Raspberry Cordial
Encyclopedia
Raspberry Cordial were a hip-hop
group from Melbourne
, Australia
, made up of John Safran
(vocals) and Chris Lumsden (keyboards). George Weinberg played drums on the first rehearsal, but was quickly replaced with a drum machine
. They achieved some success, playing many live shows in Melbourne, getting heavy rotation airplay on the city's community radio, and famously coming second in the RMIT Battle of the Bands competition. Their concert backstage rider asked for two drinks - anything more came out of the band's $60 performance fee.
Cordial's first release was 1992's Melbourne Tram, an album only released on cassette of which John apparently has hundreds of unsold copies in his bedroom
. Later in life, on his 2002 Music Jamboree series, Safran offered to send two copies of Melbourne Tram and an essay
about the work to anyone who sent in their old copy, presumably worn out from overplay.
After winning a state government youth music initiative, Raspberry Cordial released Taste Test on CD in 1993. 500 copies were pressed, of which 407 were crushed after only 93 copies were sold. One of the songs from Taste Test, "University Elevator Music", is legally available for download in MP3
format from Triple J here. Raspberry Cordial broke up after their second release, following hurtful comments made by Safran's girlfriend
.
Interviewed on Andrew Denton
's Enough Rope in 2002, Safran remarked about the group that "the world wasn't ready for white rappers then" and that they "broke down the wall that Eminem
's been able to walk through".
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, made up of John Safran
John Safran
John Safran is an Australian documentary maker and radio broadcaster, known for combining humour with explorations into religion and other issues...
(vocals) and Chris Lumsden (keyboards). George Weinberg played drums on the first rehearsal, but was quickly replaced with a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
. They achieved some success, playing many live shows in Melbourne, getting heavy rotation airplay on the city's community radio, and famously coming second in the RMIT Battle of the Bands competition. Their concert backstage rider asked for two drinks - anything more came out of the band's $60 performance fee.
Cordial's first release was 1992's Melbourne Tram, an album only released on cassette of which John apparently has hundreds of unsold copies in his bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
. Later in life, on his 2002 Music Jamboree series, Safran offered to send two copies of Melbourne Tram and an essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
about the work to anyone who sent in their old copy, presumably worn out from overplay.
After winning a state government youth music initiative, Raspberry Cordial released Taste Test on CD in 1993. 500 copies were pressed, of which 407 were crushed after only 93 copies were sold. One of the songs from Taste Test, "University Elevator Music", is legally available for download in MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format from Triple J here. Raspberry Cordial broke up after their second release, following hurtful comments made by Safran's girlfriend
Girlfriend
Girlfriend is a term that can refer to either a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship or a female non-romantic friend that is closer than other friends....
.
Interviewed on Andrew Denton
Andrew Denton
Andrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...
's Enough Rope in 2002, Safran remarked about the group that "the world wasn't ready for white rappers then" and that they "broke down the wall that Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
's been able to walk through".