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Martin Doherty & Leigh Birkett : Dare To Struggle, Dare To Win
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High powered yet beautiful acoustic music with a strong message. This album is a specific tribute to a legend of the australian union movement and one of australia's great humanitarians.
Genre: Folk: Political Folk
Release Date: 2008
Dare To Struggle, Dare To Win Record Label: Martin Doherty & Leigh Birkett
  • Buy CD - $25.00
Preview Song Name Time Format Price Select
Bendigo Gold 5:57 Album Only
Spoken Word 0:17 Album Only
It's a Working Man I Am 5:06 Album Only
Spoken Word 0:29 Album Only
The Big Pneumatical Drill 2:58 Album Only
Shearers On the Wallaby 5:46 Album Only
Spoken Word 0:56 Album Only
Tribute to John Cummins 4:43 Album Only
Spoken Word 0:22 Album Only
They Couldn't Take the Union From Your Soul 3:21 Album Only
Spoken Word 1:30 Album Only
England's Motorway 5:09 Album Only
Now Listen Mr Howard 2:51 Album Only
Spoken Word 0:34 Album Only
The Legend 6:55 Album Only
Farewell to the Rhondda 3:33 Album Only
The Ballad of Jim Larkin 2:23 Album Only
Spoken Word 1:42 Album Only
Crooked Jack 2:56 Album Only
Spoken Word 0:21 Album Only
Joe Hill 3:56 Album Only
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Album Notes

This CD is a tribute to John Cummins, the late President of the CFMEU, Victoria. A great freedom fighter and union man. He will be sorely missed by the thousands he helped through his life. Dare to Struggle Dare to Win is very much a Union album and we're very proud of it. I've been a Union man all my life. In fact, I'm now an honourary Life Member of the CFMEU, so it is no surprise that this CD represents not just a tribute to the life and passion of 'Cummo', but a statement of Union solidarity. A world without strong Unions is a disastrous prospect which we're currently facing and if our children grow up not knowing what rights they should have in the workplace, then the world will be a very sad place indeed.

However, this album is much more than just a fist pumping Union diatribe. You'll find it contains stirring melodies and arrangements both fast and slow, played by some of the finest folk musicians in Australia.

There is also a selection of spoken word pieces taken from a Melbourne radio show called "the Contrete Gang" on the morning of Cummo's funeral. It's not morbid, but contains humerous and inciteful short anecdotes about John and the Construction Union in Ausrtalia.

This is an unusual album and one that should be enjoyed by anyone who likes high quality acoustic music or anyone who believes working men and women to receive the same opportunities as those born to more privileged circumstances.

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