''Boom Crash Opera'' is the first album by Australian rock band Boom Crash Opera, released in 1987. Singles released from the album include two which reached the top 20 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Singles Chart, "

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

" and "

Hands Up in the Air "Hands Up in the Air" is a song by Australian rock band Boom Crash Opera. It was released in 1986 as the second single from their self-titled studio album. The song reached number 16 in Australia. Track listing 7" single (0.258620) # Hands U ...

". In 1986 Boom Crash Opera signed with Dirty Pool Management and

WEA Records Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

. The band recorded their first two singles in 1986 with English producer Steve Brown (

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and

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) at Platinum Studios in Melbourne. Their debut single, "Great Wall", which was released in May 1986 reached No. 5 on the (Australian) national chart. Their second single, "Hands up in the Air", followed in late July, peaking at No. 16. Following which the band toured nationally with Icehouse. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1987 The First Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 2 March 1987 at the Sheraton Wentworth Hotel in Sydney with Elton John as the host. The awards were ...

the group were nominated for three awards: Highest Selling Single for "Great Wall", Best New Talent for both singles, and Best Video for "Hands up in the Air". At the ''Countdown'' Music and Video Awards of 1986, held in July 1987, "Great Wall" won Best Debut Single. The label then flew the band to London to record their debut album at RAK Studios with producer,

Alex Sadkin Alex Sadkin (April 9, 1949July 25, 1987) was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer. Sadkin grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida across the street from Bennett Elementary School, and played saxophone in Sunrise Junio ...

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) and engineer, Will Gosling (

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). Both "Great Wall" and "Hands up in the Air" were remixed for their album versions. After recording the album Sadkin travelled to the Bahamas to work, where he died in a car accident in July. The self-titled album was released in September 1987, reached No. 19 on the

Albums Chart and went on to achieve Gold record status. It spawned a further three singles, "

City Flat "City Flat" is a song by Australian rock band Boom Crash Opera, released in 1987 as the third single from their self-titled studio album. It was written by the band's two main songwriters: guitarist Peter Farnan and bass player Richard Pleasance ...

" (June 1987), "

Her Charity "Her Charity" is the fourth single by Australian band Boom Crash Opera, released in 1987. It was the fourth single to be released from the band's self-title album. It peaked at number 32 on the Kent Music Report. The song is about Miss America ...

" (September 1987) and " Love Me to Death" (March 1988). In an interview Farnan said "The whole idea of the album was to capture a live band feel, rather than a meticulously layered, constructed studio artist sound. We just wanted to capture a fairly live feel and wanted people feeling there were musicians playing and performing, rather than, you know, machines."

Track listing

Personnel

* Peter Maslen – drums, vocals * Greg O'Connor – keyboards * Dale Ryder – lead vocals * Richard Pleasance – guitar, bass, vocals * Peter Farnan – guitar, vocals

Additional musicians

* Frank Riccotti – percussion

Production

* Art Direction – Jeri Heiden * Engineer – Chris Corr * Cover Design – Greg O'Connor * Mastering – Ted Jensen * Photography – Carrie Branovan * Producer, Mixing – Alex Sadkin (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") * Producer – Steve Brown (tracks: "Hands up in the Air", "Great Wall") * Associate Producer – Richard Pleasance (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") * Associate Producer – Peter Farnan (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") * Recording – Roy Spong (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think") * Recording, Mixing – Will Gosling (tracks: "Gap That Opened", "Love Me to Death", "City Flat", "Her Charity", "Sleeping Time", "Bombshell", "Caught Between Two Towns", "Too Hot to Think")

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

''Boom Crash Opera''
at

Allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control 1987 debut albums Boom Crash Opera albums Ariola Records albums Bertelsmann Music Group albums Warner Records albums Warner Music Group albums Albums produced by Alex Sadkin