# Obscure Oz rock? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056 "2016-05-30T06:36:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/21 "2016-05-31T01:53:54Z")
I went to a concert last summer here in Cleveland where Colin Hay was the opener to the opener. I was very surprised how totally excited people were to see him, and they sang along to his songs-I’d-never-heard-before songs too. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/22 "2016-05-31T02:01:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Lime Spiders! Yes. > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > The Church are my fave, but even among relatively knowledgeable music aficionados they are typically not known. Yes. > [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > I don’t know how obscure they are, but most didn’t get a lot of mainstream play here in the states: > > The Saints > Hoodoo Gurus > The Triffids > The Go-Betweens > Crime and the City Solution And Yes!! I’ll add a few off the top of my head TISM The Nubiles Not Drowning Waving Dave Graney Strange Tennants and… Died Pretty - please check out “D.C” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07oZHDgPiqo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07oZHDgPiqo) ---
**Author:** ![HarryTheHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@HarryTheHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HarryTheHat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/23 "2016-05-31T05:24:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > (I didn’t want to miss the edit window while I was getting links, eh) > > Other bands I know that other Americans usually haven’t heard of include: [Mammal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLfEH_TA5Z0) (NSFW; also they broke up years ago now), [Airbourne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD6SfOK-xgU), [Full Scale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA_ZEz3wBPA), [Pineapples From the Dawn of Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUvvpGKyZ5I) and, of course, [Radio Birman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgZb6TZDNnM). Radio Birdman - led by the American-born Deniz Tek, who also spends his time working as an ER surgeon in America and Australia! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/24 "2016-05-31T05:29:11Z")
> [@HarryTheHat](#): > > Radio Birdman - led by the American-born Deniz Tek, who also spends his time working as an ER surgeon in America and Australia! Aye, his life has truly been like a work of fiction. ETA: One of the greatest names of any living human as well, IMO. The guy has had a charmed life right from the start. And the world is a better place because of it, too. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/25 "2016-05-31T05:58:56Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > Definitely not obscure would be stuff like Birthday Party … your definition of obscure may need tuning. I know hardcore Nick Cave fans who were unaware that he was in a band before the Bad Seeds. Let’s not mention The Boys Next Door… ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/26 "2016-05-31T09:12:41Z")
Any love for the **Divinyls**? They’ll always be my favourite [80’s mood music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJm-gCUCfYk) We lost Chrissy Amplett to cancer a couple of years ago - very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/27 "2016-05-31T09:34:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye, his life has truly been like a work of fiction. > > ETA: One of the greatest names of any living human as well, IMO. The guy has had a charmed life right from the start. And the world is a better place because of it, too. And all while being a fighter pilot [perhaps not, but I’m sure ‘Navy flight surgeon’ is pretty close, almost a real life rocket surgeon] ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/28 "2016-05-31T09:47:15Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > 90% of Australian listeners also didn’t know what it was about either due to Peter Garret, much as we love him, having one of the worst dictions in contemporary music. Not even close to the lyrical WTF that was James Reyne. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/29 "2016-05-31T11:12:24Z")
I’m surprised not to see _Crowded House_ listed amongst the not-obscure bands. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/30 "2016-05-31T13:09:57Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’m surprised not to see _Crowded House_ listed amongst the not-obscure bands. They’re Kiwis, but maybe close enough for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/31 "2016-05-31T13:47:40Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > … your definition of obscure may need tuning. I know hardcore Nick Cave fans who were unaware that he was in a band before the Bad Seeds. > > Let’s not mention The Boys Next Door… Yeah, you’re right. I was thinking of the Bad Seeds. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/32 "2016-05-31T13:47:43Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > They’re Kiwis, but maybe close enough for this thread. I was wondering if **GuanoLad** ’s post was just surprise that nobody mixed up an Australian with a New Zealand band or not. (Off the top of my head, they’re the only New Zealand band I could think of. Oh, and Lorde, for solo artists.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/33 "2016-05-31T13:59:09Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’m surprised not to see _Crowded House_ listed amongst the not-obscure bands. A lot of people (myself included) consider them a Kiwi band. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/34 "2016-05-31T14:00:30Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Off the top of my head, they’re the only New Zealand band I could think of. How Bizarre! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/35 "2016-05-31T14:01:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > How Bizarre! Oh, yeah. OMC or something like that? Huge summer hit here in the mid-90s. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/36 "2016-05-31T14:07:09Z")
I definitely knew of The Church but did not know they were Australian until this thread. I assumed they were British due to having that 80s dark synth pop singing voice. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/37 "2016-05-31T14:35:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was wondering if **GuanoLad** ’s post was just surprise that nobody mixed up an Australian with a New Zealand band or not. (Off the top of my head, they’re the only New Zealand band I could think of. Oh, and Lorde, for solo artists.) **The Mutton Birds** were great! Don McGlashen is still touring occasionally; last time I saw him he & Ross Burge (also from the Mutton Birds) were playing with Dave Dobbyn of Th’ Dudes with a set that combined both artists’ songs. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/38 "2016-05-31T14:40:02Z")
Only one member of _Crowded House_ was a Kiwi. They thought of themselves as Australian as it’s where they decided to form. Never mind, they were both I guess - Australasian, as we say. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/39 "2016-05-31T14:44:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Only one member of _Crowded House_ was a Kiwi. They thought of themselves as Australian as it’s where they decided to form. > > Never mind, they were both I guess - Australasian, as we say. I honestly didn’t know that, I’ve always filed them under “that great pop band from NZ”. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056/40 "2016-05-31T14:48:32Z")
Curiously, having just mentioned him, Don McGlashen was in Crowded House’s touring line-up for a while a few years ago… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-oz-rock/756056.md?page=3)