A number one hit you probably never heard (Unless you’re Australian)

So by this point, I think most people would agree that movies offer great opportunities to discover new music.  In this blog entry, I want to share my latest such discovery.

I was watching the movie “The Dish” (2000) with Sam Neil.  It’s based on real events, and is about a small town in Australia that happens to have a large radio telescope. NASA asked to use it during the moon landing in 1969, to relay television footage of the actual moon walk.  Great movie if you ask me.

The Dish (2000)


The movie opens with a montage and a soundtrack that immediately caught my attention.  It’s a track by Australian Artist: Russell Morris, called “The Real Thing”



This was a hit in Australia in 1969, it reached number one there.  What immediately got me was the opening guitar riff.  Its a simple little thing, going between two chords on a acoustic guitar, but it’s beautiful.  Also, the way it was recorded makes it extra special. I can’t explain it.  It just sounds vintage, crunchy.  I think music bloggers would call this style “Psychedelic Rock” (I’m not a big fan of categorizing music, personally, but that’s a whole other blog post) in any case, there is a overwhelming sound effect throughout this song, called “Flanger” popular in those days.



I’m surprised I had never heard this song before, but it’s one of those.  Those songs I like on the FIRST listen. In in this case, the first few bars.   I’m listening to it as I type.  The piano (comes in later) gives it a “boogie” vibe.  I think the 60’s hippies would say “Groovy Man”