Midnight Sun (Redgum album)

Last updated
Midnight Sun
Midnight Sun (Redgum album).jpg
Studio album by Redgum
Released 1986
Recorded Fast Forward Studios, Melbourne, July/August 1986
Genre Folk, Rock
Length44:01
Label Epic
Producer Michael Atkinson & Hugh McDonald
Redgum chronology
Anything's Legal, Anything Goes
(1984)
Midnight Sun
(1986)
The Very Best of Redgum
(1987)

Midnight Sun is the sixth and final album by Redgum, released through Epic Records in 1986. [1]

Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were later joined by Hugh McDonald on fiddle and Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and together developed a strong political voice. They are best known for their protest song exploring the impact of war in the 1980s "I Was Only 19", which peaked at #1 on the National singles charts. The song is in the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) list of Top 30 of All Time Best Australian Songs created in 2001.

Epic Records American record label

Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic Records has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, The Hollies, Celine Dion, ABBA, Culture Club, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.

Contents

John Schumann had left the group in 1985 to pursue a solo career, [2] so Hugh McDonald took over as lead singer. [3] Michael Atkinson left the group in 1987 after its release; the remaining members toured until 1990 to pay off the band's debts, and then disbanded.

John Lewis Schumann is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit "I Was Only 19 ", a song exploring the psychological and medical side-effects of serving in the Australian forces during the Vietnam War. The song's sales assisted Vietnam Veterans during the 1983 Royal Commission into the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants employed during the war. Schumann was an Australian Democrats candidate in the 1998 federal election, narrowly failing to unseat Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for the Division of Mayo.

Hugh McDonald was an Australian musician. Active from the 1970s to 2016, he performed and recorded with the Bushwackers, the Sundowners, Banshee, Redgum, Des "Animal" McKenna, Moving Cloud and the Colonials.

Track listing

  1. "Talk" (Hugh McDonald/Michael Spicer) - 4:21
  2. "When Your Luck Ran Out" (Hugh McDonald) - 5:48
  3. "Running with the Hurricane" (Hugh McDonald/Michael Atkinson) - 3:47
  4. "Empty Page" (Michael Spicer/Verity Truman) - 4:39
  5. "Midnight Sun" (Michael Atkinson) - 4:45
  6. "Too Many Dollars" (Michael Atkinson) - 3:44
  7. "Another Country" (Michael Atkinson) - 5:02
  8. "In Their Hands" (Verity Truman) - 4:30
  9. "Blood upon the Rain" (Hugh McDonald/Michael Atkinson) - 4:24
  10. "La Partida (The Parting)" (Victor Jara) - 3:05

Personnel

Eddie Rayner, is a New Zealand musician who spent twelve years as a keyboardist in the band Split Enz. He has also played in the groups Orb, Space Waltz, Crowded House, The Makers and 801.

Shane Howard Australian singer

Shane Michael Howard is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, he was the mainstay of folk rock group Goanna which had hit singles with ""Solid Rock"" and "Let the Franklin Flow" on the Kent Music Report and their album, Spirit of Place. After their disbandment he pursued a solo career.

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References

  1. Striped Sunlight Blog Midnight Sun review
  2. John Schumann website Redgum history
  3. Bmusic Redgum: Where Are They Now? Archived 2009-10-23 at the Wayback Machine .