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock.

Wilson first saw Ross Wilson perform with his band The Pink Finks in about 1965, when she was sixteen. They met when he was working for the Department of Supply. In 1969 Ross left Australia for England to become a member of Procession. Wilson joined him there; they married and returned to Australia.

Ross and three bandmates formed Daddy Cool in 1970 and toured Australia. In early 1971 they performed at the Myponga Festival in South Australia. Concert footage of their performance of "Eagle Rock" shows a pregnant Wilson in the front row. The Wilsons' son Daniel was born just as "Eagle Rock" reached #1 on the National singles charts. At about this time, Wilson started writing her column for Go-Set taking over an advice column called "Dear Lesley Pixie" and using the pen-name "Mummy Cool".

In 1975 Wilson appeared on Australian band Skyhooks' second album Ego is not a Dirty Word on the title track, "Ego is not a Dirty Word". She played finger cymbals. Ross produced the album.

In 1983, Ross wrote "Bop Girl" for Wilson to perform, it became a #2 hit in Australia,Ross also provided backing vocals and appeared in its music video. The single released on Warner Music Group became one of the highest selling singles of 1983, and achieved airplay in various parts of the world, including the United States, where the single peaked at #104 on the Billboard pop chart. Subsequent singles failed to repeat this success.

The "Bop Girl" music video was the screen debut of 15 year old Nicole Kidman playing the role of a young "bop girl". Chosen by director Gillian Armstrong, songwriter Ross recalled that Kidman was to represent "an up and coming starlet with a bright future". Kidman herself insisted that the video be used for both a BBC documentary about her career, and also in an American Cinematheque tribute, with the result that the video returned to Australian music video playlists in 2004.

A follow-up EP called Strong Love was released in 1984 also on Warner Music Group.

Red Gum - The Drover's Dog

The Drover's Dog/It Doesn't Matter To Me



Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals and Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were soon joined by Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and together developed an intensely passionate and outspoken outlook. They are best known for their protest song exploring the impact of war in 1983's "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)", which peaked at #1 on the National singles charts. The song is in the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) list of Top 30 of All Time Best Australian Songs created in 2001.

Redgum also covered Australian consumer influences on surrounding nations in 1984's "I've Been To Bali Too", both hit singles were written by Schumann. "The Diamantina Drover", written by Timms replacement, violinist/vocalist Hugh McDonald and "Poor Ned", written by Trevor Lucas of Fairport Convention, are examples of their bush songs. Lucas produced their best performed album, the June 1983 live LP Caught in the Act, which peaked at #3 on the National albums chart. Schumann left the band and pursued a solo career from 1986, Atkinson left in 1987 and Redgum finally disbanded in 1990.

The single "The Drover's Dog" is a non album single but does appear on a later compilation album.The single was released in 1985 and made it to #20 on the Australian charts.

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

Torn/Sometimes/Frightened Child


"Torn" is a song by the band Ednaswap from their debut album Ednaswap (1995). In 1997, Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia covered the song for her debut album Left of the Middle. Released as a single, Imbruglia's version became a worldwide hit. At the time of its release, US Billboard Hot 100 chart rules did not allow airplay-only songs to chart, so the song was prevented from achieving a high position on that chart despite remaining atop the Hot 100 Airplay chart for eleven weeks.

For the track, Imbruglia received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". The music video for "Torn" features British actor Jeremy Sheffield.

Imbruglia's version was recorded in Kilburn, London with David Munday (lead guitar), Phil Thornalley (bass, rhythm guitars), Chuck Sabo (drums), Henry Binns, Sam Hardaker (Zero Seven) (drum programming) and Katrina Leskanich (background vocals). It was mixed by Nigel Godrich.

The physical single of Imbruglia's version of the song has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, including more than 1 million copies in the UK alone. In the UK, it is the 80th biggest selling single of all time. The track peaked at #2 for three weeks, being held off the top spot by Aqua's "Barbie Girl" and then dropped to #4. As a result, the song is the second biggest-selling single in history not to have topped the U.K. singles chart. On September 24, 2007, Natalie Imbruglia's version of the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at #70, on the strength of digital sales after her greatest hits album was released. In Flanders (Belgium) the single peaked at a number one for 7 consecutive weeks and was on charts for 22 weeks. The single also made #2 on the Australian charts.