''Gossip'' is the double LP debut album by Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls. Produced by Alan Thorne and Paul Kelly, it was released on Mushroom Records in September 1986, which peaked at No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart, and achieved gold record status. There was commercial success for "

Before Too Long "Before Too Long" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, released as the first single from their debut double album, ''Gossip''. It was released in June 1986 on the original White Label Records, a subsidiary of Mushr ...

" which peaked at No. 15 and " Darling It Hurts" reached No. 25 on the related Singles Chart. ''Gossip'' was released in different forms, initially as a double album with 24 tracks, it was edited down to a single 15-track LP for North American and European release on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, when released on CD in North America, it featured 17 tracks. At the 1986 Countdown Australian Music Awards the album was nominated for Best Australian Album. Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls had been named for a lyric in Lou Reed's song " Walk on the Wild Side", but all North American and European releases were credited to Paul Kelly and the Messengers due to possible racist interpretations. "Darling It Hurts" peaked at No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Chart in 1987. The initial 1987 Australian CD release contained 21 tracks; in 2005, a special deluxe 2-CD version was released in Australia which contained all 24 tracks. In October 2010, it was listed at No. 7 in the book, '' 100 Best Australian Albums''.

Background

After relocating from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to Sydney in 1985, Paul Kelly had recorded and released a solo album ''

Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

''. Kelly then began to play and record with a full-time band, which included

Michael Armiger Michael William Armiger is an English-born Australian guitarist and teacher. He has been a member of various groups including Paul Kelly Band (1983–84), Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls (1985–86), John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong (1987– ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Michael Barclay on drums, Steve Connolly on guitar, eventually bassist Jon Schofield, and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

Peter Bull joined. Through a joke based on Lou Reed's song " Walk on the Wild Side", the band became known as Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls. Their first release was "

From St Kilda to Kings Cross "From St Kilda to Kings Cross" is a song performed and written by Australian musician Paul Kelly. The title refers to inner city suburbs St Kilda in Melbourne and Kings Cross in Sydney. It was released in April 1985 as the only single from K ...

" but it did not chart. The line-up of the Coloured Girls changed rapidly with some stability late in 1985 as Barclay, Bull, Connolly and Schofield. Stuart Coupe, Kelly's manager, advised him to sign with Regular Records due to difficulty re-signing with Mushroom's

Michael Gudinski Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne to Jewish Russian immigrants, Gudinski form ...

. Michelle Higgins, Mushroom's

Public relations officer The public relations officer (PRO) or chief communications officer (CCO) or corporate communications officer is a C-suite level officer responsible for communications, public relations, and/or public affairs in an organization. Typically, the CCO ...

, was a Kelly supporter and locked herself into a

Sebel Townhouse Hotel The Sebel Townhouse Hotel, formerly a hotel in Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales, Australia. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Sebel Townhouse became the unofficial home of the Australian music industry. Australian artists met with touring guests li ...

room for nearly a week in mid-1986, refusing to leave until Gudinski had signed Kelly to a two-album recording contract. In September 1986 Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls released the 24-track double LP ''Gossip''. The album included remakes of songs from ''Post'' and also featured "Maralinga (Rainy Land)", a song about the effects of British atomic testing on the

Maralinga Tjarutja The Maralinga Tjarutja, or Maralinga Tjarutja Council, is the corporation representing the traditional Anangu owners of the remote western areas of South Australia known as the Maralinga Tjarutja lands. The council was established by the ''Mara ...

–

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

people of

Maralinga Maralinga, in the remote western areas of South Australia, was the site, measuring about in area, of British nuclear tests in the mid-1950s. In January 1985 native title was granted to the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aborig ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. ''Gossip'' peaked at No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Charts, with singles chart success for "

" which peaked at No. 15 and "Darling It Hurts" reaching No. 25. A single LP version of ''Gossip'' featuring 15 tracks was released in North America and Europe by

in July, 1987. Due to possible racist connotations the band changed its name, for international releases, to Paul Kelly and the Messengers. They made an American tour, initially supporting Crowded House and then head-lining, travelling across the United States by bus. "Darling It Hurts" peaked at No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart in 1987. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' rock critic,

John Pareles John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

wrote ''"Mr. Kelly sang one smart, catchy three-minute song after another - dozens of them - as the band played with no-frills directness."'' following the band's performance at the Bottom Line Club in New York.

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Kelly unless otherwise indicated. Note: requires user to input song title e.g. Last Train to Heaven # "Last Train to Heaven" – 4:51 # " Leaps and Bounds" (Paul Kelly, Chris Langman) – 3:25 # "Before the Old Man Died" – 2:35 Remixed by

Scott Litt Scott Warren Litt (born March 10, 1954) is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s during the band's most su ...

for North American issues # "Down on My Speedway" – 3:25 # "White Train" – 2:47^^ # "Randwick Bells" – 3:38 # "

" – 3:24 # "Adelaide" – 3:39^^ Omitted from North American LP and CD issues # "I Won't Be Torn Apart" – 2:51 Omitted from North American LP issue # "Going About My Father's Business" – 3:34 Omitted from North American LP issue # "Somebody's Forgetting Somebody (Somebody's Letting Somebody Down)" – 3:41 # "The Ballroom" – 2:02 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues # "Tighten Up" – 2:57 Remixed by

for North American issues # "I've Come for Your Daughter" – 3:21 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues, 1993 Australian CD issue # "So Blue" – 3:32 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues # "The Execution" – 5:17 Remixed by

for North American issues # "Incident on South Dowling" – 3:13^^ # "Maralinga (Rainy Land)" – 3:57 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues # " Darling It Hurts" (Kelly, Steve Connolly) – 3:19 # "Look So Fine, Feel So Low" (Kelly,

Maurice Frawley Maurice Gerard Frawley (5 May 1954 – 16 May 2009) was an Australian rock and country blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Biography Maurice Gerard Frawley was born on 5 May 1954, the son of Gerard Patrick and Eileen Marie Frawley, he grew u ...

) – 3:22^^ # "Stories of Me" – 2:45 # "Don't Harm the Messenger" – 3:47 # "Gossip" (Kelly, Chris Coyne) – 2:56 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues, 1993 Australian CD issue # "After the Show" – 3:17 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues, 1993 Australian CD issue ^^ = previously recorded on Kelly's 1985 solo release, ''Post''

Personnel

Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls * Paul Kelly — acoustic guitar,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

—

(tracks 8, 14, 20) * Michael Barclay — drums, vocals * Peter Bull —

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, vocals * Steve Connolly —

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, vocals * Chris Coyne —

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, saxophone (

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

) (tracks 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 19) * John Schofield — bass, vocals Additional musicians * Richard Burgman — electric rhythm guitar * Joe Camilleri — saxophone (track 3) * Mike Cleary — piccolo trumpet * Wayne Freer —

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

(tracks 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 19) * Graham Lee — pedal steel guitar (tracks 1, 11, 21) *

Grant McLennan Grant William McLennan (12 February 19586 May 2006) was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. In addition to his work with the Go-Betweens (1977–89, ...

— talking (track 21) * Astrid Munday — vocals (tracks 7, 17) * Brian Nixon —

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

* Dianne Spence — saxophone (track 20) * Chris Wilson — harmonica (tracks 1, 11, 16) Recording details * Producer — Alan Thorne, Paul Kelly * Engineer — Alan Thorne * Remixer —

(tracks 3, 13, 16 for North American release) 2011 CD Remastered by Rick O'Neil at Turtlerock Mastering. Art work * Cover Art — Ann Redmond * Photography — Wayne O'Farrell

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1986 albums Paul Kelly (Australian musician) albums Mushroom Records albums