"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band the Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album Starfish. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson of Curious (Yellow). It peaked at No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 24 on the United States Billboard Hot 100, No. 25 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and appeared in the Dutch Single Top 100. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, the song won 'Single of the Year'. It was issued simultaneously in both 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl formats by Arista Records (internationally) and Mushroom Records (Australian region). In 2006, the song was remixed and released as Craig Obey vs The Church. It peaked at number 91 on the ARIA charts. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Under the Milky Way" was ranked number 33. Background In 1987 Australian alternative rock band The Church travelled to Los Angeles to record their fifth studio album, Starfish, and worked with producers Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi. The Church's line-up for the album was Steve Kilbey on bass guitar and lead vocals, Peter Koppes on guitars, Marty Willson-Piper on guitars, and Richard Ploog on drums and percussion. However, while recording "Under the Milky Way", the band were unable to get a drum track which sounded right with Ploog, so they played to a click track and later session musician Russ Kunkel was brought in to add drums and percussion. Composition "Under the Milky Way" was written by Kilbey and Karin Jansson of Curious (Yellow). Kilbey and Jansson had become friends in 1983 and lived together in Australia from 1986. Kilbey said, "I smoked a joint and started playing the piano and she came in the room and we just made it up." According to a press release issued with Starfish, the title is from an Amsterdam music and cultural venue, Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way"), which Kilbey used to frequent. "Under the Milky Way" features a 12-string acoustic guitar melody along with a solo composed with an EBow on a Fender Jazzmaster, and recorded on a Synclavier, leading to a sound reminiscent of bagpipes. In October 1990 Jansson told John Tingwell of Drum Media about songwriting with Kilbey "it's a