The 2019 Big Red Bash held over three days in July this year near Birdsville, was another great success, over nine thousand fans turned up to rock out with Midnight Oil, Richard Clapton, Chocolate Starfish, Eurogliders, Wendy Matthews, Kasey Chambers, Living End, Chantoozies, and Neil Murray who delivered a feast of Ausmusic. Statistically 1.2 tons of ribs were served by the Birdsville Hotel, a world record 2,330 Nut Bush dancers boogied on, 120 turned up for a sunrise yoga class, 64 hours of 99.9 BASH FM was broadcast, and they will be back again next year, July 7-9 2020 to do it all again. Our Special Feature this week is a by one of the Big Red Bash acts, Chocolate Starfish, who performed hits by INXS and Meatloaf, as well as their dramatically re-imagined version of the Carly Simon hit from 1992, the enigmatic Your So Vain. 
Kylie Minogue has hit new highs in 2019 after basking in the glow of her barnstorming Glastonbury gig in the Sunday “legends” slot in front of 100,00 fans, she has also claimed her seventh British #1 album with Step Back In Time: The Definitive Collection, and is in the midst of a huge UK and Europe summer tour throughout June-August this year. This week 4TR steps back in time also in our Australian Hits post to revisit the double punch success of What Do I Have to Do and Shocked, both hits lifted from the dance diva’s stellar 1990 platinum-selling album Rhythm of Love. 
Jimmy Barnes has now made Australian chart history by releasing more #1 albums than any other artist, following the release of his Criminal Record, which climbed to #1 this month so becoming his 12th solo chart-topper. This puts the former Cold Chisel front man in front of Madonna and U2, who are both on eleven #1 albums, if Barnes work with Cold Chisel was also factored in, he would have 16 #1 albums in this country. This week we revisit three early solo hits for Barnesy from the 1980’s in our ARIA Hall of Fame Heroes post – I’d Die To be With You Tonight, Good Times (with INXS), and his first solo #1 hit, Too Much Ain’t Enough Love
Col Joye is an iconic personality in the history of Australian popular music, he was one of the original inductees into the ARIA Music Hall of Fame in 1988 along with Slim Dusty, Johnny O’Keefe, Dame Joan Sutherland, Vanda and Young and AC/DC; appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1981 for his entertainment and philanthropic work, he has won two ARIAs, multiple gold, and platinum albums, three Logies and a Golden Guitar. He was the first Australian performer to take five of his first eight singles into the top five in the seven months between May – November 1959, he had four top five hits, including the first Australian rock and roll recording to hit #1 – Oh Yeh, Uh Huh. Col Joye and Johnny O’Keefe set the template for local rock and roll in this country and Col continues to perform and mentor other artists, this week in Years Ago we revisit his first three chart hits.
Future editions of 4TR will feature Ausmusic classics inspired by the… weather, well we talk about it a lot, and its mystique has also fascinated songwriters down the years; we will also countdown the top ten songs about Melbourne and Sydney and leading up to the AFL and NRL Grand Finals, feature the local performers who have graced the stage in front of up to 100,000 fans, and been loved or loathed, when they were part of the pre-game and half-time entertainment, please let me know if you would like other themes to be featured in the future.
4The Record 