EVE OF DESTRUCTION by BARRY McGUIRE Story by David Oke
In the blue cloudless sky something caught my eye. At a really high altitude was something - metallic silver. It was glinting in the morning sun and moving very slowly.
WICHITA LINEMAN by GLENN CAMPBELL Story by Danny Katz
Wichita Lineman means a lot to me. I used to play it for my beloved when we first met: I was trying to impress her with my guitar skills because she didn't seem too impressed by my conversation, my sexual prowess, or my recipe for spicy peanut satay sauce. A tough one to break.
CRAWLING KING SNAKE by ETTA JAMES Story by Rijn Collins
I think of my past snakes, all those blue eyes and banjos over the years, the late night knocks and needs that kept my heart shielded and my eyes always on the door.
A WHITER SHADE OF PALE by PROCUL HARUM Story by Jenny Mitchell
This was Franco’s Spain. The military dictator had brought in laws to limit freedom of association and groups of more than two people were not allowed to gather. We were in constant danger.
ALEXANDRA LEAVING by LEONARD COHEN Story by Vin Maskell
It was a restless, fitful time. At one or two or three in the morning I’d carefully ease out of bed and head for the loungeroom, well away from the sleeping family.
Almanac Music 4: friendship and The River
Andrew Starkie reflects on friendship, growing up, and The River: Pat introduced me to Bruce Springsteen in the garage at Monash Avenue. We couldn’t have been older than 12 and 13.
UNITED WE STAND by BROTHERHOOD OF MAN Story by Sue O’Brien
By the late 1980s, United We Stand had definitely moved into the extremely daggy category but there was just something about it that got the crowd going at The Candy. During the first verse, Irene would swan through the crowd trying not to strangle patrons along the way with what the girls deemed was the longest microphone cord in the history of the world.
VINCENT by DON McLEAN Story by Laura Grace Weldon
I was on the verge of adolescence without sports or hobbies to keep me busy. All I had was my old anxious self and this new secret love.
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL by BOB DYLAN Story by Damian Balassone
Sometimes it’s only when you see a girl for the second or third time that you realise how beautiful she is. A song is a bit like that.
Almanac Music 3 – Letters to Sgt Pepper
Dear Sgt. Pepper, You were released 50 years ago. That is more years than for which I have breathed this air.