Take 5 Double J

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

It’s a special Take 5 this week, as we mark 10 years of Double J! To mark our birthday, I thought it’d be fun to invite one of our biggest listeners on to Take 5. And he just happens to know about the power of radio to connect, and create a place for people no matter where we are.

Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald is in radio himself, for almost 20 years he’s been with Nova, most of it in the primo Breakfast spot. And for most of Double J’s life he’s been sliding into our DM’s to let us know how much he loves the station. Fitzy will often tell me how much he loves each Take 5, and for a while I’ve wanted to ask him to do it. 

So we did, and you’ll understand why I’ve been so keen to have him on. From Cosmic Psychos to God, this is a beautiful capture of a truly giant heart.
Cosmic Psychos - Nice Day To Go To The Pub
Courtney Barnett - Depreston
Bad//Dreems - Jack
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Memory Lane
God – My Pal

You know that question about who you’d invite to your dream dinner party? Beth Ditto is always at the top of my list. This sassy icon from the deep south grabbed my attention more than 20 years ago fronting the Gossip, and has held it ever since. From punk beginnings, to big hit bangers, gracing catwalks and the small screen, and carving out a space for those without that huge, powerful voice, she is legendary.

From day dot, Beth Ditto has been out and proud. A queer woman whose body positivity predates current conversations and whose activism makes its way into every one of her songs. The political and personal are always intertwined with Beth, and she’s always making us dance. Gossip took a break for more than a decade; most of us assumed they were done. But in 2024 they came back. With new album Real Power and plenty of fire still inside.

It gave me the chance to tick off one from the bucket list, and ask her to Take 5. What followed is more than I could have dreamed of, a capture of everything I know keeps the flames lit inside, and a beautiful connection to the power of song. Take 5 is always about our heroes becoming fans, and it was a joy to witness Beth Ditto’s fandom and her rebel songs.
George Michael - Freedom! '90
Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam
Queen - We Are The Champions
Missy Elliott - She’s a Bitch
Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl

Bri Lee is an author, journalist, and activist. You’ve probably seen her pop up on telly, in panels, and online, because in just over 5 years Bri has carved out an acclaimed career, publishing the bestselling Eggshell Skull and another two books of non-fiction. Her work has interrogated how the legal system deals with sexual crimes, the realm of eating disorders, and the class structures within education, and all of it is written through a personal prism.

In 2024, Bri turns her hand to fiction for the first time in her debut novel The Work. It’s the story of New Yorker Lally and Sydneysider Pat; two people in the art world who are not artists themselves, but trying to curate a life better than the one they came from. In everything she writes, Bri has a fascination with power. And from DC to AC/DC, you'll hear why.
Destiny's Child - Independent Women, Pt. 1
AC/DC - Back In Black
The Preatures - Yanada
Karen O & Danger Mouse - Redeemer
Chappell Roan - After Midnight

Dave McCormack has one of those voices. As lead singer of Custard, his husky tones and the band’s playful indie rock beamed out of Brisbane in the 90s. They were a happy haven from the angsty guitar scene of the time. In 1999, after 5 albums and tonnes of shows as one of Australia’s favourite live acts, Custard called it a day.

Dave McCormack would go on to play in other bands, he began composing soundtracks for film and television, and his voice would become familiar to an entirely new generation playing Bandit, the blue heeler dad in the mega hit kid’s show Bluey.

Custard reunited in 2015 and have since released another 3 albums together. In 2020, during the first wave of lockdowns, I asked Dave McCormack to Take 5. His theme was cornerstone songs; the tunes he always returns to. And the reason I want to return to this wonderful conversation, is because we’re celebrating the most famous blue heeler in the world gracing our screens once again. This time with an epic 28-minute episode of Bluey. That’s like the Oppenheimer of the Bluey universe.

So settle in for this very fun chat from the archives. And if your kids are listening, sorry for the confusion. Now you have an excuse to play them your old Custard albums.
ABBA – S.O.S.
Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
Britney Spears - Toxic
Devo – Peek-A-Boo
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue

This episode was originally broadcast in 2020.