Streets of their town: Australian music legends get new laneway honour

3 months ago 17

The Seekers have become the latest band to have a street named after them in Melbourne, with the City of Port Phillip christening a small street in St Kilda “Seekers Way” in honour of the four-piece folk act that topped the charts and sold millions of records around the world in the 1960s.

“I grew up less than a kilometre from where we’re standing now,” said Bruce Woodley at the naming ceremony on Friday morning on the corner of Wellington Street and what was previously Nelson Street. “What an honour it is to have this street named after us.

The Seekers’ Bruce Woodley is presented with a replica of the street sign by City of Port Phillip councillor Serge Thomann.

“We made an important mark on Australian and world music, having been the first Australian group to succeed at the highest level,” he added. “So many proud moments, and we did it our way, The Seekers way.”

The site has relevance to the band not just because of Woodley’s connection to the suburb but because Judith Durham, the band’s singer, who died just over three years ago, used to own a house at 26 Nelson Street that served as their headquarters in the 2000s. Though none of the band – which also included Athol Guy and Keith Potger – lived there, they did rehearse there ahead of a tour in 2013.

Briefly on Friday, the neighbourhood rang to the sound of The Seekers once again, as Jess Hitchcock performed a stunning solo rendition of their massive hit The Carnival Is Over on the footpath.

Dame Nellie Melba is arguably the most recognised musician in terms of Melbourne place names – there are streets, avenues, restaurants and university buildings named after the opera great. But the appetite for recognising the more down-and-dirty aspect of our musical heritage is growing.

It took a long and sometimes bitter campaign to get a CBD laneway dedicated to Australia’s greatest rock’n’roll export, AC/DC, in 2004, and another decade for the late Chrissy Amphlett of the Divinyls to be recognised with Amphlett Lane.

The Seekers in 1967, performing at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in front of a crowd of almost 200,000 people.

The City of Port Phillip, which has long prided itself on its connection with the music scene (even if much of it has now shifted north), has been more willing to come to the party. In 2005, it dedicated Paul Hester Walk in Elwood to the late Crowded House drummer.

In 2015, the council dedicated Rowland S Howard Lane to the co-founder of The Boys Next Door (later The Birthday Party), who famously wrote the gothic love song Shivers, which Nick Cave sang with their band when he was just 16. The campaign to rename the short street near Acland Street took three years because planning rules do not typically allow for more than two names. It needed ministerial approval for that S to make it onto the signage.

The house at 26 Nelson Street (now Seekers Way) that was owned by Judith Durham and served as the band’s HQ from the 2000s.

The transition from Nelson Street to Seekers Way – prompted because of confusion over a second Nelson Street in nearby Balaclava – was first proposed in mid-2024. Currently under consideration are proposals for a Geyer Lane in honour of Renee Geyer and Jonesy Lane in honour of Spencer P Jones of Beasts of Bourbon and The Johnnys fame.

Typically, the dedicatee must be dead. In the case of The Seekers, three of the band members are still with us. For Keith Potger, who sent a message that was read out at the ceremony, the timing of the honour was apposite.

“It comes 63 years almost to the day after Judith first joined Athol, Bruce and me to sing at The Treble Clef coffee lounge in South Yarra. That gathering 63 years ago was the beginning of a journey that took us to unimagined heights.

“I’m so pleased we’ve been given a Way,” he added. “Not a lane, not a place. I believe that everyone should have a way, a way to understand with sensitivity, a way to show empathy and compassion, a way to treat the land with the same respect that the oldest continuous culture this world has known has treated the land. In my opinion, this must be the way forward.”

Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.