100 Greatest Songs of the 60’s #71 The Easybeats – Friday On My Mind

Released: 1967

The sixties might’ve seen a British invasion and an American reprisal like some sort of tit-for-tat musical boxing match, but if there was one place on which everyone’s eyes were absolutely not focussed on, it was Australia. Partly this was due to logistics – at the beginning of the decade the fastest London to Sydney flight took almost 50 hours, with 8 stopovers – but also because culturally many in the northern hemisphere viewed the region to be as arid as it’s desert interior.

The Easybeats were the first to really test that theory. Formed in 1964 and fronted by Stevie Wright, they had a string of domestic hits, their second single She’s So Fine reaching the top of the Australian charts. Rumour had it that Wright would effect tears by rubbing onions in his eyes during performances of ballads like In My Book, but however they did it, after a couple of years the home market felt too small for them.

Netting an international deal with United Artists the band braved the moster trip to London, hooked up with producer Shel Talmy (The Kinks, The Who and Creation) and unleashed Friday On My Mind. A feisty R&B number released as the city’s children were donning kaftans, it felt like a probable case of wrong place, wrong time, close the door on your way out. But it’s youthful hedonism resonated, immediately justifying the gamble they’d taken. The Aussies wouldn’t arrive in any strength for years, but the advance party were making it look easy.