The Latest and Greatest

Last updated

The Latest and Greatest
The Latest and Greatest by Skyhooks.jpg
Compilation album by
ReleasedNovember 1990
Recorded1974–1990
Genre Pop rockGlam rock
Label Mushroom Records
Skyhooks chronology
Live in the 80's
(1983)
The Latest and Greatest
(1990)
Singles and B sides
(1994)
Singles from The Latest and Greatest
  1. "Jukebox in Siberia"
    Released: October 1990
  2. "Tall Timber"
    Released: November 1990

The Latest and Greatest is a greatest hits compilation album by Australian rock band Skyhooks. It was released by Mushroom Records in November 1990 in Australia and peaked at number 4 on the chart and was certified platinum. [1]

Contents

Background

Skyhooks formed in inner Melbourne in 1974 and sold well across Australia with their first two albums, Living in the 70's and Ego Is Not a Dirty Word , both peaking at number 1 in 1975. It was novel to hear Australian songs about buying dope in the inner city, sex in the suburbs, the local gay scene and songs with place-specific themes such as 'Toorak Cowboy' and 'Balwyn Calling'. The group's popularity has been particularly attributed to their socially-aware lyrics and timely style. [2]

The band had been on hiatus since 1984, but in 1988 Greg Macainsh began working on new material. This led to two new songs: "Jukebox in Siberia" and "Tall Timber". "Jukebox in Siberia" was released as a single in October 1990 and peaked at number 1 on the ARIA singles chart and opened the band to a whole new audience. As a result, their record label decided to release a new "best of" album in the November, titled The Latest and Greatest. [3]

Track listing

TVD93339
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Jukebox in Siberia" Greg Macainsh 3:51
2."Living in the 70s"Macainsh3:41
3."You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed"Macainsh3:42
4."Balwyn Calling"Macainsh3:40
5."Horror Movie"Macainsh3:45
6."Smut" Red Symons 5:14
7."All My Friends Are Getting Married"Macainsh4:48
8."Ego Is Not a Dirty Word"Macainsh2:59
9."Million Dollar Riff"Macainsh3:48
10."This Is My City"Macainsh3:39
11."BBBBBBBoogie"Freddie Strauks3:01
12."Crazy Heart"Macainsh4:55
13."Blue Jeans"Macainsh2:28
14."Party to End All Parties"Macainsh3:13
15."Women in Uniform"Macainsh4:20
16."Tall Timber"Macainsh5:13

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Chart (1990)Position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [4] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)Position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [5] 27

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [5] Platinum70,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

Related Research Articles

Skyhooks were an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in March 1973 by mainstays Greg Macainsh on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Imants "Freddie" Strauks on drums. They were soon joined by Bob "Bongo" Starkie on guitar and backing vocals, and Red Symons on guitar, vocals and keyboards; Graeme "Shirley" Strachan became lead vocalist in March 1974. Described as a glam rock band, because of flamboyant costumes and make-up, Skyhooks addressed issues including buying drugs in "Carlton ", sex and commitment in "Balwyn Calling", the gay scene in "Toorak Cowboy" and loss of girlfriends in "Somewhere in Sydney" by namechecking Australian locales. According to music historian, Ian McFarlane "[Skyhooks] made an enormous impact on Australian social life".

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Russell Morris Musical artist

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<i>Hot for the Orient</i> 1980 studio album by Skyhooks

Hot for the Orient is the fifth and final studio album from Australian glam rock band Skyhooks. This was the only album the band recorded without its second, and best-known, vocalist Graeme "Shirley" Strachan, who had been replaced with Tony Williams. The album peaked at number 64 on the Australian charts, and was the band's first studio album to fail to reach the Australian top ten. Skyhooks disbanded soon after but reformed in 1983 with the line-up which had recorded its first three albums, though it would not release new studio material until 1990.

Gregory John Macainsh is an Australian former musician and songwriter. He provided bass guitar and backing vocals for pop rockers, Skyhooks from 1973 to 1980 and subsequently for various reformations. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "Macainsh's biting, provocative songs were the perfect expression of adolescent obsessions and frustrations. With those songs, the band made an enormous impact on Australian social life." Macainsh became an intellectual property lawyer.

Jukebox in Siberia 1990 single by Skyhooks

"Jukebox in Siberia" is a song by the Australian group, Skyhooks, released as the lead single from the group's compilation album The Latest and Greatest. It was the group's first new recording to be released in close to a decade, and featured the 'classic' line-up of the band. The song's lyrics take a look at Russia under the rule of Gorbachev, the era of glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring").

Hooked on Hooks 1982 single by Skyhooks

"Hooked on Hooks" is a 1982 medley produced from earlier recordings by the Australian band Skyhooks. It is a megamix of seven of their greatest hits. It peaked at number 21 in Australia. It is made up of the songs: "Horror Movie", "Ego ", "This Is My City", "Living in the 70's", "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed", "Women in Uniform", and "Million Dollar Riff". It was released on 12", 7" and cassingle formats.

<i>Live in the 80s</i> 1983 live album by Skyhooks

Live in the 80's is a live album by Australian rock band Skyhooks. It was released by Mushroom Records in November 1983 in Australia and was certified gold.

<i>HitsnRiffs</i> 2015 compilation album by Skyhooks

Hits'n'Riffs is a compilation album released in November 2015 by Australian band Skyhooks. It followed two weeks after the release of the band's 3CD box set, Don't You Believe What You've Seen or You've Heard

<i>Singles and B sides</i> 1994 compilation album by Skyhooks

Singles and B Sides is a compilation album released in 1994 by Australian band Skyhooks.

References

  1. "A Quick 'Hook History". skyhooks-music.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  2. "Latest & Greatest, The by Skyhooks". Sanity. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. "A QUICK 'HOOK HISTORY". skyhooks-music.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  4. "Australiancharts.com – Skyhooks – Latest and Greatest". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "ARIA Top 100 Albums 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 28 October 2014.