(Cast and music): No Fixed Address Les Stevens Ricky Vonnie Bart John John Leslie Graham Chris Jones Veronica Rankine Bart Willoughby John Miller Us Mob Ronnie Pedro Carroll Wally Ronnie Ansell Peter Butler Carroll Karpany Wally McArthur (Cast): Country Guitar Player Nelson Varcoe Special thanks to The Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music University of Adelaide, South Australia "Come to me" by Nelson Varcoe "Ice Cream Man" by Van Halen All other songs are original compositions Written and Recorded by Us Mob and No Fixed Address
Music Produced by Phillip Roberts The film solved the problem of doing a conventional music underscore by a composer by instead folding the music of the two bands into the performances and the soundtrack. The music was released on an LP which saw the two bands each share a side. According to the Kent Report, the album charted at a respectable 67, all the more impressive in that the music business at the time tended to ignore Aboriginal bands outside a narrow Jimmy Little kind of demographic. No Fixed Address has a brief wiki here; while Us Mob has a brief wiki here. This site isn't aware of a digital release of the album, but the music has a cult following and good copies are easy enough to find on the internet.
Black Australia Records YPRX-1905 1981 Produced by Philip Roberts and Graeme Isaac
Side 1: No Fixed Address - Les Graham - Lead Guitar, Chris Jones - Guitar/ vocals. With Veronica Rankine - Saxophone/harmony vocals, John John Miller - Bass, Bart Willoughby - Drums/vocals/ Percussion/Didgeridoo. Side 2: Us Mob - Ronnie Ansell - Bass, Wally McArthur - Drums, Carroll Karpany - Guitar, Pedro Butler - Guitar/vocals. Recorded at Grapevine Studios, Adelaide Engineer: Jim Barber Mixed at E.M.I. Studio 301, Engineer: Christo Side 1: No Fixed Address 1. We Have Survived (3'39") (B. Willoughby) 2. Get A Grip (2'54") (C. Jones) 3. The Vision (4'09") (C. Jones) 4. Black Manʼs Rights (3'04") (B. Willoughby) 5. Greenhouse Holiday (3'06") (B. Willoughby) 6. The Vision (Version) (4'09") Side 2: Us Mob 1.Genocide (2'50") (P. Butler & W. McArthur) 2. Wrong Side Of The Road (2'48") (P. Butler) 3. Suicidal Contemplation (4'04") (P. Butler & R. Ansell) 4. Sunshine (2'43") (P. Butler) 5. Tough Living (3'21") (P. Butler) 6. Survive (2'28") (R. Ansell) Bart Willoughby's lyrics for We Have Survived run over the film's end credits: You canʼt change the rhythm of my soul, You canʼt tell me just what to do. You canʼt break my bones by putting me down,
Or by taking the things that belong to me. And you know you canʼt change that. (In the film version, the lyrics end here, there is a musical bridge, and then a repeat of the refrain, with the final line hanging over into the black - sometimes cut off in TV transmissions of the film): And you know you canʼt change that. (In other versions, the lyrics continue as follows): All the years has just passed me by, Iʼve been hassled by the cops nearly all my life. People trying to keep me so blind, But I can see whatʼs going on in my mind. And you know you canʼt change that. You canʼt change the rhythm of my soul, You canʼt tell me just what to do. You canʼt break my bones by putting me down, Or by taking the things that belong to me. The lyrics for the Bart Willoughby reggae-influenced song which is performed by No Fixed Address near the start of the film, as the
police arrive to disrupt the concert: I am a black, black man And I need to be recognised in this wretched world For we are getting brainwashed And the people forgetting ʻbout our rights So all you black people, You gotta fight for your rights You gotta fight for your rights. Thereʼs a lot of things that are trying to stop you And thatʼs racism, and the cops And the government which is buggered But we have learnt within our soul, within our soul And that is the land controls you. You donʼt control it You donʼt control it Fight for your rights, Fight for your rights. (Cutaway to two police cars arriving outside the hall in Port Adelaide, covered by a musical bridge) I am a black, black man And I need to be recognised in this wretched world For we are getting brainwashed And the people forgetting ʻbout our rights So all you black people, You gotta fight for your rights Youʼve gotta fight for your rights, Got to fight for your rights, Fight for your rights...