Wrong Side of the Road
Encyclopedia
Wrong Side of the Road is a 1981
low-budget documentary film
made in South Australia
in 1980. It is distinctive for being one of the first attempts to bring modern Australian Aboriginal music to a non-indigenous audience.
The film grew out of the work that a white musician, Graeme Isaac, was doing with disaffected Aboriginal
youths in Adelaide
, South Australia, in the late 1970s. He encouraged them to move beyond country music
(which had been the principal idiom for non-traditional Aboriginal musicians), and to explore rock
and reggae
. Out of this, a number of garage bands were formed, and attained a limited but ardent following in South Australian indigenous communities. The marginalised lifestyle of the musicians often brought them into contact with police and the courts, and Isaac recognised that this provided the raw material for a story that could be made into a film.
Isaac approached Ned Lander (an established socially-committed documentary film-maker from Sydney
) with his idea, and a script was written, loosely based on the real lives of two of the bands Isaac had nurtured, Us Mob
(who played straightforward rock) and No Fixed Address
(whose music was strongly reggae-influenced). The script interspersed the music of the bands with episodes of conflict with the police, and finished with a triumphant home-coming gig at an Aboriginal community. The musicians, their families and their community committed to the movie, and largely played themselves, under their own names, even though the story was fictionalised.
With limited funding, mostly from an Australian government film-funding scheme, and the support of a group of non-indigenous film technicians and actors, shooting on 16mm film took place over a period of four weeks in 1980.
The film, combining elements of road-movie and musical, drama and documentary, was released in 1981. It won a number of awards, both in Australia and internationally. The harassment and discrimination that indigenous Australians routinely endured was exposed to an audience that had been largely oblivious, and contributed to an increased awareness of those issues in the wider Australian and international communities. Both bands in the film gained increased popularity, with "No Fixed Address" in particular achieving ground-breaking (though limited) exposure on mainstream Australian AM and FM radio.
and Side 2 was Us Mob
. It was produced by Philip Roberts and Graeme Isaac. The album reached #67 on the Australian Albums chart.
Us Mob
Us Mob
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
low-budget documentary film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
made in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in 1980. It is distinctive for being one of the first attempts to bring modern Australian Aboriginal music to a non-indigenous audience.
The film grew out of the work that a white musician, Graeme Isaac, was doing with disaffected Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
youths in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia, in the late 1970s. He encouraged them to move beyond country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
(which had been the principal idiom for non-traditional Aboriginal musicians), and to explore rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. Out of this, a number of garage bands were formed, and attained a limited but ardent following in South Australian indigenous communities. The marginalised lifestyle of the musicians often brought them into contact with police and the courts, and Isaac recognised that this provided the raw material for a story that could be made into a film.
Isaac approached Ned Lander (an established socially-committed documentary film-maker from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
) with his idea, and a script was written, loosely based on the real lives of two of the bands Isaac had nurtured, Us Mob
Us Mob
Us Mob were an early Aboriginal rock band from South Australia. The band was formed with the help of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music in Adelaide.- Overview :...
(who played straightforward rock) and No Fixed Address
No Fixed Address
No Fixed Address is an Australian Aboriginal reggae group formed in 1978. Led by Bart Willoughby, the band supported Peter Tosh on his 1982 Australian tour...
(whose music was strongly reggae-influenced). The script interspersed the music of the bands with episodes of conflict with the police, and finished with a triumphant home-coming gig at an Aboriginal community. The musicians, their families and their community committed to the movie, and largely played themselves, under their own names, even though the story was fictionalised.
With limited funding, mostly from an Australian government film-funding scheme, and the support of a group of non-indigenous film technicians and actors, shooting on 16mm film took place over a period of four weeks in 1980.
The film, combining elements of road-movie and musical, drama and documentary, was released in 1981. It won a number of awards, both in Australia and internationally. The harassment and discrimination that indigenous Australians routinely endured was exposed to an audience that had been largely oblivious, and contributed to an increased awareness of those issues in the wider Australian and international communities. Both bands in the film gained increased popularity, with "No Fixed Address" in particular achieving ground-breaking (though limited) exposure on mainstream Australian AM and FM radio.
Soundtrack
The films soundtrack was released in 1981 on Black Australia Records. Side 1 was No Fixed AddressNo Fixed Address
No Fixed Address is an Australian Aboriginal reggae group formed in 1978. Led by Bart Willoughby, the band supported Peter Tosh on his 1982 Australian tour...
and Side 2 was Us Mob
Us Mob
Us Mob were an early Aboriginal rock band from South Australia. The band was formed with the help of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music in Adelaide.- Overview :...
. It was produced by Philip Roberts and Graeme Isaac. The album reached #67 on the Australian Albums chart.
Track listing
No Fixed Address- "We Have SurvivedWe Have Survived"We Have Survived" is a song originally performed by No Fixed Address. It was composed by Bart Willoughby when he was 18. It first appear in the film Wrong Side of the Road and on its soundtrack and was later included on No Fixed Address's album From My Eyes...
" (Bart WilloughbyBart WilloughbyBart Willoughby is an Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia....
) - "Get a Grip" (Chris Jones)
- "The Vision" (Jones)
- "Black Mans Rights" (Willoughby)
- "Greenhouse Holiday" (Willoughby)
- "The Vision" (version) (Jones)
Us Mob
- "Genocide" (Pedro Butler, Wally McArthur)
- "Wrong Side of the Road" (Butler)
- "Suicidal Contemplation" (Butler, Ronnie Ansell)
- "Sunshine" (Butler)
- "Tough Living" (Butler)
- "Survive" (Ansell)
Personnel
No Fixed Address- Les Graham – lead guitar
- Chris Jones – guitar, vocals
- Veronica Rankine – saxophone, vocals
- John John Miller – bass
- Bart WilloughbyBart WilloughbyBart Willoughby is an Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia....
– drums, vocals, percussion, didgeridoo
Us Mob
- Ronnie Ansell – bass
- Wally McArthur – drums
- Carroll Karpany – guitar
- Pedro Butler – guitar, vocals
External links
- Interviews with Isaac & Lander, stills, video clips
- Wrong Side of the Road at the National Film and Sound Archive
- AFI Screen Biographies
- annotated bibliographical records