Still Playing with Fire: Harry Vanda Lights the Fuse Again
By Sean Sennett
You’re never too old or too young to release your debut single. Just ask Harry Vanda. At 79, with the Easybeats long behind him in the rearview mirror, Harry has dropped one of the best rock tracks of 2025, “Devil Loose”.
When InReview catches up with Vanda over Zoom, the Dutch born legend of songwriting has a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Yeah,” he shrugs, when I tell him his new single is an absolute killer. “It started from a riff… and it just fell into place.”
Vanda makes it sound easy. As anyone who’s followed his journey from the migrant hostels of 1960s Australia to global chart-topping heights knows, Vanda’s journey, with his creative partner George Young, has had a huge impact on our shared cultural fabric.
With the Easybeats, Vanda helped pen “Friday on My Mind”. He co-wrote “Good Times”, a song Paul McCartney once reportedly pulled over in traffic to request the BBC and play again. Then the 1970’s brought the “Evie” trilogy for Stevie Wright and “Love Is in the Air” for John Paul Young and a constellation of hits for his outings with Young under the moniker Flash and the Pan.
But now, in his own studio, Vanda’s still doing it – writing songs that feel vital and immediate. “Devil Loose” with its grit and pulsing atmospherics was co-written with Mark McEntee of the Divinyls. Vanda recorded a rough demo vocal in his studio when they started work. The irony? That first take – raw and instinctive – ended up on the final mix.
“I just sang a guide vocal in the back room” he says. “But the boys liked it, so we kept it.”
It’s a creative instinct Vanda has followed since his Easybeats days. “Character always mattered more than perfection,” he says. “If you labour a vocal too much, you lose that magic. You gotta have some sort of feeling in it, if you don’t have that the song is never going to turn ‘on’”
His studio method hasn’t changed much either. Though he’s unlikely to “stand in the middle of the band” and conduct like a sonic traffic cop like he used to.
“It felt a bit self-indulgent, so I gave t away” he admits with a hearty laugh.
When I mention the single’s B-side “Free and Easy” could have slotted onto an Easybeats record, he chuckles again, “Funny you say that. You’re right.” But it’s not nostalgia he’s chasing – it’s relevance. He’s demoing new tracks and quietly preparing follow-ups. “There’s a couple of candidates,” he nods. “Not finished. But they’ve got potential.”
Back in the day, Vanda and George Young wouldn’t always write with guitars. Occasionally they’d build an idea on a loop.
“Well, the loops were very important for those songs. They had to be danceable and all that business. With Flash and the Pan there were no cheap little ditties.
That approach birthed “Love Is in the Air” for John Paul Young and “Walking in the Rain”, tracks that blended melody and groove with uncanny precision. The latter was a global hit in the clubs for Grace Jones.
“John [Paul Young] sang “Love Is in the Air” really well,” Vanda says, warmly. “We told him – don’t overdo it. Keep it simple.” The result? An eternal anthem, now sung by school choirs and wedding bands the world over.
Vanda’s memory drifts easily between past and present. “Pasadena” ?“Lyrics by David Hemmings.” “Falling in Love Again”? “(Publisher) Ted Albert wanted us to write something for Dionne Warwick.” He speaks of George often, and fondly. “We were so alike musically. That’s why it worked. I couldn’t do Flash and the Pan now without him. Just wouldn’t feel right.”
As for AC/DC – the band Vanda and Young shepherded through their raw beginnings – he smiles. “They learned fast,” he says. But no, with his mobility not what it used to be, he won’t be seeing them on tour this time.
Vanda’s legacy with Young burns bright. Tarantino dropped “Bring a Little Lovin’” into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Even Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt have publicly gushed about “Friday on My Mind’s” tricky chord changes.
When I ask if he misses the road, he’s replies without missing a beat: “I haven’t been out on the road for so long. Except for when someone drags you on stage to play – I’ve done that a few times. Not really. The studio was always my happy place.” He acknowledges the importance of tangible music – vinyl, artwork, something you can hold. “Streaming just feels… out there,” he shrugs. “Vinyl’s different. You’ve got something real. I like the idea of a physical, tangible, thing”
Vanda’s creative spark still flickers. He casually mentions keeping riffs on tape, revisiting them later. “There’s something there right now – but it needs a little work.”
When I mention the social commentary in “Devil Loose” – he nods. “The world’s what it is,” he says. “Might as well say something.”
Sean Sennett
Harry Vanda’s debut single Devil Loose is streaming everywhere. The 7” single is available here https://impressedrecordings.com/products/harryvanda-devilloose-vinyl