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 1980s. Issues raised within the song included banning of street marches, persecution of aborigines, ministerial and government corruption, SP bookmaking, police harassment and Special Branch surveillance.
The song later lent its name to the 2004 book "Pig City - from the Saints to Savage Garden" written by Andrew Stafford. [1] Stafford's book explores the political climate and music scene in Brisbane between 1971 and 2000.
In 2007, the song's title has also referenced within the name of the Queensland Music Festival, Pig City: Brisbane's Historical Soundtrack. This day-long festival featured music originating from Brisbane over the past 30 years. [2] The festival included the first reformation in 30 years of The Saints and also performance by The Apartments, The Riptides, Ups and Downs, The Pineapples From The Dawn Of Time, Regurgitator, Screamfeeder, Kev Carmody and Kate Miller-Heidke performing songs by The Go-Betweens. The festival also included a reformation of members of The Parameters performing Pig City. [3]
In "Pig City": An Interview with Andrew Stafford", [4] Andrew Stafford stated that "the reason I chose that song for the title was that it was really a rallying call, and a signature song for Brisbane at that time. Certainly if you listened to ZZZ in that period, the song was inescapable and it was so symbolic of living in Brisbane at that time, it described so vividly what it was like to live here."
The song was written by Tony Kneipp and recorded over two-week period at 4ZZZ's studios at the University of Queensland. Each track on the song was recorded and overdubbed separately.
The Parameters members included Tony Kneipp on vocals, rhythm and slide guitars and saxophone, Ian Graham on lead guitar and bass and Steven Pritchard on drums.
Pig City received a large amount of airplay on the independent radio station 4ZZZ and regularly featured within the station's annual Hot 100. [5] A single was released in 1984, which included "Material Possession" on the b-side.
In 2023, Brisbane band Sacred Hearts covered the song as a part of the 4000 Records "House Keys 2" compilation. [6] The compilation consisted of Brisbane artist's covering Brisbane artist's, with proceeds of physical CD's going to 4ZZZ.
The Saints were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973. Founded by singer-songwriter Chris Bailey, drummer Ivor Hay, and guitarist-songwriter Ed Kuepper, they originally employed fast tempos, raucous vocals and a "buzzsaw" guitar sound that helped initiate punk rock in Australia and identified them with the greater international movement.
Edmund "Ed" Kuepper is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints in 1973, the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns and the grunge-like The Aints!. He has also recorded over a dozen albums as a solo artist using a variety of backing bands. His highest charting solo album, Honey Steel's Gold, appeared in November 1991 and reached No. 28 on the ARIA Albums Chart. His other top 50 albums are Black Ticket Day, Serene Machine and Character Assassination. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 he won Best Independent Release for Black Ticket Day and won the same category in 1994 for Serene Machine.
4ZZZ is an independent community radio station operating in Brisbane, Australia at the frequency 102.1 FM. As a community radio station, 4ZZZ is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA). The station broadcasts to much of South East Queensland, parts of northern New South Wales and web streams from its website.
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout its existence. Drummer Lindy Morrison joined the band in 1980, and its lineup would later expand to include bass guitarist Robert Vickers and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. Vickers was replaced by John Willsteed in 1987, and the quintet lineup remained in place until the band split two years later. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new lineup that did not include any previous personnel aside from them. McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and the Go-Betweens disbanded again. In 2010, a toll bridge in their native Brisbane was renamed the Go Between Bridge after them.
Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977–1991 is a book about the Australian independent music scene from 1979 until 1991, as written by author and music journalist Clinton Walker. The books follows two decades of music, from punk, rock, alternative sound to garage-rock and grunge and integrates various first-person accounts from Walker's perspective as well as drawing upon interviews with artists during that time to illustrate the cultural history of Australian sound.
The Apartments are an Australian indie band formed in 1978 in Brisbane, Queensland. The band split up in 1979 but reformed in 1984 and continued until 1997, with a new version of the band forming in 2007. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, the band has continued to perform and record, with the ninth album and most recent release, In and Out of the Light released in September 2020. Peter Milton Walsh is the band's only constant member.
The Riptides were an Australian power pop group which was formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1977 as The Grudge. Their founding mainstay was Mark Callaghan on lead vocals, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and as principal songwriter. Former member Michael Hiron died in 2001.
In 1975, Brisbane's first FM radio station began broadcasting from a studio at the University of Queensland Student Union. 4ZZ became a catalyst for the development of original music in the city. Bands such as The Saints, The Go-Betweens, gerrymander and the boundaries, The Riptides and The Laughing Clowns established an ecosystem for alternative music that continues to flourish.
Christopher James Mannix Bailey was an Australian singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He was the co-founder and singer of rock band the Saints.
"Know Your Product" is a song written by Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey of Australian rock band The Saints. Released in February 1978, it was the second single from the group's second album, Eternally Yours. Noted for its unusual mix of prominent brass with a punk rock guitar sound, the track has been described as a "pile-driving surge of raw soul power and one of the greatest singles from the punk rock period."
Brisbane punk rock had its main impact between 1975 and 1984 as part of the overall punk rock scene in Australia. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, the Queensland capital provided "some of the most anarchistic bands" of that era whilst it was "arguably the most conservative city" in the country. The development of the local punk movement differed from other cities because of its relative geographic isolation from other similar trends. The Brisbane scene also received a greater scrutiny by local police where early punk bands formed as "an obvious backlash to an oppressed society". This generated antagonistic and individualistic groups or "snot" driven punk bands.
The Vampire Lovers, also styled as Vampyre Lovers or Vampire Lovers, were an Australian punk rock band formed in 1982 in Brisbane, Queensland. Original band members were Axle "Axe Babe" Conrad on vocals, Brendan Kibble on guitar, Shane Cooke on bass guitar, Matt "Nasty" Le Noury on guitar and Dave Chamberlain on drums. Other members included guitarist Jason Shepherd; and drummer, Ziggy Staten. Initially the group existed from 1982 to 1984 and then reformed in 1988 to disband finally in 1990. In 1983 their first single, "Buzzsaw Popstar", brought greater recognition from the Australia alternative rock fans. In 1991 they released a mini-LP, Acid Commandos from Planet Fuzz, a year after they had disbanded.
Glenn Thompson is an Australian musician who first came to prominence in Brisbane, Queensland, playing in the popular local bands Madam Bones Brothel with Pearly Black and John Rodgers, and COW with Robert Moore and David McCormack. Thompson played drums with Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens on his second solo album Calling from a Country Phone in 1993. He then toured Europe in 1994 with Forster and members of German band Baby You Know, Robert Pöschl and Michael Schott. For Robert Forster's world tour of 1996, Thompson was joined by Adele Pickvance on bass. Thompson and Pickvance were called Warm Nights after Forster's fourth solo release which was also titled Warm Nights.
Behind the Banana Curtain is a compilation album released by Australian radio station 4ZZZ. It is a 2 disc set that documents 25 years of 4ZZZ broadcasting and their contribution to Brisbane's music scene
The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time is an Australian psychedelic punk band that formed in 1985 in Brisbane, Queensland, broke up in 1988, and reconvened in 2000.
Purple Avengers was an Australian indie rock band from Brisbane formed in 1990.
The Cane Toad Times was a satirical humour magazine based in Brisbane, Queensland. It was first published in the late 1970s, then revived under the same name by a new team from 1983 to 1990.
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.
Anne Patricia Jones is an Australian writer, editor, and administrator. She is one of two working directors of ToadShow Pty Ltd, a Brisbane-based design company, where she is managing partner and company chair. In 1981 she was co editor of Semper Floreat the University of Queensland student newspaper.
Peter Milton Walsh is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his band, The Apartments.
