Pictured: Steve Whittam, Scott Nicholas and Sue Whittam with their 1978 Ford Fairlane.
It’s a fierce debate: which decade truly delivered the best music?
Disco devotees swear by the seventies. Rock ’n’ roll fans point straight to the fifties and sixties. If you’re a ‘Swiftie’ who can’t get enough of Taylor’s tunes, now is the best era of music. The truth is, if a song has a great beat, your toes start tapping, and if you know the words, you’re singing along before you realise it.
That’s exactly why Retro Disco for Variety, spinning hits from the sixties, seventies, and eighties, puts the fun in fundraising. The event is hosted by Redlands’ own team Aussie Rock, who’ve raised an impressive $680,000 for charity since 2009. As the 2026 Variety Bash sends cars aged 25-plus from Innisfail to Gladstone, the team’s playlist is locked, loaded, and ready to soundtrack the journey.
For Team Aussie Rock and their tough-as-nails 1978 Fairlane, nothing beats classic Aussie tunes. Their car is a rolling boombox, blasting music loud enough to be heard up to a kilometre away. “You’ll hear us before you see us,” says owner Steve Whittam. And when you’re raising money for kids in need, that kind of volume is a very good thing!
Groove on over here to discover more about this fantastic event at Cleveland’s Grand View Hotel.
