Anyone with an interest in rock music in Queensland in the early 70s will almost certainly be familiar with Railroad Gin.

From Oslo to Australia, Sven Libaek's journey was anything but conventional

Prestidigitation, for those who don't already know, is the art of performing magic tricks using sleight of hand; it's also a largely forgotten album from the former lead singer with 60s band The Groop.

Paul O'Gorman was an unknown quantity when he entered the 1976 Australian Popular Song Festival.

Nick Cave apparently once said that he didn't like Canberra because there were too many punks.

The story of Grade Wicker; tracking down a missing star of the early '60s

At one point more than 80% of the hit records being produced in Australia were being cut at Armstrong Recording Studios in Melbourne.

Inspired by an aboriginal story about the creation of the Southern Cross constellation, guitarist Rob Thomsett wrote a wonderful but little known jazz/rock album called Yaraandoo in 1974. Only 100 copies of the album were made.

This episode is all about aboriginal Australian women who wrote and played songs that reflected their emotions and experiences and then sang them with powerful voices that inspired their communities.

Birth Of The Sun is the name given to both a dreamtime story and a wonderful, but forgotten album by singer songwriter Ray Rivamonte.

So much music is created electronically today that it's difficult to think back to a time when it was cutting edge to be working with computers and synthesisers.

For war weary soldiers the sound a familiar song, the sight of a pretty face and a pair of shapely legs all wrapped up with a laugh or two had the power to lift their spirits and transport them back (at least for a couple of hours) to a time when life was simpler and safer.

Often RareCollections speaks with the musicians behind some of their favourite records but this episode features records drawn from another collector.

"There's a technical aspect but then it's as much psychiatrist, policeman and wet nurse... sometimes all at the same time."

The cover art for Peter Harris' 1976 LP Ruby inspired Jordie Kilby to pick up a copy in a coastal town second hand shop a few years back. It started a journey to track Peter down and discover more about his inspiration for the album and the other recordings he made.

If you were tapped into the underground music scene in Brisbane in the mid 1960's then you probably spent some time at the Red Orb.

The 70's were a decade that saw a great rise in the popularity of Reggae music around the world. Largely due to acts like Bob Marley and Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh and films like The Harder They Come.

Taking your song to an international market has always been a challenge for Australian musicians but many have risen to the occasion.

They aren't household names but the Four Brothers were there at the beginning of Rock and Roll and TV in Australia.

Musicians and writers have been inspiring each other for years and this episode of RareCollections looks at four great Australian records with a literary connection.

In Adelaide over 3 days in 1976 Sue Barker and The Onions recorded a classic album that contains some of the most soulful grooves ever put down in an Australian studio.

They sang in seven languages, hosted their own top rating TV show and held down residencies at some of the finest clubs and restaurants in Australia and Europe. Jordie and David Kilby organize a reunion for the Gringos.

Rewriting Italian pop songs, re-arranging Russian ballet and sending the Bee Gees on their way - just another day at the office for Joe Halford.

British born Joe Halford moved to Australia in the late 1950's and by the mid 60's was one of the most influential record producers in the country.

Sometimes billed as the Malaysian Elvis, Leong Lau looked more like Jimi Hendrix