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Pig City: From The Saints to Savage Garden
by
From cult heroes the Saints and the Go-Betweens to national icons Powderfinger and international stars Savage Garden, Brisbane has produced more than its share of great bands. But behind the music lay a ghost city of malice and corruption.Pressed under the thumb of the Bjelke-Petersen government and its toughest enforcers - the police - Brisbane's musicians, radio announce
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Hardcover, 383 pages
Published
May 1st 2006
by University of Queensland Pr (Australia)
(first published October 1st 2004)
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Start your review of Pig City: From The Saints to Savage Garden
Being there helps to enjoy books like this. A top read for those that like a good local music read.
Update: Ed Kuepper previously of The Saints and noted Brisbane musician released a compilation album called This is The Magic Mile in 2005. The sign on the album cover had been there, as far as I can recall, from at least the middle of the 1970's. Ed used this iconic pic for the album cover.
Sadly the building burnt down just after Christmas and with it the sign! Even a local politician understo ...more
Update: Ed Kuepper previously of The Saints and noted Brisbane musician released a compilation album called This is The Magic Mile in 2005. The sign on the album cover had been there, as far as I can recall, from at least the middle of the 1970's. Ed used this iconic pic for the album cover.
Sadly the building burnt down just after Christmas and with it the sign! Even a local politician understo ...more
History may repeat itself, but music can always be relied upon to reinvent itself in entirely new and wonderful ways.
Stafford easily blends politics, history, music and culture in a compelling and totally readable narrative of a city, it's corrupt politicians, talented musicians and social justice advocates. ...more
Stafford easily blends politics, history, music and culture in a compelling and totally readable narrative of a city, it's corrupt politicians, talented musicians and social justice advocates. ...more
I grew up around the same time as the author - but not in Queensland - I read this 5 years after I moved to the tropics and as much as I loved reading about the music I really appreciated the socio-political history interwoven through this book. Bjelke-Petersen was just a joke to Double Jay loving Sydney-siders - he was far from it if you lived under his rule.
Name a bridge Too Much Acid Lord Mayor of Brisbane ya cultural loser.
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I wish I could give it more stars! I bought this for the good lady some two years back, she being a music lover and also someone through whom I've come to know and get to love a different Brisbane to that I'd previously known.
It's a meticulously woven retell of Brisbane's musical, political and social parallels from around the late 60s/ early 70s to mid-noughties. Just brilliant. ...more
It's a meticulously woven retell of Brisbane's musical, political and social parallels from around the late 60s/ early 70s to mid-noughties. Just brilliant. ...more
I first read 'Pig City' seven or eight years ago, before a career in journalism had revealed itself as a path of interest. In hindsight, perhaps reading this book was one of the beacons that pointed me in that direction, as Andrew Stafford's command of language and storytelling abilities are both enviable and inspiring. His task here is an ambitious one: to chart three decades of Brisbane's musical and cultural history in the context of its political machinations. Stylistically, it's written as
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4.5 stars.
This was an absolutely fantastic read and an interesting way to look at the modern history of Brisbane, a city that has always seemed a little left behind, while being home to some of the most radical and original Australian bands.
I thought I would be mostly interested in the Saints, Go-Betweens, Regurgitator and Custard stories, but I was also fascinated by the lesser known bands and even the Savage Garden and Powderfinger stories.
The way the bands were tied in with the evolution o ...more
This was an absolutely fantastic read and an interesting way to look at the modern history of Brisbane, a city that has always seemed a little left behind, while being home to some of the most radical and original Australian bands.
I thought I would be mostly interested in the Saints, Go-Betweens, Regurgitator and Custard stories, but I was also fascinated by the lesser known bands and even the Savage Garden and Powderfinger stories.
The way the bands were tied in with the evolution o ...more
Pig City charts the weird, the wonderful and the downright shonky political dealings in Queensland during the Bjelke-Petersen years via the music scene. It certainly is a walk down memory lane for anyone who was in Queensland before and during the Fitzgerald Inquiry, and it reminds Australians about the wealth of talent lost to the country due to heavy-handed government control. A fascinating read with plenty of little-known factual gems. Well worth reading.
Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in Australian musical history. Particularly relevant in regards to its analysis of the Bjelke-Peterson era now that we have Canbull Newman on the iron throne...
I bought this book when I was still studying in Brisbane, which was like, some seven years ago, during the Brisbane Writers’ Festival that year. Everyone was talking about it, being one of the few good books out there about the music scene in Australia, especially the music scene in Brisbane. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to pick up the book, the pages already gone brown and spotty, and give it a go. Maybe it was the sudden muse I had awhile back on writing a chronicle of sorts of the
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A comprehensive examination of the development of the Brisbane (Australia) music scene through the 70s, 80s, and early 90s - a period of censorship, political turmoil, and police corruption. I was a teen during the mid-80s and remember some of the bands and events described. I was particularly interested to read about the activities during the 70s, when I, as a young child, was unaware of the reality of cultural life. The book brings back many memories of good and bad times. It is well researche
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Pig City outstanding and a real insight into the background of music and musicians getting a voice in Brisbane.
Looking in depth how the government of the day suppressed all forms of music from entering Queensland.
Brisbane was held to ransom by the government of the day. Author Stafford has put together an account of how through a constant momentum of political activism, radio announcers and musicians were able to resist often through violence to shape Brisbane to become the diverse music city ...more
Looking in depth how the government of the day suppressed all forms of music from entering Queensland.
Brisbane was held to ransom by the government of the day. Author Stafford has put together an account of how through a constant momentum of political activism, radio announcers and musicians were able to resist often through violence to shape Brisbane to become the diverse music city ...more
Wonderful journey through the music and politics of Brisvegas through the 70's onwards.. Saints, Go-Betweens, Riptides, Custard, Regurgitator, Powderfinger, Savage Garden, 4ZZZ, Rocking Horse Records, Musgrave Park.. essential for anyone that lived through it all or has a soft spot for any of the above
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A slice of history written in song lyrics and live gigs, against a background of political corruption and suppression … one person's journey through Brisbane at a seminal time for both he and the city, and both appear to be better for the experience.
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An extremely interesting look at the city's local history. Tip: Listen to the music of the bands the book mentions as you read, it really adds to the atmosphere.
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I understand the impulse to write about a local scene, but I disagree with the notion. It all really comes down to the individual. If you've got a person with talent on the scene, then something brilliant will happen; and if you don't, it won't. Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper of the Saints both came from immigrant families. If their parents had happened to settle elsewhere, then Bailey and Kuepper would have simply created what they did elsewhere with other people. 'The Scene' is of small importanc
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“Pig City: From The Saints to Savage Garden” is Andrew Stafford’s story of Brisbane music alongside the city that gave rise to it… the trailblazing Triple Z and iconic music venues. It is an interesting and engaging read and while to those unfamiliar, the draconian legislations of our Sir Joh era police state of censorship and corruption may seem unbelievable and it is easy to appreciate how the city’s identity has been shaped by its history, both political and cultural. Stories of how The Saint
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As a newcomer to Brisbane I found this to be a fascinating view into its recent cultural history.
It's also interesting as a chronicling of bands dealing with success, which often came on an international scale rather than locally. It seems there should be useful parallels to be drawn to Brisbane's currently burgeoning high-tech startup scene, despite the differing era and ethos.
Finally, the political history is deeply compelling. It's a story of freedoms hard-won, a battle against corruption and ...more
It's also interesting as a chronicling of bands dealing with success, which often came on an international scale rather than locally. It seems there should be useful parallels to be drawn to Brisbane's currently burgeoning high-tech startup scene, despite the differing era and ethos.
Finally, the political history is deeply compelling. It's a story of freedoms hard-won, a battle against corruption and ...more
Great read about our Qld music & political history.
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