It’s the banned down under

Musos blow-up over Bernardi’s playlist

IT’S a scenario almost worthy of Paul Kelly’s Oz rock classic Dumb Things as the Australia Day date debate inspiring musos to try to censor who can listen to their music on January 26.

It is probably fitting Kelly’s 1989 hit is No. 24 on the same Australia Day Spotify playlist which Darren Hayes from Savage Garden, Jimmy Barnes, Powderfinger, Iva Davies from Icehouse and the Hilltop Hoods all demanded they be taken off.

Senator Cory Bernardi has drawn social media fire from several Aussie artists after putting together his Australian Conservatives Australia Day Top 100 list following Triple J’s decision to shift its Hottest 100 annual countdown from its traditional January 26 date.

Hayes was the first to react on Twitter, threatening the South Australian senator with legal action for breach of copyright.

“I do not want to be associated with you, your party or your views. Remove my music from this stunt or expect contact from my publisher,” he tweeted.

A flabbergasted Bernardi responded: “Get over yourself … music is for everyone.”

“It is gobsmackingly hypocritical that these artists want to dictate who is allowed to listen to their music depending on their political views,” he said.

Mr Bernardi said Hayes’ request to remove Savage Garden’s To The Moon and Back from its spot at No. 61 on the list was hypocritical because he was happy to leave it on the streaming service and collect royalties every time it was played.

However, Hayes rallied other musicians on Twitter by asking those included on the list: “Are you guys cool with the far right Australian Conservatives using our music to promote their agenda? Because I’m not.”

David Campbell said he would “hazard a guess” that his dad Jimmy Barnes would not appreciate Cold Chisel classic Khe Sanh being on the list.

He was right. Barnes hit the social media platform hours later: “Why would you listen to anything @corybernardi says, especially about music?”

Powderfinger wrote that it did not “support” or “endorse our inclusion” in the Australia Day countdown and “would like our music removed”.