The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164051   Message #4123353
Posted By: rich-joy
17-Oct-21 - 10:10 PM
Thread Name: Melanie Shanahan- Arramaeida (Australia)
Subject: RE: Melanie Shanahan- Arramaeida (Australia)
That was so wonderful to revisit, Tony - THANK YOU!!!

I feel moved to repeat my Comment from YouTube and to wish that recorders/collectors like you had been available in every city in Oz while the "a cappella harmony" scene was so vibrant!!!

"A lovely capture of this great group in full flight, Tony! SO GOOD!!
Australia in the 80s and 90s had an abundance of excellent, small “a cappella harmony” combos (not ‘choirs’ per se) and many were all-female, and they were in every capital city and many other towns as well.   A wonderful time for making vocal music with heart, in harmony with one’s friends – both old and new. Unforgettable times. The Folk Scene of course (esp in the UK), had a long history of groups singing in harmony “unaccompanied”. But sadly, so many of these wonderful experiences in concerts, folk clubs, and the like, were never captured on film, nor even audio tape that has survived the ravages of time. All were pre-mobile phones, the internet, and YouTube :))    So every time you see a performance online from last century (!), realise that it was just the tip of the iceberg and that SO MUCH good stuff happened that was not able to be recorded for posterity.   But it is indeed wonderful to revisit with the fabulous Arramaieda after all this time – so thanks Tony!!!         
PS        This evocative performance is also redolent of the amazing ‘Sweet Honey in the Rock’ and I feel so privileged to have seen Sweet Honey 3 times in concert, in Darwin and Brisbane!       RjB. "