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Clip description
'Friday on My Mind’ by the Easybeats was composed by Harry Vanda and George Young. Recorded in London in 1966, it was released as a single later that year. This clip includes the start of the song and first verse.
Curator’s notes
Unlike their other hits, which were recorded in Australia, ‘Friday On My Mind’ was recorded at IBC Studios in Portland Place, central London. By late 1966, the Easybeats were working with Shel Talmy who had produced hits for bands like the Who and the Kinks. Out of these London recording sessions came ‘Friday On My Mind’.
The song has proven to have lasting and universal appeal and could be considered the granddaddy of later songs on the same theme (like Loverboy’s 'Working for the Weekend’ in 1981 or Calvin Harris’s dance anthem 'Ready for the Weekend’ in 2009). As you can hear in this clip, the insistent beat of the opening cleverly matches the impatience in the lyrics, with plaintive frustration suggested by the drawn-out 'baaad’ and 'naaag’. The tune’s pace begins to pick up as the end of the week approaches, and it’s hard to resist the toe-tapping urgency as the song continues to build throughout the verse.
Another sign of the song’s international reach and versatile appeal is the range of artists who’ve recorded cover versions of it, from glam-era David Bowie (1973) to rockers Peter Frampton (1973) and Gary Moore (1987), and as a duet between Australian pop singer Vanessa Amorosi and country star Lee Kernaghan (2001).
