"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" is the title single by Australian new wave rock band

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...

from their album of the same name. It was released in June 1985 and was their most successful single, which peaked at No. 1 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 historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

singles chart. At the 1985 Countdown Music Awards, the song won Best Single. In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

's "Ozzest 100", the "most Australian" songs of all time, "Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight" was ranked number 92.

Background

Models formed in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1978 by members from Teenage Radio Stars and JAM, after some line-up changes they were Andrew Duffield on keyboards, Mark Ferrie on bass guitar, Janis Friedenfelds (a.k.a. Johnny Crash) on drums and percussion, and Sean Kelly on vocals and lead guitar. By 1982, more line-up changes occurred, Ferrie and Friedenfelds had left and James Freud (ex-Teenage Radio Stars, James Freud & Berlin) joined on bass guitar and vocals. Kelly and Freud had been in high school bands which developed into Teenage Radio Stars. New Zealand drummer, Barton Price (ex-Crocodiles,

Sardine v Sardine v (Sardine) were an Australian post-punk band, formed in 1980 by Ian Rilen ( X, Rose Tattoo) on guitar and vocals, and his then-wife, Stephanie Rilen (a.k.a. Stephanie Falconer) on lead vocals and keyboards. They released a single, "Sa ...

) joined later in 1982. The Duffield, Freud, Kelly and Price version of the group released the highly regarded 1983 LP ''The Pleasure of Your Company'', produced by

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay (born 5 March 1960) is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer, currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums b ...

. The video for the single "God Bless America", released in March 1984, featured backing singers

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the rock, soul, jazz and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her single " Bedroom Eyes" re ...

and Zan Abeyratne (both members of

I'm Talking I'm Talking were an Australian funk-pop music, pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me (I'm Talking song), Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be? ...

). Models' next single, "Big on Love" was produced by

Reggie Lucas Reginald Grant Lucas (February 25, 1953 – May 19, 2018) Note: Used for Australian singles and albums charting from 1970 until

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

in mid-1988. By late 1984, Models relocated to Sydney and Duffield – with his crucial influence on the band's sound – was forced out under acrimonious circumstances to be replaced by Roger Mason (ex- James Freud's Berlin) on keyboards and James Valentine on saxophone. For touring during late 1984 to 1985, the group was regularly augmented by backing singers Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne; and from 1985, by Canadian-born singer

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models (band), Models and Absent Friends (band), Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in th ...

. Matthews and Kelly became a couple, remaining together for 11 years. In early 1985, Models recorded more material for their next album, ''Out Of Mind Out Of Sight'', produced by

Mark Opitz Mark Opitz (born 1952) is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. He started his career with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1971. He has produced AC/DC, the Angels, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Divinyls and INXS. He h ...

, Reggie Lucas and Nick Launay. On 13 July, Models performed four songs for the Oz for Africa concert (part of the global

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

program) – "Big on Love", " I Hear Motion", "Stormy Tonight", and "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight". It was broadcast in Australia (on both

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

and

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

) and on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in the US. Models then went on a national tour with I'm Talking in July. The band released their most commercially successful album, ''Out Of Mind Out Of Sight'' in August on Mushroom Records, which peaked at No. 3 on the

album charts. For the tour Models were Freud, Kelly, Mason, Matthews, Price and Valentine with Ceberano, Zan Abeyratne, and her twin sister, Sherine Abeyratne (

Big Pig Big Pig was an Australian funk, rock and pop band that existed from 1985 to 1991. An early line-up was Sherine Abeyratne on lead vocals and percussion (ex-Editions, Bang); Tony Antoniades on vocals and harmonica; Neil Baker on drums; Nick Dis ...

) on backing vocals. The album provided five singles, the first, "Big on Love", was released well in advance of its album, in November 1984, and peaked at No. 24 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. The second single, "Barbados", was released in March 1985 and peaked at No. 2. The third single, "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight", was released in June and reached No. 1, becoming their best-performing single. It was written by Freud, who was now writing or co-writing most of the Models' songs, and was the only No. 1 single on the Australian End of Year singles chart for 1985 by an Australian artist. In 1986,

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

released "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight" internationally, and it appeared on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at No. 37. The band toured the US in November, supporting

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

. Later that year, Models travelled to United Kingdom to record their next album, '' Models' Media'', with Julian Mendelsohn and Mark Opitz, at

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties". Horn took up the bass guitar at an ...

's state-of-the-art SARM West Studios in London.

Song meaning

According to Freud, he was playing around with a tune called "Engine Driver" but did not like it. After encouragement from other band members, he wrote a chorus and it was renamed "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight". One reviewer described the song as "A bloated bag of pop clichés in praise of aerobics and feeling horny". However, Freud said the song is for his wife, Sally, it describes his love and promise to remain faithful – "Keeping my body tight".

Track listing

Australian 7-inch vinyl release Mushroom Records (K 9673) # "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight" ( James Freud) – 3:38 # "Seeing Is Believing" ( Sean Kelly) – 3:36 International 7-inch vinyl release Geffen Records (928 762-7) # "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight" (Freud) – 3:34 # "Down in the Garden" (Kelly, Roger Mason) – 4:30 Australian 12-inch vinyl release Mushroom Records (X-14198) # "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight (The Nnix Mmix!)" (Freud) – 5:58 # "Seeing Is Believing" (Kelly) – 3:36 # "Out of Mind Out of Sight" (Freud) – 3:38 International 12-inch vinyl release Geffen Records (0-20435) # "Out Of Mind Out Of Sight (Extended Dance Mix)" (Freud) – 6:18 # "Seeing Is Believing" (Kelly) – 3:35 # "Tropic of Cancer" (Kelly) – 4:28

Personnel

Credited to: Models members * James Freud – bass guitar, vocals * Sean Kelly – lead guitar, vocals * Roger Mason – keyboards * Barton Price – drums * James Valentine – saxophone Additional musicians * Zan Abeyratne – backing vocals ("Out Of Mind Out Of Sight") also toured with Models *

– backing vocals ("Out Of Mind Out Of Sight") also toured with Models Production details * Producer –

* Engineer – Chris Corr ("Out Of Mind Out Of Sight"), David Nicholas ("Seeing Is Believing") * Remix –

("Out Of Mind Out Of Sight (The Nmix Mmix!)"); Stephen Thompson & Michael Barbiero ("Out of Mind Out of Sight (Extended Dance Mix)") * Studios – Platinum Studios, Melbourne ("Out Of Mind Out Of Sight"); Rhinoceros Studios, Sydney ("Seeing Is Believing") **Remix studios – Mediasound, New York ("Out Of Mind Out Of Sight (Extended Dance Mix)") Artwork * Okidoke – cover art, photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Models (band) 1985 singles 1985 songs Models (band) songs Mushroom Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Song recordings produced by Mark Opitz