Talk
Scattered range of large coloured circles mostly red or black. The background in pink. Artist name is at top left with album name at top right.
Studio album by
Paul Kelly and the Dots
Released30 March 1981 (1981-03-30)
StudioBalance Sound, Armstrong's, EMI Studios 301
GenreAustralian rock
Length37:47
LabelMushroom
ProducerJoe Camilleri, Martin Armiger, Trevor Lucas
Paul Kelly and the Dots chronology
Talk
(1981)		 Manila
(1982)
Singles from Talk
  1. "Recognition"
    Released: 1979
  2. "Billy Baxter"
    Released: 20 October 1980
  3. "Lowdown"
    Released: 3 May 1981

Talk is the debut album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Dots and was originally released on 30 March 1981 by Mushroom Records and re-released in 1990.[1] Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons leader Joe Camilleri produced seven of the eleven tracks with three tracks produced by Martin Armiger (The Sports) and one by Trevor Lucas (ex-Fairport Convention, Fotheringay).[1][2] The album spawned the singles, "Recognition", "Billy Baxter" and "Lowdown". Only "Billy Baxter" appeared on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart it peaked at No. 38.[3] The album peaked at No. 44 on the related Albums Chart.[3] All tracks were written by Kelly, including two co-written with guitarist Chris Langman.[4]

Background

Paul Kelly and the Dots had formed in August 1978 in Melbourne from the remains of High Rise Bombers, which included Martin Armiger. Their debut single "Recognition" was issued in 1979, under the name The Dots, on an independent label, but had no chart success.[1][2] "Recognition" line-up were Kelly (vocals), Chris Langman (guitars), Chris Worrall (guitars), Paul Gadsby (bass guitar) and John Lloyd (drums). The version of "Recognition" included on Talk is not the single version, but a re-recording.

The Dots were signed to Mushroom Records, and underwent further line-up changes prior to the album's release.[2] The band name was changed to "Paul Kelly and the Dots" at the record company's insistence.

Armiger produced part of the album, while Joe Camilleri produced the majority of the LP. The group released "Billy Baxter" in 1980, which peaked at No. 38 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[3] The song's subject, Billy Baxter, is an Australian musician and comedian.[2] "Hard Knocks", the sole track produced by Trevor Lucas, is the title track of the feature film, Hard Knocks (June 1980), for which Lucas paid post-production costs.[5] It appeared on the film soundtrack by various artists in September 1980.[6] Due to a back injury, Kelly had recorded his vocal track for that song while laying on the studio floor.[7]

Talk was issued on 30 March 1981 and peaked at No. 44 on the related albums chart.[3] "Lowdown" was released as a single in May but had no chart success.[2] The group then travelled to the Philippines' capital to record their second album Manila during July and August 1981, but further line-up changes delayed its release until August 1982.[2] Kelly was later dissatisfied with both of these albums: "I wish I could grab the other two and put 'em in a big hole".[8] They were briefly reissued on CD in 1991 but have been out of print ever since.

The album's liner notes quote the opening stanzas of Charles Baudelaire's 1857 poem, "Les Foules" (see "The Crowds" for English translation).[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]

Reviewed at the time of release, Roadrunner said, "In songs like "Recognition" and "Cherry", Kelly's voice takes on irresistible quality. No-one in Australia presents songs in this manner. Few seem to appreciate subtlety like this." However, the song "Billy Baxter" was deemed "unlistenable."[11]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Promise Not to Tell"Paul KellyMartin Armiger (Remix: Paul Kelly/Barry Earl)3:24
2."Lowdown"KellyArmiger (Remix: Kelly/Earl)3:36
3."Want You Back"KellyArmiger (Remix: Kelly/Earl)3:12
4."Fall Guy"Kelly, Chris LangmanJoe Camilleri (Remix: Kelly/Earl)3:39
5."Hard Knocks"KellyTrevor Lucas (Remix: Joe Camilleri/Jim Barton)3:57
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
6."Billy Baxter"Kelly, LangmanCamilleri (Remix: Kelly/Earl)2:47
7."Recognition"KellyCamilleri (Remix: Kelly/Earl)3:08
8."Cherry"KellyCamilleri4:35
9."The Way Love Used to Be"KellyCamilleri3:11
10."I Hate to Watch You Loving Him"KellyCamilleri (Remix: Kelly/Earl)3:22
11."Please Send Me"Chris DysonCamilleri2:53

Personnel

Paul Kelly and the Dots

  • Paul Kelly – vocals
  • Chris Dyson – guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "Please Send Me"
  • Chris Worrall – guitars
  • Paul Gadsby – bass guitar
  • Alan Brooker – bass guitar
  • Tony Thornton – drums


Recording details

  • Producer – Martin Armiger (tracks 1, 2, 3), Joe Camilleri (tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), Trevor Lucas (track 5)
    • Remixer – Kelly (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10), Barry Earl (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10), Camilleri (track 5), Jim Barton (track 5)
  • Engineer – Jim Barton
    • Remix engineer – Michael Lesso (track 5)

Charts

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 44

Release history

Format Country Label Catalogue No. Year
LP AUS Mushroom L37512 1981
LP AUS Mushroom L19465 1990
CD AUS Mushroom D19465 1990

References

  1. 1 2 3 Holmgren, Magnus. "Paul Kelly". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Paul Kelly'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  4. ↑ "APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 18 September 2008. Note: APRA search engine requires user to input song title, e.g. Promise Not to Tell
  5. ↑ Stratton, David (1990). The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry. Chippendale, NSW: Pan MacMillan. pp. 216–218. ISBN 0732902509.
  6. ↑ "Hard Knocks Music Credits" (PDF). OzMovies. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  7. ↑ P, Heather (3 March 1981). "Paul Kelly and the Dots". Tharunka. Vol. 27, no. 1. Sydney. p. 17. Retrieved 17 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ Jenkins, Jeff; Meldrum, Ian (2007). Molly Meldrum presents 50 years of rock in Australia. Melbourne, Vic: Wilkinson Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921332-11-1.
  9. ↑ Blanda, Eva (2003). "The Recordings of Paul Kelly with bands". Other People's Houses. Retrieved 17 February 2012. It is not given to every man to take a bath of multitude; enjoying a crowd is an art; and only he can relish a debauch of vitality at the expense of the human species, on whom, in his cradle, a fairy has bestowed the love of masks and masquerading, the hate of home, and the passion for roaming. Multitude solitude: identical terms, and interchangebly [sic] the active and fertile poet. The man who is unable to people his solitude is equally unable to be alone in a bustling crowd. C.B. 1857
  10. ↑ "Talk > Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  11. ↑ John Doe (April 1981). "Albums". Roadrunner. p. 27.
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 164. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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