Let the Franklin Flow
{{Infobox song
| name = Let the Franklin Flow
| cover = Let_the_Franklin_Flow_song.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Gordon Franklin And The Wilderness Ensemble
| album =
| released = April 1983
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 3:30
| label = WEA
| writer = Franklin River
| producer = Trevor Lucas
| prev_title = Razor's Edge
| prev_year = 1983
| next_title = That Day...Is Comin'
| next_year = 1983
}}
"Let the Franklin Flow" is a song written by Shane Howard (credited as Franklin River){{cite web | publisher = Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | title = "Let the Franklin Flow" at APRA search engine | url = http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Let%20the%20Franklin%20Flow | accessdate=19 August 2010}} and recorded by Australian band Goanna (credited as Gordon Franklin and the Wilderness Ensemble). The song was released in April 1983 as a protest song to save the Franklin River from being dammed in Tasmania, Australia. "Let the Franklin Flow" peaked at number 12 on the Australian Kent Music Report.
Background
On 13 February 1983, Gordon Franklin & the Wilderness Ensemble performed, "Let the Franklin Flow" at the Stop The Drop nuclear disarmament concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.{{cite web | url = http://www.milesago.com/Recommend/fired.htm | title = All Fired Up: Lost Treasures of Australian Music – Various artists | last1 = Hogan | first = David | work = Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975 | last2 = Kimball | first2 =Duncan | publisher = Ice Productions | year = 2002 | access-date = 19 August 2010}}{{cite AV media notes | title = Let the Franklin Flow | last = Gordon Franklin and the Wilderness Ensemble | date = 1983 | publisher = WEA | id = 7-259941 | location = Melbourne }} The ensemble included members of folk rock groups Goanna and Redgum, together with their mutual producer, Trevor Lucas. In April, "Let the Franklin Flow" was issued as a single with Lucas and Jeff Campbell as its producers.{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040224195146/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/g/goanna.html | url = http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/g/goanna.html | title = Goanna | publisher = Australian Rock Database | last1 = Holmgren | first1 = Magnus | last2 = Pertout | first2 = Alex | last3 = Phillips | first3 = John | last4 = Baird | first4 = Paul | last5 = Howard | first5 = Shane | archive-date = 24 February 2004 | url-status = usurped | access-date = 28 September 2022 }} Shane Howard (of Goanna), the song's writer, was initially credited as F. River.{{cite web | url = http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2382087 | title = 'Let the Franklin Flow' [music] / by Gordon Franklin and the Wilderness Ensemble; music and lyrics by F. River | publisher = National Library of Australia | year = 1983 | access-date = 19 August 2010}} The single reached No. 12 nationally. Proceeds supported the Tasmanian Wilderness Society's campaign against the proposed damming of Tasmania's Gordon and Franklin rivers for a hydroelectricity project.{{cite web | archive-url = https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20120726191200/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/14231/20120727-0512/www.howlspace.com.au/en2/goanna/goanna.htm | url = http://www.howlspace.com.au/en2/goanna/goanna.htm | title = Goanna | last = Nimmervoll | first = Ed | author-link = Ed Nimmervoll | publisher = Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music. White Room Electronic Publishing | archive-date = 26 July 2012 | access-date = 22 January 2014 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web | url = http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jpfqxqr5ldje~T1 | title = Goanna > Biography | publisher = Allmusic | last1 = Swift | first1 = Brendan | access-date = 16 August 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050311003251/http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg | archive-date = 11 March 2005 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }} Howard physically supported the protests by joining the picket lines. The B-side of the single, "Franklin River – World Heritage", was written and recorded by the society's director, Bob Brown, who later became a senator and the leader of Australian Greens.{{cite web | url = http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/the80sareback/index.php/2010/01/senator-bob-brown-leader-of-the-greens/ | title = Senator Bob Brown, Leader of the Greens : The 80s Are Back | last1 = Havlicek | first1 = Irma | publisher = Powerhouse Museum | year = 2010 | access-date = 19 August 2010}}
Track listing
; 7" WEA (7-259941)
Side A: "Let the Franklin Flow" - 3:30
Side B: "Franklin River - World Heritage" (credited to Bob Brown) - 2:40
Charts
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable"
|+Weekly chart performance for "Let the Franklin Flow" |
| Chart (1983)
!Peak |
|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}
| style="text-align:center;"|12 |
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for "Let the Franklin Flow" ! Chart (1983) ! Position |
| scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web |url=https://i.imgur.com/860ttad.jpg |title=Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983 |publisher=Kent Music Report |via=Imgur.com |access-date=22 January 2023}}
| 98 |
|---|
References
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