Take 5 Double J

Adam Hills has lived an extraordinary life. From getting his start in stand up comedy to beaming out to millions on The Last Leg and Spicks and Specks. He's been awarded an MBE and even been immortalised on an Australian postage stamp. When he’s not on stage and screen, Adam is out on the field playing disability rugby, or smashing a tennis ball. He has a boundless energy and passion for living life.

On Spicks and Specks each episode, he asks his panellists to share stories. But no one ever asks him for his, and Adam Hills has stories. It’s why I asked him to Take 5. As the beloved music quiz show returns to ABC and ABC iview, we’re taking a wander through Adam’s Hall of Fame. Settle in for laughs, tears, and a lot of valid name dropping from an absolute legend.


The Flaming Lips - 'Do You Realize??'


Little Shop Of Horrors [Soundtrack] - 'Suddenly, Seymour'


Dan Sultan - 'Nyul Nyul Girl'


Bobby McFerrin - 'Don't Worry Be Happy'


Elbow - 'One Day Like This'

Back in 1989, Neneh Cherry released her debut album. Raw Like Sushi was a smash in the UK and here in Australia. This young Swede based in London caught all of our attention, and through the 90’s she’d release two more albums before taking a breather from music. But her creative life began way earlier. With an artist mother and jazz legend Don Cherry as her stepfather, Neneh’s childhood was a life less ordinary. She split it between commune-style living in rural Sweden and loft apartments in New York, and when she moved to London as a teen, she fell in with some of that city's most creative punks – people she remains friends with to this day.

Her story is wild, which is why - back in 2019 - I invited her to Take 5. As we mark 35 years since that debut, I'm dusting this gem off to share it again with you. Settle in for a convo with one of the greats, and an extraordinary chat about the power of song.
Tanya Winley - 'Vicious Rap'
Stevie Wonder - 'Living For The City'
Frank Ocean - 'Seigfried'
Dice Ailes - 'Otedola'
Nina Simone - 'Mississippi Goddam'

Can you remember when Ill Communication first came out? If you came of age in the 90’s like me, it was a huge album. Bursting outta the gates with 'Sure Shot', with hits like 'Get it Together' and 'Sabotage'... it’s one of Beastie Boys most varied and loved albums, and in 2024 it turns 30 years old.

The sound of this album is as fresh as it was in 1994, and to mark this big anniversary I dug into the archives to dust off one of my favourite conversations of all time. The one and only Mike D. Take a trip around New York City with a fella who knows it better than most.


Notorious B.I.G. - 'Juicy'


The Strokes - '12:51'


Nas - 'N.Y. State of Mind'


ESG - 'Moody'


Wu Tang Clan - 'C.R.E.A.M.'

Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear helped shaped the sound of modern indie music. Across their five albums they layered intricate and nuanced guitar music with choirboy vocals and a whole lotta heart.

They broke through in 2006 with their second album, Yellow House, but it was 2009’s Veckatimist which took Grizzly Bear to a whole new plane and became one of the most loved albums of the decade.

To mark its 15th anniversary, I’m throwing back to a brilliant chat I had with frontman and founding member, Ed Droste back in 2018. Ed is a gorgeous human, and I have such fond memories of this conversation. With Grizzly Bear’s layered music in mind, I gave him the theme “songs that unravel.” 
Beach House - 'Master of None'
Björk - 'Army of Me'
Pavement - 'Fight This Generation'
Aaliyah - 'One In A Million'
Adele - 'Rolling In The Deep' (Jamie xx Shuffle)

This episode was originally broadcast in 2018.

Kasey Chambers is a living legend. Five number one albums, fourteen ARIA Awards, she is the youngest woman to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Kasey grew up with music. As a kid she’d travel across the Nullabor with her dad, at the end of each day the family would always gather around the campfire to sing songs. She would go on to play with the family band, but it was her 1999 debut album The Captain that was her breakthrough to a solo career that has been rich and rewarding.

That debut turns 25 this year, and to mark the anniversary I dipped into the archives for a Take 5 we captured back in 2019. We were celebrating The Captain back then, and the other musical breakthroughs Kasey had experienced through her life. I loved this chat so much; Kasey is a ray of light with her feet firmly on the ground. And hearing her talk about the songs she loves was such a gift.
Emmylou Harris - ‘Boulder to Birmingham’
Ben Harper - ‘Fight For Your Mind’
J.S. Ondara - ‘Torch Song’
Beyoncé - ‘Don't Hurt Yourself {Ft. Jack White}’
Steve Earle - ‘Copperhead Road’

This episode was originally broadcast in 2019.

Angie McMahon is one of those artists that stops you in your tracks. She caught my attention back in 2017 with 'Slow Mover' and immediately I was asking, who is this? A debut album followed, then a few years later the follow up. And her second album has taken Angie into another realm, selling big iconic rooms like the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne’s Forum several times over.

I’ve wanted to Take 5 with Angie for a while, and the ideas around her latest album seemed perfect for exploration. Light, Dark, Light Again is about cycles, and I wondered which songs had the sense of revolution for her. From Bon Iver to Big Thief, this is a rich conversation about the very pulse of life, the cycles we go through, and the music that helps us through.
Bon Iver - 8 (circle)
Sara Bareilles - Once Upon Another Time
Joni Mitchell - Circle Game (live at Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles 1974)
Janelle Monáe - Turntables
Big Thief – Not