Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has revealed the strange names the Australian rock band almost received.
Appearing on The Project on Wednesday night, the 71-year-old revealed that ‘Schwampy Moose’, ‘Sparta’ and ‘Television’ were all considered.
“Schwampy Moose… we’re so glad he didn’t get up,” Garrett joked.
The band eventually settled on Midnight Oil and pulled the name out of a hat in 1976.
The name was reportedly inspired by the Jimi Hendrix song Burning of Midnight Lamp.
Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, 71, (pictured) revealed the strange names the Australian rock band almost received.
When drummer Rob Hirst, 68, and guitarist and keyboardist Jim Moginie, 67, formed the group in Sydney in 1972, they were originally called Farm.
Garrett was on the show to talk about the band’s new film looking back at their amazing 45-year career.
The two-hour documentary, called The Hardest Line, had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival on Wednesday night.
Made by Australian filmmaker Paul Clarke, the film’s title is taken from the chorus of the 1982 song Power and the Passion, one of Midnight Oil’s biggest hits.
Appearing on The Project on Wednesday night, the 71-year-old revealed the names being considered Schwampy Moose, Sparta and Television.
Midnight Oil has sold more than 20 million albums since releasing its first album in 1978.
After Garrett joined in 1976 as singer and frontman, they became a pub rock favorite and were famous for their loud, raucous sound and fierce stage performance.
Their long-term lineup also included guitarist Martin Rotsey and bassist Bones Hillman. The other members of the band included original bassist Andrew James, who was replaced by Pete Gifford.
As well known for its outspoken opinions on social issues as it is for hard-hitting songs like US Forces and Beds are Burning, the film will examine the band’s controversial politics.
The band finally settled on Midnight Oil by pulling the name out of a hat in 1976. Pictured LR Rob Hirst, Peter Garrett, Martin Rotsey, Bones Hillman, Jim Moginie
The film will include footage of Midnight Oil’s famous show in Manhattan in 1990, where they performed to thousands of stunned New Yorkers.
The outdoor lunchtime concert was held in front of the Exxon building to protest the environmental catastrophe that followed the supertanker disaster the previous year.
The new film, which took seven years to complete, will also include previously unseen footage, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at Midnight Oil’s ‘Sorry’ protest at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line will be released in Australian cinemas on July 4.
When drummer Rob Hirst, 68, and guitarist and keyboardist Jim Moginie, 67, formed the group in Sydney in 1972, they were originally called Farm.
