Rock still solid 40 years on. Goanna hits the road to celebrate Spirit of Place
Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor |
Pic: The 2022 Goanna line-up (Martin Stringer)
Very few bands make a record that captures the essence of its time and still sounds relevant four decades later. Goanna did it with their very first album, Spirit of Place, in 1982.
Its ten songs, and the themes that inspired them, are timeless. Goanna is about to start a national tour to celebrate the album’s lasting impact and enduring popularity.
Lead singer, Shane Howard, said Spirit of Place was ahead of its time, the start of a focus on Indigenous rights and environmental protection in Australian popular culture.
“More than half a million people bought that album. I think our generation was ready for change, that Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal justice, needed to be addressed.
“And I think climate change has showed us very poignantly now that the Franklin River, the beginning of Australia’s environmental movement, that was an important moment for us to get on board with paying attention to how we were treating our environment.”
In the late 1970s, the Tasmanian Government wanted to dam the Franklin River for a hydroelectricity project. Shane had a significant role in opposition to the project, which was eventually struck down by the High Court in 1983.
Spirit Of Place debuted at number one on the Melbourne album charts, number two nationally. It went on to achieve platinum sales four times.
Shane says that surprised some, given the serious themes on the record. It’s good, he says, to reacquaint himself with the album.
“The lead single, Solid Rock, was an unlikely commercial hit song, saying what it said at that time.
“I kept on playing it, after Goanna ended, and Razor’s Edge, Let the Franklin Flow. But I jettisoned the rest of the album and kept moving forward, as an artist is supposed to do.”
Goanna will celebrate the album on a national tour, beginning in Cairns on June 25, their first full band shows in more than 20 years.
Goanna emerged from the Victorian surf coast in the late 1970s and broke up in the mid-1980s. Shane Howard then spent many years living in remote Indigenous communities.
“I lived in the Queensland Gulf Country, tough country. In many ways, it was the cure to the egocentricity of fame.
“In a place like Normanton, or Karumba, people will go ‘Oh great, you’re the Goanna guy, but what else can you do? Can you weld?’
Shane says he’s still focussed on environment and Indigenous issues, still working for the changes he says are vital.
“Have I still got a fire in my belly? Absolutely. I still want to see a better, fairer, more just Australia.
“These issues were urgent in 1982 and 1983, but we’re on the precipice now. Are we going to make it? I don’t know.
“But what I love about that Spirit of Place album is it’s full of light, of optimism, full of youthful idealism.
“And so it should be. As an older man, give me more of that.”
Goanna Queensland dates
Sat 25 June Tank Arts Centre Cairns
Sun 26 June Hota Gold Coast
Tue 28 June The Tivoli Brisbane
Fri 01 July Mackay Entertainment Centre
Sun 03 July Pilbeam Theatre Rockhampton
