"Jukebox in Siberia" is a song by the Australian group,

Skyhooks Skyhook, sky hook or skyhooks may refer to: Fiction * 'Skyhooks' or 'Skyhooks II', parts 1 and 8 respectively of the Adventure Time Elements (miniseries), Elements miniseries. * ''Sky Hook'', a Hugo-award nominated science fiction fanzine * Sk ...

, released in October 1990 as the lead single from the group's compilation album, '' The Latest and Greatest'' (November). It was the group's first new recording in almost a decade, and featured the classic line-up of the band. The song was written by their bass guitarist,

Greg Macainsh Gregory John Macainsh (born 30 December 1950) is an Australian former musician and songwriter. He provided bass guitar and backing vocals for pop rockers, Skyhooks from 1973 to 1980 and subsequently for various reformations. According to Austra ...

; his lyrics consider

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

under the rule of

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Comm ...

in the era of

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("openness") and

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

("restructuring"). The single was produced by Ross Fraser and peaked at number one on the

Australian ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. Those charts had replaced the

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 ...

in mid-1988 as Australia's official charts. "Jukebox in Siberia" was Skyhooks' only ARIA number-one single; however, the band had achieved a number-one single on the Kent Music Report with "

Horror Movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

" in 1975.

Background

Australian pop rock band

had formed in 1973 and by the middle of the following year the classic line-up of

on bass guitar, Bob Starkie ( Bongo Starr) on guitar, Shirley Strachan on lead vocals, Imants "Freddie" Strauks on drums and

Red Symons Redmond Symons (born 13 June 1949) is an English-born Australian musician, and television and radio personality. He was the lead guitarist in the band Skyhooks, the snide judge of 'Red Faces' (a segment of the long-running variety show ''Hey H ...

on guitar, was in place. The group had disbanded in 1984, but in 1988 Macainsh began working on new material, which led to two new songs: "Jukebox in Siberia" and "Tall Timber". "Jukebox in Siberia" was released as a single in October 1990 and peaked at number one on the

ARIA singles chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, which opened the band to a new audience. As a result, their record label

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

decided to release a new compilation album in the November, '' The Latest and Greatest''. The album's new tracks, including "Jukebox in Siberia", were produced by Ross Fraser (

John Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...

). Skyhooks undertook an Australian tour to promote the album from December 1990 and issued "Tall Timber" in the following month, which reached the top 100, however the group disbanded again soon after.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control Songs about Russia Songs about jukeboxes Cultural depictions of Mikhail Gorbachev 1990 singles Mushroom Records singles 1990 songs Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Greg Macainsh Skyhooks (band) songs