Friday Night Videos

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The ’80s was such a great decade for Australian and New Zealand bands making it big in the US, even if sometimes just on the alt-rock scene. Nick Cave, INXS, Crowded House, The Church, the Hoodoo Gurus (tonight’s song, “What’s My Scene?”).

Hell, I’d even count Men At Work.

But not Rick Springfield or The Little River Band.

OK, sometimes maybe even Rick Springfield and The Little River Band.

And, sure, the occasional dose of Olivia Newton-John, especially the stuff she recorded after she ditched the good-girl routine. I’d love to write up “Soul Kiss” one of these Friday nights, which is just delightfully dirty, as you can probably guess from the title even if you don’t remember the song.

But I got off track. So many fun acts from Down Under in the ’80s, followed by… not much that I can find after that.

So what happened? I doubt the music scene dried up down there. Maybe our musical taste briefly converged and then diverged again. Maybe I just missed some stuff.

But part of the reason the ’80s were so awesome was the imports we got from our Aussie and Kiwi friends, and all these years I’m still grateful.