Aussie Top Gear isn’t the only thing that’s gratuitously Melbournian (despite being filmed in Sydney?). Things of Stone and Wood’s ‘Happy Birthday Helen’ mirrors its birthplace so much it spawned a sketch on The Late Show, ‘No More Melbourne Clichés.’Released in 1992, the song is about Greg Arnold's then girlfriend and wife, Helen. The single earned them an ARIA in ’92 and a place on the Triple J Hottest 100 in '93. The problem with bands that cross over from folky waa-waa music is they have a tendency to go back. Things of Stone and Wood is no exception.
‘Junk Theatre’ broke the surface in ’94, yeilding one solid single, however their grass roots politics had crept back in and sales bombed. Sony jumped ship ahead of the subsiquent 5 albums that bring us to 2003. In ’07 Greg released his second solo album ‘Lost Marie.’ To date I haven’t heard anything from it. We know they can do great things. As it stands now he’s producing, let’s hope he can supress his folk roots… and Melbourne.
PS: It's easy to be a critic, but I must admit, I never wrote a song like that.
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