[gfmcdowell@getatlas.com]

Hi all,

Thought I'd drag myself out of lurker mode, too.  I've been listening 
to MP3 CD of all the Oils albums (set to random mode) all day long.

The first time I encountered the Oils was Bed Are Burning.  Okay, 
probably not as cool as being the first one in line to buy 10-1, but 
I was only ten years old at the time.  I saw the video on MTV on 
morning and remember being scarred of Peter for just a second (the 
dancing) until I listened to his voice a little more.  So for me it 
was definitely Pete's voice that hooked me.  After the video, I 
learned that the song was something of a hit (being as ignorant of 
what's popular as I still am, I need to be told these things).  That 
meant I could probably find it on the radio, so I did every chance I 
got.  At the time I wasn't buying to many tapes (remember those?), so 
it was a couple of years before I bought my first Oils tape.  Blue 
Sky was on MTV, so I scrapped the cash together to buy it, only to 
find out the video had come out before the album.  So I bought Diesel 
and Dust and listened to it obsessively.  I bought the rest as 
quickly as I could and gave them the same treatment.  

I did an in-depth report on Progress in eight grade.  It didn't help 
that I had chosen an overtly political song by an Australian band 
during the days of Vanilla Ice and Poison.  It also didn't help that 
the name of the band could be badly misconstrued by the junior high 
mind-set.  But I've gladly carried on.

I narrowly missed the famous Exxon show.  My Art Club went on a field 
trip to New York just a day or two beforehand.  The bus took us by 
the Radio City marquee with their name on it and I groaned to be that 
close.  That's still the closest I've gotten to seeing them. :-(

One thing I've always found odd is that I have never liked a Midnight 
Oil album on my first listen.  It's only after a few listens that it 
sinks in for me and I have to revise my list of favorite albums 
again.

Although it was Pete's voice that got me first, the rest of the music 
has ingrained itself on me ever since.  I hope the rest of the band 
does carry on without him, because they have a lot to offer.  
Lyrically, musically, politically, Midnight Oil is my favorite band 
and probably will continue to be, even if they never release another 
song.

slainte,
Gerry