Remembering John Safran’s Hip-Hop Duo Raspberry Cordial

We here at Tone Deaf love uncovering little-known tidbits of trivia from the world of Australian music, like the fact that former R&B sensation Selwyn is now driving a fork lift for a living.

But one that recently captured our sense of nostalgia was John Safran’s forgotten hip-hop duo, Raspberry Cordial. Yes, long before his partnership with Father Bob, Safran was a rapper.

Raspberry Cordial was often referenced in Safran’s brilliant Music Jamboree series, where the host often referred to his partnership with keyboardist Chris Lumsden as “seminal”.

Safran elaborated on that description in a 2002 interview with Andrew Denton, saying the pair “broke down the wall that Eminem’s been able to walk through”, since the world “wasn’t ready for white rappers then”.

Whether or not Safran’s right, Raspberry Cordial had some success, such as coming second in RMIT’s Battle of the Bands in 1992 and going on tour play venues such as The Tote, “some pub in Geelong and some school in Shepparton”.

They also garnered rotation on local community radio with their 1991 cassette, Melbourne Tram, which ought to be a collector’s item amongst Australian hip-hop heads.

According to Safran, he still has hundreds of unsold copies of Melbourne Tram in his bedroom after only 93 of 500 pressed copies were sold.

Raspberry Cordial eventually broke up following the release of their second record and some harsh comments from Safran’s girlfriend who found the band to be embarrassing. But we’ll always have the music…

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