Building Bridges (subtitled Australia Has a Black History)Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 1989, "Cowboys weave their magic spell" by Lynden Barber is an Australian compilation album containing tracks from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal performers, inspired by a 1988 community concert called Building Bridges.Sydney Morning Herald, 26 January 1989, "Bridges between black and white" by Jacquelyn Hole The concert was held in Australia's Bicentennial year, which included many Aboriginal protests.
The vinyl album was released in 1989 to raise money for the National Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations.Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 1989, "Rampant Oils help put black bridge over the mainstream" by Lynden Barber It includes songs sung in Aboriginal languages. The album was released by CAAMA Music and distributed by CBS in 1989, followed by a CD album released by ABC in 1990.
It reached #47 on the Australian album charts and may have symbolised "the embrace of indigenous rock by the mainstream". Dwyer, Michael. "History wars, the musical" The Age, 20 October 2006.
The original double-vinyl release features 27 tracks, while the later CD release features nineteen.
TV special On 24 January 1991 (two days before Australia Day), the Indigenous Australian TV series Blackout screened a special program to commemorate the original concert. With live music simulcast on Triple J featuring Midnight Oil, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Mixed Relations, all-female band Mirror Mirror, Kev Carmody, and Crowded House, the special also included band members and members of the audience talking about the future of black/white relations in Australia. The program was produced by ABC TV in co-operation with the Building Bridges Association Inc.
Track listing Special Treatment – Paul Kelly Gudurrku (The Brolga) – Yothu Yindi Justice Will Be Done – Les Shillingsworth Solid Rock – Goanna Birth Of A Nation – Wild Pumpkins At Midnight Breakneck Road – Hunters & Collectors Yil Lull – Joe Geia Warakurna – Midnight Oil Woma Wanti – Areyonga Desert Tigers Strychinine – Swamp Jockeys That Hanging Business – Do-Re-Mi Injustice – V. Spy V. Spy Hungry Years – Weddings Parties Anything Do It Rite – Cal Callaghan Bad Blood – The Stetsons Original Sin – INXS Broken Down Man – Scrap Metal Dancing In The Moonlight – Coloured Stone Heaven On A Stick – James Reyne Speak No Evil – Dragon Tjamu Tjamu – Ilkari Maru Mansion In The Slums – Crowded House Spirit Of The Land – The Gravy Bullant – Gondwanaland Swing For The Crime – The Saints Living In The Land Of Oz – Ross Wilson We Have Survived – No Fixed Address
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