Midnight Oil

alls i know about these cats is that they were like the biggest thing on MTV one year. and they're australian.

out of curiosity, did the inspiration for this poll come from the discussion of toby keith, nashville, et alia?

So not crap.

The records entitled something like "Red Sails Under the Sunset" and "8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1" are great.

They were the "how can you sleep when the beds are burning" or something like that people, right? If so then they are CRAP. Australia is CRAP as well. New Zealand had/has betters bands that make/made better music.

I regularly take heat from people for expressing my admiration for Midnight Oil. But I like this band.

Here was my problem: I had always wondered whether I agreed with their politics and admired their approach more than I respected their music. But I've figured out over time that any band that produces "Power and the Passion", "Blue Sky Mine", "U.S. Forces", "Beds Are Burning" and "Forgotten Years" should get my respect.

And both "Dead Heart" and "Truganini" are probably in my list of one hundred favorite rock songs. I view both of those songs as being high achievements.

They were a great live band, too. Peter Garrett was a very compelling frontman. I would like to see them again very much, but apparently that will not happen.

But there are some people who dislike this band.

Angry_Dragon wrote:They were the "how can you sleep when the beds are burning" or something like that people, right?

toomanyhelicopters wrote:alls i know about these cats is that they were like the biggest thing on MTV one year. and they're australian.

There are astounding gaps in the knowledge of rock history on this forum. RIF.

And "alls", "cats" and "like". Wtf.

toomanyhelicopters wrote:out of curiosity, did the inspiration for this poll come from the discussion of toby keith, nashville, et alia?

I do not follow this logic since I would NEVER place a hack like Toby Keith in the same solar system as Midnight Oil.

Midnight Oil was a poor version of INXS.

Angry_Dragon wrote:Midnight Oil was a poor version of INXS.

Hey, you're entitled to your opinion. However, you've said above that you know nothing about Midnight Oil other than the fact that you can inaccurately recall a line from their biggest hit single.

And I suspect that you know little about INXS as well.

My advice: don't offer opinions on topics about which you know next to nothing. It's not productive. For example, you don't see me in the Tech Room talking about microphones because I would offer ill-informed opinions and stifle meaningful conversation. If I were you, I'd stick to your core subject matter, which seems to be magic beans, alcohol and thinly veiled self-loathing.

POSTED BT BRADLEY R. WEISSENBERGER

TMH -- I inadvertantly destroyed your post.

I am sorry. It was a good post. See my response to it below.

Again, I am sorry.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:and what is this noteworthy role that Midnight Oil played in "rock history"?

They were simply very popular and critically acclaimed (at least in The Slick Rock Magazines) for a long time. In fact, there was a point at which they might have been just below the then-current U2 or R.E.M. level of fame. Even if people don't like them, it really strikes me as odd that people seem to know so little about them. For example, I would expect people to know less about Public Enemy than Midnight Oil.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:and what is "RIF"?

Wow. Aren't you kids familiar with RIF?

RIF is the new WTF.

*that* RIF? wow, i haven't heard that mentioned in some time. since i was a pup who thought it clever to call it "reading is fun to mentals".

i can see how midnight oil would be less recognized than P.E. what with the number of albums and videos that PE had out there, on MTV, mixing it up with anthrax even, in the spike lee movies, and let's not forget that not only was flavor flav on the surreal life, but there's a new reality show based on him that's just around the corner... i can see how PE would be much more widely known than midnight oil; the only thing i *remember* of midnight oil is that they were the biggest thing on MTV at one point for "Beds Are Burning". years later, i could play that song, i can picture the riffs, the presentation of the vocals, even a little horn piece that sounds like a car horn honking as it drives past. this means it was not only a good song, but probably also that i heard it many times. i would guess i heard that song 100 times that year. but what else? what was their next single? their next album? the mainstream and Midnight Oil had a very intense but seemingly-short-lived affair.

also, please don't think anything of having deleted my post. not even remotely a big deal.