Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Unreleased Oils songs... DEFINATIVE list?

Mike Blackwood mikeb@cs.mun.ca
Tue, 10 Dec 2002 16:50:59 -0330 (NST)


Hey, gang!  I was wondering what the collective knowledge of the
Powderworkers could create in terms of a definitive list of unreleased
Oils songs...

To my knowledge, these song titles have been associated with the Oils at
some point or another, and are supposedly Midnight Oil Originals:

1) Set Me Down Easy and/or Nothing is Easy - possibly the same song;
   supposedly predated RSITS and was jettisoned thereafter, unrecorded.  
   Are either of these on the bootleg of the stolen RSITS demo tapes?

2) Eye Contact - a Head-Injuries-era track that was never released, but
   was played live in 1980 and at the Narrabeen Sands gig in 1996.  That 
   performance (no vocals) was released on The Real Thing single.  The 
   early version with wordless vocals is available on bootlegs from 1980.

3) Wedding Cake Island, WITH VOCALS - exists only in Hirst's collection

4) I Want To Live Here - available on VERY RARE bootleg of stolen RSITS 
   demo tape.  Thematically similar to Harrisburg, scrapped without 
   release though the opening riff was recycled into Bullroarer.

5) Stand Your Ground - 2001 song found on some live bootlegs.  Never 
   recorded or released.

6) Parking Station Blues (?) - RSITS-era demo, like IWTLH.  Scrapped.

7) Birdman (aka Birdie?) - unreleased instrumental? Played live in 19??

8) Crossroads - played live at Selinas, 13th April 2001.  Unrecorded.

9) ????  Anybody else know of any, or have any more info about the 8
   mentioned above?

Then, there's the song titles associated with the Oils that are NOT
unreleased originals, many of which I've listed below to get them out 
of the way for this discussion:

1) Warm Babies, Haulaway, Free My Soul - renamed and released on the
   Redneck Wonderland album, as Safety Chain Blues, CPOTC, and Concrete

2) Kids = informal name for No Time For Games, from Bird Noises

3) Postcard = informal name for Brave Faces, from Place Without a Postcard

4) various live covers, including What's so Funny (about peace, love and
   understanding)?, Know Your Product, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,
   Instant Karma, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, & Sweet Georgia
   Brown (a jazz instrumental), Telstar, Advance Australia Fair, Echo 
   Beach, Comfortably Numb, Riders on the Storm, The Good Son, Highway 
   to Hell (opening part, anyway) Locomotive Breath, Wharf Rat, Atomic 
   Electric, the occasional Beatles snippet, etc

5) Emu - a didgeriidoo instrumental played by a guest-starring didg player
   (Charlie McMahon) on a tour date in 1984... not written by the Oils

6) Dingle Without a Postcard - mis-naming of Brave Faces from the old 
   double-lp bootleg "Wilderness"

7) Runaway Bay - played on the Blackfella/Whitefella tour, resurfaced on 
   the Grostwriters debut album

8) O'Cannon - renamed World That I See, released on Capricornia

9) Lose That Girl - renamed Kiss That Girl, released on Euro version of 
   Capricornia

10) Mozzie March, Mosquito - renamed Mosquito March, released on 
    Capricornia

If anyone knows of any errors in the above, please let me know.  

Hold together,
Mike "Elixir" Blackwood