{"id":442819,"date":"2026-01-28T11:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T11:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/442819\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T11:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T11:29:16","slug":"hoodoo-gurus-one-nation-music-ban-band-history-controversy-and-everything-to-know-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/442819\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoodoo Gurus: One Nation music ban, band history, controversy and everything to know | Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

The members of Hoodoo Gurus<\/a> have lashed Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party for using one of their hit songs without permission.<\/p>\n

The controversial senator came under fire from the Aussie band after she used their song What’s My Scene? to walk out during an anti-immigration rally in Brisbane, which took place on Australia Day.<\/p>\n

The band \u2013 fronted by Dave Faulkner \u2013 took to Facebook to issue a stinging rebuke, labelling Hanson and her supporters as “wannabe fascists” and urging them not to play or even listen to their music.<\/p>\n

\"HoodooAussie band Hoodoo Gurus has lashed Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party for using one of their hit songs without permission. (Getty)<\/p>\n

“We were disgusted to hear that one of our songs was played by a bunch of wannabe fascists yesterday,” the band’s statement read.<\/p>\n

“Like most Australians, we have always been appalled by Pauline Hanson and the toxic nonsense she spouts.<\/p>\n

“This is our message to her and her followers: don’t play our music, don’t listen to our band, do not pass go!<\/p>\n

“We want nothing to do with you. In fact, we wouldn’t p–s on you if you were on fire.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Beckham wedding planner speaks out<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Australian“We were disgusted to hear that one of our songs was played by a bunch of wannabe fascists yesterday,” the band’s statement read. (Facebook\/HoodooGurus)<\/p>\n

Faulkner told the ABC in a separate interview that the band were “upset” with what had happened, and that he personally had written the statement in response.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want anyone else’s grubby hands all over our work and putting words in our mouths \u2013 we don’t associate ourselves with stuff like that,” he said.<\/p>\n

Many artists have written similar responses to politicians using their music without permission.<\/p>\n

Sabrina Carpenter recently slammed the White House<\/a> for using one of her songs in a social media post about Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids.<\/p>\n

\ufeff”This video is evil and disgusting,” Carpenter wrote on X, responding to the post. “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”<\/p>\n

Australian artists such as Jimmy Barnes, Icehouse and the Living End have also shared their fury after their songs were broadcast at anti-immigration rallies last August.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:Band members Brad Shepherd, James Baker, Clyde Bramley and David Faulkner in 1982. (The Age)<\/p>\n

Hoodoo Gurus was founded in Sydney in 1981 by Dave Faulkner, James Baker, Rod Radalj and Kimble Rendall.<\/p>\n

They initially performed under the name Le Hoodoo Gurus and became known for the unique sound they created by having three guitarists and no bass player.<\/p>\n

Rendall left the band in 1982, shortly before they released their first single, Leilani, under their former band name.<\/p>\n

Radalj left the group soon after and was replaced by Brad Shepherd.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Early success<\/p>\n

The new line-up of Baker, Bramley, Faulkner and Shepherd recorded the band’s debut album, Stoneage Romeos, in 1984.<\/p>\n

It featured a new recording of Leilani, as well as three other singles including, \ufeffI Want You Back, My Girl and Tojo.<\/p>\n

The album was named Best Debut Album at the 1984 Countdown Awards and reached gold record status in Australia.<\/p>\n

Baker left the band in 1984 and was replaced by Mark Kingsmill.\ufeff<\/p>\n

International success<\/p>\n

Stoneage Romeos was also released in the US, resulting in their first US tour.<\/p>\n

Their second album, Mars Needs Guitars! was released in 1985.<\/p>\n

It contained the hit songs, Bittersweet and Like Wow \u2013 Wipeout.<\/p>\n

They went on to tour the US and Europe, where they performed sell-out shows at London’s Hammersmith Palais and were special guests of The Bangles for two months.\ufeff<\/p>\n

They \ufeffreleased their third studio album in 1987.<\/p>\n

Blow Your Cool! went to No. 2 on the Aussie charts, and included their biggest hit, What’s My Scene.<\/p>\n

\"TheAn image from the music video for Hoodoo Gurus hit song What’s My Scene. (YouTube\/@Hoodoo Gurus)What’s My Scene<\/p>\n

The song went to No. 3 on the Aussie charts and remains popular today, having garnered more than 40 million streams on Spotify\ufeff.<\/p>\n

In 2018, it was ranked 67th on Triple M’s Most Australian songs of all time.<\/p>\n

It was used by the NRL as the theme for the 2003 to 2007 seasons, using a clever play on words, That’s My Team.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The song’s writer, Faulkner, rearranged the song and talked the band into recording the track.<\/p>\n

Faulkner was a long-time supporter of the Cronulla Sharks, and band members donned Wests and Cronulla jerseys for the promo.<\/p>\n

They performed the reworked song on the 2006 and 2007 Grand Final editions of Nine’s The Footy Show, and at the 2007 NRL Grand Final.<\/p>\n

\"Dave Dave Faulkner performs before the NRL Grand Final in 2007. (Getty)<\/p>\n

They band later recorded a CD of the song to raise money for two breast cancer charities set up in memory of footballers’ wives, Kim Walters and Joanne Mackay, who succumbed to the disease.<\/p>\n

More albums<\/p>\n

Their Blow Your Cool tour took them to 19 countries, while a show in New York City was broadcast on MTV.<\/p>\n

Their fourth album, Magnum Cum Louder, followed in 1989 and included the song Come Anytime.<\/p>\n

They kicked off the new decade with the 1991 album, Kinky, which contained the singles Miss Freelove ’69, and 1000 Miles Away.<\/p>\n

\ufeffThe early 90s saw some of their biggest success in the US, and included another album, Crank, which went to No. 2 on the ARIA charts.<\/p>\n

It was followed by Blue Cave in 1996.<\/p>\n

\"HoodooHoodoo Gurus reunited in 2007. (Redferns)Break up<\/p>\n

Faulkner announced in January 1997 that the band would disband following a farewell tour that took them across Australia and to Brazil for a concert in front of 40,000 people.<\/p>\n

The tour coincided with the release of the double compilation album Armchair Gurus\/Electric Chair.<\/p>\n

A live album Bite the Bullet was released in 1998.<\/p>\n

A career-spanning compilation album Ampology was released two years after they split.<\/p>\n

Back together\ufeff<\/p>\n

Following the success of the What’s My Team campaign\ufeff, the band released a new album, Mach Schau, in 2004, and headlined that year’s Big Day Out before embarking on a tour.<\/p>\n

In 2007, Hoodoo Gurus was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

National and international tours followed, including a performance at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival in the UK.<\/p>\n

\ufeffThey also performed at the 2009 for Sound Relief concert in Sydney for victims of the Victorian bushfires and Queensland floods.<\/p>\n

Cancer diagnosis and retirement<\/p>\n

The band announced they were working on a new album due for release in 2009 but it was delayed.<\/p>\n

Then in August of that year, Shepherd revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer and was recovering from surgery \u2013 five years after he battled melanoma.<\/p>\n

Their ninth studio album Purity of Essence was released in 2010.\ufeff<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"HoodooHoodoo Gurus on stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2008. (Getty)<\/p>\n

\ufeffIn 2012, they embarked on a tour to celebrate 30 years since the release of Leilani.<\/p>\n

They continued to tour over the next few years before Kingsmill announced his retirement in 2015.<\/p>\n

Rocked by tragedy\ufeff<\/p>\n

Hoodoo Gurus was rocked by double tragedy in 2025.<\/p>\n

First, their manager Dominic ‘Mick’ Mazzone died, then three days later, it was announced founding member James Baker had passed away. He was 71.\ufeff<\/p>\n

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The members of Hoodoo Gurus have lashed Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party for using one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-442819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}