Jack O'Hagan (1898–1987) was an Australian musician from
Fitzroy, Victoria, who was working at
Allans Music in Melbourne where he played
sheet music for potential customers. O'Hagan started writing his own songs in 1916 with "Along the Road to Gundagai" appearing in 1922 on Allans Music, which was written for voice and piano, with
ukulele chords. It was first recorded by
Peter Dawson in 1924 in London before selling some 40,000 to 50,000 copies in its first three months. O'Hagan performed the song later that same year. Since that time, it has been performed by numerous Australian artists and used in various contexts. It was used as the theme to the
Dad and Dave radio show. The town of
Gundagai is in a rural area of
New South Wales. In May 2001, the
Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, named "Along the Road to Gundagai" as one of the
Top 30 Australian songs of all time. Despite writing about the town, O'Hagan first visited Gundagai in 1956 when he was guest of honour at its centenary celebrations. It was used in the 1978 Australian Feature Film
Newsfront as a running theme, arranged by William Motzing, with the full orchestral version used over the end credits. ==Text==