Nov 16, 2011

RhoDeo 1146 Aetix

Hello, Aetix is still at that great southern land, todays artists haven't been too prolific despite a core duo the turnover in other bandmembers likely hindered a bigger output, nevertheless they did make an impression and made it to the Australian Hall of Fame.

Blondie, Chrissie Hynde, Pat Benetar, the most dynamic live female performer Australia has ever produced is Divinyls' Christina Amphlett . With the help of an ever changing Divinyls lineup, Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee have created a legacy of powerful rockpop records.

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After running away from home to follow her favorite group, at 14 Amphlett joined her first band in Melbourne. In 1971 she turned up in Sydney as one of the featured singers in One Ton Gypsy, an ambitious country rock band. At 17 she left Australia to travel alone through Europe, spending some time living on the streets of Paris, and at one point ending up in a Spanish jail for busking.

Back in Sydney, Amphlett joined a church choir, purely to develop the upper register of her voice. During one choir performance, her stool fell over and became tangled up in her microphone chord. Watching her drag the stool across the stage while continuing to sing was Mark McEntee, so enamoured by her performance he decided he had to meet this girl. It was the start of a long and robust professional relationship.

In December of 1980 they started performing in the sleazy bars of Sydney with a Divinyls lineup made up of musicians who all had long histories in Australian rock & roll without achieving mainstream success, apart from bassist Jeremy Paul who was in the original lineup of Air Supply. They had only just started performing live when the group was spotted by film director Ken Cameron who was looking for a group to appear in his film Monkey Grip. Cameron was so impressed by Amphlett he invented a small speaking part for her. What he also hadn't imagined was finding a group capable of providing the movie with a soundtrack.

The single from the soundtrack mini-album, "Boys in a Town," came with an eye-catching video of Christina Amphlett at her provocative best, dressed in a school uniform and fishnet stockings, filmed from below as she performed on top of a metal grill. It was an image that would stay with the Divinyls for a long time. The single made the Australian Top Ten. Jeremy Paul left on the eve of the single's release and was replaced by Richard Grossman (later of Hoodoo Gurus).

With a one-of deal for Monkey Grip, the Divinyls were in a position to take advantage of the record company offers that flooded their way. With just one hit to their credit the Divinyls were able to sign a worldwide deal with Chrysalis. Their debut album, Desperate, was recorded in New York with Australian producer Mark Opitz.

While the group toured the world extensively in the years that followed, the lineup kept changing around the Amphlett-McEntee team. As well as musicians, the Divinyls have had a habit of losing managers and record companies. The group's output on record has been hindered by the struggle to get all the pieces together long enough to release albums. 1985's What a Life album took three producers to complete. Frustrating for all those concerned, the wait between releases might also have contributed to the group's longevity.

In 1991, the Divinyls stirred up a storm again with the song "I Touch Myself" and a video with a tied-up Amphlett back in fishnets. The ensuring controversy helped make the song a huge hit around the world: number one in Australia, Top Ten in America. By now there was no pretence of a "group" and the Divinyls' duo toured on the back of their hit with the help of session musicians.

It wasn't until 1996 that Underworld, their fifth studio album, was released in Australia by BMG. Despite the success of diVINYLS Virgin had not kept them under contract and BMG did not release Underworld in the US. In early 1997, Amphlett and McEntee had a falling out and separated without formally disbanding Divinyls.

Amphlett and McEntee concentrated on solo projects and collaborations with other artists. Amphlett and Drayton lived in New York City from 2000, while McEntee ran a clothing label, Wheels and Doll Baby, in Perth with his partner, Melanie Greensmith. In November 2005 Amphlett published her autobiography Pleasure and Pain: My Life co-written with Larry Writer; she detailed her achievements, drug and alcohol abuse, love affairs and triumphs while a member of Divinyls

On 16 August 2006 Divinyls were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and had their first performance for 10 years at the award ceremony. They reformed shortly afterwards and a compilation, Greatest Hits, was released by EMI Music Australia in August 2006. A single, "Don't Wanna Do This", was released in November 2007 and an album recorded in Las Vegas was expected to be released in 2008; however its non-appearance may be due to Amphlett's Multiple Sclerosis. In August 2009, Amphlett announced that Divinyls were finished and she had a new band in New York.

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After scoring several gigs, they were discovered by Australian director Ken Cameron. This led to Divinyls providing the entire soundtrack for his 1982 film Monkey Grip. Amphlett was also given a supporting role in the film, playing a temperamental rock singer loosely based on herself, fronting a band played by other Divinyls members. In the film, the band performed their debut single "Boys in Town", as well as other songs "Only Lonely", "Elsie", "Only You", "Girlfriends" and "Gonna Get You", the latter being the first appearance of them in the film. The soundtrack Music from Monkey Grip was acknowledged as a Divinyls album, and when released in 1982, it made the top twenty-five of the Australian Albums Chart. "Boys in Town" was a success in Australia where it made the top ten, peaking at number eight in 1981. After the bands initial success, original manager and bassist Jeremy Paul left


Divinyls - Music From Monkey Grip (flac 151mb)

01 Boys In Town 2:50
02 Only Lonely 3:12
03 Elsie 5:50
04 Elsie (Reprise) 2:46
05 Only You 2:40
06 Gonna Get You 2:46
07 Girlfriends 3;13

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The boys in town follow up single "Science Fiction" was released in 82 and was also a success, peaking at number thirteen, nicely setting up their official debut album. When Desperate was released, it climbed the albums chart and eventually peaked at number five. In addition, it proved to be among the top twenty most successful albums of 1983, ranking in at number seventeen according to the Kent Music Report end of year chart. .

The track listing of Desperate differed between the Australian release and the international version. Because Divinyls had already released the Monkey Grip soundtrack, which contained the songs performed in the film, in particular the single "Boys in Town", they were not included on the original Australian release of Desperate. On the international release of Desperate, some of the songs from the Monkey Grip soundtrack were included as official album tracks, such as "Boys in Town", "Only Lonely", "Only You" and "Elsie".

The majority of the songs on Desperate were written by Christina Amphlett and/or Mark McEntee except "Siren (Never Let You Go)", which was written by band member Bjarne Ohlin, and "I'll Make You Happy", which was a cover of the original 1966 song by The Easybeats.


Divinyls – Desperate ( flac 243mb)

01 Boys In Town 2:50
02 Only Lonely 3:15
03 Science Fiction 3:32
04 Siren Song 2:28
05 Elsie 6:42
06 Only You 2:48
07 Ring Me Up 3:07
08 Victoria 3:19
09 Take A Chance 3:23
10 I'll Make You Happy 3:21

Divinyls – Desperate ( ogg 80mb)

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Divinyls is the fourth studio album by Australian band Divinyls, released on 29 January 1991 (see 1991 in music) by Virgin Records. The album was the band's most successful, peaking at No.5 in Australia and No.15 in the US. The album also contained the band's biggest-selling single, "I Touch Myself", which reached No.1 in Australia, No.4 in the US and No.10 in the UK. The single generated some controversy in the U.S. when lead singer Chrissie Amphlett sang about female masturbation on "I Touch Myself." Far from explicit, the PG-rated hit shouldn't have come as such a shock to American ears. At any rate, this self-titled CD offers exactly what one generally expects from the Divinyls: rockin' intensity combined with new wave-ish quirks and a strong melodic sense. Though not mind-blowing, it's respectable and generally appealing. Hardcore Divinyls enthusiasts will find the eerie "Love School" and infectious offerings like "Make Out Alright," "Bless My Soul (It's Rock-N-Roll)," and "I Touch Myself" to be well worth acquiring. Desperate would be a better introduction to the Divinyls, but this is a release with many more strengths than weaknesses. Director Michael Bay filmed a in a nunnery in Pasadena. The videoclip for "I Touch Myself" was nominated for an MTV award but in their home country was banned from television (god knows why it's rather tame).


Divinyls – Divinyls (flac 314mb)

01 Make Out Alright 4:38
02 I Touch Myself 3:46
03 Lay Your Body Down 4:51
04 Love School 5:23
05 Bless My Soul (It's Rock-N-Roll) 4:00
06 If Love Was A Gun 5:36
07 Need A Lover 4:50
08 Follow Through 4:44
09 Cafe Interlude 0:41
10 Bullet 4:56
11 I'm On Your Side 4:15

Divinyls – Divinyls (ogg 110mb)

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,
like this blog very much. Can you please re-up those divinyls records.
Thanks for all that pretty music for such a long time.

Anonymous said...

Hello Rho,
thank you very much for the re-ups. Unfortunately, the desperate album is linked to the self-titled one.
Nevertheless: Thanx

Rho said...

Hello, rare mistake uploading the same album twice at different hosts, well Desperate is up at the right place now N'Joy

Anonymous said...

Hello Rho,thank you sooo much for that. And for all these posts to find here and the infos you can get here.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho,

I would be extremely grateful if you could please re-up these Divinyls albums; thanks!