"Along the Road to Gundagai" is a popular song written by Jack O'Hagan in 1922 and was first recorded by Peter Dawson in 1924, O'Hagan performed his own version later that year.

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

is a rural town of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The song has had an enduring popularity in Australia. It was used as the theme to the '' Dad and Dave'' radio show from 1937 to 1953, and in 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) named it one of its Top 30 Australian songs of all time. In 2007, Peter Dawson's 1931 recording of the song was added to the registry of the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film & Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings deemed culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant and relevant for Australia. It was fo ...

.National Film and Sound Archive: Along the Road to Gundagai on australianscreen online
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History

Jack O'Hagan (1898–1987) was an Australian musician from

Fitzroy, Victoria Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, northeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Yarra Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population ...

who was working at Allans Music in Melbourne where he played

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

for potential customers. O'Hagan started writing his own songs in 1916 with "Along the Road to Gundagai" appearing in 1922 on Allans Music which was written for voice and piano, with

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

chords. It was first recorded by Peter Dawson in 1924 in London before selling some 40,000 to 50,000 copies in its first three months. O'Hagan performed the song later that same year. Since that time it has been performed by numerous Australian artists and used in various contexts. It was used as the theme to the '' Dad and Dave'' radio show. The town of

is in a rural area of

. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, named "Along the Road to Gundagai" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. Despite writing about the town, O'Hagan first visited Gundagai in 1956 when he was guest of honour at its centenary celebrations. It was used in the 1978 Australian Feature Film ''

Newsfront ''Newsfront'' is a 1978 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce, and starring Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, Chris Haywood and Bryan Brown. The screenplay is written by David Elfick, Bob Ellis, Philippe Mora, and Noyce. The original ...

'' as a running theme, arranged by William Motzing, with the full orchestral version used over the end credits.

Text

References

External links

" 'Along the Road to Gundagai' sung by Peter Dawson (1931)"

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

{{authority control 1922 songs APRA Award winners Australian folk songs Australian country music songs Gundagai Songs written by Jack O'Hagan Songs about Australia