Night of the Wolverine | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() 1993 Mercury digipak front cover | ||||
Studio album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes | ||||
Released | April 1993 | |||
Recorded | 20–22 December 1992 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 53:40 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Producer | Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes, Tony Cohen | |||
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative Cover | ||||
![]() 1996 re-release |
Night of the Wolverine is the third album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (also seen as Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes). The album was released in April 1993 on Mercury Records. With Graney on vocals, the Coral Snakes line-up included his wife Clare Moore on drums and percussion; Robin Casinader on keyboards, violin and mandolin; Rob Hayward on lead guitar; and Andrew Picouleau on bass guitar. Tex Perkins of tour mates, The Cruel Sea, guested on lead vocals for "Night of the Wolverine II" with Amanda Mitchell on backing vocals. The title track and "You're Just Too Hip, Baby" reached No. 48 and No. 59, respectively, on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1993. Night of the Wolverine earned an ARIA Award nomination for 'Best Alternative Release' at the 1994 ARIA Music Awards.
At the end of 1992, Graney signed a publishing deal with Polygram music and used the advance to finance the recording of Night of the Wolverine.
It was going to have to be cheap so we recorded what we'd been working on as "the soft'n'sexy shows" and got Andrew [Picouleau] in to guest on bass. On Saturday December the 19th we played at the Lounge, on the Sunday we recorded 9 songs at Metropolis, on the Monday and Tuesday we recorded two more songs and then mixed the whole lot at Atlantis. Adam Yazxhi, who had worked at MDS, who imported My Life on the Plains and I Was the Hunter... and I Was the Prey into Australia, was now setting up a small label at Mercury and wanted to put the album out. The title track was an attempt to make something in the style of Lou Reed's "Street Hassle". That was a long story song which featured a sweet middle section where Bruce Springsteen came in to read a few lines of lyrical stuff. In the middle of ours, Tex Perkins from the Cruel Sea came in and did something similar, "The King of Adelaide".
It is described as "a certified Australian rock classic. It captured Graney at the peak of his songwriting powers ... [tracks were] full of elegant and eccentric detail". [2] Tex Perkins (The Cruel Sea) guested on lead vocals for "Night of the Wolverine II" with Amanda Mitchell on backing vocals. [2] No singles were released but a video was made by Tony Mahony for the song "You're Just Too Hip, Baby". The title track and "You're Just Too Hip, Baby" reached No. 48 and No. 59, respectively, on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1993. [3] The band undertook a six-week national tour with Hunters & Collectors, followed by another national tour with The Cruel Sea; this raised their profile with mainstream music critics. [4] The album earned an ARIA Award nomination for 'Best Alternative Release' at the 1994 ARIA Music Awards. [5]
Night of the Wolverine was re-released in 1996 in Australia with a different cover, and in the United Kingdom on the This Way Up label. Two singles, "Three Dead Passengers" and "You're Just Too Hip, Baby" were released at that time. It was also re-released on the Cockaigne label in 2004 with extra tracks from albums after Coral Snakes disbanded.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Allmusic's Jonathan Lewis said the album was "Part lounge, part country, and part straightforward pop... A disarmingly likeable mixture of gently humorous lyrics backed by the impeccable musicianship of the Coral Snakes, this album deserved to be huge". [6] Ed Nimmervoll described the album, "[it] revealed, the fertile imagination of its primary songwriter, shedding the cowboy clothes for the mysteriously elusive character of the 'Wolverine'. The album is one of the classic records of Australian music, Graney dipping into his own past as well as literature and film for inspiration. The album's contents, and high profile tours... set Dave Graney up to become a firm favourite with Australian music critics. Night of the Wolverine had been written and recorded without a conscious plan of attack. It just was". [4] Ian McFarlane said it was "a certified Australian rock classic. It captured Graney at the peak of his songwriting powers... [tracks were] full of elegant and eccentric detail". [2]
Bonus tracks
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes members
Additional musicians
Production details
Art work
Wanted Man is a folk rock album by Paul Kelly and was originally released in July 1994. It was issued on Mushroom Records in Australia and was Kelly's first solo studio album after disbanding his previous group, The Messengers. Tracks 1–10 were recorded at three Los Angeles studios while tracks 11–13 were recorded in Melbourne. It was produced by Kelly, Randy Jacobs and David Bridie. The cover art for Wanted Man is a colophon rendering of Australia's legendary outlaw Ned Kelly as a guitarist and was painted by David Band.
Butterfingers are an Australian hip hop group from Brisbane, Queensland. Most of their releases are on their own label, Valley Trash Records. They are currently signed to New World Artists.
Dave Graney is an Australian rock musician, singer-songwriter and author from Melbourne. Since 1978, Graney has collaborated with drummer-multi instrumentalist Clare Moore. The pair have fronted or been involved with numerous bands including The Moodists, Dave Graney and The White Buffaloes, Dave Graney and The Coral Snakes, The Dave Graney Show, Dave Graney and Clare Moore featuring The Lurid Yellow Mist or Dave Graney and The Lurid Yellow Mist and Dave Graney and The mistLY. Everything Was Funny was credited to Dave Graney and Clare Moore.
"All Torn Down" is a song by Australian punk rock band The Living End. It was released in December 1998, as the third single from their self-titled album. It spent 18 weeks in the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and peaked at No. 12.
"Tabloid Magazine" is a song by Australian punk rock band The Living End. It was released in February 2004, as the second single from their third album, Modern ARTillery. The song spent 4 weeks in the Australian ARIA Singles Charts and peaked at No. 57. It appeared at No 66 on Triple J's Hottest 100 poll for 2003.
All for One is the debut album by Australian hard rock band The Screaming Jets which was released in April 1991. It peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Charts.
Scented Gardens for the Blind is the second album by New Zealand group Dragon released in February 1975 on Vertigo Records before they relocated to Australia in May. Scented Gardens for the Blind, along with their first album Universal Radio, is in the progressive rock genre—all subsequent albums are hard rock/pop rock. "Vermillion [sic] Cellars" was released as a single in March and was followed by non-album singles, "Education" in May and "Star Kissed" in August but neither albums nor singles had any local chart success.
...ish is the debut album by Australian pop rock band 1927, released on 14 November 1988, which peaked at number one for four weeks in early 1989 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album remained in the top 50 for 46 weeks and reached No. 2 on the 1989 ARIA Year End Albums Chart. The album was awarded 5× platinum certification – for shipment of more than 350,000 copies. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, 1927 won 'Breakthrough Artist – Single' for "That's When I Think of You" and 'Breakthrough Artist – Album' for ...ish. At the 1990 ceremony the group won 'Best Video' for "Compulsory Hero", which was directed by Geoff Barter. In 1999 rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described the album as "brimful of stirring, stately pop rock anthems". As of 2002, it was in the top 10 of the most successful debut albums by Australian artists.
The Collection is the second compilation album by Australian band Divinyls, released on 6 December 1993. The album does not include any of their 1980s singles, which were released on a different record label. The album failed to enter the Australian ARIA top 100.
Juggernaut is the ninth and final studio album by Australian rock band, Hunters & Collectors. The album, recorded in 1997, was co-produced by the group with Kalju Tonuma and Mark Opitz. It was released on 26 January 1998 on Mushroom's White Label. With its release, Hunters & Collectors announced they would disband after the Say Goodbye Tour – they gave their final performances in late March 1998. The album peaked at No. 36 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 48 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
Semantics was a 1983 EP by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl. The album marked a change in the line-up of the band as Bill McDonough (drums) was replaced first by Graham Bidstrup to record the EP. The more permanent replacement, after the EP, was John Watson.
Robin Romesh Casinader is an Australian composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist.
Kiss My Art is the second studio album released by Australian rock band, Painters and Dockers, which peaked in the top 30 of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) albums charts in September 1988. The album spawned four singles, "Nude School", "Die Yuppie Die", "Love on Your Breath" and "Safe Sex", and the first two achieved top 50 chart success. The album was produced by hard rocker, Lobby Loyde, except for "Nude School" which was produced by Francois Taviaux aka Franswah.
Clare Christina Moore is an Australian musician, songwriter, arranger, producer and performer whose principal instrument is the drums. She has also performed as a keyboard player, singer and vibraphone player. Moore writes and performs with songwriter and performer Dave Graney, involved in various bands including The Moodists, Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes, the Dave Graney Show, the Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore and Dave Graney & the mistLY.
"Even When I'm Sleeping" is a song by Australian band Leonardo's Bride that was the second single from their first studio album, Angel Blood. Released on 13 April 1997, "Even When I'm Sleeping" peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Chart in July 1997 and was certified Gold.
The Honeymoon Is Over is the third studio album by Australian indie rock band The Cruel Sea, which was released in May 1993. The album was produced by the band, Tony Cohen and Mick Harvey for Red Eye Records. It peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart and has sold over 140,000 copies. Its lead single, "Black Stick" was released ahead of the album in March 1993 and peaked at No. 25 on the related Singles Chart. The title song, "The Honeymoon Is Over", was released in July 1993 as a single and reached the Top 50. It was followed by a cover of Tony Joe White's 1969 song, "Woman with Soul", in October which peaked at No. 64. The final single from the album, "Seems Twice", was issued in February 1994 and peaked at No. 90.
You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel is the fourth album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes. With Graney on vocals, the Coral Snakes line-up included his wife Clare Moore on drums and percussion; Robin Casinader on keyboards, violin and mandolin; Rob Hayward on lead guitar; and early member Gordy Blair returned on bass guitar. It was released in June 1994 on Mercury Records. The album peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Album Charts. It was co-produced by the band with Tony Cohen.
The Devil Drives is the sixth album by Dave Graney 'n' The Coral Snakes. It was released in May 1997 on Mercury Records. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Album Charts. It was also produced by Dave Graney, Clare Moore and David Ruffy. The album was recorded in August 1996 in Kiss Studios, Melbourne and mixed in October 1996 at London at Matrix Maison Rouge studios.
"I Don't Want to Be with Nobody but You" is a song originally recorded by Dorothy Moore for her 1976 album Misty Blue. It was written by Eddie Floyd, who recorded his own version in 2008 for the album Eddie Loves You So. Australian band Absent Friends covered the song for their 1990 debut album, Here's Looking Up Your Address, featuring Wendy Matthews on lead vocals and Peter Blakeley on backing vocals.