The Big Man Upstairs - Party Dozen

Written, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by Party Dozen.
'The Big Man Upstairs' is the second single from Party Dozen's 4th album 'Crime In Australia', out September 6th 2024. Pre-order from party-dozen.ba...
Released on GRUPO/Temporary Residence.
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FOOTAGE
The Radical Times Archive / Peter Gray
-‘Blockade Demonstration' Central Brisbane 12 May 1972
- Democratic Rights Rally and March, Brisbane, Australia, 11 November 1977
- Demonstration outside the Tower Mill Motel during the South African Springbok Tour, 1971
- Mass meeting during a strike at The University of Queensland, 1971
- 1967 Civil Liberties March, Brisbane, Australia
© Peter Gray / The Radical Times Archive. Permission obtained by copyright owner.
Bill Rahmann
- Brisbane retrospect
- Brisbane a case study
- When will we ever learn
© 1948-ca 1987 by Bill Rahmann, Bev Rahmann is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Richard Lancaster / Frontline Productions
- The Joh tapes on leadership
© c1988 by Richard Lancaster, Frontline Productions is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Paul O’Brien
- Xmen (1977)
© 1978 by Paul O'Brien is licensed under CC BY 4.0
STILL PHOTOGRAPHY
Paul O'Brien
- Paul O'Brien Collection 1970-1987
© 1970-1987 by Paul O'Brien is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Thanks to The Radical Times Archive, Peter Gray, State Library of QLD, Paul O'Brien, Bill Rahmann, Daniel Cunningham and all the bands/people who persevered through that time. We owe a great deal to you.
Captions Written by Jonathan Boulet & Daniel Cunningham
'Queensland, Australia
The 1970s
Punk rock had landed down under - and the government was scared of it
Meet Joh Bjelke-Petersen
“The Hillbilly Dictator”
From 1968 to 1987, Bjelke-Petersen led the most conservative government Queensland has ever known
And ruled the state with an iron first
He opposed unionism, Indigenous land rights, queer rights and the feminist movement
And relied on a brutal and corrupt police force to prop up his agenda
Meanwhile, young people were furiously campaigning for the rights of women, LGBTQI+ rights and first nations people
They were protesting the war in Vietnam, apartheid in South Africa, and the proliferation of uranium mining at home
In a statewide crackdown, Bjelke-Petersen banned all public protests in September, 1977
“The day of political street marches is over…”
“Don’t bother applying for a march permit. You won’t get one…”
- Joh Bjelke-Petersen
A wave of “right to protest” marches followed
In one October afternoon, more than 400 people were arrested in Brisbane’s King George Square
(The largest mass arrest in Australia’s history)
It was a dark time for the sunshine state,
But a scene of activism, DIY culture and punk rock music flourished under the premier’s nose
The youth heard rebellion in the music of The Ramones, The Clash and The Sex Pistols
(A little-known band from Brisbane called The Saints had ignited the punk-rock explosion at home)
Alternative media outlets such as Brisbane’s 4zzz Radio and The Cane Toad Times were landmarks for a new counter-cultural movement
The Hillbilly Dictator saw this movement as a threat
A special police task force was created to snuff out punk rock
That became notorious for raiding gigs and bashing punters
They’d target record stores and trash the shelves
And harass young people for the clothes they wore
But they were only fanning the flames of discontent
The premier and his cronies were going down
Journalists launched an investigation into the secret deals struck between the government and cops
The elections were rigged
A Commission of Inquiry in 1989 found Bjelke-Petersen’s government guilty
of "long-term, systemic political corruption and abuse of power"
The police commissioner, Terry Lewis, was jailed for corruption charges along with two ministers
Bjelke-Petersen resigned from politics on December 1, 1987
And was tried for perjury four years later
The Hillbilly Dictator was done
“The discrimination and marginalisation of the Joh years helped to ferment an underground cultural response that flourished in the face of Joh’s efforts - an equal and opposite force of music, art, unity and activism. In striving to divide the community, Joh made himself a common enemy, radicalising and politicising generations of Queenslanders who refused to give in…” - Dr Glenn Davies, Independent Australia'
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