Aussie rockers Goanna served legal notice over Spirit of Place album cover

Aussie rockers Goanna have made their long-awaited stage return with Midnight Oil, but their comeback was far from smooth.

Goanna performs at the Midnight Oil Day on the Green at Mt Duneed Estate. Picture: Mark Wilson.

A messy legal stoush has shaken up the once ‘solid rock’ of cult Aussie band Goanna.

Goanna has made a long-awaited return as support on Midnight Oil’s farewell tour, but behind-the-scenes they’ve found themselves on anything but er, sacred ground.

At the centre of the dispute is the graphic artist who designed the iconic cover of the rock band’s debut album, Spirit Of Place.

Goanna’s Spirit of Place album cover.

The famous cover depicted a plane flying over Uluru at sunset and it has been reproduced on merchandise and used as the backdrop on stage during the band’s comeback tour.

Only problem, the rock band don’t own the copyright to the logo and have been served a legal notice to stop using it or pay up by designer Judi Kenneally.

To make matters messier, Kenneally is the long-time partner of Goanna’s founding manager Ian Lovell.

The story goes Lovell, dubbed the King of the Coast, discovered the band, which was formed by lead singer Shane Howard in 1977, when he was running Geelong’s famed Eureka Hotel.

At the Eureka, a fledgling Goanna would support Cold Chisel who were on a national tour. They hit the big time with the release of their first album in 1982, one of the first rock bands to use a didgeridoo, which featured the powerful protest song, Solid Rock.

The 70s rockers were served with a legal notice. Picture: Mark Wilson.

Howard wrote the song after a 10-day camping trip to the Red Centre in 1980 where he said he had a “spiritual awakening,” which brought “the fire in the belly” over injustices to Australia’s First Nation people.

Kenneally and Lovell, who are now based in Lorne, spend their time fighting for environmental rights and anti-development along the Surf Coast.

Howard, who has also been playing with Midnight Oil during the band’s Resist tour, has been vocal on the media circuit promoting the band’s comeback.

But he was less so when contacted by Page 13 about the legal dispute with a “no comment”. Kenneally and Lovell, also no strangers to voicing their opinions, were strangely quiet when contacted.

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett. Picture: Awais Butt