My Kind of Scene

My Kind of Scene uncovers the past and present of Australian music. From titans to hidden gems, this podcast discovers the songs and artists that make up the fabric of the Aussie music scene, and explores what makes them succeed. It examines history through a present-day lens, attempting to understand the giants whose shoulders today's artists stand on, and the creative sparks defining the future of Australian music. Host Cara Diaria, indie musician and music nerd, brings her unique perspective to the Aussie hits and misses, the movers and shakers, the goodness and greatness that makes it My Kind of Scene.

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My Kind of Scene

Under Cover Down Under (Part 1)

April 02, 2022 • Cara Diaria • Season 1 • Episode 3

This two-part episode explores the history and merits of cover songs in Australian pop music. We’ll try to answer the question: is recording a cover song a good way to make, or break, an Aussie artist’s career? We begin our journey with a surprisingly successful cover of a stoner-rock band, by everybody’s favorite kids band. Then we travel back in time to the 60s, where lots of white guys named Johnny had hits with other people’s songs. We meet the mighty women of the 70s, who each defined their sound with well-chosen covers. We hear how pop, disco and blues records of the past were eightiesified (is that a word?) by new wavers, models and soapie stars, and pause our journey at the dawn of the 1990s.

Find the episode playlist on the Spotify Cara Diaria artist page. Send questions or compliments to mykindofscenepod[@]gmail.com.

Sources:

Wikipedia
All The ARIA Singles Chart #1s” ARIA.com.au, Jan 28, 2022
Lindvall, Helienne. “Behind the music: Can artists stop people from covering their songs?” The Guardian, Jun 18, 2009
Newstead, Al. “The Wiggles’ historic Hottest 100 win…” abc.net.au, Jan 22, 2022
“Johnny O’Keefe – Shout (live)” YouTube, Feb 8, 2012
“Johnny O’Keefe” Discogs
Gorr, Libby. “The history of John Farnham’s hit, Sadie The Cleaning Lady” abc.net.au, Apr 12, 2020
Murphy, Mary. “Superstar Women and their Marriages” New York Magazine, Aug 9, 1976
Watters, Jim. “Olivia Newton-John: Not Really the ‘Girl Next Door’” New York Times, Jun 11, 1978
“Official Singles Chart Top 75 - 22 June 1980 - 28 June 1980” OfficialCharts.com.
“Interview Brian Canham Pseudo Echo” Female.com.au, 1999
Renick, Eric. “Four-on-the-floor – That disco beat!” YouTube.com, Jun 10, 2018
Rolfe, Brooke. “'No one really knew who she was!' Greg Petherick recalls his 'gut instinct' to record Locomotion with Kylie Minogue...” Daily Mail Australia, Aug 5, 2017
Adams, Cameron. “Locomotion set Kylie on track” Daily Telegraph, Aug 2, 2007

People on this episode

Cara Diaria

Host