Minister for Education Christopher Pyne made a small musical faux pas on ABC’s Q&A earlier in the week, admitting he didn’t like the late Lou Reed and much preferred the music of ABBA, and now the moment has been immortalised forever by triple j‘s Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson.
When a Q&A audience member commented on the passing of Reed, fellow panelist and economist Judith Sloan told the nation that Pyne had never heard of him until his death. “I’m a ’70s child. Lou Reed wasn’t big in my era… I didn’t like him. I didn’t listen to him,” said Pyne of the Velvet Underground frontman, who released 11 highly acclaimed solo albums in the ’70s.
He then stated that he much preferred the music of ABBA, a sentiment previously stated by his boss, Tony Abbott. “ABBA dominated the ’70s. ABBA dominated the ’70s. ABBA had more hits in Australia than any other country outside Sweden. There’s NOTHING wrong with ABBA. If you want people to dance at a wedding, play ABBA.”
Thankfully Tom and Alex have decided that this moment shouldn’t be forgotten, with the radio duo reworking the legendary singer-songwriter’s Walk On the Wild Side into Walk On The Pyne Side, with glorious lyrics like “Christopher came from Adelaide in SA/Found his way onto Q&A/Was asked about the late Lou Reed/Thought it was so ABC”.
We think the most disturbing thing about the whole incident is that Christopher Pyne referred to Reed as a “heroin addict” and “transgression”, showing that our Minister for Freaking Education doesn’t know how to use air quotes correctly. Oh, dear. Won’t somebody think of the children?
Listen: Tom & Alex Walk On The Pyne Side
https://soundcloud.com/triple_j/walk-on-the-pyne-side
(via Faster Louder)
