‘Slip! Slop! Slap! jingle’ was written for the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (now Cancer Council Victoria) campaign to combat high rates of skin cancer in Australia.  

The campaign for TV, radio and print is widely credited as playing a key role in the dramatic shift in sun protection attitudes and behaviour over the last four decades.

The Council approached advertising agency Monahan Dayman Adams to come up with a campaign that would encourage Australians to protect their skin from the sun. Working on the campaign were the agency trio behind the earlier successful ‘Life. Be in it.’ campaign: Phillip Adams (creative director), Peter Best (composer) and Alex Stitt (designer/animator).

They adapted a jingle from a Queensland Cancer Fund campaign - ‘Slip Slop Shove’ - and created the ‘Sid the Seagull’ pilot television ad. So successful was the pilot that it was adapted for radio and print, and was picked up by other states and the Australian Cancer Society.

This audio clip is from a radio ad for the NSW Cancer Council, broadcast in 1988, which reused the Victorian campaign. It recommends applying sunscreen of maximum 15 for protection, which seems very low compared to sunscreens today with their maximum Sun Protection Factor of SPF50+.

‘Slip! Slop! Slap!’ was later replaced by the SunSmart campaign but subsequently revamped for use in 2005, with the message extended to ‘Slip! Slop! Slap! Seek! Slide!’

An alternate version known as ‘Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap’ was used in New Zealand, where the mascot was a tiger prawn named Tiger. 

Watch one of the 'Slip! Slop! Slap!' television advertisements.

Wilma Reading spent most of her singing career abroad, with little fame or recognition back in Australia.

She was born in Cairns to a musical family, with an Aboriginal (Kalkatungu)-Torres Strait Islander mother and an English-Irish father. She began her singing career with her two sisters in The Reading Sisters trio, before starting a solo career in Brisbane in 1959.

In 1960 she relocated to Sydney, where she had a regular gig at the Latin Quarter in Kings Cross and recorded for the Rex record label. Reading released three 7” singles with Rex, performing jazz and lounge vocals.

The third single included ‘I Only Came to Say Goodbye’ (A-side) and 'That’s How I Go for You' (B-side). Both songs were written or co-written by the musical director of Rex, Franz Conde.

Reading’s vocals were described as ‘honeyed’, and were backed by lush strings, chorus and orchestra, giving the recordings a big band feel and a touch of nightclub glamour.

Shortly after the release of this single, Reading headed to Tokyo and then Las Vegas where she launched her international career, performing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and touring with Duke Ellington.

She sang with the national orchestras of Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland and Germany, and even performed at the reunification of East and West Germany in Berlin in 1990. 

Concerto of the Greater Sea is the ninth studio album by Egyptian-born Australian, multi-instrumentalist and oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros.

The album was self-released in February 2012, and won the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album.

Tawadros performs in a range of styles and is renowned for bringing the oud out of its traditional Middle Eastern setting and into the realm of jazz and classical music, often collaborating with notable musicians in these genres.

In Concerto of the Greater Sea, Tawadros draws on Khalil Gibran’s description of the human spirit as ‘a boundless drop to a boundless ocean’. The six movements of the suite composed by Tawadros feature oud, viola, violin, piano and percussion and are interspersed with shorter pieces recorded with the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s full complement of strings.

Tawadros performs on oud, with his younger brother James on req and bendir, Richard Tognetti on violin, Christopher Moore on viola and Matt McMahon on piano.  

Reviews of the album cite Tawadros’ dynamic tonal range, dazzling technique and ease of stylistic integration achieved through his years of collaboration. 

‘Howzat’ was rock band Sherbet’s 16th - and bestselling - single, and their second Australian No. 1 following its release in May 1976.

It was written by band members Garth Porter (keyboards) and Tony Mitchell (bass), who were inspired by the cricketing term bowlers would shout when appealing for a wicket.

The song was produced by former Beatles recording engineer Richard Lush and released by Infinity (Festival).

In addition to Australia, the song topped charts in New Zealand, South Africa and Israel, and reached the Top 10 in many European countries. ‘Howzat’ also won Most Popular Australian Single at the 1976 King of Pop Awards.

‘Howzat’ has subsequently been covered by a range of artists, from Norman Gunston to the Tony Eyers Singers, and has even been recorded in German and Finnish by local artists.

Sherbet were one of the most successful Australian rock bands of the 1970s. The Sydney band recorded 10 studio albums, with more than 20 singles reaching the Australian Top 40 charts. 

‘I Am Australian’ (also known as ‘We Are Australian’) is one of the most recognisable patriotic Australian songs, written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton.

Its lyrics feature many references to Australian and First Nations history, environment and culture, from dusty red-soil plains to Albert Namatjira.

The song was initially released on Woodley's 1987 double album Roaring Days / I Am Australian, with vocals by Woodley and his daughter Claire.

It is more widely known through this 1997 cover version which featured Judith Durham (1943-2022), Russell Hitchcock (born 1949) and Mandawuy Yunupingu (1956-2013), which reached No. 17 on the ARIA singles chart.  

The song was used by the Australian Republican Movement in radio and television ads during the 1999 republic referendum. It has regularly been covered for significant national events, such as the 2003 Rugby World Cup, 2008 Olympic Games and 2009 National Day of Mourning for the victims of the Black Saturday bushfires. 

‘The Loved One’ was the debut single released by the Melbourne rhythm and blues band The Loved Ones.

The band was formed in October 1965, and was fronted by the charismatic London-born Gerry Humphrys. The band members had a striking mod style and good looks and gained popularity quickly.

Over its short two-year existence, The Loved Ones released five singles, an EP and an album.

‘The Loved One’ was written by Humphrys and fellow band members Ian Clyne and Rob Lovett. It featured a distinctive two-beat hand clap rhythm and repetitive guitar backing; Humphrys’ growling blues-influenced baritone also distinguished The Loved Ones’ music from other local pop acts. The song reached No. 2 on the Go-Set National Top 40 charts.

INXS later recorded the song twice and in 2001, ‘The Loved One’ was No. 6 on the Australasian Performing Right Association's (APRA) list of Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

Watch a music video for the song from 1966 featuring an intro from 3AK DJ Lionel Yorke.

Robyn Archer is a versatile Australian singer, writer, and stage and artistic director. One of her most prominent songs, ‘Menstruation Blues’, featured on her debut 1977 album, Take Your Partners for the Ladies' Choice.

The song uses a traditional blues style to sing about a generally taboo subject, and reflects the challenge made by women’s liberation to bring visibility to women’s rights to social and economic equality, the rights to contraception and birth control, as well as the right to speak about their bodies.

In addition to its groundbreaking subject, the album also broke ground as the first Australian record produced by women (Robyn Archer and Diana Manson).

The song remained a staple of Archer’s live sets, and it was included as part of her cabaret Pack of Women in 1981, which toured Australia in 1983. The soundtrack for the subsequent Pack of Women ABC TV special won the inaugural ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack or Cast Album. 

Harry Williams (Wiradjuri, 1927-1991) and Wilga Munro Williams (Kamilaroi, born 1943) performed together with the Country Outcasts band during the 1970s and 1980s, touring widely throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Canada.

They released two singles (in 1974 and 1975) and two full-length albums: Harry Williams and the Country Outcasts (1979, RCA) and Harry & Wilga Williams and the Country Outcasts (1981).

Both Harry and Wilga sang on the 1979 debut album. It includes tracks such as ‘Streets of Old Fitzroy’, which draws on the history and challenges of living in Fitzroy, which became the largest Aboriginal community in Victoria and was the social and political hub of Aboriginal Melbourne.

Country Outcast band members included Bill Brunswick, Debbie Williams, Ian ‘Ocker’ McKie, Carole Fraser, Ian Johnson, Harry Thorpe, Laurie Ingram, Claude ‘Candy’ Williams, Mac Silva and Auriel Andrew.

Harry and Wilga Williams started a national Aboriginal Country Music Festival in Canberra in 1976, and a radio show, Country Music Shindig, for 3CR. In 1981 they were recognised in the Country Music Hands of Fame in Tamworth.   

Harry Williams (Wiradjuri, 1927-1991) and Wilga Munro Williams (Kamilaroi, born 1943) performed together with the Country Outcasts band during the 1970s and 1980s, touring widely throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Canada.

They released two singles (in 1974 and 1975) and two full-length albums: Harry Williams and the Country Outcasts (1979, RCA) and Harry & Wilga Williams and the Country Outcasts (1981).

Both Harry and Wilga sang on the 1979 debut album. It includes tracks such as ‘Take Me to Your World’, which highlights Wilga on vocals. Even in this short clip, you can hear the depth and emotion in her voice; Wilga has stated in interviews that she was influenced at the time by singers like Patsy Cline.

Country Outcast band members included Bill Brunswick, Debbie Williams, Ian ‘Ocker’ McKie, Carole Fraser, Ian Johnson, Harry Thorpe, Laurie Ingram, Claude ‘Candy’ Williams, Mac Silva and Auriel Andrew.

Harry and Wilga Williams started a national Aboriginal Country Music Festival in Canberra in 1976, and a radio show, Country Music Shindig, for 3CR. In 1981 they were recognised in the Country Music Hands of Fame in Tamworth.   

Nellie Stewart (1858-1931) is arguably the most popular Australian actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  

She made her debut in what became her signature role of Nell Gwynne in the stage production of Sweet Nell of Old Drury in 1902. Stewart revived the role on several occasions, including in the lost 1911 silent film by Raymond Longford.

On 24 March 1931, Stewart and others recorded extracts from Sweet Nell of Old Drury for Columbia Graphophone Company at their studio in Homebush, Sydney. These recordings were released on two 78s, with the first record (DO346) featuring Nell Gwynne’s entrance in Act 1, and the Finale from Act 4.

Featured actors include Nellie Stewart as Nell, Nancye Stewart (Nellie’s daughter) as Lady Olivia, and Mayne Lynton (Nancye’s husband) as Charles II.

In the play, Judge Jeffries tries to persuade Lady Olivia Vernon, his ward, to marry Lord Rochester, but she refuses due to her love for Sir Robert Fairfax. Rochester calls guards to arrest Fairfax and he runs away, meeting with Nell Gwynne, the orange seller, who helps him escape thanks to her skills in mimicry.

The recordings have been described as reflecting the ‘emphatic, sometimes sentimental, performance style of the early 1900s’, and offer a unique opportunity to hear an Australian star of the stage and screen in her only known set of recordings. 

Percival Claude (PC) Spouse (1885-1970) was Australia's most successful harmonica player from the 1920s to the 1940s, with Anvil Chorus, released by Regal Records (G20160) in 1927, becoming his bestselling record. 

In early 20th century Australia, the egalitarian harmonica - or ‘tin sandwich’ - was perhaps the closest thing to a national instrument. A sign of its significance was the various popular state and national mouth organ competitions in the 1920s and 30s. 

PC Spouse was the most successful soloist of this period, a travelling shoe salesperson who entered the inaugural Australasian Boomerang Championship in Ballarat in 1925 and became the first officially crowned mouth organ champion of Australia (Boomerang was a popular mouth organ brand owned by music publisher J Albert and Sons). He returned to reclaim the title in 1927, 1928 and 1935. 

Spouse enjoyed a successful recording career between 1926 and 1936 and was likely the third person in Australia to make electric recordings.

He is credited as a pioneer within the local recording industry who popularised the harmonica in Australia and New Zealand through J Albert and Sons. More recently, the Australian Harmonica Archives referred to him as ‘one of the greatest vamping style harmonica players in history’. 

Spouse’s quintessential ‘vamping style’ is clearly evident in Anvil Chorus, where the melody is accompanied by a vamped chord playing in a different rhythm. 

The Death of a Wombat is an award-winning radio documentary by writer and producer George Ivan Smith and composer Geroge S English.

Created for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (now Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC), the documentary tells the story of a wombat's day, a bushfire, and the effect of the bushfire on the animals of the area, including the death of the titular wombat.

The radio documentary was initially broadcast in 1959, and subsequently re-recorded and released by RCA in 1961 (mono) and 1977 (stereo). It continued being rebroadcast by the ABC throughout the 1960s and 1970s. An illustrated book version, with artwork by Clifton Pugh, was published in 1972.

The 1961 recording, which accompanies this listing, features Alastair Duncan as the Narrator, supported by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicolai Malko.

The 1959 broadcast won several international awards, including the coveted Italia Prize, and has been described as ‘a vivid and deeply moving word-picture which sets a standard for imaginative feature writing’.