Many peopel think the band Divinyls were a product of the 90's. It's understandable, considering most people hadn't heard of them until ther one hit wonder, I Touch Myself, from their 1991 self titled comeback album. However, to get to their roots, you'd have to go back over a decade to 1980, where the group was formed by vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee.
Ex-Air Supply member, Jeremy Paul, who was working with Amphlett at the time in the band Batonrouge, would introduce the two. Later in 1980, they would recruit keyboardist Bjarne Ohlin, and in 1981, drummer Richard Harvey. With the aid of Paul, who negotiated their first recording deal, they would sign with WEA Austraila, and complete their first work, the soundtrack for the 1982 film, Monkey Grip. Two singles, Boys In Town, and Only Lonely, would provide early chart success, and lead to them becoming the opening act for the 1983 US Festivel.
Paul would leave as their manager, leading to a revolving door of management through 1988. The group would also sign with Chrysalis Records, and release their debut studio album, Desparate. Here is where we pause for today's Retro Spin.
The international release of the album opens with the two singles above. This is both interesting and disappointing at the same time. The reason being, that since the international release pulls from the prior soundtrack, songs from the original pressing are omitted. In fact, five of the ten tracks on releases outside of Australia are different from the original, with four being pulled from Monkey Grip.
I'm torn on this because I want to hear the original version for comparison purposes, but at the same time, the international release is pretty darn solid. Not being a fan of owning multiple pressings of albums, I don't know if I'll track this down. Additionally, what shocked me, is how expensive Divinyls albums have gotten on CD. An Australian pressing will set you back over fifty bucks, while all others will set you back between twenty-five and thirty!
For me, Divinyls are a hidden gem from the 80's. Amphlett's voice is haunting, and draws you in, while deep music, often led by a groovy bass, such as that on Elsie, create an atmospher that keeps you hooked. On the opposite spectrum, you then get punk type sounds, which hit fast and hard. The latter has a Go-Gos type vibe, which makes it all the more odd that the band wasn't able to really find a foothold in the 80's. If you're looking for something "new" in your music collection, I would highly recommend checking them out.
Divinyls would return to the studio multiple times before releasing their follow up, 1985's What A Life! However, it too would garner little success. Their label would give them one final opportunity to produce a hit, and sadly, this too didn't come with their 1988 release, Temperamental. The band were dropped from their label, and would go on hiatus until reamerging in 1991 on Virgin Records with their above noted hit. It would be five more years before the returned to the studio, this time on BMG, to release their final studio album, Underworld (1996).
Two years later, the band would unformally disband when Amphlett and McEntee had a falling out. While they would reunite shortly after their 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame induction, in 2007 Amphlett would announce an ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis. Things got complicated, when in 2010 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but couldn't undergo readition because of her preexisting disease. She passed away in 2013.
McEntee announced in 2018 that he had plans to reform Divinyls with a new lead singer, and head out on a tour. This was met by outrage and backlash from fans and drummer, Charley Drayton (1990–1996, 2006–2009). Plans were scrapped, and the tour cancelled in February 2019. Frankly, I wish more people would speak out like this and put a stop to such silly efforts...Looking at you, Queen fans!
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS May 4, 1985 |
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