John Willsteed, a former bass player for The Go-Betweens, said the high quality of Brisbane's music was partly to do with the city's isolation.

"Great music has come from cities on the edges of things," he said.

"You know if you came from a place like Brisbane people would look down on you, so you're already fighting a battle and you gotta work harder for what you get."

Willsteed and Andrew Bartlett, a former politician and long-time 4ZZZ presenter, helped us explore what it is exactly that makes Brisbane's music culture vibrant.

Along with Warwick Vere, who runs arguably the city's best record store, Rocking Horse Records, Willsteed and Bartlett also picked what they thought were the songs that best represented Brisbane.

Willsteed said Brisbane's remoteness was part of what helped create such well-know bands.

"I think that's why The Go-Betweens and The Saints became popular, because they were unique voices, they were unique globally not just to Australia," he said.

"The Go-Betweens made a home for a minute with a label in Scotland because they were seen as outliers, coming from the outer edges of civilisation, and Glasgow was the outer edges of civilisation in relation to London, just as Brisbane is to say Sydney or Melbourne.

"You gotta try harder and work harder for stuff, when you're in places like that."

Bartlett, who has worked at 4ZZZ on and off since 1982 and currently hosts 4ZZZ breakfast show A Burst of Brisbane on Mondays, said as well as working hard, most Brisbane musicians worked without the expectation of fame or glory.

"I don't want to sound too starry eyed about it but I think it's people producing stuff that is genuinely world class but also not necessarily expecting to become rock stars out of it, they're doing it because they love it," he said.

"In Brisbane music in general I think it's much more about that love for the music and the openness of the place."

He said these days bands felt less pressure to move to other cities to make music than they did in the 80s.

"There was that sense to even be creatively expansive you had to go somewhere else because it was much more oppressive, and even going out to see bands could occasionally be a hazardous occupation," he said.

Here are the songs that Willsteed, Bartlett, and Warwick Vere think have a particular Brisbane flavour.

John Willsteed, musician

Musician John Willsteed. Photo: Glenn Hunt

Ed Kuepper, Electrical Storm - "It really sort of sums up this city back then, and some elements of it remain ??? (it has) a real suburban summer oppressive feeling about it."

The Saints, (I'm) Stranded - "I'm Stranded is a great Brisbane song in many ways, the reason it was so iconic is it had global resonances, teenage boredom was the same everywhere."

The Apartments,The Goodbye Train - "I really find it very evocative, when I think about being young living in Brisbane late 70s early 80s, The goodbye train being a metaphor for ditching Brisbane and never (returning)."

The Go-Betweens, Karen - "Karen is quite a good song about a young boy growing up in Brisbane and about the librarian who helps him to find his way into a world of books, and a world of books when you're young and living in Brisbane is a journey into other places and other thinking, and a world beyond your own."

The Go-Betweens???, Streets of Your Town - "Streets of Your Town was not necessarily about Brisbane, but it's certainly a song the city took to its heart."

Kate Miller-Heidke, Caught in the Crowd - "A great Brisbane artist ... and Last Day on Earth is (also) a spectacularly good song."

Andrew Bartlett, 4ZZZ

Andrew Bartlett at the 4ZZZ studios. Photo: Robert Shakespeare

The Saints, Brisbane (Security City) - "They've got one called Brisbane (Security City) which I think is fairly apt, it talks about how hot it is, cops crawling past slowly."

The Go-Betweens, Bye Bye Pride - "One for me that sticks out as a little bit reflective of Brisbane per se is Bye Bye Pride, it's got a lyric that talks about the mangroves ... sort of explicitly evocative."

Violent Soho, Like Soda - "A tune on their last album called Like Soda is possibly not about Brisbane but filmed at Bardon Bowls Club."

The Colours, Blue Shirt - "The (unofficial) clip is just a few old stills of Brisbane, but it is close to my favourite song by a Brisbane band ever."

Screamfeeder, Bridge Over Nothing - "Scream Feeder are another late 90s, early noughties (band), they have a song called Bridge Over Nothing which for some reason I always used to think was about the Story Bridge, I have no idea if it is or not.

John Kennedy - Brisvegas* - "This one written about a visit back to Brisbane where he did a gig at Ric's where literally nobody turned up. Namedrops a million things about Brisbane."

Warwick Vere, Rocking Horse Records

Warwick Vere, Rocking Horse Records. Photo: Supplied

The Saints, Security City - "Thirteen hot nights in a row/ The cops drive past and they move slow/ A million people staying low/ With mangoes ripe, who needs to grow?"

The Go- Betweens, Spring Rain - "(A) great atmospheric pop song from Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express."

Kitchen's Floor, Sundowner - "A tough little grungy song inspired by the wartime Battle of Brisbane but also relating to more current concerns."

Razar, Task Force - "Very young and capable Brisbane punk outfit circa 1978, expressing their frustration with the police 'special branch' of that era who were a real threat to 'alternate' youth (ie anyone who dressed in black and/or went to a gig)."

Parameters, Pig City - "Another poke in the eye to the local out of control 'special branch'."

Pineapples from the Dawn of Time, Too Much Acid - Lots of Brissie (and ex-Brissie) identities come together to warn us of this evil circa 1984."

Ed Kuepper, Electrical Storm - "Great atmosphere and beautiful song. These storms used to be a regular feature of late afternoon, early evening summer in Brisbane. Where did they go?"

Vere also nominated two whole albums for their great Brisbane flavour, Powderfinger's Vulture Street and Spring Hill Fair from the Go-Betweens.

Do you think they missed any Brisbane songs? Let us know in the comments.

*An earlier version of this article incorrectly credited the song Brisvegas to the band, JFK and the Cuban Crisis instead of the singer.