Lazy Harry’s OR The Road to Gundagai – Traditional (19^th century)

This folk song has a connection to poet A.B. “Banjo” Paterson, who was the first person to have it published in his 1905 collection of folk ballads, Old Bush Songs, but it has been reprinted many times since. The song tells of two shearers from a Riverina station who set out for Sydney to spend their pay cheques, but get no further than Lazy Harry’s pub between Wagga Wagga and Gundagai before they’ve spent the lot. The country town of Gundagai is mentioned in folk songs more than any other place, and must have played an important role in the popular imagination of the time, as it served as a “halfway point” to Sydney. The song is a fantastic part of our heritage, and the lyrics are peppered with old slang, such as “Matilda” for a blanket roll, “rhino” for money, and “nobbler” for a measure of liquor. The song was first recorded for posterity by English folklorist A.L. Lloyd, and the folk revival of the 1950s gave this well-loved old song new admirers. The name Harry joined the Top 100 after the publication of the first “Harry Potter” book, and has continued to grow in popularity. It’s now in the Top 50 and still climbing.

Jake the Peg – Rolf Harris (1965)

Rolf Harris is a sort of People’s Renaissance Man, who, during his long and enthusiastic career (mostly in the UK) has been a champion swimmer, artist, singer, musician, TV host and inventor of the wobbleboard. Some of his career highlights include working with The Beatles, Kate Bush and The Wiggles, doing a hit cover of “Stairway to Heaven” on the wobbleboard, opening the 1982 Commonwealth Games, performing at the Glastonbury Festival, painting Queen Elizabeth’s portrait and receiving the Order of Australia. “Jake the Peg” is his version of a novelty song by a Dutch-Canadian performer entitled “Ben van der Steen”. It’s a simple tale of an unfortunate man born with three legs, and he performed it onstage with a theatrical prop. The joke was trying to guess which of Rolf’s three legs was the fake one – something which was almost impossible to do, as he was so dexterous in his performance. In 2004, “Jake the Peg” was voted as one of the best Australian singles of all time. Even though the song is so well-known, it hasn’t affected the popularity of the name Jake, which has held steady as a Top 50 name for over a decade.

Rak Off Normie – Maureen Elkner (1975)

Maureen Elkner was a member of 1960s Australian female vocal trio The Chiffons, who sang back-up for John Farnham and toured Vietnam to entertain the troops. Maureen supplied backing vocals on Russell Morris’ rock classic, “The Real Thing”, then launched her solo career, including an album accompanied by a young Tommy Emmanuel. She gained roles in musical theatre hits such as Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and appeared on popular TV shows such as Number 96 and Chopper Squad. Maureen could have ended up as one of our best-known entertainers; instead she became forever associated with this novelty song. “Rak Off Normie” was written as a sequel to comedian Bob Hudson’s satirical narrative, “The Newcastle Song”, which was at #1 for four weeks in 1975. The song is about a young man called Normie looking for a date, and pokes fun at the working class youth culture in the city of Newcastle. Eager for further success, Bob Hudson rapidly penned “Rak Off Normie” from the point of view of the girl Normie is attracted to, and Maureen was chosen to sing it. The song was popular, reached #6 on the charts, and contains outdated slang such as “lair” for “a flashily-dressed show-off”, “do me block” for “get angry”, and of course, “rak off”, meaning “go away, get lost!”. A popular name in the 1950s, by the 1970s Norman was already sounding a bit dated and comical, and seems even more antique today. The chance of Normie making a come-back now seems remote.

Sam – Olivia Newton-John (1977)

Born in England, Olivia was raised in Australia and began performing at the age of 14, becoming a regular on Australian radio and TV as “Lovely Livvie”. After winning a talent contest on the Sing, Sing, Sing show, she received the prize of a trip to England, and continued her career there. As well as appearing regularly on Cliff Richard’s weekly show, she was the British entry in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, placing fourth. After becoming well-known as a wholesome blonde country-style pop-singer, she moved to the US and became successful there as well, her singles easily topping the adult contemporary charts during the mid ’70s. Her subsequent career highlights are now familiar to most people. She had starring roles in musical films Grease and Xanadu, acted in movies and on TV (including appearing as herself on Glee), released the double-platinum album Physical from which the title track became the biggest hit of the 1980s, became an entrepreneur, and campaigned for women’s health and environmental issues. “Sam”, co-written by Hank Marvin of The Shadows, reached #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. It’s a song about two people who have been (apparently deservedly) dumped by their respective lovers and are now lonely; the song implies that the two of them may get together in order to comfort each other. Not very romantic, but Olivia’s tender voice oozed so much warm sincerity that nobody noticed. The name Samuel has held steady on the Top 20 list for over a decade, while its short form Sam is still on the Top 100 for boys in most states.

Duncan – Slim Dusty (1980)

Slim Dusty was an iconic Australian country music star whose fame and output have never yet been equalled. In a career spanning eight decades, he was the first Australian to have a #1 hit record, the first Australian to have an international hit record, the first Australian to have a single go gold, had more gold and platinum albums than any other Australian artist, is the only artist in the world to have made 100 albums with the same record label, became the first artist broadcast from space, performed at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, sang at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, received 37 Golden Guitar awards and 2 ARIA awards, was honoured with an MBE and Order of Australia and had a film made about him. When he died, he received a state funeral attended by thousands of fans, and at the time of his death was working on his 106^th album for EMI. His first and biggest hit was “The Pub With No Beer”, and “Duncan” is the only other single he released which also went to #1 in the charts. The song describes the great enjoyment he experiences drinking at the atmospheric Town and Country pub with his mate Duncan. Although the narrator also drinks with Colin, Kevin, Patrick and Robert to obtain similar effects, it is Duncan who will always be remembered as the mate Slim would “love to have a beer with”. Duncan is the English form of a Gaelic name meaning “brown warrior”, and it’s the name of two kings of Scotland – one of them famously a major character in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. I would love to see this name used more often. Not only does it sound handsome and unpretentious, it’s a great link with our Scottish heritage. Duncan Quagmire is an attractive character in the Lemony Snicket books, the name is familiar from Duncan Stewart on “Home and Away”, and unlike in many other countries, we don’t have to worry about it sounding like the Dunkin Donuts stores.

Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield (1981)

Rick Springfield began life in Australia, but in his early twenties moved to Hollywood to further his career. As well as working as a singer-songwriter and musician, he also did occasional acting. Success eluded him, until the magical summer of 1981 when his stars aligned. He released the Working Class Dog album, and the single “Jessie’s Girl” became an instant hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and later winning a Grammy. He had just taken the role of playboy medico Dr Noah Drake on TV soap General Hospital in the belief that the album would flop, and his sudden fame boosted the ratings of the show, and likewise lifted record sales. Unexpectedly, he had a hit record AND was appearing on a hit TV soap at the same time. According to Springfield, “Jessie’s Girl” was inspired by a real-life admiration he had for his friend Gary’s girlfriend. He considered using Gary’s real name, until he saw a girl wearing a softball jersey with the name Jessie on it. Although Rick Springfield is often seen as something of a joke, and his greatest hit a little cheesy, the theme of unrequited love in “Jessie’s Girl” is something that most people can relate to, and the song still gets airtime. It’s been featured in movies and TV shows, including Glee, and in 2006 it was named one of the best songs of the 1980s. Jessie, a variant of the Hebrew male name Jesse, is more accepted as a boy’s name in the United States than it is here. Indeed, in 2009 Jessie was more popular for boys than for girls in the US. Here, Jessie is almost exclusively considered a girl’s name that is short for Jessica, although Jesse is a Top 100 name for boys.

Be Good Johnny – Men at Work (1982)

Men at Work were an 80s Australian rock band which used woodwind and brass instruments to obtain their distinctive sound. They are the only Australian artists to have a #1 album and a #1 single at the same time in the United States (Business as Usual and “Down Under”); they achieved the same feat in the UK. In 1983 they won a Grammy, becoming the first Australian act to win Best New Artist. Although the band broke up in 1985, they reunited in the late ’90s to tour South America and perform “Down Under” at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Lead singer Colin Hay maintains a successful solo career and has played with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. He has also made several guest appearances on popular TV shows, including Scrubs. “Be Good Johnny”, from Business as Usual, is an obvious reference to Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”. The song is about a young boy, a seemingly troubled daydreamer who can’t relate to or listen to adult authority. It could be the anthem for ADHD kids, and in fact a cover version of the song is the theme tune to the reality TV series Supernanny. There’s been heaps of famous Johnnys in Australia – Johnny Diesel, Johnny O’Keefe, Johnny Young, Johnny Lewis and Johnny Warren, to name a few. Johnny as a full name is uncommon, but John is a Top 100 name and the nickname Johnny would still not be out of place if you wanted to avoid the ubiquitous Jack.

Henry Lee – Nick Cave and P.J. Harvey (1996)

Like Emily Bronte, Nick Cave was raised an Anglican in a small country town and wrote passionately in tiny writing. Like Coleridge, he became addicted to drugs (unlike Coleridge, he gave them up). Like Shelley and Byron, he travelled widely with various lovely muses. Like all of the above, he is intrigued by the dark, vicious and mysterious side of life, is engrossed by religion and spirituality, and has an emotionally intense output. He wears his hair at a poetic length and likes dark retro suits. In fact, if one of the Romantics was reincarnated in Australia as an angsty post-punk Goth hipster musician with a cult following, they would probably look at least a little like Nick Cave. As well as maintaining a genre-transcending musical career as an alternative rock-pop singer-songwriter, he has also written poetry, novels and screenplays, and occasionally appeared onscreen in cult and arthouse films. He has been showered with musical, literary and film awards, and granted honorary doctorates in law from the Universities of Dundee and Monash. “Henry Lee” is a single from his critically-acclaimed Murder Ballads, which is also his most commercially successful album. As the title says, it is a collection of new and traditional ballads in which the narratives revolve around murder. The song is Cave’s version of an English folk song called “Young Hunting”, which in the United States is usually titled “Love Henry” or “Henry Lee”. It is a macabre tale of sexual jealousy; a man tells his mistress that he is leaving her for another woman, and while offering him a farewell kiss, she stabs him and throws his body in a well. English performer P.J. Harvey sings the woman’s part of this eerily beautiful duet, and the chemistry between the two of them is obvious. The name Henry, which is sturdily classic and not macabre at all, has been on the Top 100 for a decade without changing position significantly.

The House That Jack Built – Adam Harvey (2001)

Adam Harvey is one of the new breed of Australian country music stars, which sings in an American accent and feels as comfortable on Twitter as it does at a ute muster. He has an honest, hardworking, blue-collar brand of rock-pop country which goes down well with the punters and has been rewarded with numerous Country Music Awards. He is the first Australian artist to release an album which not only reached #1 on the country music charts, but also debuted in the Top 20 of the mainstream music charts. “The House That Jack Built” is his #1 single from the gold-selling album Workin’ Overtime. It’s a modern issues sort of country song which tells of a man called Jack who built himself a little shack, fell in love with a girl called Jill, and lived in domestic bliss with her for a while. Jill’s attention later turns to Joe, who has become suspiciously rich from “moonshine”. (As nobody gets rich making moonshine any more, this seems to be a euphemism for some even less savoury illegal activity). By the end of the song, Jill and Joe are living together in the house Jack built, and poor Jack winds up with nothing – although in the music video he gets custody of the dog as compensation. I don’t know why Joe wants Jack’s little shack when he’s already wealthy and could surely afford his own property, nor why Jill gets the house when she and Jack don’t seem to have any children, and in fact aren’t even said to be married. It’s just part of some nefarious scheme by Jill and Joe – perhaps simple Jack got an incompetent hayseed lawyer and was diddled out of it. I can’t help feeling he mismanaged his affairs somehow. Jack is a very popular name which has real staying power in Australia. It has been a Top 100 name since the 1980s, and a Top 10 name since the 1990s. The #1 name of the 2000s, last year it was #1 in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia; #2 in New South Wales; #3 in Queensland and Tasmania; and #4 in the ACT (no data from the Northern Territory). If you don’t know someone called Jack by now, you probably don’t get out much.

Erasmus – You Am I (2006)

You Am I are an alternative rock band which formed in the late 1980s and began recording in the early 1990s. The lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter is Tim Rogers, a former law student who is the band’s founder. You Am I were the first Australian band to have three successive albums debut at #1 in the ARIA charts, and are best known for their impressive live performances. Although they have released albums in America and toured there with major acts such as Soundgarden and The Strokes, their success has been almost entirely local. The individual members of You Am I have always done their own projects throughout their involvement with You Am I; guitarist Davey Lane is also lead singer of The Pictures and a member of supergroup The Wrights, who covered Stevie Wright’s “Evie”. “Erasmus” is from their album Dilettantes, and was released as a radio-only single available by download. The song is a nostalgic remembrance of Tim Rogers’s nascent rock career in the 1990s and his relationships. Erasmus is a Greek name which means “beloved”. It’s best known as the name of a saint, and a Dutch scholar and philosopher from the Renaissance. It is an extremely rare name in Australia, and in fact everywhere else in the world as well. If you find Jack too common, then Erasmus may be for you. Rasmus and Raz can be used as nicknames, and Elmo is another form, although it may remind you of the hairy red Muppet.

NOTE:  If you would like to listen to any of these songs, they are all available on You Tube.