GANGgajang - 1985

GANGgajang’s first album was the self-titled “GANGgajang”. It was released in 1985 and sold over 120,000 copies. The singles were, “Gimme Some Lovin”, “House of Cards”, “Giver of Life”, “The Bigger They Are” and the classic “Sounds of Then (This is Australia)”. Tracks from this album were also featured in the surf film “Mad Wax”. It was produced by Joe Wissert, along with band members Graham ‘Buzz’ Bidstrup and Mark ‘Cal’ Callaghan.

Track listing

Gimme Some Lovin (Callaghan/Bidstrup)
Sounds Of Then (This is Australia) (Callaghan)
Distraction (Callaghan)
Maybe I (Callaghan/Bidstrup)
Ambulance Men (Callaghan)
The Bigger They Are (Callaghan)
Giver Of Life (Bailey/Bee/Bidstrup/Callaghan/Stapleton)
Shadow Of Your Love (Callaghan/Bidstrup)
To The North (Callaghan/Bidstrup)
House Of Cards (Callaghan)

Lyrics

GIMME SOME LOVIN’

(Callaghan/Bidstrup)

Well it’s happening again, like I always thought it would

Madmen dancing in the street and fires rage.
And it’s a strange infatuation taking off across the nations
Crazy dialling confrontation ‘cause it’s one more move and it’s all over

Gimme some lovin’, it’s what I need
Gimme little lovin’ , makes me feel right
Gimme some lovin’ that’s the way
Gimme little lovin’ makes me say

It’s spreading everywhere, showing here and growing there
There’s no time for condemnation just to wait.
And it’s an eerie indication of things that’s turning out to be
Destruction to distraction,
‘Cause it’s one more move and it’s goodbye,
You know why we’ve got to say, just

Gimme some lovin’ it’s what I need
Gimme little lovin’ makes me feel right
Gimme some lovin’ that’s the way
Gimme litlle lovin’ makes me feel like….

They fall, again, on the streets tonight.

And we’re wakin’ up every day , looking this way looking that way
Wondering who will come and end this game
Of one more move and it’s all over

Gimme some lovin’ it’s what I need
Gimme little lovin’ makes me feel right
Gimme some lovin’ that’s the way
Gimme some lovin’ thats the way etc……

SOUNDS OF THEN (THIS IS AUSTRALIA)

(Callaghan)

I think I hear the sounds of then,
And people talking,
The scenes recalled, by minute movement,
And songs they fall, from the backing tape.
That certain texture,that certain smell,

To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets,
In brick veneer on financed beds.
In a room, of silent hardiflex
That certain texture, that certain smell,
Brings home the heavy days,
Brings home the the night time swell,

Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.

The block is awkward – it faces west,
With long diagonals, sloping too.
And in the distance, through the heat haze,
In convoys of silence the cattle graze.
That certain texture, that certain beat,
Brings forth the night time heat.

Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think that this is Australia.

To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets,
In brick veneer on financed beds.
In a room of silent hardiflex
That certain texture, that certain smell,
Brings forth the heavy days,
Brings forth the night time sweat

Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.
This is Australia etc..

DISTRACTION

(Callaghan)

So this is the house, the house that we built
So this is the car, the car that we bought
So these are the things, the things that money can buy
You say that you want them, well so do…

Oh what’s this direction, oh darlin’ anyway?
Cause for the things you want, there’s a price to pay

Distraction, keeping you away from me
Distraction, keeping me from where I want to be
Distraction, for a moment or a mile,
The days turn into weeks, the weeks keep turning…

I wake up, I walk around, remember what I’m doing here
I break down, I clean up, I make the bed we sleep in
You wake up, you walk around while I’m still sleeping
We’re always in a hurry for love not money
And the line’s always busy while we’re trying to get through

Oh what’s this direction, oh darlin’ anyway?
Cause for the things you want, there’s a price to pay

Distraction, keeping you away from me
Distraction, keeping me from where I want to be
Distraction, for a moment or a mile,
The days turn into weeks, the weeks keep turning…

Distraction, keeping you away from me
Distraction, keeping me from where I want to be
Distraction, keeping you away from me
Keeping me away from you……

MAYBE I

(Callaghan/Bidstrup)

When I see you, when I see the things you do
When I hear you, when I hear the things you say
I wonder what I’m doing here
Hanging on to what I know is going wrong
Maybe I’m intentionally blind
Maybe I’m wiser than I think
maybe I’m intentionally blind

Is it history repeating itself?
Is it science, biology or something else?
That leads me down familiar streets
Ignoring warnings and the danger signs that I see
Maybe I’m intentionally blind
Maybe I’m wiser than I think
maybe I’m intentionally blind

You tell me you’re good for me
And believe me there’s no other place I’d rather be
When I’m down and need someone to hold me tight
that’s the moment that makes it all alright
Maybe I’m intentionally blind
Maybe I’m wiser than I think
maybe I’m intentionally blind

AMBULANCE MEN

(Callaghan)

You know I drove home today, I saw the places I’d played
For hours in the sun, five on five, three on one
And the trees had all gone from the street with the school and the radio on
Replaced by arcades filled with people having fun
And just to see them they’ve got what they want
They’ve got a civic centre but best of the lot
you know what they’ve got?
Well they’ve got ambulance men in the main street
Well they’ve got ambulance men in the main street
Well they’ve got ambulance men in the main street
And you know you could win

Every once in a while disaster falls on the town in the sun
When they sit down waiting for rain to come
Still, there’s a pub to be found on every corner in town
where there’s boys in the bar and there’s girls in the lounge rooms with their mums
And just to see them, they’ve got what they want
they’ve got a sporting complex but best of the lot
You know what they’ve got?
Well they’ve got ambulance men in the main street
Well they’ve got ambulance men in the main street
Well they’ve got ambulance men in the main street
And you know you could win.

THE BIGGER THEY ARE

(Callaghan)

Sunday morning and it’s 10 am, the last day of the weekend again
Mow the lawn and read the papers, the afternoon game will be on the set
Sunday breakfast and an hour at church, I think I’ll have a beer with the boys at lunch
Colourful shirts and colourful trousers, just the shot for a spot on the set
They don’t worry about tomorrow, today’s what counts and they’re here today

Well I don’t give a damn anyway, new gadgets and fashions of distraction
You know it was different in my day, quiet evenings at home with the family
The bigger they are the bigger they get.

Read the story now lots of adventure, follow the plot and it will take you away
Flashy fights and royal blue murder, anything to take your mind of today
I think I understand just what Sam said, when he said he’s gonna live inside his head
Well, interesting facts and fascinating figures, the science of tomorrow is the pulp of today
And I don’t find it all so amazing, loud and noisy and totally useless

Well I don’t give a damn anyway, new gadgets and fashions of distraction
You know it was different in my day, quiet evenings at home with the family
The bigger they are the bigger they get.

GIVER OF LIFE

(Bailey/Bee/Bidstrup/Callaghan/Stapleton)

For what you value, for what you care,
Well it’s a pressure situation
Life encountered from day today,
Uneasy feelings of uncertainty.
Back by the bywash, out in the open,
Floating down and around and through
A breath of air, the sound of light
Uplifting moments of emotion

The Giver of Life,
You are the Giver of Life.

For what you give now, for what you get
Well it’s an endless spinning circle
There is no reason no right or wrong
Just a chord answering a call
Out on the inroads, back on the backtracks
Floating down and around and through
The cry of fire, the sway of soul
Uplifting moments of emotion

The Giver of Life,
You are the Giver of Life.

For what you count on for what you trust
Well it’s a precious situation
Out in the cities, sold in the cellars
On the floor into the heart of clubland
The king of beat under the flashing lights
Uplifting moments of emotion

The Giver of Life,
The Giver of Life,

You are the Giver of Life.
P.S. Geoffrey says “Keep on Dancing”

SHADOW OF YOUR LOVE

(Callaghan/Bidstrup)

I hear you, in your car, in the driveway
I hear the crunch, of the keys in the door

I hear the air rush in, so cold, this fright
Not that I’m afraid of you, it’s just the plays of the light

No matter where I stand, even if the lights are bright
I’m living, living in the Shadow of Your Love

I see you as a cut out in the doorway
I see you, and I wonder who you are

I feel the weight of your body, by my bedside
I fight the urge to reach out for the light

It doesn’t matter if its day or if its night
I’m living, living in the Shadow of Your Love

I feel you, put your head upon your pillow,
I feel you, put your hand on me

I hear the sound of sleep, and I’m relieved
No need for power plays, love defiled, love deceived

It doesn’t matter, if it’s wrong or if it’s right
I’m living, living in the Shadow of Your Love

Living in the Shadow of Your Love
Living in the Shadow of Your Love
Living in the Shadow of Your Love

TO THE NORTH

(Callaghan/Bidstrup)

To the north are the canefields, seas of waving green
And then the fires come, and burn the water
It’s a sight to be seen

The men in slouch hats reap the harvest
Brown sticks they place in cages

And then the trains hiss, they carry bounty
From the furnace to the mill

Stick men silhouettes bend against the flame,
Shout above the crackle crunch.

Watch as the ground spits at the sky
A yellow-orange spit from a mouth that will never die…

HOUSE OF CARDS

(Callaghan)

We knew when we began, it wouldn’t last forever
But we always thought, somehow it would get better.
There should be love and affection, not rejection,
Love is the key I’m sure, to open every door.
But when love goes away, there’s no foundation,
And no foundation of love means everything is loose above
Just another crazy scene, just another nightmare dream,

And it all falls down like a house of cards
And it all falls down like a house of cards

So stop those angry words, they don’t prove a thing.
Just look around, and see the mess we’re in
Every single day, you know I need you
I need the kind of love I can believe in
But when love goes astray, there’s no foundation
And no foundation of love means everything is loose above
Just another crazy scene, just another nightmare dream

When it all falls down like a House of Cards.
And it all falls down like a House of Cards in the wind
It all falls down like a House of Cards falls down.

So stop! those angry words, they don’t prove a thing.
Just look around, and see the mess we’re in
Every single day, you know I need you
I need the kind of love I can believe in
But when love goes astray, there’s no foundation
And no foundation of love means everything is loose above
Just another crazy scene, just another nightmare dream

It all falls down like a House of Cards
Yeah it all falls down like a House of Cards in the wind
It all falls down like a House of Cards etc.