Crowded House have officially been given back their Australian status after it was removed by ARIA when the `Intriguer` album was released.
While 'Intriguer' debuted at the top of the ARIA chart three weeks ago, it did not appear in the Australian Album Chart for local music.When investigated by Undercover, we were told that ARIA no longer considered Crowded House to be an Australian band because they only had one Australian member (Nick Seymour). That decision was made despite Crowded House forming in Melbourne when Neil Finn was living in the city and included Melbourne musicians Paul Hester and Nick Seymour.
After Hester died and Neil moved back to Auckland, New Zealand, Seymour became the sole Australian in the band. That was not enough to qualify for the ARIA ruling that 50% of a band must feature Australians to be considered an Australian band.
Ironically, while 'Intriguer' was not considered an Australian release the Crowded House compilation 'Recurring Dream' was listed in the current chart as an Aussie album. "That is because it features two Australians (Seymour and Hester)," we were told.
However, AC/DC has always been considered an Australian band despite only having one Aussie member. Phil Rudd was born in Melbourne. The Young brothers Malcolm and Angus were both born in Scotland and grew up in Australia. Malcolm Young lives in England but owns the mansion Onkaparinga in the Sydney suburb of Balmain where he spends summer. Angus Young lives in Aalten in the Netherlands.
Singer Brian Johnson and bass player Cliff Williams were born in England and have never lived in Australia.
The Australian Music Industry has no issues with AC/DC being considered an Australian band even though four of the five members are British. This week the 'Iron Man 2' soundtrack is at number 5 on the Australian album chart. Angus and Malcolm Young won Songwriters of the Year at the APRA Awards in Sydney last month.
Finally, after three weeks, Crowded House 'Intriguer' has "debuted" at number on the ARIA Australian albums chart.
