Australia's Midnight Oil brought a new sense of political and social immediacy to pop music: not only did hits like "Beds Are Burning" and "Blue Sky Mine" bring global attention to the plight of aboriginal settlers, but the group also put its money where its mouth was -- in addition to doing benefit performances for groups like Greenpeace and Save the Whales, frontman Peter Garrett even ran for the Australian Senate on the Nuclear Disarmament Party ticket.
The band formed in Sydney in 1971 as Farm. After months of sporadic gigs, the group formed its own label, Powderworks, and issued their first album, an impassioned collection of guitar rock which quickly established the Midnight Oil sound in 1978.
After declaring their independence from the music industry, the Oils grew increasingly active and outspoken in the political arena; after performing in opposition to uranium mining, they supported the Tibet Council before turning their attentions to the unfair practices of the local music industry, and formed their own booking agency in response to the monopoly exerted by area agents and promoters. With their 1979 Head Injuries, the band scored their first hit single, "Cold Cold Change," and earned a gold record.
With 1981's Place Without a Postcard , Midnight Oil achieved platinum status on the strength of the smash "Armistice Day," which won the group an American deal with Columbia Records. Their follow-up, 1983's “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”, spent over two years in the Australian Top 40; after 1984's Red Sails in the Sunset, leadsinger Garrett made his run at Senate, losing by only a narrow margin. Participation in the Artists United Against Apartheid project followed, leading directly into Midnight Oil's increased interest in the battles of Australia's aboriginal settlers and a tour, dubbed "Black Fella White Fella," with the aborigine group the Warumpi Band.
The aborigines' plight came to the fore on 1987's Diesel and Dust, the Oils' breakthrough record; sparked by the hit single "Beds Are Burning," the album reached the U.S. Top 20. Midnight Oil returned with 1990's Blue Sky Mining, which they followed with a concert outside of the Exxon corporation's Manhattan offices in protest the company's handling of the Alaskan oil spill. (A film of the performance titled Black Rain Falls was released, with profits going to Greenpeace.) The album Earth and Sun and Moon appeared in 1993, followed three years later by Breathe. Midnight Oil next resurfaced in 1998 with Redneck Wonderland. The Real Thing, only available in Australia, followed in 2001. It was a solid collection of new songs and live tracks from Midnight Oil's magnificent run at the Metro Theatre in Sydney. Capricornia, issued in spring 2002, marked the band's 14th album of their career. In December, Peter Garrett announced his split from the band after 25 years. Garrett, who left Midnight Oil on good terms, wished to pursue other challenges.
Band Members:
Peter Garrett: Composer and singer. Original member. Left in late 2005 and the bands seems to have split up.
Jim Moginie: Guitar and composer.
Martin Rotsey: Guitar
Rob Hirst: Drummer and songwriter
Andrew James: Bassist. Original member but left the band in 1979 due to helath problems
Peter Gifford: Bassist. Joined in 1979 and left again in 1987
Dwayne Hillman: Bassist. Joined in 1987
Discography:
1. Midnight Oil - Powderworks 1978
Tracks:
1. Powderworks / 2. Head Over Heels / 3. Dust / 4. Used and Abused / 5. Surfing With a Spoon / 6. Run By Night / 7. Nothing Lost - Nothing Gained
Rating :
2. Head Injuries - Powderworks 1979
Tracks:
1. Cold Cold Change / 2. Section 5 / 3. Naked Flame / 4. / Back on the Borderline / 5. Koala Sprint / 6. No Reaction / 7. Stand In Line / 8. Profiteers / 9. Is It Now?
Rating :
3. Bird Noises - Powderworks 1980
Tracks:
1. No Time For Games / 2. Knife's Edge / 3. Wedding Cake Island / 4. I'm The Cure
Rating : 7
4. Place Without A Postcard - Powderworks 1981
Tracks:
1. Don't Wanna Be The One / 2. Brave Faces / 3. Armistice Day / 4. Someone Else To Blame / 5. Basement Flat / 6. Written In The Heart / 7. Burnie / 8. Quinella Holiday / 9. Loves On Sale/ 10. If Ned Kelly Was King / 11. Lucky Country
Rating :
5. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Columbia 1982
Tracks:
1. Outside World / 2. Only The Strong / 3. Short Memory / 4. Read About It / 5. Scream In Blue / 6. US Forces / 7. Power And The Passion / 8. Maralinga / 9. Tin Legs And Tin Mines / 10. Somebody's Trying To Tell Me Something
Rating : 6
6. Red Sails In The Sunset - Columbia 1984
Tracks:
1. When the Generals Talk / 2. Best of Both Worlds / 3. Sleep / 4. Minutes to Midnight / 5. Jimmy Sharman's Boxers / 7. Bakerman / 8. Who Can Stand in the Way / 9. Kosciusko / 10. Helps Me Helps You / 11. Harrisburg / 12. Bells and Horns in the Back of Beyond /
Rating : 6
7. Species Deceases - Columbia 1985
Tracks:
1. Progress / 2. Hercules / 3. Blossom And Blood / 4. Pictures
Rating :
8. Diesel And Dust - Columbia 1987
Tracks:
1. Beds Are Burning / 2. Put Down That Weapon / 3. Dreamworld / 4. Arctic World / 5. Warakurna / 6. The Dead Heart / 7. Whoah / 8. Bullroarer / 9. Sell My Soul / 10. Sometimes / 11. Gunbarrel Highway
Rating : 8
9. Blue Sky Mining - Columbia 1990
Tracks:
1. Blue Sky Mine / 2. Stars Of Warburton / 3. Bedlam Bridge / 4. Forgotten Years / 5. Mountains Of Burma / 6. King Of The Mountain / 7. River Runs Red / 8. Shakers And Movers / 9. One Country / 10. Antarctica
Rating : 8
10. Scream In Blue ( Live ) - Columbia 1992
Tracks:
1. Scream In Blue / 2. Read About It / 3. Dreamworld / 4. Brave Faces / 5. Only The Strong / 6. Stars Of Warburton / 7. Progress / 8. Beds Are Burning / 9. Sell My Soul / 10. Sometimes / 11. Hercules / 12. Powderworks / 13. Burnie
Rating :
11. Earth And Sun And Moon - Columbia 1993
Tracks:
1. Feeding Frenzy / 2. My Country / 3. Renaissance Man / 4. Earth And Sun And Moon / 5. Truganini / 6. Bushfire / 7. Drums Of heaven / 8. Outbreak Of Love / 9. In The Valley / 10. Tell Me The Truth / 11. Now Or Never Land
Rating : 8
12. Breathe - Columbia 1996
Tracks:
1. Underwater / 2. Surf's Up Tonight / 3. Common Ground / 4. Time To Heal / 5. Sins Of Omission / 6. One Too Many Times / 7. Star Of Hope / 8. In The Rain / 9. Bring On The Change / 10. Home / 11. E-beat / 12. Barest Degree / 13. Gravelrash
Rating : 8
13. 20 000 Watt RSL ( Comp. ) - Columbia 1997
Tracks:
1. What Goes On / 2. Power And The Passion / 3. Dreamworld / 4. White Skin Black Heart / 5. Kosciusko / 6. The Dead Heart / 7. Blue Sky Mine / 8. US Forces / 9. Beds Are Burning / 10. One Country / 11. Best Of Both Worlds / 12. Truganini / 13. King Of The Mountain / 14. Hercules / 15. Surf's Up Tonight / 16. Back on the Borderline / 17. Don't Wanna Be The One / 18. Forgotten Years
Rating :
14.Redneck Wonderland - Columbia 1998
Tracks:
1. Concrete / 2. Redneck Wonderland / 3. Cemetery In My Mind / 4. Comfortable Place On The Couch / 5. Safety Chain Blues / 6. Return To Sender / 7. Blot / 8. The Great Gibber Plain / 9. / White Skin Black Heart / 10. Seeing Is Believing / 11. What Goes On / 12. Drop In The Ocean
Rating : 6
15. The Real Thing ( Live/Studio) - Columbia 2000
Tracks:
1. The Real Thing / 2. Say Your Prayers / 3. Spirit Of The Age / 4. Feeding Frenzy / 5. Tell Me The Truth / 6. The Dead Heart 7. Tin Legs And Tin Mines / 8. Short Memory / 9. In The Valley / 10. Blue Sky Mine / 11. US Forces / 12. Warakurna / 13. Truganini / 14. The Last Of The Diggers
Rating :
16. Capricornia - Powderworks 2001
Tracks:
1. Golden Age / 2. Too Much Sunshine / 3. Capricornia / 4. Luritja Way / 5. Tone Poem / 6. A Crocodile Cries / 7. Mosquito Care / 8. Been Away Too Long / 9. Say Your Prayers / 10. Under The Overpass / 11. World That I see / 12. Poets And Slaves
Rating : 8
17. Chiko Locallo (Archieval) - Sony 2017
Tracks:
1. Ships of Freedom / 2. What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding / 3. Heaven and Earth / 4. Cemetery in My Mind / 5. The Real Thing / 6. The Last of the Diggers / 7. Spirit of the Age / 8. You May Not Be Released / 9. Kiss That Girl / 10. Wharf Rat / 11. I See You / 12. Smash the Wobble Board / 13. The Great Gibber Plain / 14. Land / 15. Frontier... What Frontier? / 16. Devilfish Shuffle / 17. Kingdom of Flaunt
Rating : 8
18. The Makarrata Project - 2020
Tracks:
1. First Nation / 2. Gadigal Land / 3. Change the Date / 4. Terror Australia / 5. Desert Man, Desert Woman / 6. Wind in My Head / 7. Uluru Statement from the Heart / 8. Come on Down
Rating : 7
19. Resist - 2022
Tracks:
1. Rising Seas / 2. The Barka Darling River
/ 3. Tarkine / 4. At the Time of Writing / 5. Nobody's Child / 6. To the Ends of the Earth / 7. Reef / 8. We Resist / 9. Lost at Sea / 10. Undercover / 11. We Are Not Afraid / 12. Last Frontier
Rating : 8
Essential Albums!
Original albums as listed and rated on “Rate Your Music” - January 16 - 2022
121 Diesel and Dust - 1987
137 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - 1982
140 Red Sails in the Sunset - 1984
206 Earth And Sun And Moon - 1993
216 Blue Sky Mining - 1990
260 Head Injuries - 1979
515 A Place Without a Postcard - 1979
827 Midnight Oil - 1978
836 Capricornica - 2002
838 Redneck Wonderland - 1998
877 Breathe - 1997
953 The Real Thing - 2000
Check and Rate Here!
December 25 - "rateyourmusic.com"
My Suggestion For a 2 CDs 160 minutes (app.) Best Of Compilation:
1. Beds Are Burning ( Midnight Oil ) Diesel and Dust
2. In the Valley ( Moginie/Garrett/Hirst ) Earth And Sun And Moon
3. Put Down that Weapon ( Midnight Oil ) Diesel and Dust
4. Blue Sky Mine ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
5. Bedlam Bridge ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
6. Stars of Warburton ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
7. Forgotten Years ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
8. Shakers and Movers ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
9. One Country ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
10. The Dead Heart ( Midnight Oil ) Diesel and Dust
11. Earth And Sun And Moon ( Moginie ) Earth And Sun And Moon
12. Waraklima ( Midnight Oil ) Diesel and Dust
13. Home ( Midnight Oil ) Breathe
14. River Runs Red ( Midnight Oil ) Blue Sky Mining
15. Sleep ( Hirst/Moginie/Garrett ) Red Sails in the Sunset
16. Surf's Up Tonight ( Midnight Oil ) Breathe
17. Koisciusko ( Hirst/Moginie ) Red Sails in the Sunset
18. Time to Heal ( Midnight Oil ) Breathe
19. Now or Never Land ( Moginie/Garrett ) Earth And Sun And Moon
20. E-Beat ( Midnight Oil ) Breathe
21. One Too Many Times ( Midnight Oil ) Breathe
22. Truganini ( Hirst/Moginie ) Earth And Sun And Moon
23. Golden Age ( Moginie/Hirst/Garrett ) Capricornia
24. Bushfire ( Moginie/Garrett ) Earth And Sun And Moon
25. Under the Overpass ( Moginie/Hirst ) Capricornia
26. Capricornia ( Moginie/Hirst ) Capricornia
27. Luritja Way ( Moginie/Hirst ) Capricornia
28. Tone Poem ( Moginie/Garrett ) Capricornia
29. Poets and Slaves ( Moginie ) Capricornia
30. The Great Gibber Plain ( Hirst, Moginie ) Redneck Wonderland
31. Cemetary in my Mind ( Hirst, Moginie ) Redneck Wonderland
32. Ships of Freedom ( Hirst ) Chiko Locallo
33. What's So Funny ( Lowe ) Chiko Locallo
34. Kiss That Girl ( Moginie ) Capricornia / Chiko Locallo
35. Land ( The Tragically Hip, Midnight Oil, Crash Vegas, Hothouse Flowers and Daniel Lanois ) Chiko Locallo
36. No Time For Games ( Hirst/Moginie ) Bird Noises
37. Wedding Cake Island ( Rotsey/Moginie ) Bird Noises
38. First Nation ( Hirst/Jarrett ) The Makarrata Project
39. Change the Date ( Moginie/Yunupingu ) The Makarrata Project
40. Wind in My Head ( Moginie/Carmody/Murray/Butcher ) The Makarrata Project
41. Come on Down ( Moginie ) The Makarrata Project
42. Short Memory ( Garrett/Hirst/Moginie ) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
43. Come on Down ( Garrett/Moginie ) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
44. Rising Seas ( Moginie ) Resist
45. The Barka Darling River ( Hirst/Moginie ) Resist
46. Tarkine ( Hirst/Moginie ) Resist
47. At the Time of Writing( Hirst/Moginie ) Resist
48. Reef ( Moginie ) Resist
49. Lost a Sea( Hirst/Moginie ) Resist
50. Last Frontier ( Garrett ) Resist
LINKS:
Midnight Oil Info
The Official Midnight Oil