No Rock And Roll Fun

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND - IT'S NOT QUITE WAR: There's been quite a spat between Australia and New Zealand this week, after unlovable Australian PM John Howard anmnounced that it would be a cracking idea to have John Farnham play Gallipoli. Yes, that Gallipoli. The idea of having John Farnham booming out with a "music and light show" at the memorial service marking 90 years since the British cheerfully and pointlessly forced the ANZAC troops into a slaughter pit didn't go down particularly well, especially with the New Zealand government. NZ PM Helen Clark snorted that not only was the idea itself rubbish, but that she'd never heard of Farnham.

The Australian media have responded to that with incredulity: How could she never have heard of Farnham? He recorded the best selling album in Australia of all time! He was an Australian of the Year, dammit. Undercover went as far as to call Clark "an ignorant old frump", although before you start calling someone ignorant, boys, you might want to check how you're spelling the name of the NZ Prime Minister there. Interestingly, they insist that Clark is old and out of touch for not having heard of Farnham, but since his one international hit was in 1987 and at the moment he's on a tour with the none-more-post-menopausal Tom Jones, it's more likely that she's just too young and trendy to be able to recall You're The Voice.

music new zealand australia world war one john farnham gallipoli