Pig City (music festival)
Encyclopedia
Pig City: Brisbane’s Historical Soundtrack was a one day music festival held as part of the Queensland Music Festival
in 2007. The idea for the concert came from Queensland Music Festival Artistic Director for 2007 Paul Grabowsky
, who was inspired after reading Andrew Stafford’s book Pig City: From The Saints To Savage Garden. The festival was held on 14 July at The University of Queensland
. It ran from midday to 10 pm.
The Pig City concert is regarded as one of the biggest concerts staged in the premises of the University of Queensland in recent years since O Week (Orientation Week) concerts, namely the first Livid Festival
in 1989.
The line-up for the festival included: The Saints
, Regurgitator
, The Riptides, Kev Carmody
, Screamfeeder
, David McCormack
, Ups & Downs, The Apartments
, The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time
, Kate Miller-Heidke
, and The Brisbane Excelsior Band. The Saints
were the main headliner for the festival, their appearance marking a reunion of the founding members of the band after a 28-year separation.
tyrannical reign, but wished he was. He explained he had no intentions to “romanticise the era”, rather he wanted to pay tribute to Brisbane’s
bands of that period who were not given due recognition in Australia’s music industry.
Stafford also explained that major cultural movements were the result of a convergence of local, national, and international factors. He gave the example of the music scene in the 1970s as drawing both positive and negative energy alike from the local enthusiasm for the right to march movement, the national reaction to the dismissal of the Whitlam government, and the international anarchy inspired by the Sex Pistols
in the UK.
recorded by Brisbane band The Parameters in late 1983. The song was written by Tony Kneipp, lead singer of the band. It critiques the political environment of Queensland’s State coalition government in the 1980s, referencing persecution of Aboriginal people, corruption within the government and police force, and banning of street marches.
. It is the first published book for Stafford. He was born in Melbourne
in 1971, before moving to Brisbane in 1987 at the age of 15. Growing up in Brisbane in the late 1980s and early 1990s played a vital role in sparking Stafford’s interest in Brisbane’s politics and music scene.
Stafford borrowed the title for his book from the song Pig City
by The Parameters. In a media release from The University of Queensland Press, Stafford is quoted as saying “although this song was barely heard outside of Brisbane, it became something of a rallying cry for those who stayed behind to fight the good fight at a time when everyone else was bailing out of the city. I decided to name the book after that song.”
Pig City offers readers an insight into the development of the Brisbane music scene from the 1970s to 2000. The scope of Pig City not only documents those Brisbane bands that have gained worldwide recognition, such as The Saints
, The Go-Betweens
, and Savage Garden
, but also explores the journey of lesser-known local Brisbane bands like Razar and The Parameters. Brisbane’s political climate through this time is tightly interwoven with the development of the music scene. However, Stafford stresses the importance of recognising that “bad politics does not, in and of itself, result in a great and glorious music scene”.
Pig City bases its informative historical perspective on nearly 100 interviews with musicians, journalists and authors. It is a valuable history, which captures the development of not just Brisbane’s music scene, but also its political and cultural development. For Stafford “Pig City is the story of how Brisbane grew up”. This is a story largely neglected by other Australian music literature. “Firstly, as a music fan, I wanted to pay tribute to Brisbane’s bands, most of whom I felt had received short shrift in the still-slim literature on Australian music, in which Brisbane’s contribution was treated as a footnote.”
While Pig City is currently Stafford’s only published book, he has also worked as a freelance writer. He has been published in various print media in Australia, including The Age
, The Australian
, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Geographic
and Rolling Stone Australia
. Stafford has also been employed as a university tutor, occasional environmental consultant, and a taxi driver.
. Bjelke-Petersen
held the political office of Premier of Queensland from 1968-1987. He was a conservative politician, a devout Lutheran fundamentalist, and deeply involved in the corrupt government. Culturally, the Brisbane music scene of the same time is viewed as one of its best.
In the late 1960s, the New Left movement began in Queensland, activated largely in response to issues arising from the Vietnam War
, civil liberties, and conscription
. Before the late 1960s, public demonstrations had rarely been used as tools of political action. However, after 1965, they became “a regular feature of Queensland life”. This was despite the fact that under Queensland’s Traffic Act, demonstrators were required to obtain police permits for street marches to be considered legal. Police were able to refuse these permits at any time and without giving any reason.
The demonstrations in 1971 in Brisbane against the Springbok tour, and the aftermath, illustrate the conservative regulation of Queensland under the Bjelke-Petersen
premiership. From state to state, the Springbok team were faced with demonstrations in condemnation of South Africa’s apartheid laws. In Brisbane, Bjelke-Petersen “proclaimed a month-long state of emergency…on the pretext of protecting a visiting football team from political dissenters”. The state of emergency saw the suspension of civil liberties and led to police being granted with “extraordinary (and unspecified)” powers.
Demonstrators greeted the Springboks when they arrived in Brisbane on 22 July 1971. Approximately 300 demonstrators were present, and the same number of police. While police assaulted some demonstrators during this first demonstration, it was the demonstration on 24 July that was the most volatile. The number of police had increased to around 500, with country police brought in to add to the numbers. When police commissioner Ray Whitrod
gave the order for the police to move forward, intending to move demonstrators from the road, police charged. Demonstrators were forced to move by police who tackled and hit them with batons. Mass arrests of demonstrators also resulted from these demonstrations.
These mass arrests were one of the major catalysts that encouraged University of Queensland students, as well as left unionists, to explore better ways to communicate with the Brisbane public. In 1975, the 4ZZZ FM
radio station was founded at The University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus. It was a response to Queensland’s “political and cultural conservatism”. 4ZZZ FM aimed to “offer local perspectives which it believes were ignored by the mainstream stations” through its news and current affairs programming. The station also adopted rock music as the main feature of its musical programming, in a move to attract Brisbane’s alternative youth market. It is considered a major part of the development of Brisbane’s music scene at the time, giving airtime to local bands such as The Saints
, The Go-Betweens
, and The Parameters.
From the mid 1970s to the late 1980s, the premiership of Bjelke-Petersen
remained largely unchanged. The premier was generally untouched politically by allegations of corruption against him and the Queensland government. Brisbane’s music scene is viewed as having been affected both positively and negatively by the political environment. However, it cannot be suggested that a conservative political environment by itself produces a great music scene. Another important influence of Brisbane’s music scene in the 1970s and 1980s was the music coming out of Britain and America at that time, particularly bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Stooges
.
Queensland Music Festival
The Queensland Music Festival is a series of musical events staged in a number of locations in Queensland, Australia usually around late July, every second year. It is financially supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and a wide range of other partners...
in 2007. The idea for the concert came from Queensland Music Festival Artistic Director for 2007 Paul Grabowsky
Paul Grabowsky
-Biography:Grabowsky was born on 27 September 1958 in Lae, Papua New Guinea; his father Alistair had lived in Papua New Guinea with his wife Charlotte since the 1930s working on oil rigs, building roads, flying planes and playing the drums...
, who was inspired after reading Andrew Stafford’s book Pig City: From The Saints To Savage Garden. The festival was held on 14 July at The University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
. It ran from midday to 10 pm.
The Pig City concert is regarded as one of the biggest concerts staged in the premises of the University of Queensland in recent years since O Week (Orientation Week) concerts, namely the first Livid Festival
Livid
Livid was an Australian alternative rock music festival held annually from 1989 to 2003. Masterminded by Peter Walsh and Natalie Jeremijenko, the original idea of showcasing both the arts and music in the one event was standardised as late as October/early November from 1991 until 2003...
in 1989.
The line-up for the festival included: The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
, Regurgitator
Regurgitator
Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, currently consisting of Quan Yeomans , Ben Ely and Peter Kostic . The band formed in 1994, its original line-up consisting of Yeomans, Ely and drummer Martin Lee...
, The Riptides, Kev Carmody
Kev Carmody
Kevin Daniel "Kev" Carmody is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter. His song "From Little Things Big Things Grow" was recorded with co-writer Paul Kelly for their 1993 single; it was covered by the Get Up Mob in 2008 and peaked at #4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association singles...
, Screamfeeder
Screamfeeder
Screamfeeder are a rock band from Brisbane, Australia.-Members and history:Screamfeeder began performing under that name in Brisbane, Australia in 1991. They formed out of the remains of Tim Steward and Tony Blade's band, The Madmen....
, David McCormack
David McCormack
David McCormack is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter who fronted Brisbane-based rock group Custard .-Early groups:...
, Ups & Downs, The Apartments
The Apartments
The Apartments was an Australian indie band that first formed in 1978 in Brisbane, broke up in 1979, and reformed several times since.-History:...
, The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time
The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time
The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time is an Australian psychedelic punk band that first formed in 1985 in Brisbane, broke up in 1988, and reconvened in 2000.-History:...
, Kate Miller-Heidke
Kate Miller-Heidke
Kate Miller-Heidke is a singer-songwriter from Brisbane, Australia. Although classically trained, she has followed a career in alternative pop music. She is signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the UK.-Career:...
, and The Brisbane Excelsior Band. The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
were the main headliner for the festival, their appearance marking a reunion of the founding members of the band after a 28-year separation.
Pig City (symposium)
A symposium – Pig City: Then & Now, A Symposium on the Past, Present & Future of the Rock Music Industry in Brisbane – was held at The University of Queensland on 13 July 2007, the day before Pig City: Brisbane’s Historical Soundtrack. It was organised by The University of Queensland’s Centre of Critical and Cultural Studies and featured Andrew Stafford, who gave a keynote speech. He took the opportunity to address criticisms that suggested the book was written by an individual who was not present during the tumultuous period of Bjelke-Petersen’sJoh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
tyrannical reign, but wished he was. He explained he had no intentions to “romanticise the era”, rather he wanted to pay tribute to Brisbane’s
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
bands of that period who were not given due recognition in Australia’s music industry.
Stafford also explained that major cultural movements were the result of a convergence of local, national, and international factors. He gave the example of the music scene in the 1970s as drawing both positive and negative energy alike from the local enthusiasm for the right to march movement, the national reaction to the dismissal of the Whitlam government, and the international anarchy inspired by the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
in the UK.
Pig City (song)
The title Pig City originated from the song Pig CityPig City (song)
Pig City is an independently released song recorded in late 1983 by the Brisbane band The Parameters. The song critiques the corrupt and authoritative aspects within Joh Bjelke-Petersen's Queensland State coalition government and Queensland police force during the early 1980's...
recorded by Brisbane band The Parameters in late 1983. The song was written by Tony Kneipp, lead singer of the band. It critiques the political environment of Queensland’s State coalition government in the 1980s, referencing persecution of Aboriginal people, corruption within the government and police force, and banning of street marches.
Pig City (book)
Pig City: From The Saints To Savage Garden was written by Andrew Stafford over a period of three years, and published in 2004 by The University of Queensland PressUniversity of Queensland Press
Established in 1948, University of Queensland Press is a dynamic publishing house known for its innovative philosophy and commitment to producing books of high quality and cultural significance...
. It is the first published book for Stafford. He was born in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in 1971, before moving to Brisbane in 1987 at the age of 15. Growing up in Brisbane in the late 1980s and early 1990s played a vital role in sparking Stafford’s interest in Brisbane’s politics and music scene.
Stafford borrowed the title for his book from the song Pig City
Pig City (song)
Pig City is an independently released song recorded in late 1983 by the Brisbane band The Parameters. The song critiques the corrupt and authoritative aspects within Joh Bjelke-Petersen's Queensland State coalition government and Queensland police force during the early 1980's...
by The Parameters. In a media release from The University of Queensland Press, Stafford is quoted as saying “although this song was barely heard outside of Brisbane, it became something of a rallying cry for those who stayed behind to fight the good fight at a time when everyone else was bailing out of the city. I decided to name the book after that song.”
Pig City offers readers an insight into the development of the Brisbane music scene from the 1970s to 2000. The scope of Pig City not only documents those Brisbane bands that have gained worldwide recognition, such as The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
, The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
, and Savage Garden
Savage Garden
Savage Garden were an Australian pop rock performance and songwriting duo. Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones formed the group in Brisbane, Queensland in 1994...
, but also explores the journey of lesser-known local Brisbane bands like Razar and The Parameters. Brisbane’s political climate through this time is tightly interwoven with the development of the music scene. However, Stafford stresses the importance of recognising that “bad politics does not, in and of itself, result in a great and glorious music scene”.
Pig City bases its informative historical perspective on nearly 100 interviews with musicians, journalists and authors. It is a valuable history, which captures the development of not just Brisbane’s music scene, but also its political and cultural development. For Stafford “Pig City is the story of how Brisbane grew up”. This is a story largely neglected by other Australian music literature. “Firstly, as a music fan, I wanted to pay tribute to Brisbane’s bands, most of whom I felt had received short shrift in the still-slim literature on Australian music, in which Brisbane’s contribution was treated as a footnote.”
While Pig City is currently Stafford’s only published book, he has also worked as a freelance writer. He has been published in various print media in Australia, including The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Geographic
Australian Geographic
The Australian Geographic is a quarterly geographical magazine-style journal created by Dick Smith in 1985. It focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries...
and Rolling Stone Australia
Rolling Stone Australia
Rolling Stone Australia is an Australian-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published monthly, it is the Australian edition of the United States' Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone was initially released in Melbourne in May 1970 as a supplement in Revolution, an...
. Stafford has also been employed as a university tutor, occasional environmental consultant, and a taxi driver.
Brisbane Politics from the late 1960s to 1980s
Brisbane in the 1970s and 1980s was often viewed as a cultural backwater, referred to by many journalists as the Deep North. It was seen as lacking “bookshops, political pubs, radio and television network headquarters where Australian intellectuals could be seen and heard”. The history of Queensland politics of this time also shows a long association between the police, the government, and corruption. Much critique of Queensland politics of the 1970s and 1980s focuses on the premiership of Sir Joh Bjelke-PetersenJoh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
. Bjelke-Petersen
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
held the political office of Premier of Queensland from 1968-1987. He was a conservative politician, a devout Lutheran fundamentalist, and deeply involved in the corrupt government. Culturally, the Brisbane music scene of the same time is viewed as one of its best.
In the late 1960s, the New Left movement began in Queensland, activated largely in response to issues arising from the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, civil liberties, and conscription
Conscription in Australia
Conscription in Australia, or mandatory military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood...
. Before the late 1960s, public demonstrations had rarely been used as tools of political action. However, after 1965, they became “a regular feature of Queensland life”. This was despite the fact that under Queensland’s Traffic Act, demonstrators were required to obtain police permits for street marches to be considered legal. Police were able to refuse these permits at any time and without giving any reason.
The demonstrations in 1971 in Brisbane against the Springbok tour, and the aftermath, illustrate the conservative regulation of Queensland under the Bjelke-Petersen
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
premiership. From state to state, the Springbok team were faced with demonstrations in condemnation of South Africa’s apartheid laws. In Brisbane, Bjelke-Petersen “proclaimed a month-long state of emergency…on the pretext of protecting a visiting football team from political dissenters”. The state of emergency saw the suspension of civil liberties and led to police being granted with “extraordinary (and unspecified)” powers.
Demonstrators greeted the Springboks when they arrived in Brisbane on 22 July 1971. Approximately 300 demonstrators were present, and the same number of police. While police assaulted some demonstrators during this first demonstration, it was the demonstration on 24 July that was the most volatile. The number of police had increased to around 500, with country police brought in to add to the numbers. When police commissioner Ray Whitrod
Ray Whitrod
Raymond Wells Whitrod AC CVO QPM was an Australian police officer and criminologist. He was considered a world leader in the way society treats victims of crime. He was known as a man of high professional standards, with a commitment to justice, equity and integrity...
gave the order for the police to move forward, intending to move demonstrators from the road, police charged. Demonstrators were forced to move by police who tackled and hit them with batons. Mass arrests of demonstrators also resulted from these demonstrations.
These mass arrests were one of the major catalysts that encouraged University of Queensland students, as well as left unionists, to explore better ways to communicate with the Brisbane public. In 1975, the 4ZZZ FM
4ZZZ
4ZZZ is an independent community radio station operating in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, at the frequency 102.1 FM. As a community radio station, 4ZZZ is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia...
radio station was founded at The University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus. It was a response to Queensland’s “political and cultural conservatism”. 4ZZZ FM aimed to “offer local perspectives which it believes were ignored by the mainstream stations” through its news and current affairs programming. The station also adopted rock music as the main feature of its musical programming, in a move to attract Brisbane’s alternative youth market. It is considered a major part of the development of Brisbane’s music scene at the time, giving airtime to local bands such as The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
, The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
, and The Parameters.
From the mid 1970s to the late 1980s, the premiership of Bjelke-Petersen
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
remained largely unchanged. The premier was generally untouched politically by allegations of corruption against him and the Queensland government. Brisbane’s music scene is viewed as having been affected both positively and negatively by the political environment. However, it cannot be suggested that a conservative political environment by itself produces a great music scene. Another important influence of Brisbane’s music scene in the 1970s and 1980s was the music coming out of Britain and America at that time, particularly bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
.
Sources
- Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
- ‘Commemorative booklet for the Pig City concert’, Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
- ‘Copy of UQNews, August 2007, with cover article on the Pig City concert’, Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
- ‘Typed speech: Andrew Stafford, “Keynote Speech to Pig City Symposium”, delivered at the University of Queensland, 13 Jul 2007’, Papers of Andrew Stafford, UQFL440, Box 1, Fryer Library, University of Queensland Library.
- Coaldrake, P. & Wanna, J. (1988). ‘Not like the Good Old Days’: The political impact of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption in Queensland. The Australian Quarterly, 60(4), 404-414.
- Crawford, R. (2007). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden by Andrew Stafford. Reviews in Australian Studies, 2(7), 1-2.
- Fitzgerald, R. (1984). Censorship in Queensland 1954-83. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 30(3), 348-362.
- Knight, A. (2001). Won’t get fooled again: Radio journalism and the birth of community radio. Australian Community Broadcasting Series, 1(6), 1-14.
- Knight, A. (2007). Radical media in the Deep North: The origins of 4ZZZ-FM. Queensland Review, 14(1), 95-105.
- Stafford, A. (2004). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Brisbane: The University of Queensland Press.