|
Swingshift
''Swingshift'' is a live album released by Australian band Cold Chisel in 1981. It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the Australian chart, debuting there in its first week. It peaked at number 9 in New Zealand. A press release said the title referred to, "the midnight to dawn shift that the staff in asylums dread: the hours when the crazies go crazy." Details The performances on ''Swingshift'' were taken from concerts at Sydney's Capitol Theatre and Melbourne's Festival Hall from the "Youth in Asia" tour in the winter of 1980. Don Walker said compared to the studio versions of the songs, "Generally the feel's a lot better, and the band plays a lot better." The songs are as recorded live, but studio remixing took 125 hours. Barnes said, "Most of the album was recorded at Sydney's Capitol Theatre on the last night of our Youth In Asia tour. It was a really hot night. Everything just happened, you know? Everyone fired." The opening acts for this night were Mental as Anything ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the time known as Jim Barnes) on lead vocals and, in 1975, Phil Small became their bass guitarist. The group disbanded in late 1983 but subsequently reformed several times. Musicologist Ian McFarlane wrote that they became "one of Australia's best-loved groups" as well as "one of the best live bands", fusing "a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook." Eight of their studio albums have reached the Australian top five, ''Breakfast at Sweethearts'' (February 1979), ''East'' (June 1980), '' Circus Animals'' (March 1982, No. 1), '' Twentieth Century'' (April 1984, No. 1), '' The Last Wave of Summer'' (October 1998, No. 1), '' No Plans'' (April 2012), '' The Per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Opitz
Mark Opitz (born 1952) is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. He started his career with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 1971. He has produced AC/DC, the Angels, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Divinyls and INXS. He has won the ARIA Award for Producer of the Year in 1987 and 1988. He had previously won Best Australian Producer at the ''Countdown'' Awards for his work in 1980, 1982, 1985 and 1986. On 8 June 2020 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "significant service to the performing arts, particularly to music production." In August of that year he was listed as one of The 7 Most Influential Music Producers of All Time by ''Mixdown Magazine''s David Tomisch and Will Brewster. Early years and personal life Mark Opitz was born in Melbourne in 1952. His mother Shirley, his father and an older sibling had moved from Darwin in the early 1950s to suburban Upwey and then Croydon. During childhood his parents separated, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East (Cold Chisel Album)
''East'' is the third studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 63 weeks on the national chart. It was the biggest-selling Australian album release of the year. It was the only Cold Chisel album to chart in America, reaching 171 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It also reached number 32 on the New Zealand charts. History The cover art was inspired by the 1793 painting ''The Death of Marat'' by Jacques-Louis David. The photo of Barnes was taken at Roger Langford's apartment in Elizabeth Bay, where the video for " Cheap Wine" was later shot. Barnes had purchased the headband in Japan, and years later discovered he had worn it upside-down. Walker said, "I got the idea of the bathtub and the Marat/Sade ripoff. I knew I wanted to fill the whole thing up with certain flavoured bric-a-brac. Jenny spent a whole week getting the bric-a-brac together out of the antique shops and second-hand book shops. There was a certain li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus Animals
''Circus Animals'' is the fourth studio album by Australian band Cold Chisel, released on 8 March 1982. It was recorded and mixed at Paradise Studios and EMI Studios 301, Sydney (Sep-Dec 1981). It reached number one on the Australian charts, remaining in the charts for 40 weeks, and also topped the New Zealand charts. The working title for the album was "Tunnel Cunts". At the 1982 Countdown Music Awards, the album was nominated for Best Australian Album. Album details Many of the album's songs were written as a direct reaction to the pop success of the band's previous LP ''East'' and feature unusual, experimental arrangements. Singer Barnes said, "the whole band, particularly Don, decided to revolt against the pop formula when we made ''Circus Animals''." Walker said, "There was no way of improving what we'd done on ''East'', so we had to think of new things to try." Elsewhere, he added, "If we’d taken those same set of lessons and applied them to the same sort of record i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists of all time. Barnes has achieved 15 solo number one albums in Australia, more than any other artist. Additionally Barnes achieved 5 more as lead singer of Cold Chisel, bringing his combined sum to 20 number one albums in Australia, comfortably eclipsing the Beatles (with 14), Madonna (12), Eminem and U2 (11). Early life Barnes was born James Dixon Swan in the Cowcaddens area of Glasgow, the son of Dorothy and Jim Swan. His father was a prizefighter. His maternal grandmother was Jewish, but he was raised Protestant. He called his childhood environment a "slum" of alcohol and violence, saying that his mother had him and his four siblings (John, Dorothy, Linda, and Alan) before she was 21. His older brother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a session musician and record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes and Porter were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. " Soul Man", written by Hayes and Porter and first performed by Sam & Dave, was recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, and by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as one of the Songs of the Century. During the late 1960s, Hayes also be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell (born 21 May 1955) is an Australian music journalist and pop-culture writer. He was editor of ''Rolling Stone'' (Australia) and a founding editor of ''Juice''. In 1986, he co-wrote, with Martin Fabinyi, his first book, ''Too Much Ain't Enough'' a biography of pub rocker and former Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes. He also wrote ''The Real Thing: Adventures in Australian Rock & Roll, 1957-Now'' (1999) and ''1001 Australians You Should Know'' (2006). The latter was written with his domestic partner, fellow writer and journalist, Samantha Trenoweth. Biography Creswell wrote his first article on rock & roll for ''Nation Review'' in 1972. He subsequently wrote articles about all aspects of popular culture and music for ''RAM'', ''Billboard'', ''Roadrunner'' and a range of national and international magazines and newspapers. He has worked for ''MTV'' and a variety of television programs as a writer and presenter. As a keyboard player for seminal post-punk band, Sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Walker (musician)
Donald Hugh Walker (born 29 November 1951) is an Australian musician and songwriter who wrote many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. Walker is considered to be one of Australia's best songwriters. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame. He played piano and keyboard with the Cold Chisel from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo, initially under the name Catfish and as Tex, Don and Charlie, and worked as a songwriter for others. In 2009, he released his first book. Richard Clapton describes Walker as, "the most Australian writer there has ever been. Don just digs being a sort of Beat poet, who goes around observing, especially around the streets of Kings Cross. He soaks it up like a sponge and articulates it so well. Quite frankly, I think he's better than the rest of us." Biography 1951–1972: Early life and family Walker was born in Ayr, Queensland to a farmer father and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breakfast At Sweethearts (song)
''"Breakfast at Sweethearts"'' is a song from Australian rock band Cold Chisel. Written by keyboardist Don Walker, it was released as a single in 1979, peaking at number 63 on the Australian charts. It appeared as a track on the album of the same name. Details "Sweethearts" was a cafè in the middle of Kings Cross, Sydney in the 1970s and 1980s, "cramped between strip clubs and sex shops, patronised by the hookers, pimps and drug dealers and the lost and lonely debris of the night," where author Don Walker would frequently eat. He said, "The original Sweethearts Cafe is where McDonald's is now. That got demolished and Sweethearts moved over the road to where Krave Espresso Bar is now. That lasted for quite a few years, until the late 1980s, early '90s." Walker continued to live in Kings Cross for decades afterwards, and often wrote about the area. Author Louis Nowra Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film ''Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 in several countries. The song became one of Dylan's most popular and most covered post-1960s compositions, spawning covers from Eric Clapton, Guns N' Roses, Randy Crawford and more. Described by Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin as "an exercise in splendid simplicity", the song features two short verses, the lyrics of which comment directly on the scene in the film for which it was written: the death of a frontier lawman (Slim Pickens) who refers to his wife (Katy Jurado) as "Mama". It was ranked number 190 in 2004 by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and number 192 in 2010. Musicians *Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar *Roger McGuinn: guitar *Jim Keltner: drums *Terry Paul: bass *Carl Fortin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Choirgirl (song)
"Choirgirl" (also released as "Choir Girl" on subsequent releases) is a song by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, released as the lead single from their third studio album ''East'' (1980) in November 1979. A ballad written by Don Walker with an R&B influenced melody, the song marked the first time the band had recorded with producer Mark Opitz. It peaked at No. 14 in Australia on the Kent Music Report. Details Songwriter Don Walker said of the song: "I made a conscious attempt to write a hit single. It was a matter of pride and craft. And then I thought, 'What'll I write it about...' I wrote it about pregnancy termination and it was a massive hit." At the time of release, many people seemed unaware of the subject matter, and the song was played on radio stations 2SM and 3XY owned by the Catholic Church. Singer Jimmy Barnes said, "Even though nobody knew what "Choirgirl" was about, everybody felt an emotional connection." Producer Mark Opitz said, "I used all the old Albert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khe Sanh (song)
"Khe Sanh" is the debut single by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, released in May 1978 as a 45 rpm single, and named after the district capital of Hướng Hóa District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. Written by pianist Don Walker, "Khe Sanh" concerns an Australian Vietnam veteran dealing with his return to civilian life. According to Toby Creswell's liner notes for the band's 1991 compilation album '' Chisel'', the song is also a story of restless youth. Composition The mood of the song is typified by its first verse: : ''I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh'' : ''And my soul was sold with my cigarettes to the black market man'' : ''I've had the Vietnam cold turkey'' : ''From the ocean to the Silver City'' : ''And it's only other vets could understand'' The remaining verses describe the singer's aimless drifting after his return to Australia: womanising, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction to speed and Novocaine, getting work on oil rigs and flyin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
