All Australian Music Stories

All Australian Music Stories

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All Australian Music Stories episodes

  • New Podcast - Awesome Aussie Songs

    We have a new podcast series - Awesome Aussie Songs - please check it out, it's available at iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher or where ever you get your podcasts.

    There are episodes on Skyhooks, AC/DC, Swanee, Short Stack, TMG and plenty more!
    https://awesomeaussiesongs.podbean.com/

    1 min
  • Ep17 - The Mighty Guys

    At a time when The Fonz was king, The Mighty Guys and their brand of authentic Rock 'n' Roll proved to be a winner.


    In 1981, they released their debut album, Rockin' All Thru The Night and it went Gold on the ARIA Album charts. The Mighty Guys also had a mighty reputation as a live band.

    The line up of The Mighty Guys were Mick Hamilton (formerly of The Moods & The Vibrants) vocals and guitar, Phil Eizenberg (formerly of The Ferrets) vocals and bass, with Leon Isackson (formerly Dig Richards & the R'Jays and The Rajahs) vocals and drums.

    In this episode of All Australian Music Stories, I continue my chat with Leon Isackson, the three previous episodes (Dig Richards & the R'Jays, Digby Richards, and The Rajahs) all feature Leon and his amazing Rock 'n' Roll journey, however, this episode focuses on the career of The Mighty Guys.

    Thank you for Listening, interview suggestions are more than welcomed - please like our Facebook page - All Australian Music Stories.

    Hail, Hail, Australian Rock 'n' Roll.

    33 min
  • Ep16 - The Rajahs

    Long before social media, The Rajahs fame blew up literally overnight. If there was a Twitter in the 1960's #THERAJAHS would have been sure to be trending in the 'twitter-verse'.


    The Rajahs had already achieved plenty of success as Dig Richards and the R'Jays, however, when Dig went solo, they changed their name from to The Rajahs and it was the start of an amazing musical journey.

    Via a 'throw-away' recording session, The Rajahs became known as the "Australian Beatles" and "filled in" for the Fab Four, giving Aussie teenagers their fix of Beatlemania before the real thing arrived on our shores.

    As the resident recording band with the famed Festival Records, The Rajahs have probably appeared on more singles and albums than just about any other Australian band, such was their recording output. They also had the prestigious job as Johnny O'Keefes backing band for several years.


    The Rajahs were the first Australian band to headed to the Vietnam War and perform for the troops. For New Years Eve in 1966, The Rajahs even replaced Bob Hope to perform for 5000 troops aboard the American battleship, the US Kittyhawk.

    I speak with The Rajahs drummer Leon Isaacson about his 60 year career in the world of Rock 'n' Roll.  

    This is the 3rd of 4 episodes featuring Leon, each episode stands alone but are linked via it's musical timeline. The previous two episodes focus on Dig Richards and the R'Jays and the solo career of Digby Richards.

    The 4th episode featuring Leon is about his band in the 1980's, The Mighty Guys, a band at the forefront of the Rock 'n' Roll revival, alongside groups such as Ol' 55. 

    These four episodes of All Australian Music Stories feature some fantastic yarns and is a good-time history lesson of music in Australia.

    Thank you for Listening, interview suggestions are more than welcomed - please like our Facebook page - All Australian Music Stories.

    Hail, Hail, Australian Rock 'n' Roll.

    1 hr 9 min
  • Ep15 - Digby Richards (Solo Career)

    As Australia's very first teenage idol, Dig Richards was the pretty boy of Rock n Roll, often compared in looks to actor James Dean, he was a serious musician who realised there wasn't much of a future in being a 'teenager pop star pin up'.

    Going by his full name Digby Richards he went on to carve out his own place in Australian music  history. As a singer / songwriter he released 30 singles and 7 full length albums. His music was released in America, UK, Germany. 


    Digby had chart success that spanned three decades and he is as diverse a musician as you'll find and I hope this episode does his music justice.

    I speak with R'Jays drummer Leon Isaacson about Digby and I also spoke with Digby's brother, Doug and gained some insight into Digby's solo career.

    Sadly, Digby died aged just 42-years-old in 1983 , however, his musical legacy lives on. 


    This is the 2nd of 4 episodes featuring Leon Isaacson, each episode stands alone but is linked via it's musical timeline. The previous episode focuses on Dig Richards and the R'Jays 

    The 3rd episode with Leon takes a look at what happened to the R'Jays when Dig went solo and they changed names from the R'Jays to the Rajahs. They became known as the "Aussie Beatles", they were Festival Records resident recording band and also had the prestigious job as Johnny O'Keefes backing band for several years.

    The 4th episode featuring Leon is about his band in the 1980's, The Mighty Guys, a band at the forefront of the Rock 'n' Roll revival, alongside groups such as Ol' 55. 

    These four episodes of All Australian Music Stories feature some fantastic yarns and is a good-time history lesson of music in Australia.

    Thank you for Listening, interview suggestions are more than welcomed - please like our Facebook page - All Australian Music Stories.

    Hail, Hail, Australian Rock 'n' Roll.

      

    1 hr 31 min
  • Ep14 - Dig Richards & the R'Jays

    In the early days of Rock 'n' Roll in Australia, Dig Richards & the R'Jays were one of the biggest bands in the land.

    With movie-star good looks, Dig was Australia's very first teenage idol, and with his band the R'Jays, they were at the forefront of the Rock 'n' Roll revolution.

    They were the first Aussie band to release a full length album through Festival Records and as a live act, they were as popular as any local band. They also appeared on many Lee Gordon Big Shows and more than held their own playing alongside the visiting American superstars.

    At a time when the "establishment" was doing it best to stop this new form of music from taking hold, Dig Richards & the R'Jays led the way in spreading the gospel of Rock 'n' Roll. They even had their own TV show on Channel 7 called Teen Time.


    I speak with R'Jays drummer Leon Isaacson about his amazing musical journey hanging out with the like of The Bee Gees and Louis Armstrong and I also spoke with Dig's brother, Doug and gained some insight into Digs career. Sadly, Dig died aged just 42-years-old in 1983 , however, his musical legacy lives on. 

    This is the first of 4 episodes featuring Leon Isaacson, each episode stands alone but is linked via it's musical timeline. The next episode focuses on Dig's solo career as Digby Richards.

    The 3rd episode with Leon takes a look at what happened to the R'Jays when Dig went solo and they changed names from the R'Jays to the Rajahs. They became known as the "Aussie Beatles", they were Festival Records resident recording band and also had the prestigious job as Johnny O'Keefes backing band for several years.

    The 4th episode featuring Leon is about his band in the 1980's, The Mighty Guys, a band at the forefront of the Rock 'n' Roll revival, alongside groups such as Ol' 55. 

    These four episodes of All Australian Music Stories feature some fantastic yarns and is a good-time history lesson of music in Australia.

    Thank you for Listening, interview suggestions are more than welcomed - please like our Facebook page - All Australian Music Stories.

    Hail, Hail, Australian Rock 'n' Roll.

     

    1 hr 10 min
  • 每日跟讀#646: Taiwanese eco brand raises bar for sustainability
    每日跟讀#646: Taiwanese eco brand raises bar for sustainability
     
    A group of millennials based in Hsinchu’s Hukou Township has established Taiwanese brand Dawoko, centered around the idea of sustainability, building upon previous-generation synthetic carbon technology to develop and produce a diverse range of environmentally-friendly, toxin-free, wood vinegar-based skin and cleaning products. Through online marketing, and aided by a Ministry of Finance innovation prize, Dawoko has been able to successfully export its products to Southeast Asian countries.
     
    一群在新竹縣湖口鄉落腳的七年級生，以「循環永續」為初衷，共同創立「木酢達人」台灣品牌，承襲上一代的製炭技術，研發、生產一系列對環境無毒無害的多樣化保養及清潔木酢產品，透過網路行銷，獲得經濟部金網獎銀質獎等，更成功外銷到東南亞國家。
     
    Dawoko’s founders, including Chen Wei-cheng, Hsieh Hui-ting, Liu Tai-yi and Teng Chieh-jen, met at university. Ten years ago, after investing together in an “old street” community development project in Hukou, they gradually conceived the idea of starting a business together. The group decided to place recycling and sustainability at its core and invest in research and development into previous-generation synthetic carbon technology.
     
    木酢達人陳偉誠、謝惠婷、劉泰逸、鄧傑仁等人，原為大學學長、學弟妹。十年前共同投入湖口老街的社區營造，漸漸萌生創業的夢想，決定以循環永續為基礎，將上一代的製炭技術投入研發。
     
    According to Chen, this “natural brand born of the forest” began when they made combustible charcoal and biochar from discarded branches from pruned fruit trees, distilling the wood vinegar from the steam given off during the charcoal-making process. This wood vinegar was then combined with plant extracts and packaged in recyclable bottles to produce a range of wood vinegar derivatives. As the products are clean and toxin free, they can be discarded after use with no damage to the environment.
     
    陳偉誠表示，這「從森林孕育而出的天然品牌」，從回收果樹廢棄修枝、製成燃料木炭與生物炭開始，蒐集燒炭時的水煙，蒸餾成木酢液，結合植物萃取成分與可回收瓶器，研發成木酢系列產品。消費者使用後廢水無毒排放，讓乾淨的水資源回歸自然。
     
    Not only are the formulas used environmentally friendly and make it possible to re-use discarded branches and twigs from pruning trees, the charcoal and wood vinegar produced can be applied in the production of soil fertilizers and domestic cleaning products, so that the entire production process is ecologically sound.
     
    不僅產品配方對環境無毒無害，讓樹木修枝獲得再利用的機會；所生產的木炭、木酢，可以運用在復育農耕地力、家庭生活清潔需求，整個生產過程與環境共生循環。
     
    The Dawoko team has developed a range of 60 products, including therapeutic skin healing products, human and pet cleansing products and a range of domestic cleaning products. Dawoko sells an average of 3,000 products each month and also combines its offerings with a home cleaning service. The company believes in giving back to society, organizing local marketing activities, sharing their business experience and teaming up with social welfare organization the Hsiangyuan Education Center to provide job opportunities for students, such as folding shopping bags.
     
    木酢達人團隊研發出肌膚調理保養、身體清潔、寵物清潔、居家清潔等六十種品項，平均一個月銷售三千件，更結合商品和勞務，提供到府清潔服務。他們創業之餘也回饋社會，結合湖口地方活動行銷在地特色，樂於分享創生經驗，並關懷當地社福機構香園教養院，提供院生摺購物袋等工作機會。
     
    Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/06/11/2003716672
     
    更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing
     
    用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知
    5 min
  • 每日跟讀#645: Natural Gas Becomes the Climate Battleground
    每日跟讀#645: Natural Gas Becomes the Climate Battleground
     
    America’s coal-burning power plants are shutting down at a rapid pace, forcing electric utilities to face the next big climate question: Embrace natural gas, or shift aggressively to renewable energy?
     
    美國的燃煤發電廠正快速關閉，迫使電力公司面對下一個氣候大哉問：擁抱天然氣，或積極轉向再生能源？
     
    Some large utilities, including Xcel Energy in the Upper Midwest, are now planning to sharply cut their coal and gas use in favor of clean and abundant wind and solar power, which have steadily fallen in cost. But in the Southeast and other regions, natural gas continues to dominate, because of its reliability and low prices driven by the fracking boom. Nationwide, energy companies plan to add at least 150 new gas plants and thousands of miles of pipelines in the years ahead.
     
    一些大型公用事業公司，包括中西部北部地帶的卓越能源公司在內，正計畫大砍煤和天然氣的使用量，改用成本不斷下降，潔淨且豐富的風力與太陽能。但在東南部和其他地區，卻仍然是天然氣掛帥，因為裂解技術興起，造就它的可靠及低價。在美國全境，能源公司計畫在未來幾年至少增加150座新天然氣電廠以及數千英里的輸氣管。
     
    A rush to build gas-fired plants, even though they emit only half as much carbon pollution as coal, has the potential to lock in decades of new fossil-fuel use right as scientists say emissions need to fall drastically by midcentury to avert the worst impacts of global warming.
     
    雖然燃氣的碳汙染只有燃煤之半，爭建燃氣電廠熱潮湧現，卻可能就此鎖定未來數十年使用新化石燃料的態勢，而此際科學家正呼籲世人在本世紀中之前大幅降低碳排放，以避免全球暖化的最嚴重影響。
     
    “Gas infrastructure that’s built today is going to be with us for 30 years,” said Daniel Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University.
     
    “But if you look at scenarios that take climate change seriously, that say we need to get to net zero emissions by 2050,” he said, “that’s not going to be compatible with gas plants that don’t capture their carbon.”
     
    「今日建造的天然氣基礎設施將與我們為伴30年。」萊斯大學木土及環境工程副教授丹尼爾．柯恩說。他說：「檢視正視氣候變遷問題而推演出的未來可能景況，會知道我們需要在2050年之前達到淨零排放，這個目標與我們使用無法捕集碳的天然氣電廠，是彼此扞格的。」
     
    In some states, policymakers are now pushing to leave gas behind to meet ambitious climate goals. Last month, New York lawmakers passed a sweeping energy bill that calls for the state to switch to entirely carbon-free electricity sources by 2040, following states like California and New Mexico that have passed similar laws.
     
    在一些州，政策制定者正加快捨棄天然氣的腳步，以達到遠大的氣候目標。紐約州議會上個月通過重大能源法案，要求州政府在2040年之前完全改用碳零排放的電力能源，跟隨已通過類似法律的加州及新墨西哥州。
     
    Since 2005, most power companies have lowered their carbon dioxide emissions significantly, in large part by shifting from coal to gas. Coal plants have become uncompetitive with other kinds of energy generation in much of the country, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to save them by rolling back federal pollution regulations.
     
    自2005年以來，多數電力公司已顯著降低二氧化碳排放，頗大部分是靠從燃煤改為燃氣。儘管川普政府放寬聯邦汙染管制法規欲以拯救燃煤電廠，在國內很多地方，燃煤電廠已無力與其他發電方式競爭。
     
    But in a recent analysis, David Pomerantz, the executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a pro-renewables group, looked at the long-term plans of the 22 biggest investor-owned utilities. Some in the Midwest are planning to speed up the rate at which they cut emissions between now and 2030.
     
    大衛．波莫藍茲是支持再生能源的組織「能源和政策研究所」的執行長，他最近做了一項分析，檢視22家最大民營電力公司之長期計畫。中西部有些公司計畫從現在到2030年加速削減排碳。
     
    But other large utilities, like Duke Energy and American Electric Power, expect to reduce their carbon emissions at a slower pace over the next decade than they had over the previous decade.
     
    但是另有些大公司，如杜克能源公司和美國電力公司，卻預期未來10年減排的速度會比過去10年慢。
     
    “I really think gas is at the crux of it,” Pomerantz said. “You’ve got some utilities looking at gas and saying, ‘No thanks, we think there’s a cleaner and cheaper path.’ But then you’ve got others going all-in on gas.”
     
    「我真的認為天然氣是關鍵所在。」波莫藍茲說。「你已見到一些電力公司看著天然氣說『不了，謝謝，我們認為還有更潔淨也更便宜的方法。』但是緊接著你又看到另一些公司全面採用天然氣。」
     
    Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/342183/web/#2L-15113439L
     
    更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。
    5 min
  • 每日跟讀#644: Gimme a tax break: Hands off my lottery winnings
    每日跟讀#644: Gimme a tax break: Hands off my lottery winnings
     
    Winning ticket holders of Taiwan Lottery or the Unified Invoice Lottery, as the system currently stands, have to pay 20 percent income tax on winnings worth NT$2,000 and above. As the threshold has existed unchanged for over 40 years, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Shih Yi-fang has proposed a bill raising the threshold to NT$5,000. In response, Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong has promised to conduct a review and issue a report within the next three months. The ministry is expected to issue a preliminary report shortly that will detail amendments to the Standards of Withholding Rates for Various Incomes regulation. It is anticipated that this will include raising the tax-free threshold for lottery winnings from NT$2,000 to NT$5,000, coming into effect as early as December.
     
    目前彩券或統一發票中獎獎金超過兩千元就要課徵所得稅百分之二十，由於課稅門檻已超過四十年未修正，民進黨立委施義芳提案，將課稅門檻提高至五千元，財政部長蘇建榮當時允諾三個月內提出檢討報告。據了解，財政部近期將預告修正「各類所得扣繳率標準」，將中獎獎金免稅門檻從兩千元提高到五千元，最快十二月上路。
     
    During a question and answer session of the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee in early April, Shih said that although last year Taiwan Lottery scratchcards sold like hot cakes during the Lunar New Year break, due to the 20 percent tax levy, a member of the public who wins a NT$2,000 prize actually only receives NT$1,600. He gave the example of someone who spends NT$4,000 to purchase two NT$2,000 Taiwan Lottery tickets: one of the tickets wins a NT$5,000 prize, but after income tax is deducted at 20 percent — leaving NT$4,000 — and a further NT$20 of stamp duty is paid, the person is actually out of pocket by NT$20.
     
    施義芳四月初於立法院財政委員會質詢表示，過年期間刮刮樂賣得非常好，但民眾中獎兩千元就要課稅百分之二十，等於實領一千六百元；若花四千元買兩張兩千元刮刮樂，一張中了五千元，扣掉百分之二十所得稅加上二十元印花稅，還要倒賠二十元。
     
    Shih believes that since the Standards of Withholding Rates for Various Incomes has remained unchanged since 1979, an adjustment is now due. According to data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, in 1979 NT$2,000 was worth NT$4,968 in today’s money. Shih says the ministry should therefore move with the times and raise the tax-free threshold for lottery winnings from NT$2,000 to NT$5,000.
     
    施義芳認為，「各類所得扣繳率標準」自一九七九年沿用至今，已超過四十年，應有所調整；據主計總處試算系統，一九七九年的兩千元等於今年的四千九百六十八元，財政部應順應時局將中獎獎金免稅門檻從兩千元調高至五千元。
     
    Ministry officials say that the changes will not come into effect until December due to the requirement for a communication period, and because businesses may need to make adjustments to their systems
     
    財政部官員表示，由於修正後仍要一段宣導期，且業者系統可能要調整，因此預計今年十二月才會上路。
     
    Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/06/04/2003716267
     
    更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing
     
    用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。
    5 min

About All Australian Music Stories

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Celebrating the music, life and stories from the stars of the Australian music scene