A good friend of mine (Thanks Brian!) reminded me of this classic 1988 hit, “Under the Milky Way”, by the Australian rock band, The Church.
These guys formed in Sydney Australia in 1980. They were initially associated with New Wave and the Neo-Psychedelic sound of the mid 80s, but their music later became more reminiscent of Progressive Rock, which is when I got into this group.
The name of the band, supposedly, was chosen as the name was unclaimed at the time, but later allusions to spiritual interests by founding member, bassist and lead singer Steve Kilbey hint that it was less coincidental.
“Under the Milky Way" was written by Steve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend, Karin Jansson. What made this song so unique was the featured 12-string acoustic guitar melody along with a “bag pipe” solo composed with an EBow on a Fender Jazzmaster Guitar.
The song was written about an Amsterdam Music and Cultural Venue called Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way"), which Kilbey used to frequent. Interesting note. At 3:47 of the song, you can actually hear someone laughing on the track.
It was the band's only international hit. The song could have stayed dormant over the years but thanks to you awesome parents who grew up in the 80s, you’ve done an outstanding job of keeping the 80s alive through your kids. Rock on! Also, movies like 2001’s “Donnie Darko” have helped to keep this tune main stream.
In 2008, readers of The Australian voted “Under the Milky Way” the best Australian song for the last 20 years. In response, Kilbey said, "It's not really about anything at all. I just wanted to create an atmosphere and I didn't even put a lot of thought into that. History has given it something that it never really had.”
If I was hearing this song for the first time, I would think it was The Cure, starring Michael Hutchence from INXS...........close your eyes while you listen to it...........pretty eerie, huh?
PLUS
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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