The Newcastle Song

"The Newcastle Song" was a 1975 hit for musician and comedian Bob Hudson. It poked fun at the working-class youth culture of the City of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. The song was recorded in front of a live audience in 1974. It became a number-one single in both Australia and New Zealand.[1][2]

"The Newcastle Song"
Single by Bob Hudson
from the album The Newcastle Song
B-side"Ventriloquist Love"
Released1974
LabelM7 Records
Songwriter(s)Bob Hudson
Producer(s)Chris Neal

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 1

Year-end charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 8


Theme

The story-line concerns a young man called Norm who goes out with his mates looking to pick up women in Newcastle's main street, Hunter Street, in their "hot FJ Holden". They encounter a young lady and her Hells Angel date outside the "Parthenon Milk Bar". There is a verbal exchange between Norm and the Hells Angel before Norm slips away during a break in the traffic.

Album

"The Newcastle Song" was released as a single and on the eponymously named album.

Side One

1. J.L. Budgerigar (Jonathan Livingston Budgerigar) - Musical narrative parody of Jonathan Livingston Seagull

2. Living it Up on the Dole - A comedy about living by claiming unemployment benefits under multiple names.

3. R Certified Song - A song about a girl with a well endowed bottom.

4. Clarissa - A song about teenage acne.

5. Motor Car Song - A song about youth and car obsession.

6. Christened My Dog - A song about what a wanna-be does to try to fit in.

7. Librarian Lady - A song stereotyping women by their occupation.

8. Teenage Cremation - Youth, Cars and Road Deaths.

Side 2

1. Who's Your Friend.

2. I Never Was Born Like Mel.

3. The Girls In Our Town - A song about the trials and tribulations of young women.

4. The Newcastle Song - The core of the record; a comedical reflection of teenage growing pains in Newcastle.

5. No More Songs.

Hudson also wrote Girls in our Town, a more serious look at the position of young women in towns like Newcastle, which was performed by Margret RoadKnight. Hudson later went on to work at the ABC's 2JJ radio station in Sydney as a DJ, after it started broadcasting in 1975.

Historical Inaccuracies

Disappointed tourists soon discovered that the Parthenon didn't exist on Hunter Street in 1974, Originally located in Pacific St, Newcastle East. It was a generic name used to cover all the Greek Milk Bars that were extremely popular in Newcastle at the time of the song. However, before long, an entrepreneur sensed an opportunity and the Parthenon Milk Bar opened for business in Hunter Street west, near the Cambridge Hotel.[5] That Parthenon Milk Bar did become very popular with late night revellers in Newcastle and survived in Hunter Street west into the 1990s as a local business.

In 1975 the singer Maureen Elkner (performing as "Maureen Elkner and Normie") released the single "Rak Off, Normie!" [6] which told of the encounter from the young lady's point of view and her later life of regret with the Hells Angel after spurning Norm's advances.[7]

References
  1. "Australian (David Kent) Weekly Singles Charts from 1975". Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  2. "Bob Hudson - Newcastle Song (song)". charts.nz. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 427. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. "Hunter Street had the Parthenon Milk Bar and The Astoria". Newcastle Herald.
  6. "Rak Off, Normie!', Maureen Elkner and Normie. M7 Records, 1975.
  7. "Lyrics Playground". Retrieved 15 June 2018.


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