Saturday, September 09, 2006

Number 833 - Choirboys



Number 833

Choirboys

"Run To Paradise"

(1987)
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.
Genre: Rock
"The Choirboys started on the Northern Beaches area of Sydney in 1979. The original members of the band were Mark Gable on vocals, Ian Hulme on bass, Lindsay Tebbutt on drums, and Brad Carr on guitar. They started jamming and writing songs, and playing together in venues around Sydney"
"The first single, "Never Gonna Die," reached #21 in the Australian single charts in 1983. Australian TV musical personality Ian "Molly" Meldrum said the album was "destined to become an Aussie classic." Cold Chisel invited the Choirboys to support them on their "Last Stand", their last tour for 15 years."
"The Choirboys returned to the live scene in 1986, opening for
Deep Purple on their tour. Brad Carr left the group to be replaced by Brett Williams. They returned to the studio to produce their second album Big Bad Noise with producer Peter Blyton. The first single "Run to Paradise" reached the top of the charts in late 1987 and continued in the charts in early 1988. Big Bad Noise went double platinum in Australia with singles "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Struggle Town" also reaching the top 10 of the singles charts"

For Deep Purple see Number 686

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Isn't Choirboys from the Vatican?) and the Album ranked at Number ( yawn )
This song has a crowbarred rating of 62.4 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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posted by crowbarred at 8:58 am 0 comments

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Number 485 - Cold Chisel


Number 485

Cold Chisel

"Cheap Wine"

(1980)
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Genre:Rock
art by mrmateus
One of the greatest [if not the one] rock bands ever to come out of Australia and ... I stand by that statement. Even New Zealanders loved Cold Chisel, in fact, Kiwi's love Jimmy Barnes so much, that there was a movement to make him an honourary New Zealander. Trust me people of the world, this is a RARE event for any New Zealander to honour any Australian! New Zealand almost declared war against Australia in 1981 over a cricket match where Australia bowled underarm. [see video below] New Zealand quickly realised that any retaliation was futile as we didn't have an Air force [we still don't] and our Army consisted of 14 part time soldiers, often stoned and our Navy ships were designed pre WW I. [an exaggeration yes, but probably not lost with most NZ'ers] So what did New Zealand do? We did what any patriotic God fearing Kiwi would do ... we yelled obscenities at all Australians. [sigh] As for Cold Chisel, they were respected highly on both sides of the Tasman, it was a shame then that the American record labels rejected them becuase if they had been accepted Cold Chisel would have been bigger than INXS. >click here for the video of the Underarm Incident<
I see a Ninja!
Cold Chisel's following had been steadily building for a number of years when their third -- and slickest to date -- album, East, broke them through to a wider audience in 1980. More commercial without compromising on the rawness of their roots, the band hit pay dirt with a clutch of songs it seemed everybody could get into. The virtuosity of the Chisel's musical abilities still comes through on songs that were, nevertheless, compact enough to be radio-ready. The up-tempo loner anthem "Standing on the Outside," the enchanting ballad and breakthrough single "Choirgirl," and the tongue-in-cheek "Ita" all had the hooks to land a singalong audience. On "Star Hotel," the sonic fury of the chorus captures the essence of the subject matter: a wild street battle between angry pub patrons and police that took place in the city of Newcastle, Australia, in September 1979.
Jimmy Barnes
And the customary, all-out rockers are here, as well: "Rising Sun" (singer Jimmy Barnes' love-lost song about his Asian girlfriend) and the rousing closer "My Turn to Cry." As always, the rhythm section gymnastics of drummer Steven Prestwich and bassist Phil Small provide an alternately swift and delicate undercurrent for Ian Moss' guitar heroics, Don Walker's exuberant piano playing, and Barnes' banshee wails. Walker still holds down the job of head songwriter, but the duties are more shared on this album: five of the 12 tracks were written by the other members of the band with Barnes penning two and Prestwich, Small, and Moss one each. The album peaked at number two on the Australian national charts and even broke into the Billboard 200. With East, Cold Chisel signaled that they had moved on up without selling out. The glory days had come at last. [Note: The 1999 re-release contains three bonus tracks and multimedia features.] ~ [Adrian Zupp, All Music Guide]
Ozzie Roll Call
For INXS see Number 551 & #719
For AC/DC see Number 552
For Men At Work see Number 498
For Tina Arena see Number 510
For Little River Band see Number 550
For The Angels see Number 562
For Mondo Rock see Number 693 & #993
For Nick Cave see Number 701
For Hunters & Collectors see Number 720
For Mental As Anything see Number 942
For Air Supply see Number 645
For Australian Crawl see Number 968
For Choirboys see Number 833
For Daryl Braithwaite see Number 731
For The Divinyls see Number 869
For Helen Reddy see Number 1000
For Joe Dolce see Number 801
For Kylie Minogue see Number 886
For Olivia Newton John see Number 985
For Rick Springfeild see Number 724
For Savage Garden see Number 807 & #936
[That is one impressive list! Who says I don't love Australia? And thats not even including what OZ artists I have in the Mellow Mix Volumes]
Rolling Stone have no view on Cold Chisel [gasp]
Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '485th Song of all Time' was "Graceland" by Paul Simon. Paul Simon has appeared in The Definitive 1000 @ Number 742 & #468
Other songs with reference to Cold Chisel #785, #833
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We don't even know the group) the Album ranked at (Are they from Iceland?)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 76 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
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posted by crowbarred at 12:18 pm 0 comments

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Number 832 - Pat Benatar



Number 832

Pat Benatar

"We Belong"

(1984)
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Genre:Rock
"Pat Benatar's polished mainstream pop/rock made her one of the more popular female vocalists of the early '80s. Although she came on like an arena rocker with her power chords, tough sexuality, and powerful vocals, her music was straight pop/rock underneath all the bluster. Born Patricia Andrzejewski on January 10, 1953, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the singer was raised in the nearby town of Lindenhurst on Long Island, NY. Benatar began singing regularly in the New York City area by the '70s, where she was discovered at the Catch a Rising Star club and signed by Chrysalis Records.
""Backed by a stellar band led by guitarist Neil Geraldo (who the singer would later marry) that provided the perfect accompaniment that was able to effortlessly alternate between rockers and ballads. Benatar quickly established herself as one of rock's top vocalists, scoring a hit right of the bat with her debut album, 1979's In the Heat of the Night, which spawned such radio favorites as "Heartbreaker" and "I Need a Lover" (the latter of which was written by a then-unknown John Mellencamp)." (Bet you didnt know that)
"Benatar's sophomore effort, 1980's Crimes of Passion, more than delivered on the debut's promise and it's often considered to be the finest recording of her career. Spurred on by such classic rock radio standards as "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Treat Me Right," and "You Better Run," the album was certified platinum shortly after its release and Benatar became a certified arena headliner in the U.S. Benatar also became one of the most-played artists during MTV's early days, received several Grammy Awards around this time, and continued to enjoy massive hits and sold-out tours throughout the early to mid-'80s, including such albums as 1981's Precious Time, 1982's Get Nervous, 1983's Live from Earth, 1984's Tropico, 1985's Seven the Hard Way, and 1988's Wide Awake in Dreamland, plus the singles "Fire & Ice," "Promises in the Dark," "Shadows of the Night," "Love Is a Battlefield," "We Belong," and "Invincible." But by the end of the decade, it appeared as though Benatar had fallen of the face of the Earth as the hits seemed to dry up. "
"The singer began touring again by the middle of the 90s (after taking a five-year hiatus from the road), co-headlining shows with REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac, the Steve Miller Band, and Styx. She also continued to dabble in acting, appearing in the ABC Afterschool Special Torn Between Two Fathers and on various sitcoms. In August 2003, Benatar returned to recording with Go (Vanguard), her first studio LP since 1997's Innamorata. The LP revisited the arena rock/MOR sound that had defined Benatar's career, and was accompanied by an extensive tour"
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Nope, they hated it) and the Album ranked at Number ( One to beam up Scotty )
This song has a crowbarred rating of 62.4 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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posted by crowbarred at 5:56 pm 0 comments

Friday, September 08, 2006

Number 834 - Headless Chickens



Number 834

Headless Chickens

"Cruise Control"

(1994)
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Genre:Alt Pop
"The Headless Chickens were formed in 1985, and were originally known as the International Headless Chickens, as a special project to perform at the multi-media event 'The Nitpickers Picnic'. Their first release was a track on the 1986 student radio compilation album 'Outnumbered By Sheep'.In 1987 The Headless Chickens won the Rheineck Rock Award. In the 1995 NZ Music Awards they were voted 'Top International Performer' and vocalist for some of their songs, Fiona McDonald won the 'Top Female Vocalist' category.'Cruise Control' reached #8 in the New Zealand singles chart. It was a trailer for 'Body Blow', the momentous album that followed.'Body Blow' sold to platinum, 'George' hit #1 and the Eskimos and Egypt remix of 'Cruise Control' reached #17 in Australia, where the Chickens have toured ten times.The group's most famous lineup - vocalist Fiona MacDonald, Chris, Grant, Michael and Bevan also toured the UK on the back of a club-hit remix of Fiona's song 'Juice', but there were quite a few other Chickens over the years.Among them, Rupert E. Taylor and Anthony Nevison left behind distinctive contributions - Stunt Clown's winsome 'Fish Song' and Body Blow's ribald 'Donde Esta La Pollo' respectively. Producer Rex Visible and engineer Angus McNaughton, both occasional members, and reliable tour buddies MC OJ & Slave, Stinky Jim and DJ Roger Perry also deserve special mention.The group's last major incarnation coalesced around the third album, 'Greedy': Chris, Angus, Bevan Larsen, Flex, Rachel Wallace and a chap called Roger.There were always a lot of people around, and the band was always a collaboration, in the way that making film is a collaboration. 'Body Blow' could have been half a dozen bands at once; any one song could be both sweet and sour. They looked like a rock band but Grant ran dance parties and they toured with house DJÂ’s and hip hop acts."
Hope the video i made is enjoyable. Seems Australia has lost a couple of Icons recently. We here in New Zealand will miss the likes of Steve Irwin and Peter Brock, both were immensely popular and respected here and will be sadly missed, and yes, even by me.
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Cant even bother giving Rolling Stone shit) and the Album ranked at Number (...)
This song has a crowbarred rating of 62.3 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

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posted by crowbarred at 11:21 pm 0 comments