4TheRecord is dedicated primarily to Ausmusic from all eras and most genres, we will explore the dynamics of the creative process, and reveal the great drama, lyricism, musicality, and emotion behind each classic song.
It seems that it was impossible to open a newspaper or gossip magazine in recent years without reading about the whirlwind of family drama, romantic highs and lows and a stunning estrangement between the formerly inseparable twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso. The duo better known as the Veronicas, had dramatically and emphatically arrived on the scene fourteen years earlier with their debut album The Secret Life Of …. The cracks in the sister’s relationship began in 2016 when Jessica reconnected with her former girlfriend Ruby Rose. When the two had first hooked up back in 2008 Jessica was a star on the rise and Rose was a hustler crossing over from modelling to TV presenting work. By 2016 Rose had achieved global success through her acting role on Orange is the New Black, and the pair re-entered each other’s orbits. But the reunion became mired in an exchange of nasty social media posts between Rose and Jessica which also spilled over to involve Lisa, and all in front of their combined 22.7 million followers, the planned fourth Veronicas album never materialized.The girl’s mother was also diagnosed with two major neurological disorders which triggered the onset of dementia, so making records took a back seat until the girls had worked through these personal matters, but the good news is that the Veronicas fourth album is due for release in mid-year, and it will be dedicated to their mother, Colleen Origliasso. This week in our 4TR Special Feature we remember the Veronicas debut album from 2008 and the hit songs that announced to the world the arrival of the indomitable duo from Brisbane.
Another musical luminary from Brisbane, Robert Forster, founding member of the Go- Betweens in 1977 with his uni buddy Grant McLennan, has returned to live in the The Gap, a sleepy north-western Brisbane suburb where he was raised, and where he has again set down roots in a house a mere 1.5 km. from his first home. He has just released his seventh solo album, Inferno some thirteen years after the untimely death of McLennan in 2006, it is a great album and confirmation that the creative fires still burn brightly within Robert Forster. 4TR re-visits their seminal single of “striped sunlight”, Forster’s description of the G-B’s music, in our APRA Best Songs post this week, where 1983’s Cattle and Cane was ranked one of the thirty best Australian songs from the period 1926-2001.
In 1967 the Bee Gees were on the cusp of international superstardom, their impeccable three-part harmonies and the seemingly endless stream of new songs from Barry and Robin, allied with the astute management of Robert Stigwood and the impeccable production and musical arrangement skills of Bill Shepherd, guaranteed a succession of pocket symphonies that would defy musical trends and conquer global markets. New York Mining Disaster 1941 had served notice of the arrival of the uniquely talented Gibb brothers, it would be followed only months later by arguably their most beautiful pop masterpiece, To Love Somebody, we feature this gorgeous song in our Years Ago post this week.
The Seekers became the most prominent Australia group on the international market in the 1960’s, they were not prodigious songwriters unlike the Bee Gees, but they were on the receiving end of a catalogue of brilliant songs from Tom Springfield and in Judith Durham they possessed the most stunning voice in popular music at that time. After the success of I’ll Never Find Another You, A World of Our Own and Morning Town Ride, all hits for them in 1965, they delivered their fourth monster hit for that year with the release of the majestic The Carnival is Over, a vocal tour de force by Judith Durham, which we re-visit in our ARIA Hall of Fame Heroes this week.
Diesel (Mark Lizotte) was a funky soulful force of nature in the 1990’s who eschewed the grunge-drenched songs of Nirvana wannabes with hit albums and singles that helped to define a unique era in Ausmusic, he won the ARIA Award for Best Male Artist in three consecutive years 1993-95. This week 4TR remembers the albums Hep Fidelity and The Lobbyist and two classic songs from Diesel and the Injectors – Tip of My Tongue and Never Miss Your Water in our ARIA Winner Flashback post.
4The Record 