Almanac Music: 33 1/3 Reasons Why – Species Deceases (Midnight Oil)
(As an EP it really should be 45 reasons why, but anyhow…)
Summer in early 1986.
I am starting at a new high school in another town and have a 20km drive each day just to catch the school bus with a bunch of farmers.
A few of us carpool.
The year 11s and 12s have licences, but I am still a couple of years short.
Tony M. drives a white rotary with black leather seats.
He starts the school year but only lasts a few weeks. I don’t remember why, but he just stopped without any fanfare.
Was it 35 degrees at 4 o’clock every day that summer?
It felt like it.
Especially with five of us crammed into Tony’s rotary.
Two of us in the back are already six-footers, but thankfully lean.
I am not interested in the cigarettes on offer during the ride home.
What I am interested in is the blank tape that Tony has slipped into the tape deck.
Tony has good taste in music. He likes bands like Talking Heads.
However, this blank tape contains his copy of Species Deceases.
My mind is blown.
It is fierce.
It is aggressive.
Yet its starkness at times is like a slap in the face.
I am on board.
The farmers on the school bus don’t like Midnight Oil, it is a town thing.
The farmers like AC/DC (and that’s a story for another day).
The farmers like The Angels (good call) but don’t realise that Doc was once a film and drama student.
(In those days would they have drunk with him or wanted to fight him?)
The high point of the school bus year was the day our mate Johnno debated Farmer Cam on Midnight Oil versus The Angels.
Farmer Cam’s argument rested solely on his belief that Doc Neeson would kick Peter Garrett’s arse in a fight.
Johnno won the argument as Farmer Cam’s stop arrived first, and he was the last man standing.
(For the record, I would rather have fought Neeson. Doc was intense, but he would have been right in front of you the whole time. Garrett was too frenetic and would have been difficult to catch up with. You would be chasing shadows and swinging at thin air.)
Species Deceases turns 40 in 2025.
If ever an album (or EP) needed an anniversary reissue, this is the one!
Every word rings as true today as it did back then.
Do we recall the tale of the frog and the saucepan of water?
The premise that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly it will not perceive the danger and be cooked to death (the premise may be false, but it is still a good metaphor).
Well, the water is a lot hotter than it was in 1985.
Climate, nuclear power plants, sub deals, AUKUS, China, South China Sea, Taiwan, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Red Sea, Trump, Tate, Musk, Murdoch, if you don’t know vote no…
Can we turn down the stove?
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Brilliant, Greg!
Every word rings as true today as it did back then … ABSOLUTELY!
‘Hercules’ – the last song on the Hardest Line doco! How good?!
& ‘Progress’ – one of the Oils absolute finest, in my humble opinion!
Bring on the 2025 celebrations
Rabbit in the Vineyard (Russel Hansen)
Cheers Russel.
‘Hercules’ is a great set closer.
The first time I saw them they closed with Hercules and Rob Hirst bouncing drumsticks off his toms and spinning them out into the crowd.
‘Progress’ is underrated and tends to be forgotten a bit these days – but it was right on the money (even predicting the loss jobs in the auto manufacturing industry). The music through the verses shows that sometimes less is more.
I overheard some colleagues talking while this piece was awaiting publishing, their ignorance and apathy was ‘just enough to make you wanna cry’!
They spoke of the “real world” yet when you add the cost of living issues, housing/rental crisis, teens and social media issues to the global issues that I highlighted above, I reckon the “real world” that they inhabit is pretty shithouse!
Enjoyed how this magnificent EP takes you back to a time in your youth Greg, an entertaining piece.
The two Midnight Oil EP’s (Bird Noises and Species Deceases) are masterpieces, and I find they go hand in hand well when listened to one after the other.
Hercules could well be my favourite Oils song.
Cheers Luke.
Good call re: Bird Noises EP.
Enjoyed this fine piece of writing, Greg, so evocative of a time and place. Thank you.
Thanks Kevin. I appreciate your comments.
Ripper yarn, Greg.
Species Deceases was a stunning return to form by the Oils after the slight mis-step of Red Sails in the Sunset.
Hercules was a highlight of any Oils set.
Thanks Greg.
By ’85 I was on the Oils Express and I liked Red Sails but not nearly as much as the old stuff. I recall hearing this EP (on cassette, of course) in a mate’s Torana (where else?) and being instantly impressed by ‘Progress’ and ‘Hercules.’ Both were great driving songs and the guitar on the former is both subtle and catchy.
The Angels, Chisel et al all had their moments but through this period the Oils had colossal momentum.
Cheers Smokie and Mickey.
I agree with your comments re: Red Sails. They needed something like this to reset. Just go into the studio for four days, bang out some killer tracks, get it out there.
Songs played on the tape deck in a rotary, or Torana, or Cortina are just bound to stick with you (even an XD Falcon in the case of some Talking Heads tracks).
In years to come will anyone say ‘Yeah, I first heard them on Spotify in my sister’s Volkswagon Golf’?