Music with a Message

Just a heads up that I am back on air - 92.9 River FM on Mondays from 3-4pm playing political music. Tune in if you around Northern NSW - unfortunately it is not available on the web.

Music with a Message

Here are the songs I am playing on my radio show this weekend – only a few weeks left as I am not presenting in (at least the first half of) 2009 so I can concentrate on other things.

Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Blue King Brown, Come and Check Your Head
Blue King Brown, One Day
Bob Marley & The Wailers, No Woman No Cry
Bob Marley & The Wailers, Get Up Stand Up
John Butler Trio, The Gov Did Nothin’
Lizzie West & The White Buffalo, 19 Miles to Baghdad
Ani Di Franco, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
David Byrne, Nothin’ But Flowers
The Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven
Our Land Our Home (Paul Kelly), From Little Things Big Things Grow
Our Land Our Home, Respect for Eddie Mabo
Neville Brothers, Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Betty Mae Fikes, Up Over My Head/This Little Light of Mine
Jenn Cleary, Peace in Our World
Sly & The Family Stone, Stand!
Anne Feeney, Have You Been to Jail for Justice?
Midnight Oil, Blue Sky Mine
Black Eye Peas, Third Eye
Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A Changin’
Jackson Browne, For America
John Mellancamp, To Washington
P!nk, Dear Mr President
David Dondero, Pre Invasion Jitters
Eric Bogle, No Man’s Land
Country Joe & The Fish, I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag
Coldplay, Politik
Sarah McLachlan, World on Fire
Peter Tosh, Legalise It

Music with a Message

Here are some of the songs I am going to play on my radio program this weekend. I am very excited to be playing five tracks from The Herd – its hard to pick my favourite from this list they are such a great band but if pushed to choose perhaps I would say 2020 or Its Time to Face the Truth are two that stand out.

Billy Bragg, Help Save the Youth of America
Billy Bragg, Days Like These
Billy Bragg, Ideology
Eliot, Freedom of Speech
Pitch Black, Speech (Freedom of Speech Remix)
Mamie Brown and the Birmingham Movement Choir, I’m on My Way
Freedom Singers, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
Woody Guthrie, 1913 Massacre
Simple Minds, Mandela Day
Peter Tosh, Equal Rights
Neville Brothers, Sister Rosa
Our Land Our Home, Forgotten Tribe
Our Land Our Home (Goanna), Solid Rock
Joe Glazer, Preacher and the Slave
Joe Glazer, There’s Power in a Union
Tracy Chapman, Talkin About a Revolution
John Lennon, Imagine
No FX, Franco UnAmerican
Neil Young, Lets Impeach the President
John Butler Trio, Fire In the Sky
Edwin Starr, War
Meredith Brooks, Bitch
No Doubt, Just a Girl
The Herd, Time to Face the Truth
The Herd, 2020
The Herd, The King is Dead
The Herd, 77%
The Herd, Emergency
Country Joe McDonald, Save the Whales
Julian Lennon, Saltwater
Jamiroquai, Emergency on Planet Earth
U2, Sunday Bloody Sunday

Music with a Message

Here are some of the tracks I will be playing on my radio show this weekend. I have also just downloaded the most recent The Herd album, Summerland, from eMusic which is fantastic and will be trying to get a couple of those tracks in as well – its is fantastic to see some Australian content on eMusic – I highly recommend the album.

Jonatha Brooks, Madonna On the Curb
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Tracy Chapman, The Rape of the World
Sting and the Radioactors, Nuclear Megawaste
Jeffrey Walk and Michael Droste, Save the Planet
Blue King Brown, Moment of Truth
Aretha Franklin, Respect
Lions Gate Chorus, Sisters are Doin’ It For Themselves
Wildfire, Make Music Not War
Dukes of Windsor, Its A War
Bob Dylan, Masters of War
Michael Schenker, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, War Pigs
The John Butler Trio, Fire in the Sky
Cold Chisel, Khe Sanh
Neville Brothers, With God on Our Side
Gil Scott-Heron, Winter in America
J.B. Lenoir, Livin’ in the White House
J.B. Lenoir, Remove this Rope
SNCC Freedom Singers, Ballad of Medgar Evers
Fannie Lou Hammer, Bob Moses, Get on Board
Fannie Lou Hammer, Wade In the Water
The Clash, The Guns of Brixton
Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen
Sex Pistols, Anarchy in the UK
Dead Kennedys, Holiday in Cambodia
Joe Glazer, We Will Sing One Song
Joe Glazer, Preacher and the Slave
Simple Minds, Mandela Day

Music with a Message

Here are some of the tracks I will be playing on my radio program this Saturday night:

Eskit, Wussies for War
Lead Belly, Uncle Sam Says (Bottle Up and Go)
Lead Belly, Hitler Song
Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit
Cleo Kennedy, City Called Heaven
Fannie Lou Hamer, Go Tell it on the Mountain
Willie Peacock, Calypso Freedom
Willie Peacock, Get on Board Children
SNCC Freedom Singers, We Shall Not Be Moved
Sunnyland Slim, Be Careful How You Vote
Anti-Crew, Anti-Republican
Joe Glazer, There’s Power in a Union
Joe Glazer, Casey Jones (The Union Scab)
Neon Prophet, One World
Midnight Oil, One Country
Bruce Cockburn, If A Tree Falls
Neon Prophet, Save the Planet
The John Butler Trio, Treat Yo Mama
Jamiroquai, Emergency on Planet Earth
Bjork, Declare Independence
Yothu Yindi, Treaty
Joni Mitchell, The Magdalene Laundries
Phil Ochs, I Ain’t Marching Anymore
The Roots, False Media
Beastie Boys, Right Right Now Now
Ice Cube, Amerikka’s Most Wanted
The Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy, Satanic Reverses
Graham Nash, Military Madness
Rise Against, Prayer of the Refugee
Dan Kelly & The Alpha Males, Drunk on Election Night
Black Eyed Peas, Third Eye

Music with a Message

Here are some of the songs I am playing on my radio show this week, I might pull out some of the Obama songs I played a few weeks ago as well.


The Impressions, People Get Ready
Josh White, Free and Equal Blues
Bob Marley and the Wailers, Four Hundred Years
Neville Brothers, My Blood
J.B. Lenoir, Alabama Blues
Len Chandler, Murder on the Roads of Alabama
Big Bill Broozny, Black, Brown & White
The Freedom Singers, Which Side Are You on (Civil Rights Version)
Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome
Arrested Development, Revolution
Dead Kennedys, Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Round
Redgum, I Was Only 19
The John Butler Trio, Company Sin
Midnight Oil, Truganini
Our Land Our Home, This Lands Worth More than Silver and Gold
Blue King Brown, Us and Them
Blue King Brown, Comin’ Through
Anne Feeney, Take Them Down!
Anne Feeney, Scabs
The Sons of the Pioneers, Old Man Antom
Lee Hayes, The Dodger Song
Slim Smith, Bread Line Blues
U2, Pride (In the Name of Love)
U2, Walk On
Ani Di Franco, Self Evident
Anne Feeney, Rebuild America/Keep Hope Alive
Barry McGuire, Eve of Destruction
Simple Minds, Mandela Day
Helen Reddy, I am Woman
Billy Bragg, Ideology

Music With a Message

Here is the list of songs I will be playing on my radio program this week. I am starting with some tracks from the civil rights era before delving into topics such as war and the environment.

I’ll be back to blogging regularly in a week or so – have just received in the mail today the new text Remix by Lawrence Lessig and am hoping to have time to read it very soon.

Bernice Johnson Reagon, Been In the Storm So Long
Mabel Hillary, Don’t You Think It’s About Time That We All Be Free
Sam Block, Freedom Train
Betty Fikes, If You Miss Me From the Back of the Bus
Hollis Watkins, Oh Freedom
SNCC Freedom Singer Led by Emory Harris, We’ll Never Turn Back
Sam Block, We’re Marching on to Freedom Land
Neville Brothers, The Ballad of Hollis Brown
Chuck D and the Slamjamz, Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud

Edwin Starr, War
John McCutcheon, We Know War
Eskit, Wussies For War
David Rovics, Bomb Ourselves
Blue King Brown, Come and Check Your Head
Blue King Brown, One Day
John McCutcheon, Streets of Sarajevo
Anti Crew, Anti Republican
Anne Feeney, Have You Been To Jail For Justice?
Billy Bragg , Help Save The Youth of America
The John Butler Trio, The Gov Did Nothin’
The John Butler Trio, Fire In the Sky

Our Home Our Land, Land Rights
The Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven
Arrested Development, Among the Trees
David Byrne, (Nothing But) Flowers
Country Joe McDonald, Save The Whales!
Bob Marley and the Wailers, Get Up Stand Up
Joe Glazer, There’s Power in a Union
U2, Sunday Bloody Sunday
Eskit, Roe v Wade

Music With a Message

This week on my radio program I am featuring music from the civil rights era first before playing some anti war tracks. I am then moving on to play music that relates to American politics with some great tracks which refer to Barack Obama and remix some of his speeches with music and lyrics. I have been looking around for songs relating to John McCain but so far have only found one – if you know of any feel free to leave a comment on my blog. In later part of the show I am playing some Australian political songs.

I do have some good news to report – there is a fine new Apple computer connected to the desk at the station (with a disc drive in the side of the screen which I have never seen before) so I will be able to play some of the songs that I’ve had to shelve for the past few weeks. It was an important lesson though and will be doing absolutely everything I can to purchase mp3s with iTunes tracks being a last resort – such is the frustration of DRM!

Pete Seeger, We Are Moving On To Victory
Dock Reese, Guide My Feet While I Run This Race
Betty May Fikes, Up Over My Head/This Little Light of Mine
Charles Neblett, Which Side Are You On?
Charlton Reese and the Birmingham Movement Choir, 99 ½ Wont Do
Various Artists, We Are Soldiers in the Army

Tom Paxton, The Bravest
Donovan, Universal Soldier
Ani DiFranco, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
Lizzie West & The White Buffalo, 19 Miles to Baghdad
Pete Seeger & Bruce Springsteen, Ghost of Tom Joad

Pete Seeger, The Ross Perot (George Bush) Guide to Answering Embarrassing Questions
Eskit, Impeach Me
Eskit, The Patriot Act
Howard Glazer, Patriot Act Blues
Baba Isreal, State of Emergency
Sunnyland Slim, Be Careful How You Vote
Ghostwridah, Dying to Survive (Feat. Barack Obama)
The Anonymous, Change (The Barack Obama Song)
Lamont Van Hook, Barack Will Lead the Way
Roy Medina, Barack Obama My Heroes

Midnight Oil, One Country
Our Land Our Home (Paul Kelly), From Little Things Big Things Grow
The Get Up Mob, From Little Things Big Things Grow
Our Land Our Home (Goanna), Solid Rock
The Herd, The King is Dead
Our Land Our Home, Respect for Eddie Mabo

The Golden Gate Quartet, Atom & Evil
Billy Hughes and The Rhythm Buckeroos, Atomic Serman
Lead Belly, Hitler Song
Neville Brothers, Wake Up
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Los Lobos, Peace
Neon Prophet, Save The Planet

Music With a Message

Here is the play list for my radio program next weekend. I start by playing a number of songs from the civil rights era, some blues, tracks referring to poverty, gay rights and women’s issues. In the later part of the show I am focussing on the environment, Australian indigenous issues, and war/peace tracks.

The minor hitch is that at present there are no computers working/connected to the desk and only 18/30 of these songs are mp3s. At present the only digital music site I can purchase from is eMusic as all other stores use DRM on their tracks – I have even tried the Amazon downloads site but it is only available to US citizens at the moment. This amounts to around 25 tracks I haven't been able to play over the past three weeks - I can understand how customers of MSN Music, Yahoo and WalMart feel.

From first hand experience I have to say that DRM and the geographic limitations imposed because of licensing constraints are a burden that no consumer should have to encounter. It is both frustrating and ridiculous that I cannot access the music I want because I want to pay for it.

Neville Brothers, Sister Rosa
Mamie Brown & The Birmingham Movement Choir, I’m On My Way
Freedom Singers, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round
Phil Ochs, I’m Gonna Say What I Have to Say
Carlton Reese, Yes We Want Our Freedom
J.B. Lenoir, Remove This Rope
J.B. Lenoir, Livin’ In the White House
Tracy Chapman, Talkin’ About a Revolution
Jonatha Brookes, Madonna on the Curb
Ben Harper, Better Way
Public Enemy, Black Steel in the House of Chaos
Tom Robinson Band, Glad to Be Gay
Sinead O’Connor, No Man’s Woman
Aretha Franklin, Respect

Cat Stevens, Where Do the Children Play?
The John Butler Trio, Treat Yo Mama
The John Butler Trio, Ocean
The John Butler Trio, Company Sin
Our Home Our Land, This Lands Worth More than Silver and Gold
Our Home Our Land, Respect for Eddie Mabo
Morrissey, America Is not the World
Anne Feeney, Rebuild America Keep Hope Alive
Jimi Hendrix, Star Spangled Banner
John Mellancamp, To Washington
Bob Dylan, Masters of War
Country Joe & The Fish, I Feel Like I’m Fixin to Die Rag
John Lennon, Give Peace a Chance
John Lennon, Imagine
James Brown, Peace in the World
Sarah McLachlan, World on Fire

Music with a Message

Next week on Music with a Message I will be playing some blues music with a special segment of JB Lenoir’s music. This leads nicely into some anti war songs followed by some tracks relating to civil rights and the experiences of African Americans.

Gil Scott Heron, B Movie
Gil Scott Heron, Winter in America
Anne Feeney, The Corporate Welfare Song
Lions Gate Chorus, Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves
David Byrne, (Nothing But) Flowers
J.B. Lenoir, Alabama Blues
J.B. Lenoir, Alabama March
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam Blues
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam
J.B. Lenoir, I’m in Korea
J.B. Lenoir, Eisenhower Blues
Pete Seeger, Bring Them Home (If You Love Your Uncle Sam)
Cold Chisel, Khe Sanh
Billy Bragg, Like Soldiers Do
Dukes of Windsor, Its A War
The Grack Emcee, Red, White, and Blue
David Dondero, Pre-Invasion Jitters
Blue King Brown, Moment of Truth
John Mayer, Belief
Sting, Send Your Love (Art of Peace Mix)
The Impressions, People Get Ready
Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome
Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a Changin’
Bob Dylan, Hurricane
Bruce Springsteen, American Skins (41 Shots)
Bob Marley & The Wailers, War
Rage Against the Machine, Freedom
Billy Bragg, Help Save the Youth of America
Billy Bragg, Ideology

Music with a Message

Next weekend on Music with a Message I will be playing some heavy metal political music in the first half hour.

I will be then moving onto some tracks referring to war and hope to be playing both the Redgum and The Herd versions of ‘I was only 19’ – I have been looking into the resuse of political songs in new versions – both covers and adaptations - in recent weeks and for those that aren’t familiar with this song, the Redgum version (which I think may have been a cover as well but I am not sure) is sung in a very traditional/folk Australian way while The Herd's version, which was released much more recently, is performed in a hip hop style with a sample of the Redgum version towards the end.

I then hope to move on to a wider range of songs which cover topics including industrial relations, women’s rights, Indigenous land rights, civil rights, Apartheid and drug laws.

The radio station where I do my show is community based and largely operated by volunteers and in recent weeks there have been some equipment breakdowns. Some of these tracks are AAC encoded and last night I was unable to play these types of tracks. [Luckily all the heavy metal songs are mp3s ;-p ].

Lamb of God, Bootscraper
Lamb of God, Blood Junkie
Michael Schenker & Tim Owens (cover of Black Sabbath), War Pigs
Racer X (cover of Black Sabbath ), Children of the Grave
Nuclear Assault, Third World Genocide
Nuclear Assault, Price of Freedom

Edwin Starr, War
Sting, Russians
Sting, They Dance Alone
Redgum, I was only 19
The Herd, I was only 19
Rage Against the Machine, Killing in the Name
U2, Pride (In the Name of Love)
Bjork, Declare Independence
Buffy Sainte Marie, Universal Soldier

Gene Autry, The Death of Mother Jones
Uncle Dave Macon, We’re Up Against it Now
Tracy Chapman, Behind the Wall
Helen Reddy, I am Woman
Our Home Our Land, Solid Rock
Midnight Oil, One Country
JB Lenoir, Alabama Blues
Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit
Chuck D and the Slamjamz, Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud
Simple Minds, Mandela Day
Peter Tosh, Fight Apartheid
Peter Tosh, Legalise it
Peter Tosh, Dont Want to Be Busted
Billy Bragg, Bush War Blues
Billy Bragg, Days Like These

Music with a Message

I really enjoyed featuring the Rock the Net CD last night on my radio program. Having played a few feature albums in recent weeks next weekend I will be returning to my usual plan of putting together songs in certain themes. As you can see from this play list in the first half I am playing a few anti war songs followed by some with an environmental theme. The second half covers civil, indigenous rights, race relations and industrial relations.

I like many of these songs but one that stands out for its currency is thegoogledolls track Mr Obama Save My Planet.

Neville Brothers, With God on Our Side
Lead Belly, Uncle Sam Says (Bottle Up and Go)
Lead Belly, Hitler Song
Texas Jim Robertson, The Last Page of Mein Kampf
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam Blues
Red Gum, I was only 19
John Butler Trio, Fire in the Sky
Wildfire, Make Music Not War
Neon Prophet, Running Out of Time
Neon Prophet, Save The Planet
Jeffrey Walker and Michael Droste, Save The Planet
Thegoogledolls, Mr. Obama Save My Planet
Scrabbel, Save the Green Planet
Julian Lennon, Saltwater
John Butler Trio, Treat Yo Mama

Neon Prophet, One World
Peter Tosh, Equal Rights [Live at the One Love Peace Concert 1978)
Len Chandler, Murder on the Roads of Alabama
Arrested Development, Revolution
The Clash, The Guns of Brixton
The Get Up Mob, From Little Things Big Things Grow
Our Land, Our Home, Land Rights
Our Land, Our Home, Forgotten Tribe
Our Land, Our Home, Stricken Land
Joe Glazer, We Will Sing One Song
Joe Glazer, Rebel Girl
Woody Guthrie, 1913 - Massacre
Tracy Chapman, Talkin’ About Revolution
Sinead O’Connor, Daddy I’m Fine
The Herd, 77%

[You may have also noted that some of my earlier posts appear to be having a formatting problem - they were not like this when I posted them but blogger appears to be displaying and publishing text from Word 2007 differently - hopefully they will fix this up soon and sorry for any inconvenience.]

Music with a Message

This week on Music with a Message I am going to feature the benefit album called Rock the Net. This album was released recently by the American non profit association, the Future of Music Coalition.

The organisation, which was started by a number of musicians including REM and members of Pearl Jam, is raising money and trying to educate people about Network Neutrality.

Like many others they are arguing that Internet Service Providers should not be to prioritise some internet traffic over others. This issue is particularly important for independent musicians and artists who depend on the internet to get their music out and their message across.

It is also very much an issue related to free speech and open communication. If ISPs are able to discriminate and determine which traffic is most important then those with the financial backing to spend more money will be able to dictate what information is most easily available on the internet.

To date 955 bands and 185 labels have signed up to support the campaign. Two hundred and six live shows have been dedicated to promoting the cause and 2481 people have signed their petition.


Rock The Net:
Bright Eyes, I Won’t Ever Be Happy Again
Aimee Mann, 31 Today
David Bazan, Cold Beer and Cigarettes
The Wrens, Sleep
The Classic Brown, Modulation
They Might Be Giants, We Live In a Dump
DJ Spooky Featuring Saba Saba, Uganda
Palomar, Red
Guster, Timothy Leary
Wilco, Impossible Germany
Portastatic, Hang Down Your Head
Matthew Shipp Trio, New Orbit
BC Camplight, Soy Tonto
David Miller, Sunday Driver
Free From Funky Freqs, The Binds That Tie

Other music I will be playing on Saturday night includes:
Blue King Brown, One Day
Blue King Brown, Moment of Truth
Ice T, Freedom of Speech
Shiny Dragon, Freedom of Speech
Eliot, Freedom of Speech
Pitch Black, Speech (Freedom of Speech Remix)
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Ben Harper, Better Way
John Mayer, Waiting on the World to Change
Peter Tosh , Get Up Stand Up
Bob Marley & The Wailers, Four Hundred Years
Joe Glazer, Preacher and the Slave, “The Pie in the Sky”
Joe Glazer, Casey Jones (The Union Scab)
Vitamin Spins, Independent Women Part 1
Meredith Brooks, Bitch
U2, Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Herd, 2020

Music with a Message

I have been busily preparing for my radio show this weekend - here's the list of tracks - the first half has a small atomic/nuclear theme to it and the second half has a few tracks about industrial relations and workers rights. I was a little disappointed by Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around – its a great track (about war!!!)

Blue King Brown, Stand Up
Sting and the Radioactors, Nuclear Megawaste
The Golden Gate Quartet, Atom & Evil
Billy Hughes and the Rhythm Buckeroos , Atomic Serman
The Son of the Pioneers, Old Man Atom
System of a Down, Boom
Dead Kennedy’s, Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around
Edwin Starr, War
Ani Di Franco, Self Evident
Green Day, American Idiot
NoFX, Franco UnAmerican
Jewel, America
John Butler Trio, Gov Did Nothing

Lucinda Williams, American Dream
Neville Brothers, The Ballad of Hollis Brown
Elvis Presley, In the Ghetto
Slim Smith, Bread Line Blues
Lee Hayes, The Dodger Song
Joe Glazer, There’s Power in a Union
Anne Feeney, What Ever Happened to the Eight Hour Day?
Anne Feeney, War on the Workers
Anne Feeney, Scabs
Anne Feeney, Take Them Down!
Living Colour, Open Letter to a Landlord
The Whitlams, Blow Up the Pokies
No Doubt, Just a Girl
Billy Bragg, Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
Yusef Islam, Peace Train
UB40, Sing Our Own Song
USA For Africa, We are the World

Music with a Message: Songs for Tibet – The Art of Peace

As you may have read recently, a benefit album has been released supporting the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan independence movement. This led to the blocking of access to iTunes stores by China – those with credit cards from other jurisdictions such as the United States are usually able to purchase music from the iTunes store in that jurisdiction despite being located in China.

The album, Songs for Tibet – The Art of Peace, has sold 10,000 copies in just a few days and serves as an excellent example of the use of music for a political purpose as well as highlighting the impact of censorship on free speech.

The album was released on 5th August digitally with the CD becoming available early last week. Funds from the project are to be used to assist the Art of Peace Foundation. Athletes in Beijing were invited to download the album free of charge with forty downloads reported prior to the imposition of censorship by the Chinese Government.

I will be featuring this album on my radio program next week and the tracks include:

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek 2
Sting – Send Your Love (Art of Peace Mix)
Alanis Morrissette - Versions Of Violence (Recorded n Dressing Room In Cologne, Germany)
John Mayer – Belief
Regina Spektor – Better
Moby - We Are All Made Of Stars (2008)
Damien Rice & The Cheshire Project - Making Noise
Vanessa Carlton - More Than This (Campfire Take)
Duncan Sheik - Nothing Fades (Kosen Rufu Version)
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Where Are You Going? (Live In Barcelona)
Suzanne Vega - Song Of Sand (Great City Version)
Garbage - All The Good In This Life
Rush - Hope (Live for The Art of Peace)
Jonatha Brooke - Madonna On The Curb (Peace Mix)
Joan Armatrading - In These Times (The Concord Mix)
Teitur - All My Mistakes (Featuring Tarira)
Jackson Browne - Alive In The World
Ben Harper- Better Way (Live in Six-Fours-les-Plage)
Rupert Hine -The Heart Of The Matter (Underlying Mix)
Underworld - To Heal (and Restore Broken Bodies)

Further Reading
The Art of Peace Foundation <http://www.artofpeacefoundation.org/index.php> at 24 August 2008

Digital Music News, Great Firewall Growls: China Blocks iTunes Access (21 August 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/082008itunes> at 22 August 2008

The Age, iTunes blocked in China after protest stunt (21 August 2008) <http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/itunes-blocked-in-china-after-protest-stunt/2008/08/20/1219262358153.html> at 22 August 2008

Digital Music News, Will the Ban Boost Sales? Tibet Album Pushes Past 10,000 (22 August 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/082108tibet> at 24 August 2008

Guardian.co.uk, China blocks iTunes music store (21 August 2008) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/21/china.blocks.itunes> at 24 August 2008

Music with a Message

As promised, this week on Music with a Message, I will be featuring the Concerts for Climate Change CD – while some of this music is not inherently political, it was used in a political way:

Madonna - Hey You
Foo Fighters – Times Like These
The Police – Driven to Tears
John Mayer – Gravity
Roger Waters – Another Brick in the Wall Part II
Linkin Park – Bleed it Out
Keane – Bedshaped
Bon Jovi - Dead or Alive
James Blunt – Wiseman
Chris Cornell – Black Hole in the Sun
Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
KT Tunstall – I Suddenly See
Corinne Bailey Rae & John Legend – Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
Damien Rice & David Gray – Que Sera Sera

Following this I will be playing a few tracks which speak of environmental issues and concerns:

John Butler Trio - Treat Yo Mama
David Byrne – (Nothing But) Flowers
Bjork – Earth Intruders
Jamiroquai – Emergency on Planet Earth
Country Joe McDonald – Save the Whales!
Bruce Cockburn – If a Tree Falls
Tracy Chapman – Rape of the World
Ben Harper – With My Own Two Hands
The Pixies – Monkey Gone to Heaven
Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi
Julian Lennon – Saltwater
Michael Jackson – Earth Song
Ben Harper – Better Way

Music with a Message

Here is the play list for this weeks radio program. In the process of preparing this I have had the opportunity to reflect on the difficulties in transposing an academic exercise into a practice. On a cognitive level I try to link the songs together in themes but from a listening perspective it can be difficult to get them in an order that also allows the styles of music to complement each other.

I am trying not to swap from rap to contemporary and back again – James Brown directly after Public Enemy just doesn’t work on a pleasure level... but then again I’m not sure Billy Bragg should come straight after either... (I am spending many an hour having these types of thoughts). I have resigned myself to doing the best with what I have and accepting that I can’t always have a smooth transition.

Those that have been listening might also be interested to know that the added complication is that I have to burn my music to two discs (due to file size) and as some songs are protected (GRRRR) I can only play the discs on the station’s computer – this means that I have to have another song in the middle on CD that doesn’t disturb the flow too much to give me time to change the discs over. I have tried burning MP3 discs by ripping the music back into iTunes but a) it takes forever and b) the loss of quality is not good for public performance.

I have analysed my legal position with respect to burning the music and there are a number of overlapping exceptions under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) that would apply including personal use (s109A), educational purpose (s103C) and reproduction for the purpose of broadcasting (s107). This combination of sections reflects the different uses I wish to make of the music I am purchasing.

Changes were made to the Copyright Act at the end of 2006 to enable personal use – under the law as it previously stood I would have been entitled to make the copies for the purposes of broadcasting, would have been in an uncertain legal situation when making the copies for study purposes (arguably it is not necessary for me to burn any extra copies seeing as I have the originals) but would not have been allowed to play the discs at home for my own pleasure.

Whilst I do like many of the songs I am playing there are some that I would never personally choose to play and a few which do not reflect my personal views. My favourite from this list is The Herd’s 77% - they speak the truth! (Whilst the song is about immigration policy, I particularly like the line ‘Australian SAS troops are in danger of breaking the laws of piracy’ – now wouldn’t that lend itself to a mashup relating to copyright law). LANGUAGE WARNING...

Explicit language is also a tendency of many political songs and last week I was thinking of putting them all together and telling people not to listen for the first hour if it bothers them.Ironically enough the first of these was Ice T's Freedom of Speech which refers to the censoring of explicit language. I ended up spreading them out a little more and have saved some of the songs for weeks to come.

The last song on this list - The Impressions, People Get Ready - to my mind also serves as an example of the difficulties in defining political music. Listening to it, it seems to be a song about religion and faith but it was on a compliation CD of protest music. Perhaps it was used in a context that I am not familiar with. Its not the first song I would use as an example of this type of expression.

On another note altogether, I am excited because I have just ordered the ‘Rock the Net’ compilation CD from the Future of Music Coalition – as soon as that arrives I hope to feature it as an example of the use of music for political purposes. I have also recently won two eBay bids – the first is the four disc DVD set of the Live Aid concert and a two DVD and one CD set of the Concerts for Climate Change which I also hope to use in coming weeks.

Neville Brothers, My Blood
Josh White, Free and Equal Blues
The Freedom Singers, Which Side Are You On? Civil Rights Version
Big Bill Broozny, Black, Brown and White
Bruce Springsteen, American Skin (41 Shots)
Public Enemy, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos
The Crack Emcee, Red, White & Blue
Jackson Browne, For America
The Clash, I’m So Bored with the USA
Anne Feeney, Rebuild America/Keep Hope Alive
James Brown, Peace in the World
Billy Bragg, Like Soldiers Do
Billy Bragg, Between the Wars
Neville Brothers, Wake Up

Hilltop Hoods, Obese Lowlifes Restrung
The Herd, The King is Dead
The Herd, 77%
Midnight Oil, Truganini
Yothu Yindi, Treaty
Our Home Our Land, Respect for Eddie Mabo
Our Home Our Land, From Little Things Big Things Grow
Our Home Our Land, This Land’s Worth More than Silver and Gold
Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi
The Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven
Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On
Curtis Mayfield, If There’s a Hell Below We’re All Going to Go
Amos Lee, Shout Out Loud
The Impressions, People Get Ready

Music with a Message

Here are some of the songs I will be playing on my radio program this weekend. As you can see there are both a range of topics and styles. I have been interested to read about the differences between anthems and narratives – most of the songs I have played to date have been anthems but this week I have added a few narratives in.

Narratives are songs which tell a story, advocating for political change, they describe injustice through specific examples. One such song from this list is Bob Dylan’s song about the Boxer, Hurricane, who was targeted by the police because of his colour and found guilty of committing a triple murder. The decision was later challenged and eventually the charges were dropped.

Ice T, Freedom of Speech
Tom Robinson Band, Glad to Be Gay
Peter Tosh, Legalise It
Peter Tosh, Fight Apartheid
Stevie Wonder, Its Wrong (Apartheid)
Simple Minds, Mandela Day
Bob Dylan, Hurricane
Talib Kweli, The Proud
Madness, Waiting for the Ghost Train
Hilltop Hoods, Stopping All Stations
David Dondero, Pre-lnvasion Jitters
Red Gum, I was only 19
A Perfect Circle, Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drum
Country Joe & The Fish, I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag
Donovan, Universal Soldier
System of a Down, Boom!
Jimi Hendrix, Star Spangled Banner
Morrissey, America Is Not The World
John Mellencamp, To Washington
Billy Bragg, Bush War Blues
Pink, Mr President
Barry McGuire, Eve of Destruction
Sarah McLaughlin, World on Fire
Michael Jackson, Heal The World
Eurythmics, Peace is Just a Word
James Brown, Peace in the World

Further Reading
Wikipedia, Hurricane (song) (30 July 2008) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_(song)> at 6 August 2008

Music With a Message

Here is the play list for my political music program this weekend:

Tracy Chapman, Revolution
Bob Marley, Get Up Stand Up
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Ben Harper, Better Way
Bob Dylan, Times they are a changing
Bob Dylan, Masters of War
The Herd, 2020
Sting, Russians
Sting, They Dance Alone
Eric Bogle, No Mans Land
Neil Young, Lets Impeach the President
John Lennon, Imagine
Patti Smith, Peaceable Kingdom

John Butler Trio, Treat Your Mama
Arrested Development, Among the Trees
Jamiroquais, Emergency on Planet Earth
Michael Jackson, Earth Song
Cat Stevens, Where Do The Children Play
Bob Marley, War
Midnight Oil, One Country
T-Rex, Children of the Revolution
Cold Play, Politik
John Farnham, You’re the Voice
John Mayer, Waiting for the World to Change

The first hour starts with some songs that offer general political motivation before moving onto a war theme. The second hour focuses more on environmental issues and ends with more motivational music.

I have been reading some interesting text books about the characteristics that make up political music – more on them shortly – one interesting aspect has been the notion of content themes. I have been making more of an effort to try to set up my play lists based on these but its not always easy given that many different styles of music can relate to the same topics.

This list contains some excellent music, some of which I hadn’t heard before.

Music With a Message

Here are some of the songs I played in my radio program last week. I had a ‘womens hour’ first up with some great songs about being independent, reflecting on the place of women in society and addressing issues that women face. The second half of the program was more general political music:

Helen Reddy, I am Woman
Pink, Stupid Girls
Tracy Chapman, Behind the Wall
Sinead O’Connor, No Mans Woman
Sinead O’Connor, Daddy I’m Fine
Lions Gate Chorus, Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Alicia Keys , A Woman’s Worth
Christine Aguilera, Can’t Hold Us Down
Queen Latifah, U.N.I.T.Y
Vitamin Spins/Destiny’s Child, Independent Women Part 1
Ani DiFranco, Out of Range
Merideth Brooks, Bitch
Neneh Cherry, Woman
Just a Girl, No Doubt
Aretha Franklin, RESPECT

Arrested Development, Revolution
Arrested Development, Mr Wendel
Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi
Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven
Country Joe McDonald, Save The Whales!
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Universal Soldier
Blue King Brown, Comin’ Through
Blue King Brown, Come & Check Your Head
John Butler Trio, Fire in the Sky
Dukes of Windsor, It’s a War
Billy Bragg, Help Save the Youth of America
Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome
Yoko Ono etc, Give Peace a Chance

I really like the sarcasm in 'Just a Girl' by No Doubt and the Destiny's Child song 'Independent Women' also stands out as a great feminist song.

The Country Joe McDonald 'Save the Whales!' song was an unexpected find from eMusic - I am loving having the opportunity to explore new music - check this song out if you get the chance.

This week (barring any computer crashes) I hope to be playing these tunes:

Blue King Brown, Us and Them
Pattie Smith, People Have the Power
Ghost Writers, Political Animal
Anne Feeney, Have You Been to Jail For Justice?
Edwin Starr, War
The Neville Brothers, With God On Our Side
The Clash, The Guns of Brixton
Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Oliver’s Army
Pete Murray, George’s Helper
U2, Walk On
Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls Bicentennial, Bicentennial
Our Land Our Home, Solid Rock
Our Land Our Home, Land Rights

Arrested Development, Lost Soldiers
Arrested Development, People Everyday
Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit
Len Chandler, Murder on the Road to Alabama
Chuck D & the SLAMjamz Artist Revue, Say it Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud
Billy Bragg, Ideology
Billy Bragg , Days Like These
John Butler Trio, The Gov Did Nothing
John Butler Trio, Ocean
Salt Water, Julian Lennon
Anne Feeney, The Corporate Welfare Song
Joe Glazer, There’s Power In a Union
James Brown, Peace in the World

Anne Feeney’s Corporate Welfare Song is one favourite from this list (although there are many that I really like) – this song speaks of the stupidity in governments providing subsidies and financial support to corporations at the expense of its own people. The James Brown song 'Peace in the World' is also worth a listen and is available on eMusic .