Courting the Net
(This CD is now out of stock and will not be re-issued. Live versions of two of the original songs on this EP have been included on our new EP: A live version of Courting the Net is available as a singler on Bandcamp.
Bob and Laurel set about recorded this EP in 1999 with three of Bob’s songs and four covers. ‘Australia all Over’ host Ian McNamara picked up the title track ‘Courting the Net’ and played it what seemed like every Sunday for a year. The witty ballad about a net-obsessed spouse and long-suffering partner captured people’s imaginations for a time.
“Why won’t you come to bed with me, we could yahoo all night long for free, but every time I hear that modem squeal, like a lover’s cry that’s not quite real, I put a bookmark in my paperback, and think of all the things I lack and dream about a real time guy.”
“Modems don’t squeal anymore but the song still resonates with people,” says Bob.
The Goodwills decided to record their long overdue debut album in 1999. Courting the Net was recorded by gold ARIA award winner Rupert Pletzer with the help of musicians including Silas Palmer (piano and violin), Helen Russell (bass), Matthew Moline (harp), Seamus Kirkpatrick (clarinet) and Jevan Cole (guitar) and Randall Mathews (violin) and Brendan James (guitar).
The album was released in late 1999 and immediately picked up by ‘Australia all Over’ host Ian McNamara who often played two of Bob’s songs, Courting the Net and Underneath the Story Bridge. As a result of the national exposure, there are no copies left, sorry.
Tracks
1/ Courting the Net (Bob Wilson) 2/ Underneath the Story Bridge (Bob Wilson) 3/ Andy’s Gone with Cattle 4/ I Wake Up Slow (Dory Previn), 5/ Cry you a waterfall (Kristina Olsen), 6/ Tales of a Mis-Spent Youth (Bob Wilson), 7/ Turtle Blues (Janis Joplin).