I thought that for this Australia Day (which is celebrated every January 26 down under), I’d link up with our recent Geeks of Doom theme of celebrating the 25th anniversary of some of the music and albums released during 1986. That year was a big one for Australian artists, with some key releases stamping their mark on the history of the Aussie music industry and the rock scene down under.

From Metal to Pop, from Traditional Alternative to Post-Punk, join me in a look back at some of the biggest and more memorable music releases from Australia 25 years ago in 1986.

If you grew up in New Zealand and Australia during the 1980s, you would be familiar with a comic strip that was very popular for both Kiwis and Aussies, but never took off internationally: Murray Ball‘s Footrot Flats.

For those who don’t know, Footrot Flats was a comic strip that was written and drawn by Murray Ball that was published from 1975 to 1994. The strip followed the life of Wal Footrot and his dog (named “Dog”) on their farm. There was an abundance of other human and animal characters that were also central to the strip, and it followed the idiosyncrasies of these individuals, poking fun at our human faults.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the release of the Footrot Flats movie, a film release that was testament to how popular Footrot Flats was in New Zealand. The collected publications of the strips were selling in the millions at the time, and Footrot Flats eventually also became the basis for a stage musical and a theme park as well. The elements Murray Ball covered in the adventures of Dog totally resonated with youngsters (and adults) across Australasia, but more importantly became a staple aspect of New Zealand culture.

Be sure to continue on for much more and to see videos relating to Footrot Flats — one a music video and one from the animated movie.