Building Bridges (1989 album)

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
Studio album by
Various
Released1989, 1990
LabelCAAMA, 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

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On 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

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  1. Special Treatment – Paul Kelly
  2. Gudurrku (The Brolga) – Yothu Yindi
  3. Justice Will Be Done – Les Shillingsworth
  4. Solid Rock – Goanna
  5. Birth Of A Nation – Wild Pumpkins At Midnight
  6. Breakneck Road – Hunters & Collectors
  7. Yil LullJoe Geia
  8. Warakurna – Midnight Oil
  9. Woma Wanti – Areyonga Desert Tigers
  10. Strychinine – Swamp Jockeys
  11. That Hanging Business – Do-Re-Mi
  12. Injustice – V. Spy V. Spy
  13. Hungry Years – Weddings Parties Anything
  14. Do It Rite – Cal Callaghan
  15. Bad Blood – The Stetsons
  16. Original SinINXS
  17. Broken Down Man – Scrap Metal
  18. Dancing In The Moonlight – Coloured Stone
  19. Heaven On A Stick – James Reyne
  20. Speak No EvilDragon
  21. Tjamu Tjamu – Ilkari Maru
  22. Mansion In The Slums – Crowded House
  23. Spirit Of The Land – The Gravy
  24. Bullant – Gondwanaland
  25. Swing For The Crime – The Saints
  26. Living In The Land Of Oz – Ross Wilson
  27. We Have SurvivedNo Fixed Address

References

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  1. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 1989, "Cowboys weave their magic spell" by Lynden Barber
  2. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 26 January 1989, "Bridges between black and white" by Jacquelyn Hole
  3. ^ "Red Dirt In Bondi: The Story of Building Bridges (3MDR, Melbourne)" – via soundcloud.com.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "ANALYSIS: The '88 protests". NITV. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022.
  6. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 1989, "Rampant Oils help put black bridge over the mainstream" by Lynden Barber
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ Dwyer, Michael. "History wars, the musical" The Age, 20 October 2006.