Nasho Service
1965 · CBS BA-221156 · Sydney, Australia
- Artist
- The Norfolk Singers
- Title
- Nasho Service
- Release
- Nasho Service / Bonnie Jess
- Year
- 1965
- Label
- CBS # BA-221156
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Sydney, Australia
- Songwriter
- The Norfolk Singers
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation — Australian & New Zealand Songs
Based in Sydney, Australia, The Norfolk Singers featured Terry Rouhan (vocals), Dave McNamee (guitar), and Brian Stitt (banjo). They released a couple of rare singles, including one of the earliest Vietnam War draft songs, the satirical track "Nasho Service" (CBS # BA-221156), one of the first Australian songs recorded to specifically mention 'Vietnam': "they say it's hot in Vietnam... with Viet Cong...". The term "Nasho" was a colloquialism for "National Service". The song referenced a few ways to get out of national service, "why didn't we go to uni?... I wouldn't be here if I had a wife", similar to the well-known US song "Draft Dodger Rag" (1964) by Phil Ochs. The song is referenced in the international edition of Billboard, on 27 February 1965, "In the local field, Sven Libaek has produced another up-to-date folk song by the Norfolk Singers, who have enjoyed tremendous success with their last single, 'The Opera House Is Falling Down'. The title of the new single is 'Nasho Service', which refers to all those young Australian's views about being called up for the National Army Training Service".123 Sources1Billboard, 27 February 1965↩2tommixmusic.blogspot.com↩3Warren Fahey: Ivy…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
One of the earliest Australian draft songs; "Nasho" = National Service. Produced by Sven Libaek; April Music; matrix MX145551. CBS BA-221156, 45, matrix MX145551, April Music; "Nasho Service" (The Norfolk Singers), 2.15, produced by Sven Libaek; "Made in Australia by a registered user of the trade marks"; red label in a CBS company sleeve ("CBS is a trademark of the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., U.S.A."). [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
The Norfolk Singers - Sydney, NSW folk trio: Terry Rouhan (vocals), Dave McNamee (guitar) and Brian Stitt (banjo); produced by Sven Libaek.
Themes
In collections
Australian & New Zealand Songs · Draft Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]