"The Ballad Of Lady Di" charted in Sydney NSW in May 1981. It seems to have flopped in the rest of Oz but it was released in England and sold moderately well. The English release came out on the Stiff label with a picture cover (see above). It was given much radio airplay at the time. The Hon. Nic Jones and Ian MacRae, were radio announcers in Sydney, which probably explains why it rose to prominence there. By the time the song departed from the top 40 both men had gone to England to report on Charles and Di's wedding. Ian MacRae had UK connections as he had been one of the Oz radio personalities who worked in England during the days of the pirate radio ships which anchored outside British waters.
The flip-side was called "Three Minutes Of Silence". Contrary to what you might think, it was actually six minutes of comedy about being quiet for three minutes.
Many thanks to Neil for sending this one to be cleaned and set for download here at Tom Mix Oz Music:
http://rapidshare.com/files/320077362/Hon._Nick_Jones_with_Ian_MacRae_-_The_Ballad_Of_Lady_Di__Vinyl_Tom_Mix_.mp3
This link is dead, is there any way i can get a copy of these 2 songs? My buddy had this 45 when it came out and i'd love to get a copy of it. They are both pretty cool and creative
ReplyDeletehi are you able to put a link to this song, i remeber it well i was in year 10 and have humbed it often over the years without knowing the first line.
ReplyDeletethanks if ican
Denise