Slim Dusty saw major metropolitan music radio stations abandon support for country artists, and despite record sales in the multimillions, after the 1950s, Dusty was rarely heard on-air outside regional centres in Australia. Dusty's 1957 hit "A Pub with No Beer" was the biggest-selling record by an Australian to that time, the first Australian single to go gold and the first and only 78 rpm record to be awarded a gold disc. (The "Pub with No Beer" is a real place, in Taylors Arm, not far from Kempsey where Slim was born.) In 1959 and 1960, Dutch and German cover versions of
The Folk Singer in 1970, the song reached a wider audience from these versions. "The Folk Singer" was recorded by Australian post-punk group Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 1985, with a slightly altered lyric, under the title "The Singer." First released as a single in June 1986, the song later appeared on the band's third studio album, "Kicking Against the Pricks", which was composed entirely of cover versions. "The Singer" was performed live on all of the band's following tour dates throughout 1986—1989 and on a number of other occasions up until 2005. The Folk Singer "The Folk Singer" is a