When we starting mulling over the state of the music world with Cal from The Southern River Band, we were hardly surprised to find he was a man of classic taste.
He was even kind enough to share what he voted for in this year’s Hottest 100. Peep those selections for yourself below. After seeing ’em, we had to ask him a few questions.
What did you vote for in this year’s Hottest 100? Bet it wasn’t these 10 bangers. Join The Southern River Band’s Callum Kramer as we dive into 2018’s hardest hits.
HAPPY: Hey Cal, been a while. What’s keeping you going these days?
CAL: G’day HHHHappy! It has indeed, too long I reckon. The fact there’s no extra ‘H’ in your name tells me you’ve aged well. Ya know what? I’ve got no idea. I’m doing the same shit, but more of it. If I were a betting man, which, obviously I am not, due to the severe lack of any form of currency to bet with, I’d say it’d be a combination of a determination so fierce, it’s rivalled only by the will to survive, and thrive, in an ever changing landscape that more often than not prevents exactly that from happening. That and pro wrestling, pro wrestling’s fucking sick.
HAPPY: Looking back at these votes, it’s really been a hell of a year. How long did you spend knocking it down to just 10?
CAL: Hasn’t it just? I know a lot of people will instantly write this off as ‘spanning multiple decades’, but we don’t need those kind of people hanging around do we HHHHappy? It’s a conceptual list for a modern world and I for one embrace it. I construct these lists every year and hand-deliver them over the internet to the masse, as a sort of gift to the people. Coincidentally, this list took exactly 364 days to make, and one day to post.
HAPPY: Who do I have to talk to regarding a one-off Southern River Band gig with this setlist?
CAL: G’day this is Cal speaking! I like where this is going and wholeheartedly encourage it. Please feel free to email [email protected] for any booking enquiries, and just a friendly reminder to include your name, contact number, and credit card details.
HAPPY: Bummed out that none of the tracks made the countdown in the end. How’d you pull up on the big day?
CAL: Yeah phwoar, it was a biggun iItell ya what! Our mate Kurt’s got this hell sweet property up in Kelmscott as ya get up the hill a bit, few chooks, dogs, birds that can actually fly, heapsa spiders, he’s even got a river running through his backyard for fucks sake. It’s paradise. We managed to get a dingy down the hill somewhat safely and four of us got enough momentum to slide it off the edge and into the river, only to quickly realise we had nowhere to go. There’s also this kick-arse new game called Kiss or Fight that’s exactly how it sounds, and you’ll be HHHHappy to know everyone in Thornlie and its surrounding suburbs is embracing the love as there wasn’t a single punch thrown.
HAPPY: What’s the SRB’s plan to infiltrate the Hottest 100 from the inside in 2019?
CAL: Well, now it’s not everyday ya get to quote Fred Durst, but, “keep on rollin”! Being that Perth is so fucking far away from… well… everywhere, it makes it a little harder to be able to get out on the road, and maintain a somewhat normal existence. Thankfully though, we don’t have to worry about the second one and we’ll being touring Australia as extensively as inhumanely possible AND releasing heaps of new tunes! So in regard to the 100, I like to think of it as a musical storming of the gates!
HAPPY: Shit yeah. Anyway, take it away. Let’s hear why you chose these hits.
Van Halen – Hot For Teacher
Probably my favourite song ever. The greatest intro to a song ever, the best video clip ever, a band at the top of their game! Every single time I hear David Lee Roth let out one his screams I get this real nice tingly feeling too, so that helps.
Shawn Michaels Theme – Sexy Boy
He thinks he’s cute, he knows he’s sexy – The Showstopper, The Main Event, The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.
Kid Rock – American Bad Ass
Don’t fucking judge me internet. Every now and then the 9-year-old me rears his hair-spiked-only-at-the-front-ed head.
AC/DC – Ride On
The most vulnerable you’ll ever hear Bon Scott, and one of the most underplayed AC/DC songs by people I know. Mal and Angy as a unit are second to none. They compliment each so well you’d think one of them was a parent and the other was a kid who just won his or her first participation award.
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Tuesday’s Gone
Train roll on. The second song on their first album. Absolutely amazing, a climatic masterpiece. The ultimate song to ever walk away from something to.
Cold Chisel – My Baby
Mossy singing like a bird over a song that Phil Small came up with in the toilet of the studio. Joe Camilieri brings it on home with an absolute ripper of as sax solo.
David Lee Roth – Just Like Paradise
This is the 1980s in song form, by the man who I personally believe actually invented the 1980s. Just add a highway and a convertible and fire it up!
Steely Dan – Reelin’ In The Years
This is a song made by smart music people with lots of fancy music stuff and when I talk about it all the highly trained smart music people I know think I know more than I really do. Can’t not dance to it either.
Ray Lovechild – Christmas Time In Thornlie
Ah, no comment. It’s on Soundcloud and revolutionised a suburb. Whaddya know, there was a comment.
Eagles – New Kid In Town
Arguably the greatest ever songwriters in the history of American music. It instantly sets the scene, as in visually, you just get this movie that starts playing in your head as Glenn starts singing. An overwhelming sense of familiarity.
But seriously, that was really fucking hard to try and describe all them songs by writing it down and not going into an essay on each. So to quote another music icon “Do yourself a favour” and give all these tunes, and all of The Southern River Band’s, a play next time you’re having a – well next time you do anything really, and we can discuss them all at length next time!
Thanks heaps for having us HHHappy, always a pleasure, never a chore!
Cal
