ASIO PERSON OF EXTREME INTEREST INVOLVED IN AUSTRALIAN CALYPSO AFFAIR

 

 From  unexpected   and   unusual  sources - as  far away as  New York -   intelligence gathered   by  our spies  about   the   late Communist   author ( Power  Without  Glory, The  Unlucky  Australians , But  the  Dead  Are  Many  , etc.  ) ,  composer , humorist ,  mug  punter  , Frank  Hardy  , has  filled  out  one  of  our   large files .    A  visit to  a  Townsville  op  shop   turned  up   the above   Rolf  Harris  45  record  which,  surprisingly , contains  a   Frank  Hardy  calypso  song , Sydney  Town ,  on  the   flip  side  .

   

The   story   behind   the   tune  is   noteworthy .   On   being  presented  with  a  record of calypso  music  in the l960s , when  Harry Belafonte  made   world   hits  like  the  Banana  Boat  Song , Hardy  liked the  message of    workers   fighting   against   the  aristocrats in  Kingston Town , Jamaica .   In  Sydney ,  Hardy     frequented  The Troubador  where  folk   singers  performed ,  Gary  Shearston    prominent .  Hardy   penned   Sydney  Town ,  a  play  on  Kingston Town ,  and   gave  it  to   Shearston   to  play .  Shearston  liked   the  song,  but made  several  changes. Others  also   provided   additional  lyrics ,including  a   verse  referring  to  a visit  to King’s Cross,   until  Sydney  Town  became  a  collective  effort  sung  and  recorded  by    Shearston  in  his   Australian  Broadside   Album.

 

 To  set the record  straight  about the  origins  of  Sydney Town, the   Australian Tradition of  May  1964 ran the  following:  This is the  original version of  Sydney Town as written  by  me.  Folk singers  and  others who  add  new verses and  variations  do  so  at   their  own risk. Frank Hardy.

(Chorus)
The more they try to keep me down
The better I live in Sydney town,
The more they try to keep me down
The better I live in Sydney town.

Great grand-daddy walked along the street with a
ball and chain around his feet
and that's the way they'd like to see me walk
just to give the toffs a chance to talk.

They rob me in the Parliament
They charge me half my pay for rent
They heard I was living on the Rocks
So they pulled it down for building blocks.

The beer's gone up in the public bar
And I can't afford a motor car
But I keep six bottles In the fridge,
And pay no toll on the harbour bridge

The jockies and the bookies cheat,
The odds-on favorites all get beat
So just to show them I'm no fool
I go to Thommo's Two-up school

They all throw heads when I back tails:
I got no dough to 'bank on the Wales'
But I'll get a job, it'll suit fine
On  the Eastern Suburbs railway line.

If I go on strike, I'll have good cause,
Then I'll get hit with a Penal Clause,
But I don't care, let the bosses rage,
I'll fight for a rise in the basic wage.

The monopolies can all arrange
To rig their shares on the Stock Exchange
Through  lottery  tickets with my spouse
I've  got  shares in the Opera House.

They won't lot you win on poker machines
They show rubbish on the  T.V. screens
So  for entertainment  I  go for
Australian   songs  at  the   Troubador.

In 1967 , Gary Shearston decided to go to America to further his career ;  US Customs , however,  refused him entry because  his ASIO file  showed he had objected to  the Vietnam War and was  involved with the Federal Council for  the Advancement of  Aboriginal and  Torres Strait Islanders. After  cooling his heels in London for a year, he made  it  to America but his performances on the East Coast  over  four years  were  restricted . Tours  in England  and  on  the  Continent  followed  .

After an absence of  22   years, he  returned to Australia In 1990 , his song, Shopping on a Saturday, won  the   Bush Ballad of the Year  award  at  the  1990  Tamworth  Awards. He also wrote The Newcastle Earthquake, used  to  promote the Lord Mayor's  appeal  for the victims of the Newcastle earthquake. Then  he  became  an  Anglican  priest  in  July  1992 .

After a period of saving sinners, he returned to folk singing , turned up at  the launch  by  Australia's  foremost  pop  artist , the  late   Martin Sharp, of  the Greenpeace Australia founder, photographer Jon Lewis's book on Kiribati,  where  global  warming  was  the subject of  a song  he sang. * The ASIO  file on Hardy  is said to have run to 1170 pages  and  will get  a mention in the forthcoming SBS series , Persons  of  Interest ,starting January 7.