Ever felt an urge to headbang to the ABC News theme? In 2010, Australian hard rock-electronica group Pendulum transformed the theme into an unlikely dance hit, reaching No. 11 on triple j's Hottest 100.

The extent of its popularity is on full display in these scenes from the 2011 Future Music Festival, broadcast on Channel [V], where thousands of young attendees jump in time to the tune that introduced the ABC Nightly News between 1986 and 2005. Pendulum acknowledged that nostalgia was a key factor in the track's success – those dancing would've heard it first as children. Though Pendulum continues to perform the remix during their live shows, they only do so for Australian audiences who might recognise its original context.

The power of shared cultural touchstones and memory is clear in the footage of the massive audience, who are united in noisy excitement once they hear the distinctive piccolo trumpet from the opening solo. Close-ups of screaming youth and synchronised dancing reinforce the unifying power of a simple daily news theme, which has been seared into national memory.

Original composers Tony Ansell and Peter Wall incorporated several elements that made it suitable for remixing as an electronic dance track. The sound of beeping, resembling Morse code or radar, creates a rhythmic sense of anticipation for a drop. The original track has a four-four time signature – used so often in dance music that sound engineers refer to it as a 'four on the floor beat'.

The continued popularity of Ansell and Wall’s composition saw the ABC revive it for the news in 2025. The original recording was mastered for 1980s television speakers, which had limited bass reproduction. The updated version was supplemented with drum tracks, described by sound engineer David McDonald as similar to what you'd hear in hip-hop or dance music.