Pub rock (Australia)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Pub rock is a term for a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s and still influencing contemporary Australian music today. The term came from the venues at which most of these bands originally played at, inner-suburban pubs (short for the British term public house which is rarely used in Australia in its full form). These often noisy, hot, and crowded establishments were filled with young men and women, mainly of Anglo-Celtic origin rather than members of Australia's swelling immigrant communities, often drinking large quantities of lager and/or spirits (sometimes the Australian-made Bundaberg Rum). The amount of dancing that occurred was fairly minimal, but fans often sung along. The bands that came out of this milleu played fairly straightforward rock and roll, with guitar-dominated lineups occasionally leavened with keyboard, harp or sax players, and were mainly male. Perhaps the main distinguishing feature from overseas rock acts was in the lyrics, which were often darkly ironic.
Whilst it was (and still to some extent remains) a huge influence on Australia's popular music culture, few pub rock bands found success outside Australia.
Notable pub rock bands:
- Cold Chisel
- Hunters and Collectors
- INXS
- Jimmy Barnes
- Hoodoo Gurus
- AC/DC