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Oh I hope all your chooks turn to emus,
And kick your dunnie down flat to the grass,
I hope your balls turn to bicycle wheels,
And backpedal up your arse.

I hope every la-di-da pommie like you,
Gets the trots when he swallows a plum,
Go and dip your left eye in hot cockie shit,
And stick your head up a dead bear’s bum

These remarks suggest the most significant elements evident in the film music tracks we are about to explore, namely: comedy and satire directed towards Australian struggles to assert cultural identity in the 1970s; musical intertextuality insofar as the film music track continually references familiar songs and Western/Anglophone musical items; and popular music’s role in Australian culture.

This is unbelievable stuff! It’s all from here. Someone’s actually taken an academic look at Barry McKenzie

And it gets better…

The song structure is changed by the incorporation of some other musical sections, but all the elements of the song are retained. The cue begins at the airport scene. Initially it is a simple bass line marking out two alternating chords (E flat major and C minor). After 13 bars the string chords implied by the bass-line become prominent with the bass notes still underpinning the cue. At bar 21 the string chords are played tremolo, adding to the suspense. There is a build up to bar 25 where the choir enters singing “Bar-ry Mc-Ken-zie,” a rising harmonised melodic hook that is later used at various dramatic parts of the narrative Such aspects of proximity and cultural transition are reinforced by the elements of difference highlighted in the stopover scene incorporated into this title sequence.

Back to reality..

Barry McKenzie was a comic strip figment of the imagination of one of Australia’s most brilliant satirists, Barry Humphries.

Naive as they come and doing his OE in London the late 60’s, his major (only?) interests were getting pissed and getting his leg over.

Sounds vaguely familiar…

Private Eye ran the series and delivered flimsy 45s to subscribers with gems such as

“All Pommies are bastards, bastards and worse
And England is the arsehole of the universe”

Or
Chunder in the old Pacific sea.mp3

Or
One eyed trouser snake.mp3

The Aussie Gummint supposedly even fronted up some cash to produce 2 films, not having the vaguest clue about what they were getting for their money.

Much blue-rinsed ranting ensued when the first film came out with classic lines such as:

Barry: Now listen mate, I need to splash the boots. You know, strain the potatoes. Water the horses. You know, go where the big knobs hang out. Shake hands with the wife’s best friend? Drain the dragon? Siphon the python? Ring the rattlesnake? You know, unbutton the mutton? Like, point Percy at the porcelain?

Blanch: I think he wants to go to the loo….