History De-mystified Conway

A hero is someone who performs acts of bravery, often for glory or adulation. But a quiet hero is someone who does great deeds for the common good, without seeking glory. Cyril Brudenell-White is such a man.

The Australian Rugby League's State of Origin competition is iconic, but how did the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the South West Pacific during WWII, US General Douglas 'Big Mac' MacArthur, and his ego have an impact on this competition. In Part One of this two-part podcast we look at the history of rugby league before we see how an American general caused it to come into being.

The song 'Flame Trees' by iconic Aussie rock band Cold Chisel, is arguably Australia's greatest rock ballad for a number of reasons. In this three part series we look at the background of the song and its genesis and also the troubles and trials the band had during its decade of successes and failures.

Australia's greatest rock ballad is Cold Chisel's 'Flame Trees' which, along with their song 'Khe Sanh' bookends their remarkable decade as an Australian rock and roll bellwether.This episode, the first of three, looks at the history of Cold Chisel during their climb and summit of Australian rock from 1973 'til 1983 when the band imploded... but not before releasing 'Flame Trees'.

It has been called Australia's unofficial national anthem, but it's a song about a Vietnam War veteran with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, addicted to drugs, infidelity, prostitutes and is factually inaccurate and was banned from airplay. So how did a song that was named after an American battle in Vietnam at which no Australians fought become such an icon of Australian culture? Listen to this podcast to find out.

The song 'Convoy' is a great snapshot into American culture in general and the trucking sub-culture in particular. But what do all the terms mean and why was the song so popular? In this fascinating insight into the world of the 1970s, we look at what the song's lyrics mean and how they came about to create a world-wide hit that reached No 1 in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and No 2 in the UK.