The Beat Generation

In this first episode of season 2 of The Beat Generation, Shayne Brian chats with Oz Rock Music Legend, Graham 'Buzz' Bidstrup.

There are not many artists who can say they have looked into the infamous little black book that Bon Scott wrote all of his songs in, or start a band that emerged out of a TV Show, decades before the likes of Idol or The Voice, and certainly very few who can say they have produced some of the legends in Australian music history, yet this man can claim all that and more.

From sharing the stage with one of the greatest bands of 70’s and 80’s, the Angels, through to the heart felt legacy left by Indigenous artist Jimmy Little that has since consumed his years in later life, Graham Buzz Bidstrup has been a manager, a drummer, a guitarist, a producer and an acclaimed songwriter.

A friend to music greats like Bon Scott, Doc Neeson, Chris Bailey and James Reyne, Buzz trained under the legendary eyes of Albert Records, Vanda & Young and he is the first guest in the brand new season of The Beat Generation.

Find out more about Buzz Bidstrup at https://themusicbuzz.com.au/

Songs in this episode include:

GANGgajang - The Sounds of Then

The Angels - No Secrets

The Stetsons - Train In My Head

Mondo Rock - Chemistry

Australian Crawl - Reckless (Don't Be So...)

Check out our Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/MusicThatChangedTheWorld

and our Instagram page... https://www.instagram.com/thebeatgenerationpodcast/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's edition of the Beat Generation we look at the Doomsday Clock and the bands that are Fighting For Our Future. We also speak with Birds of Tokyo's Adam Weston about the song Empires. As the Beat Generation bands sing their songs of freedom, the Doomsday Clock inches even closer to midnight. This week we take a look at the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, and the bands that are desperately fighting for our future.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Beat Generation we take a look at the New Protest Era, focusing on the 80's and 90's. We speak with Shane Howard from Goanna and get into some Midnight Oil. The late 70’s and early 80’s seemed a lifetime from the atrocities of Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement, a dim and very dark past.

The artists influenced by the Beat Generation became legends and their music, inspiration for the problems that the world now faced. The Vietnam War replaced by Middle East conflict; the freedom that the children of the revolution had was replaced by anti-gay rallies; the black civil rights movement replaced by land rights issues; and the environmental crisis in the water began to impact the rest of the environment and mounted even bigger problems like holes in the ozone layer.Music had become the flag that was flown by the beat generation artists and it was up to the artists to be the voice of change.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Beat Generation we look at the Rise of Punk

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Beat Generation we take a look at songs with an environmental message. Later in the show we catch up with one of Australia’s greatest environmental artists from the 1980’s, Shane Howard from Goanna.

While many Beat Generation artists were campaigning against the fighting in Vietnam, another war was being fought, an environmental one and it was coming from a direct attacker it was a cocktail of urban sprawl, technology, poverty and ecological disasters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week the Beat Generation looks at the rise of reggae and the iconic artists that help build a genre that is rooted deep in the beliefs of the Beat Generation although not influenced by the 50's writers. The original Beat Generation poet, Allen Ginsberg and the father of reggae Bob Marley were similar iconic figures of their time yet they seemed poles apart. Both helped change the world perspective on people rights and freedom of speech.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The effect of The Beat Generation was being felt across the world throughout the indigenous community as the 60’s protests against white supremacy gained momentum. In the early 70’s violence was spilling into the streets of the Bronx, gangs that were formed to clean up the streets of growing drug problems and restore order eventually turned to violence over cultural and gang land territory. Something had to be done to change the focus...and hip hop was the key.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 80’s seemed a long way from the 50’s Beat Generation and their ideals of revolution and a new way of living. The ideal world that Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs wrote about was coming seemed to be coming to fruition. The collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 lead to the end of the cold war two years later. Yet the continuing war in Iran and Iraq coupled with the Ethiopian Civil War presented the polar opposite to the peace that existed elsewhere.

During the protest of Vietnam and the civil rights movement, music played an important part in getting the message across and some would say that artists like Dylan, Seger and Baez were instrumental in swaying public opinion. Music had become the medium that the public looked up to for stability and security.

And the 80’s generation needed music to step up again even more than ever.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Beat Generation, the original writers of the 50’s, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and, to some extent, Gregory Corso, were the typical example of white middle class America, yet they wrote about suffering and the 40’s post war counter culture that was rising. At the time how could they have known that their words would not only serve as an inspiration to a generation of music, it would become the foundation for many movements that would challenge the norm of the American middle class and have a ripple effect out to the rest of the world.

It was the end of the 50’s, The Freedom Riders had yet to travel across America and JFK was still working up to the delivery of his famous speech in Washington. The musicians at the time, white or black that had been inspired by his words and the music of the Freedom Riders came to offer their support. Suddenly the black tones of gospel blues and roots were given a voice and the label, Motown, that had arisen to promote black artists. It was time for the Rise of Soul

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 60’s era of protests, freedom of speech and free love started with a bang and when Woodstock happened a shift was occurring. Bands that we thought would be together forever like the Beatles parted ways. Amongst the tears and cries of anguish, artists had embraced their spiritual independence and the impact of this provided a lot of elements for a new form of music – progressive rock.This week on the Beat Generation we dive into the 70's we look at the 60’s bands that restructured themselves and formed groups that would look more at the messages, interweaving their spiritual belief into their music and throwing the standard song times out the door in the process. It was all about the music and the message. This was the Rise of Progressive Rock.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.