Chrissy's Island Family | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 4 July 2007 | |||
Genre | Children's music | |||
Label | ABC Music | |||
Christine Anu chronology | ||||
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Singles from Chrissy's Island Family | ||||
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Chrissy's Island Family is the fifth studio and first children album by ARIA Award winning, Torres Strait Islander singer Christine Anu. The album features a collection of songs resonating from Anu's Indigenous cultural upbringing in the Torres Strait Island. Each song has been carefully written and developed by Christine Anu and contains a heartfelt message about the changing world we live in. [1]
The album was released in July 2007 via ABC Music. Upon release, Anu said; "I'm trying to help make it understood that Indigenous culture is Australian culture and it belongs to all of us." [2]
To coincide with the release of the album, a live stage show featuring Anu as a live action costume character toured Australia. The show is about Chrissy, a young, full of adventure girl who enjoys discovering the wonders of her island home in the Torres Strait. Featuring new songs and fun stories about her best friends and Tropical Island Blue, Chrissy delights all she meets. The show is described as uniquely Australian. [3]
In May 2012, the show toured New Zealand [4] and in schools in New South Wales in August, albeit without Anu. [5]
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, the album was nominated for 'Best Children's Album', losing out to The Wiggles' Pop Go the Wiggles! . [6]
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of indigenous and Western styles are exemplified in the works of Yothu Yindi, No Fixed Address, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and Christine Anu, and mark distinctly Australian contributions to world music.
The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Caterina Mete and Lucia Field. The Wiggles were founded in 1991 by Field, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Phillip Wilcher. Wilcher left the group after their first album. Page retired in 2006 due to ill health and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. At the end of 2012, Cook, Fatt and Page retired and were replaced by Gillespie, Pryce and Emma Watkins. Cook and Fatt retained their shareholding in the group and all three continued to have input into its creative and production aspects, while engaging in occasional reunion performances. Watkins departed the group in 2021, with the group subsequently adopting an expanded line-up of eight members.
Christine Anu is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress of Torres Strait Islander origin. She gained popularity with the cover song release of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home" in 1995. Anu has been nominated for many ARIA Awards, winning several, as well as five Deadly Awards, among others. In August 2024 she released a new album and single of the same name, Waku: Minaral a Minalay.
Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped with them as Indigenous Australians. Today, there are many more Torres Strait Islander people living in mainland Australia than on the Islands.
Archibald William Roach was an Australian singer-songwriter and Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. His wife and musical partner was the singer Ruby Hunter (1955–2010).
James Oswald Little, AO was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher, who was a member of the Yorta Yorta tribe and was raised on the Cummeragunja Reserve, New South Wales.
Troy Cassar-Daley is an Australian country music songwriter and entertainer.
Emma Donovan is an Aboriginal Australian singer and songwriter. She is a member of the renowned musical Donovan family. She started her singing career at age seven with her uncle's band, the Donovans. In 2000, she became a founding member of Stiff Gins, leaving the band three years later to release the solo album Changes in 2004. She performs with the Black Arm Band and released a solo EP, Ngaaraanga, in 2009.
"My Island Home" is a rock song written by Neil Murray for George Burarrwanga. It was originally performed by the Warumpi Band. The song references lead singer's home up at Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. It was recorded in 1986 and released as a single from their second album, Go Bush!, in January 1987.
"Taba Naba" is a children's song originating in the Torres Strait Islands just north of the continent of Australia. This song is usually accompanied by a "sit-down dance" where the "dancers" perform traditional movements corresponding to the lyrics.
The 21st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 28 October 2007 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Rove McManus was the host of the event. The nominees for all categories were announced on 19 September, while the winners of the Artisan Awards were announced on that same day.
Warren Hedley Williams is an Aboriginal Australian singer, musician and songwriter from Ntaria in Central Australia. As of 2013 he worked as a broadcaster on CAAMA Radio in Alice Springs.
The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 18-month gap since the previous award ceremony which was moved to be "closer to the business end of the music industry's year" and so reflect that year's works. Presenters distributed 28 awards from 1060 eligible submissions. Big winners for the year were Silverchair with five awards and Tina Arena with four, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year – both first time they were won by a female.
Stylin' Up is the debut album by Australian singer Christine Anu, released on 1 May 1995 by Mushroom Records. A deluxe edition was later released with six live tracks. The album was certified platinum in 2000.
Acoustically is the fourth studio album by ARIA Award winning, Torres Strait Islander singer Christine Anu. The album sees Anu perform acoustic versions of her hits as well as show cashing new material, including "Last to go", a song dedicated to a friend lost in Bali, and "Ocean of Regret", a Neil Murray composition originally demoed for her debut album Stylin' Up. It was released in 2005 on the Liberation Blue label.
Island Christmas is the seventh studio and first Christmas album by ARIA Award winning, Torres Strait Islander singer Christine Anu. The album features The Voice season 2 finalist, Steve Clisby, actor and children’s entertainer, Jay Laga'aia and Anu's children Kuiam and Zipporah. The album was released on 7 November 2014.
Rewind: The Aretha Franklin Songbook is the sixth studio and first tribute album by ARIA Award winning, Torres Strait Islander singer Christine Anu. The album and tour were announced in April 2012 and released on 3 August 2012, to coincide with Aretha Franklin's 70th Birthday.
Mau Power, born Patrick James Mau, is a hip hop artist from Thursday Island in the Torres Strait and is the first Australian rapper to tour from this region. He is also the founder and executive director of One Blood Hidden Image, the first Torres Strait independent record distribution label, film production and media company.
Alick Tipoti, whose traditional name is Zugub, is a Torres Strait Islander artist, linguist, and activist of the Kala Lagaw Ya people, from Badu Island, in the Zenadh Kes. His work includes painting, installations, printmaking, sculpture and mask-making, and is focused on preserving the culture and languages of his people.
Waku: Minaral a Minalay is the eighth studio album by Torres Strait Islander-born, Australian singer Christine Anu. The album was recorded in several places including Cairns, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islands and the Solomon Islands and was originally scheduled for release on 19 July 2024 before being pushed back to 2 August 2024.