No Fixed Address

by Donald Robertson

No Fixed Address appeared on the Australian rock circuit in the early 1980s with a set of songs that gave voice to the truths of their own lives. While everyone grooved to their reggae beat, whites were often stunned by their power and pride while Indigenous people whispered, ‘Can they say that?’ Juggling support for the burgeoning land rights movement with the demands of the commercial music industry, they were the first Aboriginal band to release an album, appear on Countdown and tour overseas. No Fixed Address continues to perform and will tour in support of the book in 2023.

Genres: Music

456 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2023

Reviews

[Jade O'Donohue · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In the beginning of No Fixed, it was a lovable, commercial band. We looked up to the Beatles, we looked up at Skyhooks, we looked up to Cold Chisel and we wanted to be in that commercial scene. Then we started getting booked, gigs and they cancelled us. So openly. "That's an Aboriginal band. We don't want them here."
So, we turned political. When you're talking political, that's singing the truth. So, what's so political about it? We sing the truth of our lives. And it's taken us all the way to a brand-new day, as they say. Now we've got a laneway named after us.
So, we've scarred the earth forever. And I love it.” - Les Graham

https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/com...

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Australian rock bio ever written. They may not have been the best or most innovative Aussie band, but definitely the most important. Every single gig in the ignorant landscape of 70s and 80s Ozzie pub rock wasnt just a struggle to be accepted by other musos and audiences, it was a struggle just to be recognised as people in their own land. Along the way they had some truly remarkable experiences and if they did a record with Denis Bovell instead of some deadshot from LRB, could have been Australia's First Nations answer to AC/DC. Read this book and see the band while they still tread the earth with us!

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meticulously detailed, but oh so dry.

[gus mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

pioneering band.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Australia Day is referred to as 'Invasion Day' seven times in the book. 'Books' could not have existed, of course, without said 'invasion'. Or roads. Or guitars. Or reggae. Or No Fixed Address.
As the incoming Governor General Samantha Mostyn has referred to Australia Day in the same way, No Fixed Address is now mainstream. A band demanding a similar agenda to the current leftist cult running Australia.
Thus the book has such terms as 'fun Maoists', 'Maoist activist group', and 'lefties'. 'Fun Maoist' makes slightly less sense to me than 'Genuine Gestapo' or 'Sincere SS torturer' but then, hey, No Fixed Address toured East Germany.
As someone who lived with and worked with aboriginal people in Australia's outback before No Fixed Address was formed, I found their lack of comprehension comprehensive. Casual racisms, like that uttered by a band member, 'Youse are a bunch of c...ts' about white people spoke volumes. I spent more than a week living outside with alcoholic aboriginals. None of them ever sank as low. No Fixed Address wasn't a class act.