The 1980s - Midnight Oil

If there’s something to protest, Midnight Oil is your band.  Whether it be reparations for indigenous Australian peoples, the environment, nuclear disarmament, uranium mining, climate change, increased funding for public education, saving the whales, mining safety – pick your favorite issue and Midnight Oil will show up and sing for their supper.  Singer Peter Garrett is a politician and an activist.  He left Midnight Oil in 2002 for a solo career – in politics.  He was an Australian Member of Parliament for the Australian Labor Party.  He served in two Labor Party governments as a minister.   He served on Greenpeace’s international board for two years, and has participated in various Australian community and cultural organizations.  Before serving in elective office he was a critic of US military and foreign policies, which moderated once he became part of the Establishment.  Garrett has since left politics. 

Though they haven’t created new music since 2002, Garrett returned to Midnight Oil to resume live shows. Midnight Oil always has been and continues to be his soapbox.  Their politics are up front, in your face, and they are unapologetic for that.  They are for Australia what The Clash was for England.  AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann wrote that “it's hard to dance when you're being lectured to.”  Given that, their music is still compelling listening.  Midnight Oil was definitely not about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  They had [and continue to have] things to say, and they’re not shy about saying them.  Radio-friendly pop hits their songs are not.  But, the songs are good….really good.  I found a quote from Jim Moginie [guitars, keyboards, and songwriting] about Midnight Oil’s appeal:  “We’ve always been a political band, but the bottom line is that the songs have to be good. You can’t stand up there playing a G chord for half an hour and saying how the whole world’s fucked up, you have to bring people in through hooks.”

The first time I became aware of Midnight Oil was not from something I heard, but rather something I saw.  In 1984 they released an album called Red Sails in the Sunset.  The cover showed a hypothetical view of Sydney and Sydney Harbor after a nuclear attack [it was the Cold War, after all].  This wasn’t your typical album cover, and it was attention-grabbing.  The first time I heard them was a song called Beds Are Burning [from 1987’s Diesel and Dust].  This was Midnight Oil’s clarion call for reparations for Aborigines.  This was my gateway drug to Midnight Oil.  When I heard who it was I put two and two together and thought “oh yeah, those are the guys who nuked Sydney”.  Peter Garrett as the front man is someone you’ll never forget once you’ve seen him.  He’s 6’6” and is bald as Mr. Clean.  Midnight Oil’s music is music for resistance.  U2 like to think their music is such, but they reinvented themselves as rock stars beginning with Achtung Baby and haven’t looked back [much].  The Clash broke up long ago, and Joe Strummer is still dead. If you’re a social justice warrior, Midnight Oil is the band for you.

The first two albums [Midnight Oil (1978) and Head Injuries (1979)] find our Aussie heroes trying to find their way, as would any band with a new recording contract.  The politics hadn’t really kicked in.  They were trying anything to see if any music would stick.  There’s punk rock bluster, attempts at ska, Bowie-style glam, love songs, and guitar heroics.  I put those songs at the end of my playlist because they’re kind of a sore thumb compared to the rest of the songs, but they’re good taken on their own merits. Places Without A Postcard [1981] saw them paired with producer Glyn Johns.  The two didn’t really mix, but the formula emerged – relentlessly political lyrics with head-banging rock.  The band gelled in 1982 with 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982].  The medium and the message became a good match for these guys.  For my money, the albums to get are: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]; Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]; Diesel and Dust [1987]; Blue Sky Mining [1990]; Earth and Sun and Moon [1993].  You can’t go wrong with any of these.  You can cherry-pick songs from the other albums, but these are the ones that hold up as coherent statements.  The songs are great.  These albums are when Midnight Oil hit their protest-music stride.  Here’s the caveat emptor - sometimes listening to Midnight Oil is like watching British movies – sometimes you need the subtitles on [or in this case, the lyric sheets] in order to understand them. 

1.      When the Generals Talk – Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

2.      Best of Both Worlds - Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

3.      Feeding Frenzy – Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

4.      My Country - Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

5.      Renaissance Man - Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

6.      Truganini - Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

7.      Drums of Heaven - Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

8.      Beds Are Burning - Diesel and Dust [1987]

9.      The Dead Heart - Diesel and Dust [1987]

10.  Sell My Soul - Diesel and Dust [1987]

11.  Blue Sky Mine – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

12.  Stars of Warburton – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

13.  Bedlam Bridge – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

14.  King of the Mountain – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

15.  Minutes to Midnight – Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

16.  Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers – Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

17.  Kosciusko – Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

18.  Bells and Horns in the Back of Beyond – Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

19.  Shipyards of New Zealand – Red Sails in the Sunset [1984]

20.  Only the Strong - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

21.  Scream in Blue - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

22.  Short Memory - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

23.  Power and the Passion - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

24.  Armistice Day - Place Without a Postcard [1981]

25.  Lucky Country - Place Without a Postcard [1981]

26.  Gunbarrel Highway - Diesel and Dust [1987]

27.  Redneck Wonderland - Redneck Wonderland [1998]

28.  In the Valley – Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

29.  Now or Neverland – Earth and Sun and Moon [1993]

30.  River Runs Red – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

31.  Shakers and Movers – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

32.  Antarctica – Blue Sky Mining [1990]

33.  Tone Poem – Capricornia [2002]

34.  Dreamworld - Diesel and Dust [1987]

35.  Outside World - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

36.  Read About It - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

37.  Somebody's Trying to Tell Me Something - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [1982]

38.  Run By Night - Midnight Oil [1978]

39.  Nothing Lost – Nothing Gained - Midnight Oil [1978]

40.  Cold Cold Change - Head Injuries [1979]

41.  Stand In Line - Head Injuries [1979]

42.  Back on the Borderline - Head Injuries [1979]

43.  No Reaction - Head Injuries [1979]