''Straight in a Gay Gay World'' was the third studio album by Australian rock band,

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 ...

. The album was released in August 1976. With the exception of " Million Dollar Riff", it was recorded at

The Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

, after the band's first tour of the United States earlier in the same year. The title and songs are a sort of view the band had on their experience in the States. The album was produced by former Daddy Cool leader Ross Wilson. It peaked at No. 3 on the Australian charts. At the Australian 1976 King of Pop Awards the album won Best Cover Design. "Million Dollar Riff" was released as a single in November 1975 and it reached No. 6 in Australia. Two further singles were lifted from this album, " This is My City" and "

Blue Jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

", both in 1976 which peaked at No. 32 and No. 12 respectively on Australian charts.

Details

Prior to release, Strachan said of the songs in ''

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

'', "Some of 'em are the strongest things the band's doing. There's one called "Sydney", that's all about Sydney. We were considering using it for a single instead of " Million Dollar Riff". And "I'm Normal". It's all about a guy who throws away his rubber sheets and dildos and vibrators and sex pills to get back to holding hands." Macainsh said "Blue Jeans" had been an early song from the band. " Ross Wilson has always tried to get it recorded, but we've never been real keen on the idea til we got stuck for a song on this album. We wanted a couple of laidback tunes to round it off rather than have an album of ravers and up stuff."

Reception

Reviewed in Australian music magazine ''RAM'' at the time of release, it was called, "

methedrine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Metham ...

power rock. It's jingle-jangley and crazy-tempered with guitar that shrill jackhammer like giant mosquitoes – dive-bombing into rhythms that are playing epileptic leap-frog around your stereo speakers." The song "Crazy Heart" was complimented for being "sweetly mellow" compared to the rest of the album.

Track listing

Personnel

* Shirley Strachan – lead vocals *

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 ...

– guitar, backing and lead (9) vocals, keyboards *Bob "Bongo" Starkie – guitar, backing vocals *

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 ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *Imants Alfred Strauks – drums, backing vocals, percussion

Charts

References

{{Authority control Skyhooks (band) albums 1976 albums Glam rock albums by Australian artists Mushroom Records albums