Sunday 3 May 2020

See Hear Podcast Episode 33 - Oz: A Rock 'n' Roll Road Movie aka 20th Century Oz




September 2016

A country girl hits her head and ends up in a dream in the Land of Oz She is gifted a pair of red shoes by the good fairy and goes off on a journey to see The Wizard accompanied by three friends – one with no brain, one with no heart, and one with no courage. Sounds familiar? Welcome to 1976’s “Oz: A Rock and Roll Road Movie”aka “20th Century Oz” for American release.


In 1976, Australian music film clip pioneer Chris Lofven adapted the Wizard of Oz to a (then) contemporary setting in rural Victoria and Melbourne. In recent years, the term “Ozploitaion” has been appropriated to define certain films of this period, and it seems that Oz has been overlooked. See Hear wish to bring it back to public awareness.


Bernie, Tim and Maurice welcome Mike White of The Projection Booth back to the show to discuss whether the adaptation was successful, the Australian film renaissance of the Seventies, andthe great Australia versus America debate on whether to compact a word with “ie”or “er”(listen to the show - it will make sense). Mike was also kind enough to allow us to include a snippet of a recent interview he did with actor Bruce Spence which reveal his recollections on the making of the film.


Also, Bernie reveals his love of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.


But wait…..there’s more. Maurice had the great fortune to speak with Ian McFarlane, music journalist and the author of the“Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop”. Ian is a wealth of knowledge about anything to do with Australian rock music through its entire history. They discuss the music of “Oz”, the filming locations, Ross Wilson (the film’s main music contributor), Chris Lofven’s music background and previous short films and much more.


See Hear want to thank Mike and Ian for giving so willingly of their time and knowledge to the show.

Special note: All sound problems prevalent in the previous episode have been ironed out.


You can (and SHOULD) download the Projection Booth  from iTunes or http://projection-booth.blogspot.com


2017 will see the new edition of Ian’s Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop”. He is currently a contributor to http://addictedtonoise.com.au


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Download episode 33 from here.


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