All music
39 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
1890s
The Hen Convention 1897
The oldest surviving Australian sound recording is a novelty song featuring chicken impersonations.
The Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait 1898
Yamaz Sibarud is a traditional song performed by ‘Maino of Yam’, recorded during an anthropological expedition to the Torres Strait in 1898.
Fanny Cochrane Smith’s Tasmanian Aboriginal Songs 1899
These are the earliest recordings of traditional Tasmanian Aboriginal songs and language.
1900s
Chant Vénitien 1904
This is an early surviving commercial recording made by international opera star Nellie Melba in her London home in 1904.
1910s
Country Gardens 1919
A pianola version of Percy Grainger’s ‘Country Gardens’ performed by the composer.
1920s
1930s
Along the Road to Gundagai 1931
This is a famous recording of one of Australia’s most popular songs.
Wrap Me Up With My Stockwhip and Blanket 1936
New Zealand-born Tex Morton created an awareness that country and western music could be an Australian form as much as it was an American form.
Give a Little Credit to your Dad; Lonesome for You, Mother Dear 1939
Two songs by then unknown country singer Buddy Williams, recorded in 1939.
1940s
Majestic Fanfare 1943
The original 1943 recording of the ABC’s much loved ‘Majestic Fanfare’, used in various forms since 1952 to introduce news broadcasts.
Swanston St Shamble; Two Day Jag 1944
The first published recordings of Graeme Bell’s Dixieland Band made in Melbourne in 1944.
1950s
Corroboree 1950
Incorporating Indigenous themes, this Australian orchestral work achieved international recognition.
Maranoa Lullaby 1950
Harold Blair was the first Aboriginal Australian to achieve recognition as a classical singer.
Jack Luscombe 1953
An oral history containing the first recorded collection of Australian folk song.
Tribal Music of Australia 1953
These are the first commercially available recordings of Australian Aboriginal music.
1960s
Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under 1962
Georgia Lee was the first Indigenous Australian female singer to release an album. This was also the first Australian album to be recorded in stereo.
I’ll Never Find Another You 1964
A 1964 song by The Seekers, written and produced by Tom Springfield, which became the first million-selling record by an Australian band.
Friday on My Mind 1966
‘Friday on My Mind’ was the first international pop hit by an Australian band, and a landmark in the distinguished career of songwriting team Harry Vanda and George Young.
Irkanda IV 1967
This is a 1967 recording of the first major work by leading Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe.
1970s
Eagle Rock 1971
Dancing the Eagle Rock was one of Australia’s favourite pastimes in the early seventies and it still is today.
Just the Beginning 1971
'Just the Beginning’ was the first Australian jazz recording to earn a gold record for sales.
I Am Woman 1972
‘I am Woman’ by Helen Reddy was a worldwide hit and the first song by an Australian artist or composer to reach number one in America.
Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy) 1972
The song ‘Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy)’ saw the coming of age of Australian rock music.
The Loner 1973
‘The Loner’ by Vic Simms is regarded as Australia’s great lost classic album of Aboriginal protest songs.
Sydney Opera House Opening Concert 1973
A magical night in the history of Australian music: the first official concert in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
Living in the 70’s 1974
Unrestrained by cultural cringe, the title song of this Skyhooks album captured what it was like growing up in the suburbs of Australia in the 1970s.
1980s
Down Under 1981
Released in 1981, this catchy pop song was written as a light ‘tongue-in-cheek’ dig at Australian values and became a number one hit in Australia, the UK and US.
We Have Survived 1981
The No Fixed Address version of Bart Willoughby’s ‘We Have Survived’ has became an unofficial anthem for Australia’s Aboriginal community.
Jailanguru Pakarnu (Out from Jail) 1983
'Jailanguru Pakarnu’ ('Out from Jail’) was the first rock song recorded and released in an Aboriginal language (Luritja).
Rebetika: Songs of Greece 1986
Rebetika music evolved in the 1920s, combining jail songs and hashish-smoking songs of the Greek underworld with music brought to Greece by refugees from the Greek-Turkish War.
I Should Be So Lucky 1987
The second single from Kylie’s debut album, Kylie (1988), penned by English pop writing-producing phenomenon Stock, Aitken and Waterman.
Voss 1987
Voss is an opera about the fateful outback expeditions of Ludwig Leichhardt, as recreated by Patrick White in his iconic novel.
1990s
From Little Things Big Things Grow 1993
‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ is inspired by the Aboriginal man who led the Gurindji Strike in 1966 – the catalyst for the land rights movement.
