Those of us old enough to remember will recall English group The Korgis’ most prominent Australian (and worldwide) hit in 1980, Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime.
And for many, they’ll be synonymous as a ‘one-hit wonder’ band, yet it’s a common misconception. The group had several more hits in the UK and Europe and are still as active as ever, with sell-out shows in England and the release of new material in recent years.
The group has just released their new double album, Un-United Nations, which is being issued in two parts. “In this case it seemed we had a lot of songs that had definite locations, so we found a theme that worked with that,” Korgis’ guitarist Al Steele says.
“As we are living in today’s world it did not seem out of place to address the big issues like climate change and AI along with some personal songs.
“But it became clear we had too many songs for one album, so we decided to release a double album but in a more palatable form.
“We refer to them as the ‘blue’ and ‘red’ albums, taken from their colour schemes.”
For Steele, who originally hails from Geelong, Shepparton holds a special place in his life. “I often went there on holiday when I was a kid, to stay with my Aunt Rita and Uncle John,” Steele says.
“I was about 10 when my mother passed away, leaving my father alone to bring up three kids, which later saw him move the whole family back to his native Scotland.”
Years later, Steele became a full member of a newly revamped line-up of The Korgis.
“I originally filled in as touring guitarist for a Korgis tour in 1992,” Steele says.
“We only did about four dates, but we all got on well.
“Then years later, via a chance meeting in 2017, James and myself were back in touch and the time seemed right to reinvent The Korgis, so that is exactly what we did.”
2024 looks set to be a busy year for The Korgis.
“We have a lot of gigs for the first half of the year and our second Un-United Nations album to finish” Steele says.
“There is a possibility of some summer festivals and a joint tour with another act we greatly admire too.
“Of course, you have a co-write on each album, so we may well see one or both of these released as singles as the year progresses too.”
The Korgis’ founding member, bassist and vocalist James Warren believes not taking oneself too seriously and being open to collaboration both in writing and production is the secret to The Korgis’ longevity.
“The joy of making music is all about creating and performing with other people and I think I’m fortunate to be able to do that” he says.
“Egotism is unhealthy and delusory and just gets in the way; the best relationships both in the world of music and life in general are all about caring, appreciating and having fun with others.”
For more info on The Korgis and their new album, go to: www.thekorgis.com
Music news
- Sources have revealed Bruce Springsteen is currently working on a film adaptation based on his 1982 album, Nebraska.
- Pop star Selena Gomez has been confirmed to star in a biopic of 1970s music star Linda Ronstadt, which is currently in pre-production.
- Former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson arrives in Australia later this month for a handful of shows. He plays Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl, on January 28.
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor, famed for her 2001 hit Murder on the dancefloor, has returned to the studio to work on a new album.
Music charts
This week American rapper Jack Harlow tops both the Australian ARIA Top 50 singles chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with Lovin On Me, while on the Top 100 singles chart in the UK, American folk-popster Noah Kahan’s Stick Season holds the top spot.
The view from here
I recently had a conversation with a record producer, musing on the technological advances made in music production. The topic of nostalgia reared its head when he revealed that with much music having become so computerised, digitised and perfect, it had lost all sense of any inherent “humanity”.
To counter this, he had a unique approach in breathing some life into a piece of music he was working on, by simply running a recording through an old analogue tape echo machine from the last century, which added some warmth and soul to the music at hand.
This is akin somewhat to the way music used to be made before computers and digital technology took over. He called his technique “the nostalgic stamp”.
It’s interesting to note in today’s highly connected computerised world, that’s awash in an overabundance of available music, how seemingly devoid a lot of music has become of one vital and important element – the human spirit.
The producer’s seen an increase in his clients craving the way music used to be made, where though it may not have been perfect by today’s standards, it was at least the real deal, made by the blood and sweat of real humans. So regardless whether there were nuances in a vocal or a slightly out-of-tune note, the end result was total human authenticity.
Suppose music of a certain era is representative of the collective psyche of a time in society. Is the computerised ‘soulless’ music that’s being made to perfection today by some, and which dominates our airwaves, reflective of that loss of real human connection in today’s world?
A world that’s seen an alarming increase in loneliness and a world rife with division? I think the explosion in popularity of tribute acts in recent times that pay homage to music’s pre-digital halcyon days, could be attributed to the deep yearning within us all for this type of nostalgic spirit, something no machine or computer can ever truly replicate.
Musical fun fact
Did you know the word “karaoke” originates from the Japanese word meaning “singing without music”, and which translates to the English language as “empty orchestra”. The word is a portmanteau of “kara”, meaning “empty”, and “oke”, short for “orchestra”.