Midnight Oil was only known in America for ‘Beds Are Burning’ but in their native Australia they had successful career that spanned three decades. One of the best (and only) politically-minded rock acts of the 80s, their songs dealt with a variety of issues, such as fair wages, nuclear war and Aboriginal rights. They were so political, in fact, that lead singer Peter Garrett left the band in 2002 and ran for parliament…and won. Australia gets Peter Garrett and the U.S. Senate gets Sonny Bono, that’s totally not fair.

While I’m sure he’ll do good for the people of Australia, it sucks that he ended his music career to do it. If you only know ‘Beds Are Burning’ and want to get into the band a little more, I suggest their comprehensive greatest hits collection, 200 Watt R.S.L. as a good starting point. If you like it, nearly any of their 80s albums are safe bets, with Diesel And Dust, Earth And Sun And Moon, Blue Sky Mine and 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 being the best.

Midnight Oil – Beds Are Burning (Tamarama Remix)
This is a remix of Midnight Oil’s signature tune, off of the promo-only release, The Green Album. It’s a little hinky, but fans of the song should dig it.

Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining (Original
Blue Sky Mining (Remix)
The original version of Blue Sky Mining is on Blue Sky Mine, which in print and available at any halfway decent record store. I’m including it because most people in America probably haven’t heard it, which would make posting the remix (also off of The Green Album) a little pointless.

Midnight Oil – Wedding Cake Island
A genuine B-Side and rarity. This song first appeared on the 1980 EP Bird Noises, and occasionally appeared on 12-inch singles throughout the 80s. A bitchin’ little instrumental ditty that sounds kind of like a surfer tune. Great driving music.

I got some more rarities from the rockin’ Aussies that I might put up some other time. Throughout the month I’ll be posting B-sides and rarities from Human League, Soft Cell, New Order, Depeche Mode and more great 80s bands, so if you dig the 80s, stay tuned.

Ultravox!

With Midge Urge guiding them, Ultravox was one the of the earliest new wave bands to fully embrace synthesizers as the “sound of the future” – churning out some awesome new wave classics such as “Vienna” and “Reap The Wild Wind.” But before Urge joined their ranks, Ultravox was Ultravox! (note the exclamation point) and featured an energetic Roxy Music meets Talking Heads sound. After three unsuccessful albums in two years, lead singer/keyboardist John Foxx and guitarist Robin Simon quit…and must have taken the exclamation point with them. It turned out to be their loss as the remaining members recruited Midge Urge, and together they churned out several hits before disbanding for good a few years later. As much as I love Midge Urge, I think Ultravox was even better with John Foxx as the lead, with a good combo of punk aggression and new wave chillness.

Here are some of cuts from their 1981 self-titled live mini-LP. I don’t think most of these are available on CD, at least not in these live versions.

My Sex
Man Who Dies
Quirks
Wild Beautiful And The Damned

DMC has a new album out – everyone should buy it.

Run-D.M.C. are without a doubt the greatest rap artists of all time. No contest, no debate, it’s scientific fact. Everyone’s allowed to have an opinion, but you can’t argue this, not at all. You like rap music? You listen to rap stations on the radio and watch rap videos on MTV? Without Run-D.M.C. there’s a good chance none of that would exist.

Run-D.M.C. was the first rap group to:
Go gold, platinum and multi-platinum
Get a Grammy Nomination
Perform on SNL
Perform on MTV
Appear on the cover of Rolling Stone
Have a number one single on the R&B charts
Have an album break the Top Ten

Yea, so to say they were influential is a little bit of an understatement. They INVENTED modern rap and are solely responsible for getting it into the mainstream. Check out an innovator and pick up DMC’s new album, Checks, Thugs And Rock And Roll. While your at it get Rev Run’s solo debut, Distortion.

I’m breaking from form a bit and putting up a track off of DMC’s latest, called ‘Machine Gun.’ It’s a hardcore anti-war song, something that rap has been severly lacking these days. Below that is the 12-inch Scratchapella remix of ‘It’s Tricky’ that features Run and DMC rhyming over Jay’s scratches with no added effects. In my opnion it’s better than the original.

DMC – Machine Gun
Run-D.M.C. – It’s Tricky (Scratchapella Remix).mp3