GOTYE’S 2011 chart-topping song, Kevin Rudd’s apology to indigenous people and the soundtrack to “The Man from Snowy River” are among the newest additions National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA)’s “Sounds of Australia” registry.

“Sounds of Australia” is the NFSA’s selection of recordings with cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance which informs or reflects life in Australia.

They can be popular songs, advertising jingles, famous speeches, radio broadcasts, or any other sound recordings – as long as they’re Australian and more than 10 years old. Each year, the Australian public nominates new sounds to be added with final selections determined by a panel of industry experts.

NFSA curator Thorsten Kaeding says since 2007, the registry has become the defining list of Australia’s recorded sound history.

“It highlights our unique cultural development through our most ubiquitous cultural expression – recorded sound in all its forms,” he said.

This year’s additions represent a broad range of sounds, across 11 decades of history.

The 2021 Sounds of Australia include:

• Absent minded beggar, J.J. Virgo – 1975
• Where the dog sits on the tuckerbox, Jim Davidson’s Dandies and Dick Cranbourne (Jack O’Hagan) – 1938
• Parliamentary announcements of the Victory in Europe: First parliamentary sitting broadcast – 1945
• He’s My Blonde Headed Stompie Wompie Real Gone Surfer Boy, Little Pattie – 1963
• Heading in The Right Direction, Renee Geyer – 1975
• Gaywaves, Gaywaves Collective (2SER) – 1979 to 2005
• The Man from Snowy River Soundtrack, Bruce Rowland – 1982
• Wide Open Road, The Triffids – 1986
• Apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, Kevin Rudd – 2008
• Somebody That I Used to Know, Gotye ft. Kimbra – 2011

The complete list of sounds can be found here.

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