"Saturday Night" is a 1984 single from Australianrock band Cold Chisel, the second released from the album Twentieth Century and the first to be issued after the band's official break-up. The vocals are shared between Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes. It just missed out on becoming the band's third Top 10 single, stalling at number 11 on the Australian chart for two weeks,[1] but it remains one of Cold Chisel's highest charting songs.
The album track features ambient noise recorded in Sydney's Kings Cross district, including the sound of motorbikes, strip club spruikers and crowds of drunks, recorded by author Don Walker on a portable stereo. Also recorded are Walker's favourite busker and a snippet of Dragon's "Rain".[4] Engineer Tony Cohen helped with the street recording. He said, "I was abused by several people. Don lived in the Cross. He loved it and was friendly with a lot of locals. I became the target for angry drug dealers."[5] The album version appears on later greatest hits albums and is most frequently played on radio. The original single version omits the street sounds. Although Walker was unhappy with many of the songs from the Twentieth Century album, he later said he was particularly pleased with the production on "Saturday Night", which he was mostly responsible for.[6]
Don Walker has said of the song, "The band I'd been in for ten years was breaking up. I think it's just a 'kissing all that goodbye and moving on into the unknown' song."[6] He later said, "The song is actually about walking away from a Saturday night. The song was pretty much built before the other guys cottoned on to what I was doing. I can remember Mark Opitz suddenly saying, 'I get this, this is really good.'"[4] Early drafts of the song were titled, "Show Me A Light".[7]
Author Michael P. Jensen said, "These guys were supposed to be bogan heroes, but they slip a little French into their songs. 'L'esclavage D'amour' is 'the slavery of love'. The deep longing of the man walking his way around the city on the busiest night of the week is matched by his loneliness."[8] "Saturday Night" spent 14 weeks in the national charts, peaking at number 11.[9] The art work for the single was done by Chilean artist Eduardo Guelfenbein, who had also done the artwork for the album and a number of videos for the band.
From the video, Ian Moss and Phil Small outside a strip club in Kings Cross
Video
A video clip for the track, directed by Richard Lowenstein,[11] was filmed in Kings Cross in February 1984, three months after the group disbanded. Part of the clip features Moss and Barnes mingling with the participants of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Lowenstein said the idea came from his friend Troy Davies. "At the time it wasn’t so accepted for straight guys to go there. I think Troy was worried how they’d deal with his extrovert gayness. It was brave at the time to have the gay Mardi Gras in a Cold Chisel video on Countdown. That was Troy, he was a mischief maker. But Cold Chisel lapped it up," Lowenstein said. Other sections of the clip showing the band members (minus Barnes) moving through the crowd of the Darlinghurst Road red light district. Lowenstein said, "I had a camera on the back of a station wagon, we'd just drive up and down the Cross and film in slow motion. The song suited that kind of imagery so well, I thought it was a no-brainer to put the down and outs and all the characters in. It was a quick shoot, maybe two nights."[12]
It was nominated for Best Video at The TV Week / Countdown Awards.[13]
Reception
Reviewed in Juke Magazine at the time of release, it was described as, "Another of those sparse, atmospheric songs. They haven't lost their edge over all these years, which is really sayin' something."[14] Elsewhere, they called it, "an appealing track with many of Chisel's best qualities filtered through a clever mix. The melody relies heavily on Phil Small's excellent bass line".[15]The Age also noted Small's bass, and, "The echoing drumbeat of Ray Arnott".[16]
Marc Hunter, Paul Hewson and Robert Taylor reviewed the single for RAM, saying, "This shows why Chisel are a top band — they're prepared to take chances. Ian Moss sings superbly; the band plays with restraint but perfect taste... Has to be a hit."[17]The Sydney Morning Herald called the song a "pleasant ballad" but noted "hard-core fans may take to the b-side, "Painted Doll", more readily".[18] Dodson also called it, "the most uncharacteristic Cold Chisel single ever. But it seems to have struck an immediate chord with Australian record-buyers".[19]
The Monthly said, "In many ways it represents the best of Cold Chisel. The music fades in slowly over the sound of voices and traffic, with an arrangement that borrows from soul (Marvin Gaye comes to mind), but isn’t quite that. Moss, the more melodious of Cold Chisel’s vocalists, takes the lead, with Barnes chipping in for an explosive interlude. Electric guitar and saxophone are woven together in a twisting instrumental melody."[20]
↑ Wilson, Tony (2014). Ryan, Christian (ed.). Best Music Writing Under The Australian Sun. Richmond, Victoria: Hardie Grant Books. pp.48–49. ISBN9781742708812.
↑ Michael P Jensen (2013). Pieces of Eternity. Acorn Press. p.172. ISBN9780987428660.
↑ David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p.72. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
↑ Christine Sams (12 February 2010). "Missing Missy no longer". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
↑ Paul Hewson, Marc Hunter, Robert Taylor (27 April 1984). "Torture by Numbers". RAM: 25.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes on lead vocals and, in 1975, Phil Small became their bass guitarist. The group disbanded in late 1983 but subsequently reformed several times. Musicologist Ian McFarlane wrote that they became "one of Australia's best-loved groups" as well as "one of the best live bands", fusing "a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook."
"Khe Sanh" is the debut single by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, released in May 1978 as a 45 rpm single, and named after the district capital of Hướng Hóa District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. Written by pianist Don Walker, "Khe Sanh" concerns an Australian Vietnam veteran dealing with his return to civilian life. According to Toby Creswell's liner notes for the band's 1991 compilation album Chisel, the song is also a story of restless youth.
"Flame Trees" is a song by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel from their 1984 album Twentieth Century. One of their best known songs, it was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and keyboardist Don Walker. On its release it reached No. 26 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart. It resurfaced in August 2011 due to download sales, peaking at No. 54 on the ARIA chart.
Breakfast at Sweethearts is the second studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in February 1979. It spent 32 weeks in the national charts, reaching a peak of number 4.
Cold Chisel is the debut album of Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. Released in April 1978, it spent 23 weeks in the Australian charts, peaking at number 38.
"When the War Is Over" is song by Australian band Cold Chisel from their 1982 album Circus Animals. The song was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and issued as the third single from the album, peaking at number 25 on the national singles chart, and also resurfaced in August 2011 due to download sales.
East is the third studio album by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel, released in June 1980. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 63 weeks on the national chart. It was the biggest-selling Australian album release of the year. It was the only Cold Chisel album to chart in America, reaching 171 on the Billboard 200. It also reached number 32 on the New Zealand charts.
Circus Animals is the fourth studio album by Australian band Cold Chisel, released on 8 March 1982. It was recorded and mixed at Paradise Studios and EMI Studios 301, Sydney, between September and December 1981. It reached number one on the Australian charts, remaining in the charts for 40 weeks, and also topped the New Zealand charts. The working title for the album was "Tunnel Cunts".
Swingshift is a live album released by Australian band Cold Chisel in 1981. It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the Australian chart, debuting there in its first week. It peaked at number 9 in New Zealand. A press release said the title referred to, "the midnight to dawn shift that the staff in asylums dread: the hours when the crazies go crazy."
Twentieth Century is the fifth and final studio album by Australian band Cold Chisel until the group reformed in 1998. The album was written and recorded over various sessions during the period of the band's break-up and during breaks in their final tour. It was released in early 1984 and peaked at No. 1 on the Australian albums chart, their third consecutive album to do so. It charted for a total of 46 weeks.
The Barking Spiders Live: 1983 is a live album by Australian rock band Cold Chisel. It was recorded during the final performances of their Last Stand tour in 1983, at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The name of the album derives from a name the band used occasionally when playing warm-up shows before tours. Don Walker states a "barking spider" is "Scottish slang for a fart."
"My Baby" is a 1980 single from Australian rock band Cold Chisel, the third released from the album East and the first of the band's singles not to be written by pianist Don Walker. This was the only track credited solely to bass player Phil Small on any of the band's albums apart from "Notion For You" on the 1994 rarities album Teenage Love.
"You Got Nothing I Want" is a 1981 single from Australian rock band Cold Chisel, the first released from the album Circus Animals. One of the band's heaviest and most aggressive songs, which was written by singer Jimmy Barnes in response to the treatment they received at the hands of a record company executive during a U.S. tour earlier in the year. Don Walker said, "After we came back, Jim wrote 'You Got Nothing I Want' more or less as a personal tribute to Marty Schwartz." "You Got Nothing I Want" was also the first song on the album, and representative of the different sound Cold Chisel was attempting on Circus Animals in a conscious effort to move away from the slick commercial pop rock of East. It spent 19 weeks in the national charts, peaking at number 12.
"Misfits" was a 1991 single from Australian rock band Cold Chisel, issued to promote the compilation album Chisel. The single only reached number 61 in the national charts and was later dropped from subsequent Chisel re-issue packages. The song was written by organist Don Walker and was recorded during the sessions for the 1980 album East. "Misfits" was originally used as the B-side for that album's third single "My Baby".
"Choirgirl" is a song by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, released as the lead single from their third studio album East (1980) in November 1979. A ballad written by Don Walker with an R&B-influenced melody, the song marked the first time the band had recorded with producer Mark Opitz. It peaked at No. 14 in Australia on the Kent Music Report.
"Forever Now" is a song by Australian rock band Cold Chisel. The second single from the album Circus Animals, it was the first Cold Chisel single to be written by Steve Prestwich. The song reached number two in New Zealand and number four in Australia, becoming the band's highest chart placement. In the United States, the song was titled "Forever Now ".
"Cheap Wine" is a 1980 single from Australian rock band Cold Chisel. The second single from the album East, it was released in May, a month before the album. It reached number 8 on the Australian charts, the band's first top-ten single, and would eventually remain the band's second highest chart performance. It has been described as, "one of Don's finest commercial songs."
"Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)" is a 1978 single from Australian rock band Cold Chisel. Written by keyboardist Don Walker and vocalist Jimmy Barnes, it was released as a single in 1978, peaking at number 65 on the Australian charts. It appeared as a track on the 1979 album Breakfast at Sweethearts.
"Breakfast at Sweethearts" is a song from Australian rock band Cold Chisel. Written by keyboardist Don Walker, it was released as a single in 1979, peaking at number 63 on the Australian charts. It appeared as a track on the album of the same name.
"No Second Prize" is the debut single by Scottish-born Australian rock musician Jimmy Barnes, released in August 1984 as the lead single from his debut studio album, Bodyswerve. It peaked at number 12 on the Australian Kent Music Report. The song was originally demoed by Cold Chisel but never recorded by them. It was written in 1980 as a tribute to Chisel roadies Alan Dallow and Billy Rowe, who died in a truck crash.
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