What session is MIsfits from? I have the single they released to promote Chisel, but I believe it was dropped from that compilation after it didn't chart. It's one of my favorite tracks from Chisel.
Small Town Motel Blues is one of the reasons LWOS as an album frustrates me (although that has been tempered a bit now that the 20 song version is considered 'the' definitive version as opposed to the original 14 song one). The 20 song version shows that some of the best material wasn't included on the original album... This Big Old Car, Somewhere In The Silence, This Time Round as examples were never released originally. Once Around The Sun was a hidden bonus track on the original release. And even then after adding songs they still didn't get it right IMHO. Small Town Motel Blues and Better Time Better Place are for mine two of the gems from the sessions, deserving much more than being relegated effectively to B Side / out take status.
Chisel circa 1998 felt very much like 5 individuals playing together... reportedly, the sessions were at times tense and the members who had been particularly successful solo were pushing their own individual production ideas, sometimes in conflict with consensus opinion. (E.g. Barnes song Never Stop Loving You has the sheen of a middle tier Jimmy solo song of the period due to Jimmy using his own production ideas on it. Don Walker states their was a vastly superior less polished more ''Chisel" sounding version the other 4 were pushing for, but Jimmy wanted his version included).
For those with some interest in hearing more about this band, or seeing what they look like and sound like, there is this that follows... 6 segments on You Tube of a doco that was recorded in 1998 and played on 'Max TV' here in 1999.
**Edit- episode / segment 6 is 'hidden' or removed or something'.
So, the bad... this is clearly off a VHS taken off Foxtell circa the late 1990's and applicable poor visually. Although the sound isn't bad.
The good (and bad).. the lead singer, Jimmy Barnes, has had his issues with substances and it shows here. He was largely on the booze back in the 70's / 80's (downing a bottle of vodka per show was standard), before sort of cleaning up, until speed and coke took over in the 90's. And his interview segments here (he chose to go short blonde dyed for this tour, so is easy to spot) are testament to that cocktail.
I don't know how many, if anyone, other than JF and myself have listened to this album. I thought I might chuck in some thoughts about each song, with some background where I'm aware of it.
Standing On The Outside: Don Walker, the keyboard player, is also Chisel's main songwriter. He has always had the gift of being an observer, and turning his observations into compelling songs. He has also had an empathy for society's outsiders. Don graduated as a nuclear physicist, and was working at an Australian defence base north of Adelaide, when he joined Chisel. Throwing aside his dry, straight laced specialisation for the more artistic and bohemian pursuits of musicianship, he took the experiences he encountered and the people he met as inspiration for his songs. The protagonist in this song is an outsider, just getting by on the borders of what is lawful and what is not (or, more accurately, what you can get away with on the borders and what you can't). 'Standing On The Outside Looking In'... is exactly how a whole generation of youth felt in Australia in 1980. The same social currents that fed punk in England in the late 70's were eddying in Australia circa 1980... musically this song (nor any of Chisel's music) isn't punk, put the underlying lyric and emotion here is.
Never Before: Chisel's guitarist Ian Moss writes his first song. A reasonable and entertaining enough effort, with some particularly strong live versions also available on the expanded 2011 edition of the live Swingshift album and also Live Tapes 3 at the Manly Vale. Some might prefer Ian's amazingly soulful vocals to lead singer's Jimmy Barnes and wonder why Chisel as a band would ever need the latter when they had the former. For six months before they had a contract that was how they were... but the inherent threat of danger the unpredictable Vodka swilling pure front man Jimmy Barnes brought to any live outing decided in keyboardist Don Walker's eyes that the band needed both.
Choir Girl: Don Walker finally wrote a commercial song. Well, it had commercial success, and has an obvious melodic appeal, yet (at least to me) is still quite deceptive in meaning. Don has said it is about abortion, without elaborating too much further... a great example of something Chisel did from here onwards, where complex social or emotional issues could be dressed in more presentable clothes.
Rising Sun: Chisel was one of the first bands where I started to become aware of 'rockabilly' music, or some 12 bar version thereof. This song for a long time was one of my favourite things ever, as a 14-15 year old music lover who hadn't been exposed to much music. Later, I understood that rockabilly was cool and other folks played it. Still later, I finally saw Chisel live in 1998 and heard them play this sucker live... and finally understood that their combination of one lead guitarist only and no rythmn guitarist, with the rythmn part largely covered by the piano, was an unusual sound.
My Baby: loved it in my teens as a sing along pop song, now would love to go to a Chisel gig and not hear it. The only song written by bassist Phil Small that was released on the original albums, it is catchy and soulful as all fuck, and hence been played to death on Aussie FM radio in the last 42 years.
Tomorrow: next step on from Don Walker's obsession with society's outsiders, here we have a prisoner that has either escaped or is dreaming of escaping. (I admit I always assumed the former, it is only trying to listen through fresh ears now I think it could be the later). Some classic Mossy guitar work, and one of the songs on the album that hints at Chisel's live power.
Cheap Wine: this might be Don Walker's Hungry Heart, a catchy sing along chorus hiding a dark heart. Although verses describing death by needle and addressing an ex lover with ' I don't mind taking charity from those that I despise' is pushing it a step further. 'Everbody has a hungry heart' and 'Cheap wine and a three day' growth are both interesting tag lines for a hit single in Australia circa 1980.
Best Kept Lies: The first song written by drummer Steve Prestwich. A so so pseudo reggae piece, giving no indication for the two stone classic Australian rock songs he would write for Chisel's next album.
Ita: Ita Buttrose was a female magazine owner and associated magazine style TV show host from the late 70's / early 80's. To be honest, I myself am too young to fully understand the satire here (except for knowing Ita is older than the Chisel boys singing and playing). The gist, I guess, is a bunch of degenerate 20 something addled rockers lusting after a TV host of their mother's age. Thankfully it's at least a bit catchy.
Star Hotel: The Star Hotel was an actual place in Newcastle, Australia, that was being knocked down to build a car park. Newcastle was a place at the time with high youth unemployment and limited opportunities for the young, plus apparently the hotel concerned also attracted homosexuals and others that Australian mainstream society treated as 'the fringe' at the time. On the last night the hotel was going to be open a riot ensued, and Don Walker extended this to write this perceptive song addressing similar non consideration of all the youth outside what was still a rather conservative 'mainstream' in Australia circa 1980. Some of the live versions of this song are especially aggressive. The 'an uncontrolled youth in asia' line in the last verse, which led to the 'Youth In Asia' tour name, all of which is a clever play on 'euthanasia', is ahead of it's time as far as I'm concerned.
Four Walls: meisterwork, as @Jerseyfornia says. A sublime melding of Ray Charles and Nebraska era Bruce. The third of Don Walker's 'outsider' trilogy on this album, this incredible song was inspired by Chisel playing shows in jails around Australia in 1979 and Don talking to some of the inmates when they did. Both the earlier 'Standing On The Outside' and 'Tomorrow' generated from similar seeds.
My Turn To Cry: Written by Jimmy Barnes, this is apparently based on true events. The best example on the album of the musical ferocity with which they were still attacking pub shows at the time, and what the larger audience could expect once the success of this album bought the general public into the theatres and arenas Chisel would play. Chisel won a swag of awards in Australia's 'most popular' Countdown Awards that year... in fact, they cleaned up. But sent out a surrogate to accept every award. Countdown was a show whereby artists sometimes fully mimed, or at best the musicians mimed the backing track while the singer sang live. Chisel got permission to ignore all the awards presentations for 'theatre', in return for being able to close the show by performing fully live.
As the most commercially successful (and most award winning) act on the show that night, they took full advantage. They started with 'My Turn To Cry' (in itself probably the least commercial song on the album they were being honoured for) and then proceeded to take advantage of their position to question why the show Countdown and their co sponsors TV Week only care now, instead of when the band were struggling to be heard.
I'm really enjoying this one, a fantastic record. It's putting me in such a good mood. Great band. Love My Baby. Listening on repeat, tapping my feet. They must have rocked live...
They have quite a few live releases available. They have a sort of archive series, too, but not as large as Bruce's - five volumes of The Live Tapes out so far.
Finished a chapter, put away my writing music and got stoned with Barnsey, Mossey and the boys. You definitely picked the right album for an overall introduction to their music. Everything they do is here.
I'm familiar enough with this record that I take it for granted - the brilliant writing, the great singing and playing, the fantastic production. There are several Top 40 American hits that never were on this album.
The perfection that is Four Walls cannot be understated. There are moments when Barnes seems possessed by Ray Charles. I love the topical songs the most, so this is one of my favorites.
I've only ever had this version of the album with the additional tracks, so I'll mention that The Party's Over is also a favorite. This one can also be heard on their excellent compilation teenage Love.
My Baby and Choir Girl should have been all over American radio in 1980.
Ita, Star Hotel, fantastic. Payday In A Pub is a bonus track, I believe - I'm not familiar with most of the original Australian releases, so I tend to consider the bonus tracks part of the album proper.
I have heard some people say they are turned off by Jimmy Barnes' voice, but I never got that. I think he's one of the great soul-crooner-shouters, right up there with Bruce.
@Bosstralian In case you ever wondered, Chisel plays really well late at night in the American desert.
For those who want to hear more beyond this album. some of my favorite Chisel songs.
Mr. Crown Prosecutor from The Last Wave of Summer.
Khe Sanh from Cold Chisel.
Flame Trees from Twentieth Century
Bow River from Circus Animals.
Breakfast At Sweethearts - title track.
The Last wave of Summer - title track.
Northbound from Cold Chisel.
There are many more.
What session is MIsfits from? I have the single they released to promote Chisel, but I believe it was dropped from that compilation after it didn't chart. It's one of my favorite tracks from Chisel.
For those with some interest in hearing more about this band, or seeing what they look like and sound like, there is this that follows... 6 segments on You Tube of a doco that was recorded in 1998 and played on 'Max TV' here in 1999.
**Edit- episode / segment 6 is 'hidden' or removed or something'.
So, the bad... this is clearly off a VHS taken off Foxtell circa the late 1990's and applicable poor visually. Although the sound isn't bad.
The good (and bad).. the lead singer, Jimmy Barnes, has had his issues with substances and it shows here. He was largely on the booze back in the 70's / 80's (downing a bottle of vodka per show was standard), before sort of cleaning up, until speed and coke took over in the 90's. And his interview segments here (he chose to go short blonde dyed for this tour, so is easy to spot) are testament to that cocktail.
I don't know how many, if anyone, other than JF and myself have listened to this album. I thought I might chuck in some thoughts about each song, with some background where I'm aware of it.
Standing On The Outside: Don Walker, the keyboard player, is also Chisel's main songwriter. He has always had the gift of being an observer, and turning his observations into compelling songs. He has also had an empathy for society's outsiders. Don graduated as a nuclear physicist, and was working at an Australian defence base north of Adelaide, when he joined Chisel. Throwing aside his dry, straight laced specialisation for the more artistic and bohemian pursuits of musicianship, he took the experiences he encountered and the people he met as inspiration for his songs. The protagonist in this song is an outsider, just getting by on the borders of what is lawful and what is not (or, more accurately, what you can get away with on the borders and what you can't). 'Standing On The Outside Looking In'... is exactly how a whole generation of youth felt in Australia in 1980. The same social currents that fed punk in England in the late 70's were eddying in Australia circa 1980... musically this song (nor any of Chisel's music) isn't punk, put the underlying lyric and emotion here is.
Never Before: Chisel's guitarist Ian Moss writes his first song. A reasonable and entertaining enough effort, with some particularly strong live versions also available on the expanded 2011 edition of the live Swingshift album and also Live Tapes 3 at the Manly Vale. Some might prefer Ian's amazingly soulful vocals to lead singer's Jimmy Barnes and wonder why Chisel as a band would ever need the latter when they had the former. For six months before they had a contract that was how they were... but the inherent threat of danger the unpredictable Vodka swilling pure front man Jimmy Barnes brought to any live outing decided in keyboardist Don Walker's eyes that the band needed both.
Choir Girl: Don Walker finally wrote a commercial song. Well, it had commercial success, and has an obvious melodic appeal, yet (at least to me) is still quite deceptive in meaning. Don has said it is about abortion, without elaborating too much further... a great example of something Chisel did from here onwards, where complex social or emotional issues could be dressed in more presentable clothes.
Rising Sun: Chisel was one of the first bands where I started to become aware of 'rockabilly' music, or some 12 bar version thereof. This song for a long time was one of my favourite things ever, as a 14-15 year old music lover who hadn't been exposed to much music. Later, I understood that rockabilly was cool and other folks played it. Still later, I finally saw Chisel live in 1998 and heard them play this sucker live... and finally understood that their combination of one lead guitarist only and no rythmn guitarist, with the rythmn part largely covered by the piano, was an unusual sound.
My Baby: loved it in my teens as a sing along pop song, now would love to go to a Chisel gig and not hear it. The only song written by bassist Phil Small that was released on the original albums, it is catchy and soulful as all fuck, and hence been played to death on Aussie FM radio in the last 42 years.
Tomorrow: next step on from Don Walker's obsession with society's outsiders, here we have a prisoner that has either escaped or is dreaming of escaping. (I admit I always assumed the former, it is only trying to listen through fresh ears now I think it could be the later). Some classic Mossy guitar work, and one of the songs on the album that hints at Chisel's live power.
Cheap Wine: this might be Don Walker's Hungry Heart, a catchy sing along chorus hiding a dark heart. Although verses describing death by needle and addressing an ex lover with ' I don't mind taking charity from those that I despise' is pushing it a step further. 'Everbody has a hungry heart' and 'Cheap wine and a three day' growth are both interesting tag lines for a hit single in Australia circa 1980.
Best Kept Lies: The first song written by drummer Steve Prestwich. A so so pseudo reggae piece, giving no indication for the two stone classic Australian rock songs he would write for Chisel's next album.
Ita: Ita Buttrose was a female magazine owner and associated magazine style TV show host from the late 70's / early 80's. To be honest, I myself am too young to fully understand the satire here (except for knowing Ita is older than the Chisel boys singing and playing). The gist, I guess, is a bunch of degenerate 20 something addled rockers lusting after a TV host of their mother's age. Thankfully it's at least a bit catchy.
Star Hotel: The Star Hotel was an actual place in Newcastle, Australia, that was being knocked down to build a car park. Newcastle was a place at the time with high youth unemployment and limited opportunities for the young, plus apparently the hotel concerned also attracted homosexuals and others that Australian mainstream society treated as 'the fringe' at the time. On the last night the hotel was going to be open a riot ensued, and Don Walker extended this to write this perceptive song addressing similar non consideration of all the youth outside what was still a rather conservative 'mainstream' in Australia circa 1980. Some of the live versions of this song are especially aggressive. The 'an uncontrolled youth in asia' line in the last verse, which led to the 'Youth In Asia' tour name, all of which is a clever play on 'euthanasia', is ahead of it's time as far as I'm concerned.
Four Walls: meisterwork, as @Jerseyfornia says. A sublime melding of Ray Charles and Nebraska era Bruce. The third of Don Walker's 'outsider' trilogy on this album, this incredible song was inspired by Chisel playing shows in jails around Australia in 1979 and Don talking to some of the inmates when they did. Both the earlier 'Standing On The Outside' and 'Tomorrow' generated from similar seeds.
My Turn To Cry: Written by Jimmy Barnes, this is apparently based on true events. The best example on the album of the musical ferocity with which they were still attacking pub shows at the time, and what the larger audience could expect once the success of this album bought the general public into the theatres and arenas Chisel would play. Chisel won a swag of awards in Australia's 'most popular' Countdown Awards that year... in fact, they cleaned up. But sent out a surrogate to accept every award. Countdown was a show whereby artists sometimes fully mimed, or at best the musicians mimed the backing track while the singer sang live. Chisel got permission to ignore all the awards presentations for 'theatre', in return for being able to close the show by performing fully live.
As the most commercially successful (and most award winning) act on the show that night, they took full advantage. They started with 'My Turn To Cry' (in itself probably the least commercial song on the album they were being honoured for) and then proceeded to take advantage of their position to question why the show Countdown and their co sponsors TV Week only care now, instead of when the band were struggling to be heard.
A couple of listens in, I'm enjoying it.
Its a real amalgam of musical styles.
I'm going to revisit a few more times, as JF alluded to higher up, Four Rooms is the pick of the bunch for me at this stage.
I'm really enjoying this one, a fantastic record. It's putting me in such a good mood. Great band. Love My Baby. Listening on repeat, tapping my feet. They must have rocked live...
Finished a chapter, put away my writing music and got stoned with Barnsey, Mossey and the boys. You definitely picked the right album for an overall introduction to their music. Everything they do is here.
I'm familiar enough with this record that I take it for granted - the brilliant writing, the great singing and playing, the fantastic production. There are several Top 40 American hits that never were on this album.
The perfection that is Four Walls cannot be understated. There are moments when Barnes seems possessed by Ray Charles. I love the topical songs the most, so this is one of my favorites.
I've only ever had this version of the album with the additional tracks, so I'll mention that The Party's Over is also a favorite. This one can also be heard on their excellent compilation teenage Love.
My Baby and Choir Girl should have been all over American radio in 1980.
Ita, Star Hotel, fantastic. Payday In A Pub is a bonus track, I believe - I'm not familiar with most of the original Australian releases, so I tend to consider the bonus tracks part of the album proper.
I have heard some people say they are turned off by Jimmy Barnes' voice, but I never got that. I think he's one of the great soul-crooner-shouters, right up there with Bruce.