No Fixed Address and Ruby Hunter open way from South Australia for Aboriginal music in 1970s/80s mainstream
Ruby Hunter, with partner Archie Roach, set firsts for Aboriginal music.
Images courtesy South Australian Music Hall of Fame
No Fixed Address, widely seen as the first Indigenous band to break into mainstream music, has been inducted into South Australia's music hall of fame.
Ricky Harrison, Les Graham, John Miller and Bart Willoughby formed No Fixed Address as a reggae and rock band formed in 1979 and enjoyed wide success including for the song “We have survived”, before the band members went their own ways in 1988.
The band sang of the everyday experiences of Aboriginal people, attracting strong support from audiences of the 1980s.
Ruby Hunter also set firsts for Aboriginal music. A singer, songwriter and guitarist, of River Murray Ngarindjeri Aboriginal nationality, Hunter often performed with her partner Archie Roach whom she met at 16, while both were homeless teenagers in Adelaide. Born at Paringa on the Murray banks, Hunter was taken from her family at eight as part of the Stolen Generation.
Hunter first performed in public in 1988 during a festival at Sydney's Bondi Pavilion with her first song “Proud, Proud Woman”. In 1990, she wrote the autobiographical "Down City Streets", performed by partner Archie Roach on his debut solo album Charcoal Lane.
In 1994, Hunter became the first indigenous Australian woman to record a solo rock album Thoughts Within.
She received ARIA award nominations for best indigenous release (Thoughts Within in 1995) and best blues and roots album for Feeling Good in 2000.
Hunter won Deadlys in 2000 as female artist of the year, 2003 for outstanding contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music and 2004 for excellence in film & theatrical Score. She made her acting debut in One Night in the Moon. With Archie Road and Paul Grabowsky, she wrote and performed the concert "Ruby's Story".
Hunter wrote Butcher paper, texta, black board and chalk, a children's songbook of Aboriginal songs about land, health and life. Many songs were written through workshops by Hunter and Archie Roach with children across Cape York, Queensland.
In 2005, Hunter was invited by Deborah Conway to take part in the Broad Festival project. With Sara Storer, Katie Noonan and Clare Bowditch, they performed their own and each other's songs.
Roach and Hunter recorded award-winning music together and played shows with the likes of Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. But, after moving to the South Australian Riverland town of Barmera, the couple became more well known locally for dedicating their lives to supporting Aboriginal youth and fostered 33 local children without any government support. In 2021, Berri Barmera Council, after advocacy by the Aboriginal community, approved a monument to be built on the edge of Barmera's Lake Bonney to celebrate the couple's work.
After Hunter’s death in 2010, Archie Roach also set up Ruby’s Foundation to create opportunities for Aboriginal people by promoting, celebrating and supporting Aboriginal arts and culture
