Building Bridges (subtitled Australia Has a Black History)[1] is an Australian compilation album containing tracks from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal performers, inspired by a 1988 community concert called Building Bridges.[2][3] The concert was held in Australia's Bicentennial year, which included many Aboriginal protests.[4][5]
| Building Bridges | |
|---|---|
_Australia_has_a_Black_History.jpg) | |
| Studio album by Various | |
| Released | 1989, 1990 |
| Label | CAAMA, CBS, ABC |
The vinyl album was released in 1989 to raise money for the National Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations.[6] It includes songs sung in Aboriginal languages.[7] The album was released by CAAMA Music and distributed by CBS[8] in 1989, followed by a CD album released by ABC in 1990.
It reached #47 on the Australian album charts[9] and may have symbolised "the embrace of indigenous rock by the mainstream".[10]
The original double-vinyl release features 27 tracks, while the later CD release features nineteen.
TV special
editOn 24 January 1991 (two days before Australia Day), the Indigenous Australian TV series Blackout screened a special program to commemorate the original concert. With live music simulcast on Triple J featuring Midnight Oil, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Mixed Relations, all-female band Mirror Mirror, Kev Carmody, and Crowded House, the special also included band members and members of the audience talking about the future of black/white relations in Australia. The program was produced by ABC TV in co-operation with the Building Bridges Association Inc.[4]
Track listing
edit- Special Treatment – Paul Kelly
- Gudurrku (The Brolga) – Yothu Yindi
- Justice Will Be Done – Les Shillingsworth
- Solid Rock – Goanna
- Birth Of A Nation – Wild Pumpkins At Midnight
- Breakneck Road – Hunters & Collectors
- Yil Lull – Joe Geia
- Warakurna – Midnight Oil
- Woma Wanti – Areyonga Desert Tigers
- Strychinine – Swamp Jockeys
- That Hanging Business – Do-Re-Mi
- Injustice – V. Spy V. Spy
- Hungry Years – Weddings Parties Anything
- Do It Rite – Cal Callaghan
- Bad Blood – The Stetsons
- Original Sin – INXS
- Broken Down Man – Scrap Metal
- Dancing In The Moonlight – Coloured Stone
- Heaven On A Stick – James Reyne
- Speak No Evil – Dragon
- Tjamu Tjamu – Ilkari Maru
- Mansion In The Slums – Crowded House
- Spirit Of The Land – The Gravy
- Bullant – Gondwanaland
- Swing For The Crime – The Saints
- Living In The Land Of Oz – Ross Wilson
- We Have Survived – No Fixed Address
References
edit- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 1989, "Cowboys weave their magic spell" by Lynden Barber
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 26 January 1989, "Bridges between black and white" by Jacquelyn Hole
- ^ "Red Dirt In Bondi: The Story of Building Bridges (3MDR, Melbourne)" – via soundcloud.com.
- ^ a b "Blackout". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 372. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 January 1991. p. 24. Retrieved 1 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "ANALYSIS: The '88 protests". NITV. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022.
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 1989, "Rampant Oils help put black bridge over the mainstream" by Lynden Barber
- ^ Reed, Liz (2006). ""...different lives in different places": A Space for Multiple White Identities through Aboriginal Rock Music". In Lynette Russell (ed.). Boundary writing: an exploration of race, culture, and gender binaries in contemporary Australia. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-3048-2.
- ^ Lawe Davies, Chris (1993). "Aboriginal rock music: space and place". In Tony Bennett (ed.). Rock and Popular Music: Politics, Policies, Institutions. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-06369-2.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ Dwyer, Michael. "History wars, the musical" The Age, 20 October 2006.