Archives

2005 – Maths and Moles  –  Letter from Paul Kelly

You could write a book about The Stanley Brothers song Rank Stranger. A man returns to his home town after a long time away and wanders the streets like a ghost. Nobody knows him and no face is familiar. A stranger proclaims that his family and friends have all gone away to a beautiful shore by a bright crystal sea. It’s sung in high, keening voices full of sorrow, wonder and hope. The first time I heard it the hairs... View Article

2004 – ‘Ways & Means’ a note  –  for Rip It Up

2003 – A Note From Paul on ‘Ways and Means’

A lot of the songwriting for Ways and Means goes back to August 2002 when Peter Luscombe, Bill MacDonald, Dan Luscombe (hereafter referred to as Danel), Dan Kelly (Dank) and myself began jamming once a week in a rehearsal room. Dank and I were sharing a house and had a few co-written tunes already up and running. Everyone else brought in ideas and by early 2003 we had a stack of music recorded on ye olde trusty beat box. I... View Article

1998 – The A-Z of Australian Pop –  for The Australian

“And another thing I’ve been wondering lately…” The unforgettable first line of What’s My Scene by the Hoodoo Gurus. Straight away you’re in the middle of a story and the song’s only just started. The acceleration never dies. Born Sandy Devotional – The Triffids. A cathedral of a record with Graham Lee’s incandescent Pedal Steel setting up the stately, sonic architecture. David McComb delivered the sermon in priestly black and at one stage of my life I worshipped there almost... View Article

2013 – Yunupingu Eulogy

MAN OF BALANCE He called me brother. He called the whole country and the whole world brother and sister. So Brother is what I’ll call him today. I first met Brother and his band in Chicago over 20 years ago when I saw them open for Midnight Oil. The first thing I remember about him was his huge beaming smile, his proud head, his curly hair, his colourful headband  – him standing in his jeans in the middle of a... View Article

2016 – Support Act Speech

Robert Metcalfe – as some of the nerds in the audience would know – first formulated his law, now known as Metcalfe’s Law, in 1980, to describe how the value of a network grows exponentially with each new node.  One fax machine, for example, by itself is useless. Add another and suddenly it has value. Add more and the value goes up by more than simple addition.  He was describing the world wide web before it happened. Fax machines might... View Article

2018 – Spencer Jones Eulogy

Spencer, remember when we first met? Of course you do. You remember everything. I forget most things but I remember meeting you.  It was the early eighties and I’d just come off stage after playing with my band at Macy’s in South Yarra. You came up to me and started talking, a skinny kid with big ears, looking like you’d just stepped off the farm. You had quite a bit to say. You told me what was good about what... View Article

2013 – Rock Dogs Speech

It’s a coach’s lot to state the bleeding obvious. It’s obvious to me that this is a beautiful day to play football! We are blessed to be right in the middle of life.  We have our limbs, our muscles, our hearts, our brains, and our pumping blood. We are all little parts part of one big beautiful thing.  Everything connects.  We’re connected to everything around us  – to each other, our teammates, to Megahertz – the enemy we need – ... View Article

2019 – Kev Carmody – Helpmann Award Speech

July 15, 2019 I first met Kev in the late 1980s at a Rock For Land Rights concert in Sydney. His first record, Pillars of Society, had just come out and he sang a song called Thou Shalt Not Steal which began with the lines…. “In 1788 down Sydney Cove  The first boat-people land  Said sorry boys, our gain’s your loss  We gonna steal your land”     He played his guitar like a machine gun as he howled, curled and hurled... View Article

2018 – Kasey Chambers – ARIA Hall of Fame Poem

NOV 28, 2018 When I first saw you, Kasey You were singing in a tentTo muddy bearded bikersAgainst a pole I leant You were singing Cripple CreekI leant closer, getting chillsYour voice as bright as sunshineAnd older than the hills You wore a long, black dress of laceAnd had those bikers cold“Here’s a great long tale,” I thought“Ready to unfold” When we first hung out, KaseyIt was in a basement barA lock in after curfewPassing ‘round the guitar Lefty, Slim... View Article