Cold Chisel, 1978 Cold Chisel’s 1978 song ‘Khe Sanh’ sits in the great Australian tradition of the melancholic anthem. Alongside ‘The Wild Colonial Boy’, ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ and ‘Waltzing Matilda’ itself, Khe Sanh, the story of a Vietnam vet’s ennui, is a raucous Australian [...]

Icehouse, 1982 Known for being the inspirational walk-out song for the Australian cricket team, Icehouse’s Great Southern Land was track one on their second album, Primitive Man, released in 1982. But, like Men at Work’s Down Under and My Island Home, Australian songs with choruses that make [...]

Neil Murray, 1987 Due at least in part to the fact that Wikipedia has it wrong, describing it as co-written, it comes as a surprise to many that ‘My Island Home’, made famous by Christine Anu in 1994 then more famous by her at the 2000 [...]