Building Bridges (1989 album)

Building Bridges (subtitled Australia Has a Black History) is an Australian compilation album containing tracks from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal performers, inspired by a 1988 community concert called Building Bridges. The concert was held in Australia's Bicentennial year, which included many Aboriginal protests.

The vinyl album was released in 1989 to raise money for the National Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations. It includes songs sung in Aboriginal languages. The album was released by CAAMA Music and distributed by CBS in 1989, followed by a CD album released by ABC in 1990.

It reached #47 on the Australian album charts and may have symbolised "the embrace of indigenous rock by the mainstream".

The original double-vinyl release features 27 tracks, while the later CD release features nineteen.

TV special
On 24 January 1991 (two days before Australia Day), the Indigenous Australian TV series Blackout screened a special program to commemorate the original concert. With live music simulcast on Triple J featuring Midnight Oil, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Mixed Relations, all-female band Mirror Mirror, Kev Carmody, and Crowded House, the special also included band members and members of the audience talking about the future of black/white relations in Australia. The program was produced by ABC TV in co-operation with the Building Bridges Association Inc.

Track listing

 * 1) Special Treatment – Paul Kelly
 * 2) Gudurrku (The Brolga) – Yothu Yindi
 * 3) Justice Will Be Done – Les Shillingsworth
 * 4) Solid Rock – Goanna
 * 5) Birth Of A Nation – Wild Pumpkins At Midnight
 * 6) Breakneck Road – Hunters & Collectors
 * 7) Yil Lull – Joe Geia
 * 8) Warakurna – Midnight Oil
 * 9) Woma Wanti – Areyonga Desert Tigers
 * 10) Strychinine – Swamp Jockeys
 * 11) That Hanging Business – Do-Re-Mi
 * 12) Injustice – V. Spy V. Spy
 * 13) Hungry Years – Weddings Parties Anything
 * 14) Do It Rite – Cal Callaghan
 * 15) Bad Blood – The Stetsons
 * 16) Original Sin – INXS
 * 17) Broken Down Man – Scrap Metal
 * 18) Dancing In The Moonlight – Coloured Stone
 * 19) Heaven On A Stick – James Reyne
 * 20) Speak No Evil – Dragon
 * 21) Tjamu Tjamu – Ilkari Maru
 * 22) Mansion In The Slums – Crowded House
 * 23) Spirit Of The Land – The Gravy
 * 24) Bullant – Gondwanaland
 * 25) Swing For The Crime – The Saints
 * 26) Living In The Land Of Oz – Ross Wilson
 * 27) We Have Survived – No Fixed Address