Popular Music and the 'Problem' of Heritage

Abstract

In July, 2011 I spent four weeks in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, collecting data for an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded project focusing on the theme of popular music and cultural memory. 2 One evening during my visit I was invited to Freemantle, a coastal port city very close to Perth, to view the High Street West End Spray Chalk Star Walk of Fame, a temporary installation dedicated to local arts associated with Freemantle’s popular music history. The invitation came from an organiser of the Star Walk who gave me a personal tour of the installation, which comprised a collection of pictures and accompanying memories and refl ections by musicians and others associated with the local music scene, past and present. For a relatively small city, Freemantle boasts a rich history of local popular music: among its most famous exports are Bon Scott, singer with AC/DC during the band’s initial rise to fame; and, more recently, alternative rock band Eskimo Joe.