Saturday, August 6, 2011

Go-Set's first chart was courtesy of 3UZ, and dated from the 30 January 1966. As a representative of Australian music, it was useful and expedient that The Seekers were at No.1 with "The Carnival Is Over". The title referring to an end of a carnival, which is a metaphor for the end of a relationship, and the end of an era. The song from the Go-Set perspective is perfectly apt for its own place, as Go-Set would bring on a new generation of music and culture, and change the teen scene forever in Australia. At number 3 was Normie Rowe "Tell Him I'm Not Home", in many ways, Normie was the golden boy of Australian pop music. He was already popular amongst Australian teens, from his part in the Go Show, and other teen TV programs. Go-Set would quite naturally highlight the career of Normie Rowe and would continue to champion him. At Number 7 was Billy Thorpe with "Love letters", a cover of an old 1945 song by Dick Haymes. The next Australian song was at 21, and it was the fast moving "Women" by the Easybeats. An original song by Vanda & Young. This was a debut number for them, and also an apt entry for the first 3UZ chart to be shown in Go-Set. The songs perhaps present an impression that Australia is a country of great potential, and Go-Set was there to show it.  Six more Australian artists had places in the charts, mostly with cover songs that were either soul covers or middle of the road songs. But for 1966 in Australian music, singing covers was a normal thing, and was expected, the Easybeats were the exception in pop terms. Of course the Seekers song was an original, the Seekers in 1966 were one of the most popular groups in England and were also popular in the United States thanks to the folk boom. In the USA, however, psychedelia was firing up, and the electric Bob Dylan influence was just about to begin. However, perhaps without doubt, the most fiery song to debut in the chart was "My Generation" by The Who, which debuted at Number 19. "My Generation was the angriest song in the chart, and was a sign of the power of the music to start coming out of Britain, following the somewhat Americano-centric term "The British Invasion", which would indicate the start of the decline of US record company music produced by mainstream producers to meet the perceived tastes of American youth. It should be stated that the real power of US music lay within the African American population and the blues, which would remain a significant influence in pop and future rock music spheres for many years to come.

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