Australia is very far from America. It’s very far from the UK. It’s very far from anywhere, really (except for New Zealand, who would probably prefer a little more distance).
What’s my point? Although the world has shrunk in the 21st century with the growth of global communications technologies turning us all into virtual next door neighbors, it’s still a long journey to actually get there, and way back in the 1950’s and 60’s, Australia may as well have been on another planet.
That distance meant their pop culture faltered when attempting to fly across the oceans. Somebody had to be the first to break the great barrier, though — it’s just a little ironic that the first Australian rock band to score a worldwide hit song was comprised of five guys not actually from The Land Down Under.
The quintet who would eventually form The Easybeats met as kids when their families all immigrated to Australia and ended up living in the same housing area. Two of the boys moved from England, one from Scotland, and two from Holland. They bonded over shared circumstances in this new land and, like most kids in the early 60’s, a love of rock & roll. The Beatles played Sydney in the summer of 1964 and The Easybeats, swept up in the excitement, started playing their first gigs shortly afterwards.
It didn’t take long for the group to conquer the continent, scoring five Top 10 hits in their adopted homeland, including a #1 in early 1966. Like every artist living in the back of beyond (relatively speaking — don’t come at me Australia), the band wanted to move up the ladder, rub shoulders with their idols, and perhaps someday become idols themselves. To do that, they needed to get back … back to where they once belonged.
London welcomed them, and The Easybeats were paired with producer Mickie Most. Having helmed classic records by The Who and The Kinks, he was the guy you wanted if you wanted to marry cutting edge rock with the pop charts. The band played Most a few of their new songs and he picked out a number called “Friday On My Mind” as the strongest potential single.
The main hook of “Friday On My Mind” actually started as a joke. The guys heard a song by popular easy-listening group The Swingle Singers and spent the day making fun of part of the vocal, singing it repeatedly and generally cracking themselves up, until at some point they realized it wasn’t so much hilarious as extremely catchy. It morphed into both a guitar riff and a vocal riff and, most importantly, it got Mickie Most’s attention.
Released as a single in late 1966, “Friday On My Mind” reached the Top 20 in the US and Top 10 in the UK, paving the way for Australian hitmakers in the 70’s and 80’s. Unfortunately, The Easybeats struggled to replicate that success over the next few years and broke up in 1969. Guitarists Harry Vanda and George Young, the primary songwriters from the group, moved back to Australia and penned a couple more big hits for other artists, but made their biggest impact by producing the first six AC/DC albums, featuring George’s brothers, Angus and Malcolm. Let there be rock!
So do the five day grind once more … with The Easybeats.
Every couple of years I implore you to play these songs I post at the full volume your eardrums and your household can withstand. They simply sound better with maximum amplitude for maximum attitude. “Friday On My Mind” shouldn’t be soft — it’s filled with longing and anticipation and barely restrained excitement, chomping at the bit to get through the grind of the work week. He wants to be with his girl! She’s so pretty! Let’s go! The chorus just explodes, a precursor to the power-pop and glam rock sounds of the early 70’s. It also seems like the song could feature in a rock opera with those backing vocals — power popera? Tonight! Tonight!!
1 2 3 o' clock 4 o' clock Rock 
First, kudos re your little homage to “Get Back”. Nicely done.
I knew none of what you just wrote here about the Easybeats and this song. I guess Most knew exactly what he was doing when he went with this little number which, btw, I’ve not thought about or listened to in 800 years. Fabulous stuff, Houston! Thanks!
I always love to work a Beatles reference in when I can! Mickie Most had an incredibly sharp ear for a hit. He was all over the UK scene in the 60’s with The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Donovan, just to name a few. A very underappreciated producer. I’m always happy to reconnect people with a song they haven’t heard in 800 years!
😂 Give or take a year or two …. but who’s counting? 😂
I remember this song…
It pops up on satellite radio occasionally, but otherwise it doesn’t really receive much play, does it? A great little rocker. Thanks for stopping by!
Houston, I reblogged this terrific post on The Elephant’s Trunk. I see Grace already found you. I hope others come by and take a look. 🐘
Thanks, Nancy. That was very kind of you. I love your elephant emoji as a symbol of your website. Maybe I’ll start doing that occasionally! 🕒 (It’s not as cool 😂)
🤣🤣
Great song. Gary Moore did a good rendition of it
Oh wow, this version rocks! I’d never heard it before. I even think the 80’s production sounds good — makes it sound massive. And being Gary Moore, of course the guitars are fantastic. Thanks for the recommendation!
I came over from Nancy’s blog. This is a great write up on a song I’ve liked ever since it came out, and have played on my own blog too.
Welcome! And thank you! I only found Nancy a few months ago when a mutual blog friend connected us so I’m very appreciative and happy that she’s introducing me to her music-loving audience.
You’re welcome. I wouldn’t have expected any less of Nancy – she is a good person. We met through the weekly Song Lyric Sunday challenge, run by Jim Adams, aka newepicauthor. You’ll find a link to it from Nancy’s latest post, and can join in from there if it appeals. It’s a good way of widening your audience and finding new blogs to follow, and I always get a good response to my posts on it.
Yes, I recognize the Song Lyric Sunday challenge from her blog, but I hadn’t yet investigated further. Thanks for the tip. And I recognize you from the comments section of Nancy’s ELO post. I’m quite jealous of your concert experience with them in the early years! I would have liked to have seen them in concert.
I think you’ll enjoy it. A lot of good music is shared there each week, and I enjoy the challenge of the themes. I theme my main weekly post too – it’s a good way of having fun with music.
That wasn’t the best gig I’ve ever been to! There was no clue on that wet winter’s night that they would become one of the biggest bands in the world!
This song put me right back into my old high school. It’s a great song, too. Thanks for another brilliant post, Houston.
I love transporting someone back in time. It doesn’t happen often in my own listening but when it does it’s magical. My mother used to play the radio all day when I was a kid and for some reason, out of the thousands of songs I heard, “Diamond Girl” by Seals & Crofts–when I hear it now–immediately takes me right back to our living room in Oklahoma in the early 1980’s. The strange and wonderful power of music.
I recently joined Spotify, and it’s transformed the face of my musical preferences. It’s strange to think just how much music never makes it to the radio. And well done to Margo, who I think is rather special anyway, for having the radio on all day.
Spotify is an incredible tool. Endless music.
And because the radio always played in our house, my mother bears all responsibility for my love of music, my wide-ranging taste, and this blog (which I only started well after she had started her own). And I’m profoundly grateful!