W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Judith Durham, Russell Hitchcock & Mandawuy Yunupingu: I Am Australian (1997)

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On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future. Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788.

With respect to Australia's Music Industry, we can be very proud of the contributions that our Aussie Musos have made in entertaining people from every nation with music and song, with many of our artists achieving world wide aclaim. Therefore, I would like to celebrate Australia Day by posting this wonderful Australian Anthem recorded by some of our country's best musical artists. I hope you enjoy it and have a great Australia Day !
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In September, 1997 as her Mona Lisas album was being released in Australia, Judith Durham (The Seekers) found herself back in a studio to record a new single, "I Am Australian". 
The popularity of this anthem, which Judith had already recorded with The Seekers on the 25 Year Reunion Celebration album and video, prompted EMI to ask her to join Russell Hitchcock and Mandawuy Yunupingu, respectively lead singers of the international chart-toppers Air Supply and Indigenous band Yothu Yindi, to record 'I Am Australian' as a single, with producer Charles Fisher.  
Within days of its release it had reached #17 in the Australian Top 40. For the first time since 'The Olive Tree' in 1967, Dudith's name was in the charts!

For those who don`t know much about Mandawuy Yunupingu, this great man was an artist, mentor and ambassador who galvanized Australia’s indigenous and non-indigenous people and brought contemporary Aboriginal music to the world through his group 'Yothu Yindi'. Sadly, he died last year at the age of 56. The former Australian of the Year and ARIA Hall of Famer died at his home in Yirrkala in Australia’s Northern Territory.  Yunupingu was a trailblazer who became the first indigenous Australian to be appointed a school principal and the musical group he founded went on to become Australia's most successful and highest-profile indigenous act.

Russel Hitchcock is also one of our best Aussie singers and I would place him in the same league as Farnham and Barnsy. 

This is the definitive version of what is a great, great, song and as we celebrate Australia Day today, let's pay homage to some of our great Australian Artists.  Ripped from CD in MP3 (320kps) format.
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Track Listing
01 - I Am Australian (Single Release) 
02 - I Am Australian (Instrumental)
03 - I Am Australian (Little Australian Version) 
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I Am Australian (30Mb)  
New Link 20/03/2023

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