Over 45 years Midnight Oil helped shape modern Australia. This is the definitive story of the seminal Australian rock group, tracing their origins from the politically charged atmosphere of the 1970s to their rise as global icons.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The day of reconciliation was marked by division.
00:09We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.
00:20Please welcome, Midnight Owl!
00:30We wanted to write material that hit you right in the face and say, this is the truth.
00:37You need to lend your voice to things, you can't stay silent.
00:40Even if you're pushed to the wall, for the things that you believe in, you don't give
00:48in.
00:49And I think in those days, we were just trying to stay alive.
00:52We sent the blue album to the radio stations, you know, and they didn't want to play it.
00:57They politely told us, look, we'll see you at the bottom of the barrel.
01:04The industry to us looked corrupt, completely corrupt.
01:08You know, that's not what we were like.
01:11Oh, the power and the passion.
01:16Sometimes you've got to take the heart out.
01:20The normal thing for a band to do would be to keep on towards the bright, shining lights.
01:24But instead, we went completely in another direction.
01:29We were changed forever, I think, by that experience.
01:35It did feel like, once again, throw away the rule book, start our music from scratch again.
01:41Let's get back on.
01:46This week, McKnight Oil are performing seven sell-out concerts.
01:50No Australian band has ever attracted such support.
01:58Peter was very consumed with politics.
02:06We are part of the nuclear world.
02:08And this is the monster which young people in the world inherit.
02:12It's inevitable that if you stick your neck out far enough, for long enough,
02:15someone's going to come along and try and chop it off.
02:33Sometimes you've got to take the hardest line.
02:38We are McKnight Oil.