Album Review: Various Artists - Boogie: Australian Blues, R&B & Heavy Rock From The 70s

Compilations are, by and large, shameless, tacky, perverse, boring, soulless cash grabs that bundle hits of today, hits of yesteryear, hits to detail your car to or any manner of tenuous subjects for lazy people who hate music and need to be told what to listen to and when to do it. But every now and then a compilation actually has a purpose; we discover things we didn't know existed, we're reminded of melodies long vanished from our minds, they help us understand a culture, a time, a place and a movement. For two-and-half hours, across 44 tracks, you can ride shotgun in the metaphorical panel van that is Boogie: Australia Blues, R&B & Heavy Rock From The 70s and feel you are a part of it.

Drawing from a fruitful pool, Boogie makes this music accessible again; metalheads will bow at Buffalo's altar when they hear Sunrise (Come My Way), Thum'n Pig & Puff'n Billy's rollicking Captain Straightman ought to make you groove and grin and everyone who hasn't heard it can gasp in disbelief that the La De Da's Gonna See My Baby Tonight isn't maddeningly flogged on radio the world over to this day.

Mixing up the well-known (Chain, Angels, Skyhooks) with the perhaps forgotten (Sid Rumpo, Indelible Murtceps, Martin Armiger), Boogie's 44 tracks covers wide ground, evenly showcasing each genre expressed in its title. Put simply,this music deserves continued recognition and, while you mightn't like every tune on this collection, true fans of rock music must acknowledge this incredible era; Boogie is a wonderful launching pad for you to do this.