"The Boys Light Up" | ||||
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Single by Australian Crawl | ||||
from the album The Boys Light Up | ||||
A-side | "The Boys Light Up" | |||
B-side | "Boot Hill" | |||
Released | April 1980 | |||
Genre | Australian pub rock | |||
Length | 4:41 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Songwriter(s) | James Reyne | |||
Producer(s) | David Briggs | |||
Australian Crawl singles chronology | ||||
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"The Boys Light Up" is the second single and title track released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up (1980). The song was written by lead singer James Reyne [1] [2]
Australian Crawl's producer David Briggs was the Little River Band's guitarist, and had helped them to a recording contract with EMI. [3] "The Boys Light Up" peaked at #22 on the Australian Singles Chart. [4]
The song contains the neologism "dorseted", to rhyme with "corseted".
"People aren't used to hearing 'Dorseted', and it's not actually a word - it's from the Dorset Gardens - I'm trying to be as suburban as possible, and it rhymed with 'corseted'." - James Reyne, 2003 [5]
The single was almost banned from radio play and some TV shows due to its explicit lyrics. [6] Reyne makes observations about cocktail parties that his parents attended, including where one of his teachers was caught in the garden with someone else's wife. [5] Many listeners believe the chorus lyrics are about smoking marijuana but Reyne has stated that it was about smoking tobacco cigarettes when he was in Form Four at The Peninsula School. [5]
In an interview with Peter Thompson on the ABC Television program Talking Heads , broadcast on 31 May 2010, Reyne answered a question on what the song was about, "Well, really? It's about fellatio, but[...] it was also about the sort of burgeoning, you know, kind of... new middle class, the new money and the new money aspirational... uh... class." [7]
Chart (1980) | Peak position |
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Australian (Kent Music Report) [8] | 22 |
Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne, Brad Robinson, Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks and David Reyne (drums) in Melbourne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough. They were later joined by his brother Guy McDonough. The band was named after the front crawl swimming style also known as the Australian crawl.
James Michael Nugent Reyne OAM is an Australian musician. He achieved fame as the lead singer of Australian Crawl, and subsequently went on to a successful solo career.
Sirocco is the second album from Australian rock band Australian Crawl. It was released in July 1981 and on 3 August, it topped the Australian charts where it remained for six weeks, the band's first of two albums to hit #1. It was released a year after their successful debut The Boys Light Up which had reached #4.
Simon John Binks is an Australian rock musician who was a guitarist and singer-songwriter for Australian Crawl from founding in 1978 to disbanding in 1986.
Guy Gillis McDonough was an Australian rock musician best known for rhythm guitar and singer-songwriter with the iconic band Australian Crawl. He provided rhythm guitar and lead vocals on two of their well-known songs, "Oh No Not You Again" and "Errol". McDonough's solo 1985 release, My Place, was produced by his brother, Bill McDonough.
"Oh No, Not You Again" is the third single by Australian rock band Australian Crawl from their 1981 studio album Sirocco. The song was written and sung by Guy McDonough, the band's rhythm guitarist, and was about "two young lovers who lived on the coast" whose relationship is disrupted by the man spending his nights "out on the town". It was produced by Peter Dawkins.
Sons of Beaches is the third studio album from Australian rock band Australian Crawl, released in July 1982. It became the band's second #1 in the Australian albums charts. The album was recorded in Hawaii with ex-pat Mike Chapman, who had also produced Blondie and The Knack.
The Boys Light Up is the debut album from Australian pub rock band Australian Crawl, which was released in 1980 and contains the title track, "The Boys Light Up", "Indisposed", "Downhearted" and their previously released debut single "Beautiful People". The album reached #4 on the Australian album charts and remained in the charts for an unbroken 101 weeks, eventually selling over 280 000 copies.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place was the final studio album from Australian rock band Australian Crawl. It was produced by English producer Adam Kidron.
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.
Phalanx is the first live album released by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl. It was recorded live at concerts at Bombay Rock Gold Coast, Queensland and at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in October, 1983, during the 'Semantics' tour. The album was initially released on vinyl in December 1983 and was re-released on CD in May 1995. The album reached #4 on the National Album Charts being released by EMI.
The Final Wave is the second live album released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl. It is a recording of the band's final Melbourne concert on 27 January 1986. The album reached #16 on the Australian album charts upon its release.
"Errol" is the second single by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl taken from their 1981 album Sirocco. The song was written by James Reyne and Guy McDonough and sung by McDonough instead of Reyne, and is a lyrical biography about Australian-born actor Errol Flynn. It was produced by Peter Dawkins.
"Downhearted" is the third single released by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough and Bill McDonough. All three songwriters had been bandmates in the Flatheads, but at the time only Bill McDonough was a member of Australian Crawl. It was produced by David Briggs.
"Shut Down" is the first single released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl from their third studio album Sons of Beaches. The song was written by drummer Bill McDonough and features lead vocals by James Reyne. The B-side was the non-album track "Creating Monsters". It was produced by Mike Chapman.
Crawl File is the first compilation album of songs released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl. The songs were taken from their first three studio albums The Boys Light Up, Sirocco and Sons of Beaches together with their EP, Semantics. The album was released in November 1984 and then re-released on CD in 1994.
Australian Crawl was an Australian surf / pop rock band. The band released four studio albums, three live albums, six compilations, seventeen singles, one extended play, and three video albums. These include releases credited to Australian Crawl, Australian Crawl and James Reyne, and 'Members of Australian Crawl'.
"Beautiful People" is the 1979 debut single released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl and the song later appeared on their debut album The Boys Light Up (1980). It was written by James Reyne and Mark Hudson, former bandmates.
"Reckless" (aka "Reckless (Don't Be So)", "Reckless (Don't You Be So)", "She Don't Like That") is a 1983 song from the EP Semantics by Australian band Australian Crawl. The song showed a change in the line up of the band as drummer Bill McDonough was temporarily replaced by Graham Bidstrup (also on keyboards). After the EP was released, Bidstrup was replaced by John Watson (drums).
"Things Don't Seem" is the first single by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their 1981 album Sirocco. It was produced by Peter Dawkins The song features one of the band's most complex pieces of lead guitar work, thanks to the skills of guitarist Simon Binks.