Sounds of Then

"Sounds of Then (This Is Australia)" is a 1985 song by Australian rock band, Gang Gajang, from their self-titled debut album, Gang Gajang. "Sounds of Then" was written by front man, Mark "Cal" Callaghan, who provides lead vocals and guitar.[1] He co-produced the album with fellow band member, Graham Bidstrup, and Joe Wissert (Earth, Wind & Fire, Helen Reddy, the J. Geils Band) at Rhinoceros Studios.

"This is Australia" redirects here. For the 2022 song and music video, see Marrugeku.

"Sounds of Then"
The main image is a close up painting of a guitar near its hole with strings visible. Paint used is blue, red, white and black. The group's name is across the top in black print with "gang" all in capitals and "gajang" in lower case with no space between.
Single by Gang Gajang
from the album Gang Gajang
B-side"House of Cards"
ReleasedNovember 1985 (1985-11)
Recorded1984–85
StudioRhinoceros
GenreRock
Length3:57
Label
Songwriter(s)Mark Callaghan
Producer(s)
Gang Gajang singles chronology
"Dream at Night"
(1985)		 "Sounds of Then"
(1985)		 "The Bigger They Are"
(1986)

It was issued as a single in November 1985 and peaked at No. 35 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in February 1986.[2] "Sounds of Then" became the band's most popular and recognisable song, and was used as Nine Network's station ID promotion in 1996.[3] The B-Side, "House of Cards", had been recorded live for youth radio station, 2JJJ.

It has been described as, "a defining portrait of the nation."[4]

Composition

Callaghan recalled that it started as a poem in his notebook, reflecting on the time that his family moved from England to Bundaberg in Queensland, a major culture shock for him:

"We lived half way between Bundaberg and the ocean, all around was bush scrub and cane fields. And walking up to the top of the street to catch the school bus, one morning you turn around and there's fire. It's one of those songs where if your goal was only to sell records, whatever it took to do it, then the song would have been called 'This is Australia'. But it's not about that. It's a brick veneer drama. My parents got divorced when they came to Australia, it was a horrible period of my life. And the song is actually about how smells and sounds and sensations can rekindle a memory – which is what music does so successfully for people: 'I think I hear the sounds of then and people talking / Scenes recalled by minute movement / And songs they fall from the backing tape…'."[5]

Track listing

1985 single

All songs written by Mark Callaghan unless otherwise indicated.[1]

  1. "Sounds of Then" – 3:57
  2. "House of Cards" (live version)

1996 re-release
  1. "Sounds of Then" aka "This Is Australia" – 3:57
  2. "Giver of Life" (Geoffrey Stapleton, Chris Bailey, Callaghan, Graham Bidstrup, K Bidstrup aka Kay Bee)[1]– 3:39
  3. "Sounds of Then" (Surf mix) – 3:23

The song was used in a Coca-Cola ad and in the 1987 feature film, North Shore.[6][7] In the 2015 TV documentary-drama Australia: The Story of Us, a snippet from the chorus is frequently played.

An instrumental version sub-titled variously as: "Sounds of Then" (Instrumental) or (Surf mix) or (Mad Wax mix) had been used in the Quiksilver-sponsored cult surf film, Mad Wax (1984), for which Bidstrup was the musical director.[8] The instrumental was later released as the B-side of their 1986 single, "Initiation". It was also added to the 1996 re-release of the main single (listed below) with an additional B-Side "Giver of Life".

In 2016 the song was one of ten new tracks added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia collection.[3]

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Sounds of Then" was ranked number 7.[9]

Adam Brand and the Outlaws covered the song on the 2016 album Adam Brand and the Outlaws. Sarah Blasko covered the song in 2021 in a release as a single. Her rendition did not chart, but gained national exposure in Australia by being used in a television advertisement for Colorbond steel.

Charts
Chart (1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] 35

References
  1. "'Sounds of Then' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 27 April 2018. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  2. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 121. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: The Kent Report chart was licensed by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) from mid-1983 until 19 June 1988.
  3. "Sounds of Australia 2016". National Film and Sound Archive. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  4. Jules LeFevre. "The 200 Greatest Australian Songs Of All Time, Part Two". Junkee.
  5. Kruger, Debbie (March 2002). "They Wrote the Songs Part 1". APRAP. Australasian Performing Right Association. Retrieved 27 April 2018 – via Debbie Kruger.
  6. "North Shore – film credits" Archived July 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Internet Movie database – North Shore soundtrack"
  8. "Administrator – Graham 'Buzz' Bidstrup". Jimmy Little Foundation. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  9. "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
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