Dennis Atkins
Dennis Atkins is the national affairs editor at Brisbane’s Courier-Mail where he writes the regular political column Party Games, mostly analysing and laughing at the antics of our federal politicians.
He’s been a journalist for about 35 years, having started in Adelaide as editor of the children’s section of The Sunday Mail, Possum’s Pages.
Since then his writing has been divided between politics and music, two great passions. After two long periods living in the national capital, he’s escaped to the riverside tranquillity of Brisbane.
Articles by Dennis Atkins
What happened on the road to Splendour in the Grass
It was a moment that cut me but I tried so hard not to show it. In 2007 on a…... Read more
The Boss is still the boss
Springsteen has done it again. You’ve got to look for the silver lining in these troubled times and if the…... Read more
A quirky southern folk rock that will send you into a spin
Half a dozen years ago I regularly attended concerts in the dark and smaller halls of inner-Brisbane with a guy…... Read more
Here’s to drinking songs, they’re true blue…
It was when the Captain Matchbox Whoopie Band let fly with its dated fart joke interlude that I started thinking…... Read more
Blessed by the presence of Lucinda Williams
Suicide among musicians is, sadly, far too common. Artistic temperaments, self-medication and substance abuse, depressive personalities and the ease with…... Read more
Throw your panties at the CD player, Tom Jones is back
In these troubled times anything that makes your feet move involuntarily is a good thing. That’s what happened when I…... Read more
The Band that holds under the weight of time
Throughout my high school years I used to walk to Brighton High in Adelaide’s beach suburbs with my mate Andy…... Read more
Bring Le Noise: Neil Young is back in the ditch
Neil Young is back in the ditch. Next Tuesday as our new paradigm Parliament shuffles towards getting stampy over who’s…... Read more
Why Brisvegas totally rocks
Great music cities don’t just suddenly emerge, although some have their genesis in rebellion or in the emergence of some…... Read more
There is a guy from North Ontario
It was this statement that caught my attention: “There’s no band, but I got in there with my sonics. There’s…... Read more
Quality vinyl: the top 25 side one track ones of all time
It’s possible no-one under 25 will get this article. But the joy of side one, track one is one of…... Read more
Micah P. Hinson: Don’t mess with this Texan
Micah P Hinson is a Texas-raised singer songwriter – although born in Memphis, Tennessee - who should have been on…... Read more
The boy who was better than the Beatles
The thing about Alex Chilton is that he was a musician from the south of the United States. The hardest…... Read more
The Sydney cabbie who’s writing the songs of our lives
Peter Corris’s Glebe PI Cliff Hardy has a modern Australian playlist in his latest adventure, Torn Apart, including the Whitlams,…... Read more
Seven ages of rock will have you arguing for ages
Forget Hank Williams singing Move It On Over in 1947. And that ground- breaking 1939 boogie tune, Rockin’ Rollin’ Mama…... Read more
The best bands you’ve never heard of
Here’s proof of the abundance of great new music. The great benefit of those end of the year lists of…... Read more
Tragic end for the talented victim of a failed system
The just gone year was crowded with bad news and the chances are this one will be the same. As…... Read more
This is Rosanne Cash’s Patsy Cline record
I saw Rosanne Cash play at Dooley’s Hotel in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in the early 90s, on a bill to…... Read more
When David Letterman’s sex scandal does you a favour
Sometimes luck just runs. Consider California-born, Texan-by-conviction and New York resident Tom Russell, a singer-songwriter who has been making music…... Read more
The record label that helped abolish the death penalty
It’s a record label that carries a quote from muck-raking journalist H.L. Mencken as its motto, was largely responsible for…... Read more
At the roundabout, turn left and revisit Highway 61
Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour, which broadcasts on New York’s Sirius XM satellite radio and the BBC, produces some…... Read more
Mavis Staples and a whole bunch of other talented folk
WHAT a life Mavis Staples has had. Her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, was a gospel/soul/pop singer, ace guitarist and songwriter…... Read more
You may have heard of his family, but listen to him
Most music fans first heard about the Felice Brothers – especially us blokes – with a reference to the opening…... Read more
The hottest 100, for the slightly elderly
THERE was a time any song list from the ABC’s Triple J would be a talking point for at least…... Read more
Music from a time before coffee shops and laptops
East Nashville is a lovely part of the world. It’s nicely gentrified, full of neat houses with neat gardens. There…... Read more
Wilco has grown up
The Hideout is a bar in the ostentatiously hip inner north western suburbs of Chicago, although its dead-end location in…... Read more
Star-struck in Austin: Meeting my musical hero
Maria’s Taco Express sits on a busy expressway in south Austin, Texas, snuggled in between car yards and furniture stores.…... Read more
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
@joekiely an Irish ghost called a mist fairy comes on dark road and pushes you into the ditch. nothing to do with six pints
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Would you kill for a job?
Who would work in an abattoir? Most of us have done jobs we didn’t want to do because we needed…
Friday Dilemma: child cruelty or harmless fun?
Parenting. It’s the new oneupmanship. Ah, how quaint the days now seem when parents could raise…
Hipsters with hip replacements
Someone once told me that when people reach a certain age they begin dressing in the manner they did…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: Punch on: Open thread 09/02/2012
marley says:
I'm one of the older ones, so I've certainly seen a few changes in my time. When I started school I learned to write with a nib pen, dipped in an inkwell (no, I'm not kidding). My mother became a dab hand at getting inkstains out of my clothes. Flicking ink at one another in the classroom was an essential… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
Erick says:
Led Zeppelin are responsible for my all-time favourite mixed metaphor: "There you sit, sit and stare, like a book on a shelf rusting." (Misty Mountain Hop) I laugh every time I hear it. Hmmm, I believe I've decided what to play on the way to work today. [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
No wuckin forries. These nuckin futs are tuckin fops
Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech. That’s… Read more
