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No Fixed AddressPrint Page Print this page

04-January-2023
04-January-2023

Photographs supplied by Stephen Warren

The laneway commemorates the reggae rock group, No Fixed Address, whose members are all Aboriginal Australians, mostly from South Australia. The band formed in 1979, split in 1984, with several brief reformations or guest appearances in 1987–1988 and 2008, before reuniting in 2016 and performing several times since then.

They have been inducted into the Hall of Fame at the inaugural National Indigenous Music Awards as well as the South Australian Music Hall of Fame.  They formed in 1979 at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) in North Adelaide, with most of the band members being students at CASM, where they first heard reggae music from Jamaica, including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff.

The group was led by Pitjanjatjara man, Bart Willoughby (lead vocals and drums), from Koonibba Mission near Ceduna.  It included Kurnai man, Ricky Harrison (rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter) from Morwell in Victoria. Also Ngarrindjeri man,  Leslie Lovegrove Freeman (lead guitarist) from Murray Bridge in South Australia; John Miller (bass) from Port Lincoln in South Australia; and Ngarrindjeri woman, Veronica Rankine (tenor saxophone), from the south-east of South Australia. Many members were related through family ties; Willoughby, Miller and Freeman were cousins. Freeman, related to Harrison through marriage, recruited him from Victoria.

 

Location

Address:Rundle Mall & No Fixed Address Lane, Adelaide, 5000
State:SA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.922901
Long: 138.603023
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Laneway
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Arts

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Thursday 25th March, 2021
Approx. Monument Dedication Date:
Front Inscription

Plaque :

City of Music Laneways

No Fixed Address

No Fixed Address was originally formed at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music, University of Adelaide in 1979.  The band was co-founded by Bart Willoughby, Ricky Harrison, Les Graham and later by John Miller and Veronica Rankine, Nick Moffatt (UK) and Ricky Lovegrove (EUR).

They appeared in the 1981 AFI award-winning film `Wrong Side of the Road`.  Their `From My Eyes` album was launched by former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke in 1982 and they were the firs Aboriginal band to tour the mainstream international music circuit.  In 2008, `We Have Survived` was added to the National Film and Sound archive`s Sounds of Australia registry.

No Fixed Address were inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2011 and, the Adelaide Music Collective SA Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

Plaque :

City of Music Laneways

No Fixed Address Lane

Elizabeth Close (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara),
Shane Mankitya Cook (Guwa and Wulli Wulli),
Thomas Readett (Ngarrindjeri and Arrernte), 2021, acrylic paint

This mural is part of the City of Music Laneway Project to celebrate No Fixed Address Lane.

“This artwork is an enduring visual expression of the legacy of No Fixed Address, whilst also being future driven and informed by the work that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists are continuing to do today in the fight for parity and equity.”

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au