Clinton Walker

"The idea that success is defined by money in the bank, or celebrity or some sort of attendant glamour, is ludicrous. Because in the end, the music business isn't only about hits, it's also about bodies of work, and mythical images. In the end, only the records live on." from 'Stranded', pg 404.

England in the 60's. The Pacific Northwest in the 90's. In the 70's and 80's it was Australia*, and Clinton Walker was right there in the thick of it. Part memoir, part oral history, "Stranded" is one show more of the great classics of rock literature.

bands you need in your life: The Go-Betweens, The Scientists, Warumpi Band, Laughing Clowns.

*(and new zealand, can't forget the Dunedin Sound) show less

Walker records his life-time involvement with football, beginning with his father's football career in the VFA, VAFA and finally as a country footballer in the Bendigo area during the 1950s. Walker's own career as a talented player with prominent junior club, Sherwood, in Brisbane during the early 1970s is also described. Through interviews with former players, officials and fans of elite and grassroots footy, Walker depicts the challenges, problems and successes of various clubs, alongside show more an account of the emotional effect of football involvement for fans and players. Detailed analyses of Sherwood, (QAFL), Eaglehawk (Bendigo Football League) and Colbinabbin (Heathcote District Football League) are especially interesting. The theme of the transformation of grassroots football's role as a community-binding agent, to one of purely a player feeder system for elite level football, is laced throughout this interesting narrative. show less

australian country makes sense to me in a way the american variant never well. Thelma Plum, Auriel Andrew, Vic Simms, Allan Barker. these are the names that deserve to be bigger than keith urban.