Interview with Adalita from Magic Dirt about their cover of The Saints' '(I'm) Stranded'.

The twelfth release in the Mushroom 50 singles series, Magic Dirt covers '(I'm) Stranded' by The Saints.

First released in 1976, ‘(I’m) Stranded’ was the landmark debut single for Brisbane band The Saints. Their fans included Nick Cave and Bob Geldof, and the song made particular waves in the UK, where the music paper Sounds called it the “single of this and every week”.
The ties between The Saints and the Mushroom Group are longstanding. The songwriting of ‘(I’m) Stranded’ is represented by Mushroom Music Publishing and The Saints were signed to Mushroom Records in the ’80s, releasing the acclaimed albums All Fools Day – their highest-charting record – and Prodigal Son.

Magic Dirt played around with the arrangement, experimenting with how best to bring their unique sound to a classic. Sometimes though, the song dictates where it wants to go.

Magic Dirt frontwoman, Adalita says, “We threw a lot of stuff at it: lead breaks, overdubs, alternative melodies and ideas, but the song resisted a bunch of them, so we built it up and then stripped it back to just include what made the song good and fun. It’s still ‘(I’m) Stranded’, but it’s got that Magic Dirt feel to it.”

Mushroom, one of the world’s most influential music and entertainment collectives, will be releasing a special series of re-imagined singles featuring artists covering classic Mushroom songs from across the past five decades.

In 1972, a 19-year-old Michael Gudinski formed Mushroom Records and Mushroom Music Publishing in Melbourne, and it didn’t take long for the companies to make a significant impact on the Australian music scene. By the mid ‘70s, Mushroom was at the epicentre of a seismic shift in the way Australians interacted with music and live entertainment, and things were never the same. Since then, Mushroom has been a driving force of near every element of the region’s music and entertainment industry, broadcasting Australian culture across the globe and bringing the world’s brightest talent to our doorstep for fifty years. Over the decades, Mushroom has blossomed into a group of two-dozen specialist music and entertainment companies that are each leaders in their respective fields. The Mushroom Group now incorporates international and domestic touring, booking agencies, artist and talent management, record labels, music publishing, merchandising, creative and marketing services, venues, exhibition and event production, film production and distribution, and more.

Throughout 2023, Mushroom has big plans commemorate fifty years of unforgettable songs, artists and moments with several upcoming special projects. So, keep your eyes and ears peeled for what promises to be a historic celebration of 50 Years of Making Noise.