Which Aussie classic has been the best Song of the Year from 40 years of the APRA Awards?

The songwriter’s annual shindig the APRA Music Awards turns 40 this year. Check out the hits – and surprises – that claimed its coveted Song of the Year, and the night Kylie stole the show. VOTE IN OUR POLL

You could hear the buzz ripple throughout the crowd as a beaming Kylie Minogue strutted into the ballroom for the 1998 APRA Music Awards in Sydney.

Minogue was the surprise guest, enlisted to sing a Song of the Year nominee; the APRAs like to pair the nominated songs with an unexpected singer to give it a unique twist.

The experiment doesn’t always work but Minogue singing the stunning Nick Cave ballad Into Your Arms with just piano accompaniment was an inspired match, coming just three years after the unlikely duo enjoyed a global pop moment with their murder ballad hit Where The Wild Roses Grow.

“The first time she went through that song was at 4.30 that afternoon,” her proud longtime label boss Michael Gudinski said at the time.

“She did it really well. Five years ago, people would have said she couldn’t pull it off, she couldn’t do it.”

Kylie arriving at the 1998 APRA Music Awards at Sydney’s then Regent Hotel. Picture: NCA.

For 40 years, the APRA Music Awards have been the less fraught with music industry politics, more cheeky and fun alternative to the ARIA Awards.

With television cameras mostly absent from broadcasting the proceedings over the decades, rock stars can get loose, like in 2008 when Daniel Johns won Song of the Year for the Silverchair hit Straight Lines and leapt into the arms of his hero Peter Garrett who presented the award.

Daniel Johns jumps onto then Federal Arts Minister Peter Garrett after winning Song of the Year at 2008 APRA Music Awards at the Hilton Hotel. Picture: NCA.

Garrett was amused but there were some in the room who weren’t impressed with the chronically anxious public speaker Johns consuming considerable quantities of Dutch courage – even as they chugged the free booze themselves.

But these awards are not a popularity contest; most of the category winners are determined by the broadcast data collected by APRA – the Australasian Performing Right Association – on behalf of its songwriter members.

The coveted Song of the Year is, however, a peer-voted award, with about 2700 songwriters determining which magical mix of music and lyrics is the winner.

WARNING: contains image of a deceased Indigenous person. APRA winners Yothu Yindi perform Treaty at the 1995 APRA Awards. Picture: Supplied

From 1982 to 1990, the Gold Award recognised worthy contributions to the Australian songbook before the Song of the Year award was introduced in 1991 and won by the writers of Yothu Yindi’s enduring protest anthem Treaty.

Current APRA chair and fine songwriter Jenny Morris, who guesses she has been to 30 years worth of APRAs ceremonies, remembers that night well.

“One of the most thrilling and emotional performances for me was when Mandawuy Yunupingu and band opened the APRAs with Treaty,” she said.

“It was so high in energy, high in importance and high in symbolism. It was a cracker of a performance and I remember having a big lump in my throat.”

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APRA Chair Jenny Morris wants our songwriters to be recognised for their export potential. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gary Ramage

Only a handful of writers have been multiple Gold or Song of the Year winners over the past four decades including the INXS team of Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, AC/DC’s Angus Young and his late brother Malcolm, the members of Midnight Oil and Powderfinger, Neil Finn and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker.

Amy Shark had been nominated for Song of the Year three times before she finally claimed the prize with I Said Hi in 2019.

She knew exactly why that deeply personal song about rejection resonated with the voters.

Amy Shark has won three APRAs including Song of The Year and has two nominations for the 2022 awards. Picture: AAP.

“That’s what is so special about that song, I think,” Shark says. “There’s a little chip on every musician’s shoulder.

“That song doesn’t just match up with my story; everyone had someone who told them they were shit. No one just breezes through, there’s always setbacks and stuff.”

Morris, who has been a tireless advocate for the arts community, wants to train a brighter spotlight on the APRA Music Awards in an attempt to focus government and philanthropists on the economic potential of Australian songwriters.

Kevin Parker from Tame Impala is a multiple APRA Awards winner. Picture: AAP.

There are dozens of our producers and songwriters currently with credits on hits by global pop stars including Doja Cat, Justin Bieber and Dua Lipa as well as our own billion streamers such as Tones and I, The Kid Laroi, Sia and Masked Wolf.

Morris strongly believes Australia can become a net exporter of music within a decade.

“There has definitely been a sharpening of awareness of both the successes and the importance of our songwriters not only in Australia and NZ but also in the global arena. We can do better though,” she says.

“We can encourage the education sector to acknowledge and capitalise on the huge potential of song writing as a bona fide career path. We need to support our local gig industries and make the live performance industry in Australia as healthy as it was in the 80s and 90s.

“And we need to advocate for more home grown content across all platforms be it radio, TV or video on-demand.

“By doing all of these things, the world will value our talent pool even more than they already do. We now know that APRA members can dominate world markets, look at Sia, AC/DC, The Kid Laroi, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Tones And I, the list goes on, we can capitalise on that success and make grow it tenfold.”

The 2022 APRA Music Awards will be announced in Melbourne on May 3.