Vinyl of the Week - 19 April 2020

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, Midnight Oil

This week’s record is one I have a very strong connection to: Midnight Oil’s ‘10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1’ or as I’ve always known it ‘10 to 1’. This was the very first album I ever owned. Not bought (that’s a different story). I obtained this album mainly due to my dad having a high end hi-fi system. It had twin tape decks as well as a turntable. A mate down the road had an older brother who bought all the latest records. My mate would then ‘borrow’ them and bring them to me to record them on cassette. My fee of course, was a copy. This album was the Oil’s fourth and it was sonically far superior than anything they’d done before. It had huge success and remained in the Aussie charts for nearly two years. It contained a very powerful message politically and really hit home to my generation. Containing hits such as ‘US Forces’, ‘Power And The Passion’ and ‘Read About It’, my personal favourites are ‘Short Memory’ and ‘Scream In Blue’. When you listen to this album today it hasn’t aged at all, with both the lyrics and the music standing the test of time. You really should make it an album you listen to soon - DS