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Yothu Yindi

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Yothu Yindi is an Australian group with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 from two bands from 1985: the rock group Swamp Jockeys and a Yolngu folk group from the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, with among others Mandawuy Yunupingu, Witiyana Marika and Gurrumul Yunupingu. In Yolngu the name means child and mother. The group combines traditional Aboriginal songs with pop and rock. Besides guitars and drums it uses the yidaki, a didgeridoo, and bilma, clapsticks made of ironwood, and traditional dance is part of the performances.

Music and breakthrough

The debut album Homeland Movement was released in 1989 and had little success. The breakthrough came with Treaty, from 1991. In 1988 Prime Minister Bob Hawke had promised at the Barunga Festival that there would be a treaty with the original inhabitants. Mandawuy and his brother Galarrwuy wanted a song about the lack of progress. A dance remix by Filthy Lucre took the song to number eleven in the Australian chart, and the album Tribal Voice reached number four. The song contains both English and Yolngu lyrics. In 1990 the group founded the Yothu Yindi Foundation, which later organised the Garma Festival.

Influence

Mandawuy Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year in 1993. In 2012 the group was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Treaty brought the Aboriginal struggle for recognition into the international pop world.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Treaty and notice how English and Yolngu alternate and which traditional sounds can be heard between the guitars and drums. Can you hear the yidaki?

Discography

Studio albums

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsAboriginal music and the didgeridoo