The Saints – River Deep, Mountain High (1977)

Okay, my history of Australian music seems to be going a little awry.

Following my last two posts featuring the peerless Go-Betweens and Nick Cave, some Australian types are emailing in (jamming the latter day switchboard – whatever that is) suggesting that I am not doing proper justice to the emotional complexity of the (post) modern, red-blooded Australian male.

I’ve consulted my lawyers and, although this blog has previously drawn attention to the genius of AC/DC (here) and, err, the Cosmic Psychos (here), the legal guys are of the view that I might be tarring too many Aussies with an “overly sensitive” brush and be on pretty thin ice.

As such, I have been advised, on legal grounds, that I need to move a couple of rungs down the (musical) evolutionary ladder to restore the reputation of a nation. This I more than happy to do in what I see as a “win-win” manouevre.

The Saints were one of the great punk bands of the 1970s and predated the Pistols and the Clash (there are some fantastic bootleg recordings from 1974). This track is the definitive cover version of Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep Mountain High”. This is the blueprint for how to take a classic and improve on it – a fantastic track!