The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australia. It was founded in 2007.
| Sounds of Australia | |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Presented by | National Film and Sound Archive |
| First awarded | 2007 |
| Website | Sounds of Australia on NFSA |
History
The National Registry of Recorded Sound was established in 2007[1] by the National Film and Sound Archive, to encourage appreciation of the diversity of sounds recorded in Australia, ever since the first phonographs made by the US Edison Manufacturing Company were available in Australia in the mid-1890s.[2]
The earliest recording in the archive is "The Hen Convention", a song recorded some time before 15 January 1897, by an amateur sound recordist called Thomas Rome, of Warrnambool, Victoria, who imported the most modern equipment available from the USA. The song features the voice of John James Villiers, also of Warrnambool. It is a novelty song, featuring imitations of sounds made by chickens.[3][4]
Other early sound recordings include Aboriginal Tasmanian women's songs (1899),[5] Spencer and Gillen's 1901 recordings on wax cylinder of Arrernte, Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, Warumungu, Luritja and Arabana peoples of central Australia[6] (added in 2019[7]), and Ernest Shackleton talking about his polar expedition in 1910.[5]
Description
As part of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), it is part of a "living archive", to share in many ways and to keep for future generations.[8]
Each year, the Australian public nominates new sounds to be added with final selections determined by a panel of industry experts and NFSA curators. There are usually about ten recordings added each year. The recordings represent significant achievements in the way we have recorded the sounds of our history and memory.[2]
The criteria for nomination are wide: "they can be popular songs, advertising jingles, famous speeches, radio broadcasts, or any other sound recordings" – but they must be Australian, and they must be more than 10 years old.[5][9]
Recordings
In this table, "2007a" refers to the 2007 Foundation List (entries chosen before official voting began), while "2007b" refers to the first of the annual registry additions, also in 2007.
| Recording or collection | Performer or agent | Release year | Addition year | NFSA Title No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Hen Convention" Earliest known Australian sound recording |
John James Villiers | 1897 | 2007a | 452097 |
| "Chant Vénitien" | Dame Nellie Melba | 1904 | 2007a | 301462 |
| ”The Landing of the Australian Troops in Egypt”[A] | 1915 | 2007a | 229758 | |
| "Along the Road to Gundagai" | Peter Dawson | 1931 | 2007a | 332353 |
| "Give a Little Credit To Your Dad"/"Lonesome For You Mother Dear" | Buddy Williams | 1939 | 2007a | 190438 |
| "Swanston St Shamble"/"Two Day Jag" | Graeme Bell's Dixieland Band | 1944 | 2007a | 232811 |
| Tribal Music of Australia | Indigenous Australians from the Yirrkala district in Arnhem Land; recorded by A. P. Elkin | 1953 | 2007a | 242999 |
| "She's My Baby" | Johnny O'Keefe | 1960 | 2007a | 291386 |
| 'Kerr's cur' speech | Gough Whitlam | 1975, Nov. 11 | 2007a | 156392 |
| "Down Under" | Men At Work | 1981 | 2007a | 337398 |
| Fanny Cochrane Smith's Tasmanian Aboriginal Songs | Fanny Cochrane Smith, recorded by Horace Watson | 1899, 1903 | 2007b | 500445 |
| "My South Polar Expedition" | Sir Ernest Shackleton | 1910 | 2007b | 562537 |
| Dad and Dave from Snake Gully First episode |
George Edwards, and others | 1937, May 31 | 2007b | 737158 |
| "The Majestic Fanfare" ABC radio news theme |
Queen's Hall Light Orchestra; Charles Williams, conductor | 1943 | 2007b | 737182 |
| "Maranoa Lullaby" | Harold Blair | 1950 | 2007b | 245797 |
| Corroboree | Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Sir Eugene Goossens, conductor; John Antill, composer | 1950 | 2007b | 297286 |
| Jack Luscombe oral history | Jack Luscombe; recorded by John Meredith | 1953 | 2007b | 737269 |
| "Friday on My Mind" | The Easybeats | 1966 | 2007b | 258900 |
| "(I'm) Stranded" | The Saints | 1976 | 2007b | 322350 |
| "Jailanguru Pakarnu" | Warumpi Band | 1983 | 2007b | 244115 |
| "Country Gardens" | Percy Grainger | 1919 | 2008 | 510950 |
| "Waltzing Matilda" | John Collinson, tenor; Russell Callow, piano | 1926 | 2008 | 283469 |
| The 1930 Australian XI: Winners of the Ashes | Don Bradman, Bill Woodfull, Clarrie Grimmett, Alan Kippax, Stan McCabe, Tim Wall | 1930 | 2008 | 266765 |
| "The Aeroplane Jelly Song" | Joy King | 1938 | 2008 | 402848, 281850 |
| Theme from Blue Hills ("Pastorale") | New Century Orchestra; Sidney Torch, conductor; Ronald Hanmer, composer | 1949 | 2008 | 503205 |
| "A Pub with No Beer" | Slim Dusty | 1957 | 2008 | 190647 |
| Irkanda IV | Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; John Hopkins, conductor; Peter Sculthorpe, composer | 1967 | 2008 | 332275 |
| Bird and Animal Calls of Australia | Recorded by Harold J Pollock | 1968 | 2008 | 255276 |
| "Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy)" | Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs | 1972 | 2008 | 291714 |
| "We Have Survived" | No Fixed Address | 1981 | 2008 | 210397 |
| London recordings | Newcastle Steelworks Band; Albert Baile, conductor | 1924 | 2009 | 560469 |
| "Happy Little Vegemites" | 1954 | 2009 | 537271 | |
| Smoky Dawson and the Adventure of The Singing Bullet | Smoky Dawson | 1955 | 2009 | 281755 |
| "My Country" | Read by Dorothea Mackellar | 1958 | 2009 | 328116 |
| Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under | Georgia Lee | 1962 | 2009 | 511557 |
| In the Head the Fire | South Australian Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Singers, and other soloists and vocalists; John Hopkins, conductor; Nigel Butterley, composer | 1966 | 2009 | 323123 |
| Lionel Rose wins the World Title | Ron Casey | 1968 | 2009 | 283495 |
| "I Am Woman" | Helen Reddy | 1972 | 2009 | 619633 |
| The Loner | Vic Simms | 1973 | 2009 | 757646 |
| "Treaty" | Yothu Yindi | 1991 | 2009 | 226648 |
| "Hinkler's Message to Australia"/"Incidents of My Flight" | Bert Hinkler | 1928 | 2010 | 267488 |
| "Wrap Me Up In My Stockwhip and Blanket" | Tex Morton | 1936 | 2010 | 365991 |
| Announcement of the declaration of World War II | Robert Menzies | 1939, Sep. 3 | 2010 | 188388 |
| Announcement of war with Japan | John Curtin | 1941, Dec. 8 | 2010 | 677049 |
| "Bye Bye Baby" | Col Joye | 1959 | 2010 | 271642 |
| Pick a Box | Bob and Dolly Dyer | 1963, Aug. 20 | 2010 | 569 |
| Just the Beginning | Don Burrows Quartet | 1971 | 2010 | 263853 |
| "Eagle Rock" | Daddy Cool | 1971 | 2010 | 300956 |
| Opening concert of the Sydney Opera House | Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor; Birgit Nilsson, soprano | 1973, Sep. 29 | 2010 | 766280 |
| Commentary of the 4 x 100 men's medley relay final at the Moscow Olympics | Norman May | 1980 | 2010 | 750967 |
| "We Are Going" | Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) | 1986 | 2010 | 699094 |
| Rebetika Songs | Apodimi Compania | 1987 | 2010 | 138939 |
| "From Little Things Big Things Grow" | Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody | 1991 | 2010 | 244410 |
| Redfern Park speech | Paul Keating | 1992, Dec. 10 | 2010 | |
| Recordings of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits | Alfred Cort Haddon and others | 1898 | 2011 | 8879 |
| "The Sailors" | Stiffy and Mo | 1927 | 2011 | 253375 |
| Ken Howard calls the Melbourne Cup | Ken Howard | 1941 | 2011 | 338699 |
| The maiden parliamentary speeches of Dame Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney | Dame Enid Lyons, Dame Dorothy Tangney | 1943 | 2011 | 483285, 483102 |
| The Art of the Prima Donna | Dame Joan Sutherland | 1960 | 2011 | 321750 |
| "I'll Never Find Another You" | The Seekers | 1964 | 2011 | 82220 |
| Living in the 70's | Skyhooks | 1974 | 2011 | 263933 |
| Report on Cyclone Tracy, Darwin | Mike Hayes and Bruce Grundy | 1974 | 2011 | |
| "I Should Be So Lucky" | Kylie Minogue | 1987 | 2011 | 376096 |
| Voss | Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Stuart Challender, conductor; Geoffrey Chard, Marilyn Richardson and other soloists; Richard Meale, composer; David Malouf, libretto | 1987 | 2011 | 230032 |
| "The Black Watch" | Percy Herford | c. 1907 | 2012 | 778653 |
| Sydney recordings | Queenie and David Kaili | 1927—1932 | 2012 | |
| Grace Gibson Productions radio serials | Various artists, produced by Grace Gibson | 1944— | 2012 | |
| The Luise Hercus Collection, AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive | Dr Luise A Hercus | 1962—1997 | 2012 | |
| "Royal Telephone" | Jimmy Little | 1963 | 2012 | 319442 |
| Patrol from Da Nang | Tim Bowden | 1966 | 2012 | |
| A Track Winding Back | Barry Humphries and Dick Bentley | 1972 | 2012 | 1063868 |
| "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" | AC/DC | 1975 | 2012 | 291607 |
| Tender Prey | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | 1988 | 2012 | 425260 |
| Aether | The Necks | 2001 | 2012 | 567489 |
| "Hold Your Hand Out Naughty Boy" | Florrie Forde | 1913 | 2013 | 189112 |
| Yes, What? | Rex Dawe and others | 1936—1940 | 2013 | 143364 |
| "Bombora" | The Atlantics | 1963 | 2013 | 291724 |
| The Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards | Dougie Young | 1964 | 2013 | 244102 |
| "The Real Thing" | Russell Morris | 1969 | 2013 | 338066 |
| "I Still Call Australia Home" | Peter Allen | 1980 | 2013 | 291702 |
| Improvisations in Acoustic Chambers | Ros Bandt | 1981 | 2013 | 230121 |
| This Sporting Life | Roy and HG | 1986—2008 | 2013 | |
| Recording of a superb lyrebird at Healesville, Victoria | Greg Wignell | 1987 | 2013 | |
| "Took the Children Away" | Archie Roach | 1990 | 2013 | 376653 |
| "They Always Follow Me" | Syria Lamonte | 1898 | 2014 | 1251712 |
| Speech at the opening of the Columbia Graphophone Company Australian factory | Sir Dudley de Chair | 1926 | 2014 | 774314 |
| Concert in a cave at Tobruk | Recorded by Chester Wilmot, ABC Field Unit | 1941, Oct. | 2014 | 1341683 |
| "Fireworks" and "The Orgasmic Opus" | Dr Val Stephen | 1967 | 2014 | 1131993 |
| "Khe Sanh" | Cold Chisel | 1978 | 2014 | 260154 |
| "Boys in Town" | Divinyls | 1981 | 2014 | 296374 |
| "Great Southern Land" | Icehouse | 1982 | 2014 | 428036 |
| "Cattle and Cane" | The Go-Betweens | 1983 | 2014 | 736789 |
| Recording of lone dingo | Vicki Powys | 1990 | 2014 | 1221379 |
| Deadly Sounds | Vibe Australia; hosted by Rhoda Roberts | 1993—2014 | 2014 | 696283 |
| Message recorded at Mena Camp, Cairo | Second Lieutenant Henry Miller Lanser | 1914 | 2015 | 1488057 |
| "Love Will Find a Way" | Gladys Moncrieff | 1926 | 2015 | 273694 |
| "Argonauts Row" | Harold Williams | 1941 | 2015 | 569911 |
| Aboriginal recordings | John Hutchinson | 1959 | 2015 | 1275952 |
| Sampling sounds | Fairlight CMI | 1979—1989 | 2015 | |
| "I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)" | Redgum | 1983 | 2015 | 376284 |
| "Like Wow – Wipeout" | Hoodoo Gurus | 1985 | 2015 | 305311 |
| "Alive and Brilliant" | Deborah Conway | 1993 | 2015 | 803963 |
| "LSD" | djhmc | 1995 | 2015 | 1458675 |
| "The Nosebleed Section" | Hilltop Hoods | 2003 | 2015 | 661178 |
| "When Father Papered the Parlour" | Billy Williams | 1912 | 2016 | 189178 |
| "Life Without Love" | Frank Coughlan’s Trocadero Orchestra | 1937 | 2016 | 268433 |
| "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" | Eric Jupp | 1968 | 2016 | 495512 |
| "C'mon Aussie C'mon" | The Mojo Singers | 1978 | 2016 | 409679 |
| "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" | Eric Bogle | 1980 | 2016 | 82399 |
| "Power and the Passion" | Midnight Oil | 1982 | 2016 | 217837 |
| "Sounds of Then (This is Australia)" | GANGgajang | 1985 | 2016 | 220914 |
| Antarctica: Suite for Guitar and Orchestra | Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Nigel Westlake, composer | 1992 | 2016 | 1461560 |
| "My Island Home" | Christine Anu | 1995 | 2016 | 263311 |
| "Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car" | The Wiggles | 1998 | 2016 | 370632 |
| "Sweet Spirit Hear My Prayer" | Marie Narelle | 1910 | 2017 | 189109 |
| "Our Don Bradman" | Len Maurice | 1930 | 2017 | 190535 |
| Australia's Amateur Hour | AWA | 1940—1958 | 2017 | |
| "Louie the Fly" | Ross Higgins | 1962 | 2017 | 281802 |
| "I Remember You" | Frank Ifield | 1962 | 2017 | 303276 |
| "Play School Theme (There's a Bear in There)" | Various performers | 1966— | 2017 | |
| "Love Is in the Air" | John Paul Young | 1977[11] | 2017 | 310545 |
| Brand New Day (Milliya Rumarra) | Kuckles | 1981 | 2017 | |
| "Don't Change" | INXS | 1982 | 2017 | 315857 |
| "Not Pretty Enough" | Kasey Chambers | 2001 | 2017 | 529136 |
| "Caro Mio Ben" | Ada Crossley | 1903 | 2018 | 757100 |
| "Freshie"/"After the Dawn" | Sydney Simpson and his Wentworth Café Orchestra | 1926 | 2018 | 196416 |
| Binny Lum Collection | Binny Lum and interviewees | 1955—1967 | 2018 | |
| "Come Closer to Me" | Pilita Corrales | 1959 | 2018 | 322824 |
| "I've Been Everywhere" | Lucky Starr | 1962 | 2018 | 306316 |
| "Girls in Our Town" | Margret RoadKnight | 1976 | 2018 | 287049 |
| "Solid Rock" | Goanna | 1982 | 2018 | 303972 |
| Songlines: Songs of the East Australian Humpback Whales | Mark Franklin (The Oceania Project) | 1992—2008 | 2018 | 1543251 |
| "These Days" | Powderfinger | 1999 | 2018 | 463749 |
| Gurrumul | Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu | 2008 | 2018 | 758793 |
| Cylinder recordings from Central Australia | Baldwin Spencer, Francis James Gillen and Aboriginal communities | 1901—1902 | 2019 | |
| Twilight of the Gods (Die Götterdämmerung) | Florence Austral | 1928 | 2019 | 273004 |
| "I'm the Sheik of Scrubby Creek" | Chad Morgan | 1952 | 2019 | 275674 |
| Prestophone master tape ("Old Rugged Hills"/"Rhythm of Corroboree", "When My Homeland is Calling"/"Maranoa Moon") |
Olive and Eva | 1955—1956 | 2019 | 249178 |
| "The Man from Snowy River" | Leonard Teale | 1956 | 2019 | 193755 |
| "You're the One That I Want" | Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta | 1978[12] | 2019 | 222298 |
| "Up There Cazaly" | The Two-Man Band | 1979 | 2019 | 290258 |
| "You're the Voice" | John Farnham | 1986 | 2019 | 296286 |
| "Truly Madly Deeply" | Savage Garden | 1997 | 2019 | 499765 |
| Wild Swans | Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Elena Kats-Chernin, composer | 2005 | 2019 | 721303 |
| "Starlight" | Hamilton Hill | 1907 | 2020 | 1543945 |
| "Étude de concert in F minor"/"Étude de concert in A flat major" | Eileen Joyce | 1933 | 2020 | 401155 |
| Olympic Games, Melbourne 1956: Opening and closing ceremonies Official souvenir recordings |
1956 | 2020 | 312957, 312955 | |
| Nausicaa: Opera in Three Acts | Athens Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carlos Surinach; Peggy Glanville-Hicks, composer | 1961 | 2020 | 701032 |
| Arnhem Land Popular Classics | David Blanasi, Djoli Laiwanga, and other performers; recorded by La Mont West Jr. | 1963 | 2020 | 210787 |
| "Because I Love You" | The Masters Apprentices | 1971 | 2020 | 320598 |
| "It's Time" | Alison MacCallum and others | 1972 | 2020 | 253356 |
| "True Blue" | John Williamson | 1986 | 2020 | 224765 |
| "Tomorrow" | Silverchair | 1994 | 2020 | 295091 |
| Martin/Molloy | Tony Martin and Mick Molloy | 1995—1998 | 2020 |
Notes
- ^ A simulated recording of Australian troops. They are greeted by a brass band playing, "Advance Australia Fair".[10]
Statistics
The recent recording on the list is Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu's 2008 debut album Gurrumul (also as of 2019 the only one selected in its first year of eligibility),[13] while the oldest is Percy Herford's 1896 recording "The Hen Convention".[14]
The 1978 film musical Grease, featuring 2019 inductee "You're The One That I Want", is also on the American National Film Registry.[15]
See also
References
- ^ Rosel, Rachael (10 November 2019). "Strewth! The best Aussie songs in The Sounds of Australia Archive". Starts at 60. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ a b "Sounds of Australia". Australian Screen Online. 11 November 1975. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Doyle, Maryanne. "The Hen Convention by Thomas Rome". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Doyle, Maryanne (11 November 1975). "The Hen Convention: Notes". Australian Screen Online. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ a b c "The complete Sounds of Australia list". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Cylinder Recordings from Central Australia by Spencer and Gillen and Aboriginal communities (1901)". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Martin, Amy (7 November 2019). "National Film and Sound Archive adds Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham to Sounds of Australia registry". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "About". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Kaeding, Thorsten (20 April 2020). "What are the sounds of Australia?" (Audio). ABC Radio (Overnights) (Interview). Interviewed by Chappell, Trevor. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Byrnes, Paul. "The Landing of the Australian troops in Egypt". National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA). Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ^ McCabe, Kathy (23 October 2017). "Here are the 10 recordings inducted to the Sounds Of Australia list". NewsComAu. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Midena, Kate (7 November 2019). "Farnham, Newton-John, Savage Garden make Sounds of Australia archive". The New Daily. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Gurrumul, Powderfinger and Goanna celebrated in this year's Sounds of Australia". NFSA. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Collection - National Registry of Recorded Sound at ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online
- ^ 'The Dark Knight,' 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'The Joy Luck Club' Enter National Film Registry|Hollywood Reporter