Artist · chart history
Things of Stone and Wood
Band Melbourne Australia Formed 1990
Things of Stone and Wood formed in 1990 in Melbourne, Australia. Things of Stone and Wood has 2 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 1993–1994. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Happy Birthday Helen”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #91. The station that charted Things of Stone and Wood most often is Triple J (Australia (national)), with 2 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1993.
Out of Melbourne came Things of Stone and Wood, folk rock with its sleeves rolled up: Greg Arnold singing and strumming acoustic guitar, Justin Brady on violin, mandolin and harmonica, Michael Bruce Allen on bass and backing vocals, and Tony Floyd on drums and percussion. The breakthrough was the 1992 single "Happy Birthday Helen", a jaunty, sweet-natured love note Arnold wrote for his girlfriend, who later became his wife, and it went to number 9 on the ARIA singles chart.
1993 was a banner year. The band took the ARIA for Best New Talent with "Share This Wine", Arnold was named Songwriter of the Year at the APRA Awards, and The Yearning, released that February, climbed to number 8 on the ARIA albums chart. Junk Theatre, home of "Wildflowers", matched that peak, fiddle and mandolin still skipping over the top.
The band called it a day in 1998, regrouped in 2001 and parted ways once more in 2006, but the original four reunited in 2013, hit the road for their 25th anniversary the following year, and in March 2026 put out a new album, Rae Street.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Things of Stone and Wood on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Happy Birthday Helen | 1 | #91 | – | 1993 | |
| 2 | Wildflowers | 1 | #93 | – | 1994 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 93 | Wildflowers | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1994 |
| 1993 | 91 | Happy Birthday Helen | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993 |
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