Midnight Oil is an Australian group formed in Sydney in 1971 by guitarist Jim Moginie, bassist Andrew James and drummer Rob Hirst. Peter Garrett, the group's iconic singer, did not join them until 1976 after he was recruited following an announcement.
Originally, the group was called "Farm" and the name "Midnight Oil" would come from the expression "Burning the midnight oil" which would be supposed to evoke a person who works late in the night.
The first compositions are rather punk-hard oriented and the first album, named after the group, was released in 1978. Modest success but growing notoriety thanks in particular to the numerous concerts the group gave in the process.
A year later in 1979 released the album "Head injuries", the success was already greater. Like the album "Place without a postcard" which was released in 1981.
In 1982 the album "10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1" was released, a frankly anti-militarist and anti-nuclear album. The success is enormous, in particular thanks to the single “Power and the passion”.
They did it again in 1984 with the album "Red sails in the sunset" which reached the first place in the Australian Top40.
Two years will pass before the single "The dead heart" is released in 1986. Single committed who openly defends the cause of the Aborigines.
The year 1987 saw the release of the album "Diesel and dust" which literally exploded the notoriety of the group on a planetary level thanks to 3 flagship singles that are "Beds are burning", "Put down that weapon" and "Dreamworld "
The group enjoyed its last major successes in 1990 with the album "Blue sky mining", the message of which was once again mainly focused on ecological problems. success partly due to the titles "Blue sky mine" and "Forgotten years".
Other albums will be released later but will only experience a limited level of success...
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
• Run by night 1978
• Cold cold change 1979
• Back on the borderline 1980
• Don’t wanna be the one 1981
• Armistice day 1982
• US Forces 1982
• Power and the passion 1983
• Read about it 1983
• When the generals talk 1984
• Best of both worlds 1985
• The dead heart 1986
• Beds are burning 1987
• Put down that weapon 1987
• Dreamworld 1988
• Blue sky mine 1990
• Forgotten years 1990
• King of the moutain 1990
• Bedlam bridge 1990
• One country 1991
• Sometimes 1992
• Truganini 1993
• My country 1993
• In the valley 1993
• Outbreak of love 1993
• Land 1995 • Underwater 1996
• Surf's up tonight 1996
• White skin black heart 1997
• Cemetery in my mind 1998
• Redneck wonderland 1998
• Say your prayers 1999
• The real thing 2000
• Golden age 2001
• Luritja way 2002
• Mosquito march 2002
• No man's land 2003
• Gadigal land 2020
• First nation 2020
• Rising seas 2021
• Tarkine 2021
• At the time of writing 2022
Clips :
1978 ... first title and already first hit. Admittedly, success is limited exclusively to Australia but it is always better than nothing as they say !
1979... the group unfortunately does not manage to confirm its position as the revelation of the moment with its second title. No big deal, it's just a matter of time...
1980...this one won't do any better. It must be said that the style is not for everyone and the group has to ask the right questions about that. But they will ask themselves, that's for sure...
1981...after 2 years where nothing interesting will have happened, here they are back in this year 1981 in a form that we will qualify as average. Average but sufficient anyway to get back a little bit in the race...
1982... the return to the Australian Charts is confirmed with this title but the group still cannot pass the international stage. So they have to work again, again and again...
1982 ... the rise is linear and allows to raise the level of play year after year. Even if the number of titles produced remains low for the moment, the quality is on the rise !
1982 ... the style, like the sound, is refined slowly but surely. Success is no longer limited to Australia but is slowly spreading to the rest of the world ...
1984 ... a year of transition where the group is looking for himself...and doesn't find himself ! We will still have to wait for the big fireworks ...
1985 ... it won't be for that year either. A somewhat lacking inspiration that does not allow the group to stand out from the crowd ...
1986 ... then THIS title arrives ! A HUGE title that offers the group its first global mega-hit. A new dynamic is underway and it will propel the group into spheres hitherto unattainable for him ...
1987 ... and what about that one ! This title becomes their biggest success to date and makes them enter One Shot in the musical legend of the 80s. MAS-TER-FUL !
1987 ... difficult to compete with the 2 previous road rollers but this title still offers a new notable success for the group
1988 ... as paradoxical as it may seem, this title will have little resonance in the southern hemisphere. Much more in the North. Go figure ...
1990.. then nothing for 2 years. It is to return better at the start of the new decade. With this title particularly committed and which offers them their biggest global success. MAS-TER-FUL !
1990 ... the titles with subliminal messages are linked. A BIG 90's with a second major hit. Definitely, for a return, it's a winning return !
1990 ... the pass of 3 ! A 3rd top hit, certainly less prestigious than the previous ones but still successful
1990... after 3 titles with more than certain success, this title will pass some paleness next to it. You just have to see its level of success in the Charts at the level of the daisies to realize it...
1991... this one will not do much better. The group is in free fall on the Charts side and has regained a level of minimalist success almost equivalent to its very beginnings, that is to say. Attention danger...
1992...the year 1992 will do a little better but we can't talk about a return to grace, that's for sure. In just 3 years, the group has lost all the benefit of notoriety he had acquired at the end of the 1980s. A cruel reversal of the situation...
1993...fortunately the years follow each other but are not necessarily alike. The year 1993 will see them return to the race in an unexpected way thanks to this enormous title, a title which will allow them to win a new mega hit. That's for the good news. For the bad, it's that this mega hit will indeed be the last of the group...
1993...a good year 1993 which will unfortunately rhyme with slow, and above all, irremediable deceleration for the group. Everything that will come out afterwards will in no way be able to compete with the marvels of past years...
1993...they will continue to produce quality titles, that's undeniable. But the general public has gone elsewhere and will never come back to them...
1993 ... we still end the year on a high note with a new title of very large caliber. They still have a little bit under their feet ...
1995... the group will have to forcefully refocus on its native land and it will only be there that he will continue to exist at a high level. Too bad because he had everything he needed to stay at the highest planetary level for decades and decades...
1996...the style of the 90s has nothing to do with the one that made them touch the stars before. Hence this dropout, to say the least violent...
1996...fortunately Australia is still there to pay them some attention because it really doesn't get any better in the Charts. But how could we go so quickly from a position at the head of the race to a position at the back of the leading pack. Incomprehensible to say the least...
1997...not to mention a drastic slowdown in the number of titles released. After the year 1995, it is the turn of the year 1997 to be a mono-title year. This is getting really complicated...
1998...we're even going to have titles that will go 'through'. Nothing is going well on the planet Midnight Oil in this decade of the 90s and the group will really have to ask the right questions about its future...
1998...an end of year 1998 boosted with this title at the limit of the sound saturation. It is clear that this is not how the group risks making a resounding return to the front of the stage...
1999...a 90s decade that ended in general indifference with only one title on the counter released that year and with the most limited success. In short, without a strong questioning on their part, the next decade will be very very complicated to understand...
2000... it's a cover of the title of Russell Morris dating from 1969 which will allow them to save the furniture a little bit at the beginning of the new decade. It remains to be seen in what state of mind the group is at the start of the new decade...
2001...the adventure continues, but far from rhinestones and glitter. The group can't find a new breath and especially struggles to adapt to the latest musical trends of the moment...
2002...the level of inspiration of the titles remains too average to hope for a frank and clear improvement in the years to come. A comeback seems more and more compromised in the short term...
2002...the big problem is that they have stuck to their fundamentals from the start and this is penalizing them to the highest degree today. Without a change of style and sound as soon as possible, not much is likely to happen...
2003...and coincidentally, as soon as they make an effort to evolve, success is back. Certainly, we will not speak of planetary class success but of success all the same...
2020... when we thought the group had hung up their gloves for good after a last success, here they are back 17 years after. To do what, the future will tell us...
2020...a return that rhymes with diverse and varied partnerships. The group is having fun pushing the song with a few friends but unfortunately it won't speak more than that to the general public...
2021... anyway they haven't lost anything of their militant side. This 2020 decade will certainly rhyme with subliminal messages in songs on all the most serious issues of the modern world...
2021... what we can't take away from them is that where most bands of their time have already hung up their gloves for a long time, them are still there anyway. Isn't that the main thing ?
2022... not only are they still there and above all what they continue to offer is far from deserving. Of course, we won't see them again at the top of the Charts anytime soon, but the essential thing for them is now elsewhere...
2022...all their careers they will have tried to raise public awareness of major humanitarian and ecological causes. Rarely has a group been so invested in this mission...
2022...a beginning of the 2020 decade which sees the group find a level of inspiration worthy of the name, finally ! What's crazy is that the few bands from the 80s still present on the international music scene will experience the same return of inspiration. Incredible but true...
2022... each title is a real success and we would have liked so much that the group finds this level well before. But hey, it's never too late to do the right thing ! To be continued as they say...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :