MusicDeclan Affley

Additional Music Peter SullivanEngineered by Roger SavageIndustrial Percussionand strange noises Greg PeranoAdditional Synth. noises Tlm Smoke

As might be expected of a director that at the time shot music videos for a living, there's an unusual amount of music in Strikebound, much of it of a traditional folk music kind.

Songs included the traditional The Blackleg Miner, sung by Declan Affley, which has its own wiki here, and can be found on YouTube in a variety of performances.

There's also the whimsical The Lambton Worm, also sung by Affley, which has a wiki here.And at the end of the film, there's another traditional song sung by Affley, The Miner, lyrics at Folkstream here.

The film also celebrates brass band music, both community and Salvation Army:

• The Wonthaggi brass band is on hand to unit street marchers to the tune Victoria;• The Dead march from Saul (Handel) is played to accompany the funeral cortege as it

makes its way to the cemetery;• The Salvation Army rallies support outside the Toora pub with I Believe we Shall Win;• The community joins in with union leader Idris Williams (Hugh Keays-Byrne) in the

traditional song Cockles and Mussels;• The humorous juxtaposition of The Salvation Army singing the Welsh anthem

Rhyfelgyrch Gwyr Harlech (Men of Harlech) is up against Welsh union leader Idris Williams speaking next door for the Communist Party. This gives way to another musical feud, with the Sallies singing Onward Christian Soldiers, while the miners next door take up the song The People's Flag is Deepest Red (The Red Flag has a wiki here);

• Other traditional music includes a tin whistle perking up the miners' spirits during a football playing break, and an aeolian pipe as Agnes looks in the mirror and wonders whether to wear her hair down.

In an interview in Cinema Papers, August 1984, director Richard Lowenstein had said that he had attempted to construct the film in rhythms, though initially it started off as a "no music" concept:

I felt it should be a fairly industrial soundtrack, on a wider and more complex scale than most films. It needed thinking through very carefully so that the sound worked with the images and the dramatics of the film. We always thought that there would be no music, and that the sound would have to fulfil that role. For example, in Mad Max 2 all the dramatic points are punctuated by huge symphonic bursts and I am pretty sure that a musical score like that wouldn't have worked on Strikebound. We had to think of ways in which the soundtrack could heighten the dramatic points.We brought Dean (Dean Gawen, sound editor) in pretty early. Given the delays in starting production, we had been talking to him for about six months. So he had a fair amount of time to look at the script and think about the sound. Because he was doing both sound recording and sound editing, Dean was like a sound designer.Dean Gawen: I wanted to do the film for two reasons: because of the editor, and because

Richard and I have similar taste in music. I had thought about the sound a lot, but it was very much from a musical point of view.Richard Lowenstein: We tried to structure the film in rhythms. There was the synch sound and there was the music, which we saw as sound effects. We were very influenced by others on the crew and by what we were playing on location, which was a very rhythmical type of soundtrack, a lot of drums and things like that. I think that tied into one of the guys we worked with on the soundtrack, Greg Perang (sic, actually Perano, as in the film's credits), the percussionist from Hunters and Collectors. He gave us a lot of ideas about actual sounds. We spent a bit of time working out how we were going to fill in for the lack of conventional music.A question which is often put to me is, "Who did the music?" We have to explain that we used the sound effects as music. And the quality of Declan Affley's song just blended in. We knew the sort of feel we wanted. Throughout the editing and the track laying, I was trying to bring it down to what I wanted. I was trying a few composers out and talking to a few people and it was always, "No, it's not right." We tried working with a Fairlight but that wasn't right. We ended up coming back to something basically very simple …

Here's how the opening and closing works, with interviews, and with music by Declan Affley:

Opening:

Lines spoken by Wattie and Agnes Doig:

Agnes Doig: When I came to Australia, I saw long queues of people waiting for jobs, and that was in 1928. When they couldn't get work in Melbourne, they tried many places. Well, life was pretty grim. I wasn't interested politically … at that period.  I did all my severe learning in Korumburra

Wattie Doig: Well nobody I think could realise the spirit of defeatism that was in the trade union movement. Err, as I say, the waterfront workers were defeated, the timber workers were defeated, the miners were defeated, and er there was a whole air of pessimism, there wasn't any leader giving any lead anywhere, and plus the fact of course that in the midst of a capitalist crises of over-production nobody just knew what to do about it all ... 

This segues into a song sung by Declan Affley, without accompaniment, which it seems might be original to him, over shots of poor people during the Australian depression, and then coal miners at work in the time of horses in the pits:

For many long years nowWe've all done our bestAnd we sent out the coal To the north, south and westWe heard of the rumoursThat trouble was dueIt has all come to pass nowAlas they were true

Oh farewell to you SunbeamI know your roads wellYour work has been goodAnd your work has been hellIt's out of your high spiky gates I will strollFare ye well to you Sunbeam

You're a dirty old hole …

Main title follows, and then the film moves into the coal pit.

Closing:

At the end of the show after a closing title notes the miners finally won the strike, Declan Affley returns with a song, over shots of miners mounting a big demonstration in the streets, and being filmed by Cinesound's cameras:

And so he goes onDay in and day outTo toil for his life's daily breadHe's off to the mineIn the rain, hail or shineThat his dear ones at home might be fedWith his calico bag and his old flannel shirtPants with the strap round the kneeHis boots watertightAnd his lamp all a-lightHis crib and his billy of tea ...

Agnes Doig: I'm proud to be a member of the working class. They've done heroic things, and they'll do more heroic things …

End titles follow. 

Declan Affley:

Declan Affley appears within the film as a Welsh folk singer, which in reality he was.

Affley was much appreciated within folk and leftist circles, and has even attracted the gravitas of a biography in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, here, reproduced below:

Declan James Affley (1939-1985), musician, was born on 8 September 1939 in Cardiff, Wales, son of James Affley, labourer and amateur musician, and his wife Winifred Anne, née Samuel. Declanʼs Catholic working-class parents were both descended from Irish families. He began learning the clarinet when he was 8 years old and later enrolled in the Royal Welsh College of Music. He attended several Catholic schools and maintained that they `caused no permanent damageʼ.Having joined the British merchant navy at the age of 16, Affley arrived in Sydney in 1960. The folk-music movement was just beginning and he sang in what he referred to as `low divesʼ such as the Royal George pub. By this time, he had abandoned the clarinet in favour of the guitar, banjo and tin whistle. In 1967 he started playing the fiddle and in 1970 the Irish (uillean) pipes. Devoted to his craft, Affley is best remembered for his singing and guitar (his `harpʼ) accompaniments. His voice was deep, resonant and powerful.On 11 December 1967 at the office of the government statist, Melbourne, he married Colleen Zeita Burke, a stenographer and poet. Working as a boat-builder, Affley lived (1967-69) in Melbourne and performed at the Dan OʼConnell Hotel and at Frank Traynorʼs folk and jazz club. In 1969 he founded a bush band, `The Wild Colonial Boysʼ, which combined traditional Australian and Irish music. Back in Sydney from 1970, he played at the Troubadour coffee lounge, Edgecliff. His last band was `Lazy Harryʼsʼ. Affley was a regular performer at the

Boîtes: concerts featuring Turkish, Greek, Irish and Australian music. He busked on the streets and was occasionally subjected to censorship by council officials for singing left-wing political material, but such suppression encouraged rather than deterred him. Some of the political songs he sang were broadcast on radio by the Australian Broadcasting Commission and performed on concert tours. In 1970 the National Folk Foundation of New Zealand invited him to attend its festival. He was a member of the committee of the New South Wales Folk Federation in the early 1970s.Affley participated as a singer in an award-winning ABC television documentary, `The Restless Yearsʼ (1966), which presented Australian history through songs, stories and poetry. In 1972 he accompanied Peter OʼShaughnessy and Marian Henderson to Ireland to perform a dramatised stage version at the Dublin Theatre Festival. He contributed to films including Tony Richardsonʼs Ned Kelly (1970), Peter Weirʼs The Last Wave (1977) and Richard Lowensteinʼs Strikebound (1984).Supporting the advancement of the Australian Indigenous people, Affley taught music at the Eora Centre in Redfern (1984-85). He regarded himself as a socialist `with a fair degree of anarchyʼ. Outspoken and informed, especially on Australian and Irish working-class politics, he supported the New South Wales Buildersʼ Labourersʼ Green Bans, Irish hunger strikers and the Gurindjiʼs struggle for land rights at Wave Hill, Northern Territory. He enjoyed discussing cricket and Rugby League over a convivial ale. Articulate but unpretentious and egalitarian, he shared his skills and knowledge. Affley died of a dissecting aneurysm of the aorta on 27 June 1985 at Newtown and was cremated. His wife and their daughter and son survived him. The Declan Affley songwriting award is made annually at the Australian National Folk Festival.Affley has a much shorter wiki listing here, and there's an extended appreciation of him and his work at Australian Folk Songs, here, which was first published in Trad & Now, Winter 2004:

This begins:

Declan Affley's sudden death on the 27th June, 1985, at the age of 45, shocked everyone who knew and admired him as a person and an outstanding folk singer and musician.

Declan was born in Cardiff, South Wales, 8th September, 1939, to an Irish/Welsh Catholic working class family. The Affleys were from Cork and his mother, mainly descended from Welsh miners, also had some Cork ancestry. Declan grew up in Splott, where many of the extended family lived. He attended St Alban's and later St.Illtyd's Catholic Schools, but maintained they "didn't produce lasting damage". Irish Catholics tended to stick together in predominantly Methodist Wales and many family holidays were spent in Cork. Later the family moved to Rumney.

Declan excelled at the clarinet and was in the St.Alban's band, which played for many events, including football games in Cardiff Arms Park. Later he was a member of the Cardiff College of Music's orchestra. Aged sixteen, after completing his Leaving Certificate, he joined the British Merchant Navy.

Some of Declan's earliest memories were of his dad playing the Scots pipes at St. Patrick's Day marches and attending Irish Ceilidhs at St. David's Parish hall. His father listened to traditional Irish music on RTE, Ireland's public broadcaster, and sang at many functions. Declan learnt many songs from him including "Crushkeen Lan".

In 1956, on his first visit to Japan, as a seaman, he purchased "a hideous machine somewhat resembling a guitar", and taught himself to play, and accompany himself on folksongs.

Declan rose to the rank of Second Mate before jumping ship and coming to live in Australia

in1959. He told me he'd fallen in love with Geraldton in WA, when his ship docked there. Based in Sydney he worked on east coast ships as an AB (able bodied seaman).

Whilst on shore leave he sang in "low dives and pubs", such as the Royal George, Sydney and Tattersalls in Melbourne. Irish rebel songs and other folksongs were sung with great gusto in these pubs and it was here that Declan met singers such a Brian Mooney, Don Ayrton, Paul Marks and Martin Wyndham-Read.

Declan eventually became a regular performer at the Troubadour Coffee Lounge in Edgecliff, Sydney and later at Frank Traynor's Folk Club, Melbourne. He was also a frequent guest at the "Greenwich Village", the Elizabeth Hotel - "the Liz", Pact folk, Edinburgh Castle and other Sydney folk venues. He also became a stalwart of the first folk clubs in pubs in Melbourne in the late 1960s such as Fogarty's – according to John O'Leary, Declan, after singing for most of the opening Saturday afternoon, received the princely sum of $4.00, and later the Dan O'Connell Hotel, Carlton.

He was also a familiar face at national and local folk festivals and toured Indonesia, New Guinea and New Zealand.

Irish music sessions included the Gaelic Club and Wentworth Park Hotel, Ultimo, with hospitable publicans, Tommy and Joan Doyle. Declan played and socialised with many Irish musicians.

He was well known for his singing, his deep resonant voice, subtle guitar accompaniments, which he said were based on an appreciation of the Irish Harp, and for witty, pithy commentaries between songs. Ardent about traditional music, in particular the Irish, he also sang many British Isles songs, and was interested in a wide variety of musical styles. His extensive repertoire also included Australian and New Zealand traditional songs and songs by contemporary songwriters such as Don Henderson, Harry Robertson and John Dengate.

It then looks at some of Affley's performances, before noting his film activities:

Profoundly egalitarian he scorned all pretension and bullshit, was modest about his achievements, and never sought fame or money for his music. He had the rare ability to share his musical knowledge and to inspire others. He encouraged people to sing and play, passing on musical skills to anyone who was interested.

In 1984/5 Declan taught fiddle and banjo at the Eora Centre, an Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Redfern, Sydney.

As well as being involved in radio and TV programmes, Declan also appeared in several films including Peter Weir's The Last Wave, and Richard Lowenstein's Strikebound, where he was musical director as well as having an acting role and singing songs such as "The blackleg miner".

An exceptional solo performer, Declan also played with many bands. He started the group "The Wild Colonial Boys" in Melbourne in 1969, which combined Irish and Australian music. He convinced Bob McGuinness, Jim Fingleton (Canberra) and Jacko Kevans (then Sydney based) to put their lives on hold and move to Melbourne to join the band. The other band member was Irish singer Tony Lavin. "The Wild Colonial Boys" became the standard model for many successive Aussie folk bands.

Declan and band members appeared in Tony Richardson's "Ned Kelly" film.

Although not a joiner of political parties or groups, Declan described himself as a socialist, and always gave generously of his time, and musical skills for causes he believed in. He was outspoken on many issues, in particular, Irish, Australian and other traditional/ethnic music

and politics.

For his performance of political/satirical songs he was often subject to warnings and censorship. He was banned from lunchtime concerts in Martin Place, Sydney, after singing "The dying treasurer" by John Dengate. However, bans and censorship never deterred Declan, merely reinforcing his commitment to sing such songs in public. He'd never turn his back on such a challenge.

(Below: Declan Affley)

(Below: Declan Affley as he appears in the film)

This sequence segues into a community singalong led by Idris Williams, played by Hugh Keays-Byrne:

As a bonus, the tape release of the film by CBS-Fox offered a trailer of the film, featuring Michael Hutchence and INXS.

Lyrics for this song are about as political as INXS ever got:

Deep down in my heartThere is a lot of wordsTears fall down my faceBut I hear the many voices that cry in vainI want to tell youDon't give it up, no noWanna tell you

Don't give it up, give it up thereDon't give it up, give it up there

Hear the voicesThat surround youAll the peopleNever doubt itHear the voicesTake a look at what's around youAll the peopleWe can change things, never doubt itWe want a new startIs it just too much to askOooh, what does it take?ʼCause I hear a million people singing the sameI wanna tell you

Don't give it up, no

I wanna tell youDon't give it upDon't give it up, no

Hear the voicesThat surround youAll the peopleNever doubt it

Hear the voicesTake a look at what surrounds youAll the peopleWe can change it, we can change it

Hear the voices all the peopleHear the voices all the peopleHear the voices all the people