Divinyls

Divinyls
Christina Amphlett in Homebake (2007)
General information
origin	Sydney , New South Wales , Australia
Genre (s)	New wave , pop rock
founding	1980, 2006
resolution	1997, 2009
Founding members
singing	Christina "Chrissy" Amphlett †
guitar	Mark McEntee
bass	Jeremy Paul
former members
Charley Drayton Charlie Owen Jerome Smith Clayton Doley Bjarne Ohlin Richard Harvey Rick Grossman Frank Infante

Divinyls was an Australian rock band that was formed in Sydney in 1980 and consisted of singer Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee . The focus was on the singer Amphlett , who appeared on stage in a school uniform with fishnet stockings. She often used a neon tube on stage and appeared both aggressive and sexually animalistic towards band members and the audience. The band originally consisted of five members, but made frequent changes in line-up, with only Amphlett and McEntee remaining as the hard core until they broke up in 1996.

In May 2001 , as part of their 75th anniversary celebration, the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) named Science Fiction one of the Top 30 Australian Songs of All Time. The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. In late 2007, Amphlett and McEntee reunited to record a new single and began work on a new album. The band played a small series of live performances in Australia in late 2007 and early 2008.

The Divinyls have released five studio albums, four of which reached the top 10 in Australia and one, Divinyls , reached # 15 in the United States. Her best-selling single, I Touch Myself , released in 1991, peaked at No. 1 in Australia, No. 4 in the United States, and No. 10 in the United Kingdom. She is also mentioned in the book Wild Thing: Sex-Tips for Boys and Girls , the German translation of the sex education textbook The Guide to Getting it On by Paul Joannides and is part of the soundtrack of Austin Powers - The Sharpest That Her Majesty has to offer .

history

1980s: foundation and first albums

Amphlett is the cousin of Australian pop icon Patricia "Little Pattie" Amphlett, who was married to Keith Jacobsen, younger brother of rock pioneer Col Joye and leading promoter Kevin Jacobsen. In her 2005 autobiography Pleasure and Pain , Amphlett described that she began her musical career at the age of fourteen. She performed in numerous bands and was arrested for street music at the age of 17 while touring Spain.

Amphlett and McEntee (ex- Air Supply ) were introduced to each other by Jeremy Paul (also ex-Air Supply) in the parking lot of a small concert hall in Collaroy , Sydney, after Amphlett and Paul did a gig with their then band Batonrouge . Amphlett and McEntee met again at the Sydney Opera House , where Amphlett and Paul sang in a choral concert in 1980. They recruited Bjarne Ohlin and Richard Harvey, and performed in pubs and clubs in Sydney's Kings Cross for almost two years . During this time, Paul was negotiating publishing and recording arrangements that resulted in the signing of a contract with WEA . Australian director Ken Cameron saw the Divinyls perform in a club. That led to the Divinyls contributing the soundtrack to Ken Cameron's film Monkey Grip in 1982, and Chrissy Amphlett, Jeremy Paul and Mark McEntee starring in supporting roles in the film. The group released two singles from the soundtrack, the EP Music from Monkey Grip : Boys in Town , which reached # 8 on the Australian singles chart, and Only Lonely . After the initial successes, the original manager and bassist Jeremy Paul left the band. He was replaced on bass by Ken Firth, who previously played with the music group The Ferrets , and later by Rick Grossman, who previously played with the band Matt Finish. Grossman left the band in 1987 to replace Clyde Bramley with the Hoodoo Gurus . Until the beginning of 1988, the Divinyls consisted of Amphlett and McEntee, with additional musicians hired for the recording or the tours. In these ten years the Divinyls released four studio works, the EP Music from Monkey Grip on WEA in 1982 and the three albums Desperate on the record label Chrysalis Records in 1983, What a Life! in 1985 and Temperamental in 1988. The last two albums were also released by Chrysalis in the USA. The Divinyls were charting their singles in Australia. They ranked 13th in Science Fiction in 1983 and 32nd in 1984 with Good Die Young . Pleasure and Pain was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman and reached number 1 in 1985. Eventual manager Vince Lovegrove organized the change of WEA's divinyls to Chrysalis as well as her first touring in the United States. They had a fan base there without having much commercial success. The Divinyls also had hits in Australia with the two cover versions I Will Make You Happy by The Easybeats and Hey Little Boy by Syndicate of Sound (in the original Hey Little Girl ), which reached number 25 in 1988. Amphlett became a controversial and flashy celebrity, known for her sassy, ​​sexually revealing personality and subversive humor in texts, performances and interviews in the media.

In those early years she created an image that built on that of the hard rock band AC / DC . Amphlett was inspired by Angus Young's school uniform influence, as she took over parts of the image of Blondie 's Deborah Harry . From both of them she also took the obscene lyrics and sexual innuendo that added to their image. The fragile structure of the band was also important, making way for offensive arguments both on stage and in private life. Especially in the early days of the band Amphlett made a name for itself with excessive alcohol and drug consumption, which developed into a major problem in the 1990s. Starting with the successful album What a Life , both music and image slowly became more well-behaved and poppy.

1990s: Divinyls Duo

In 1991 the Divinyls released the album diVINYLS on Virgin Records and the single I Touch Myself , which became their only number one hit in Australia. The song peaked at number 4 in the US and number 10 in the UK. The bulk of the Divinyls' hits were co-written by Amphlett and McEntee, but in this case they co-wrote it with Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg . The album reached number 5 on the Australian album charts and number 15 on the Billboard 200 . The drummer at their concerts was Charley Drayton, who had a relationship with Amphlett and lived with her in New York from 2000. A disagreement with Virgin Records prevented future releases outside of Australia. In their homeland, however, they released other albums. With the single I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore the band reached number 19 in 1992 and number 14 with I'm Jealous in 1995. During the 1980s and 1990s Amphlett worked as a songwriter with other artists such as Chrissie Hynde and Cyndi Lauper together, and both Amphlett and McEntee worked on solo projects.

In 1991 the live album Divinyls Live was published, after which no further studio album was released for five years. In the early 1990s, they recorded a number of cover songs for various movie soundtracks, including the Young Rascals' song I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore for Buffy - The Vampire Killer (1992), by Wild Thing the Wild Ones for Robin Hood Junior (1993) and Love Is the Drug by Roxy Music for Super Mario Brothers (1993).

The song I Touch Myself caused controversy because of its suggestive lyrics and was not played on the radio in parts of the United States. In Texas, for example, the organizers of the Austin Aqua Festival in 1991 turned off the juice in the middle of the band's song. The song is also in the educational book The Guide to Getting it On by Paul Joannides mentioned.

In 1996, Underworld , their fifth studio album, was released by BMG in Australia . Despite the success of diVINYLS , Virgin did not keep her under contract and BMG did not release the album in the US. As with What A Life! they worked with three producers, including Peter Collins, who recorded I'm Jealous in Nashville, and Keith Forsey for Sex Will Keep Us Together and Heart of Steel . Although Heart of Steel was selected as a single, the Divenlys ended their collaboration with Forsey because, according to Amphlett, he was too poppy for them ( “he was a bit too 'pop' for us” ). The remaining pieces were produced by their drummer, Drayton. In early 1997, Amphlett and McEntee had an argument and split without formally breaking up the Divinyls.

After the band split up

After the album Underworld , Amphlett pursued a career as a musical singer. In 1998 she played the role of Judy Garland in the Australian musical The Boy from Oz, based on the life story of entertainer Peter Allen . The production was a success. Amphlett's interpretation of Judy Garland earned her critical acclaim, and she was nominated for the Helpmann Award in the category of best female actress in a musical .

Amphlett and McEntee focused on solo projects and collaborating with other artists. Amphlett and Drayton lived in New York from 2000 , while McEntee and his partner Melanie Greensmith ran the fashion label Wheels and Doll Baby in Perth . In November 2005, Amphlett published her autobiography Pleasure and Pain: My Life with co-author Larry Writer . In this she reported in detail about her successes, but also about drugs and alcohol abuse, love relationships and triumphs as a member of the Divinyls.

2006: Hall of Fame and re-establishment

The Divinyls was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on August 16, 2006 and had their first performance in ten years at the awards ceremony. Shortly afterwards they reunited: The compilation Greatest Hits was released by EMI Music Australia in August 2006. The single Don't Wanna Do This followed in 2007 and was released in November 2007. However, plans for a new studio album in 2007 fizzled out.

The Divinyls performed during the grand finale of Australian Idol at the Sydney Opera House on November 25, 2007 , but their performance by Boys in Town , also sung by idol winner Natalie Gauci , had to be repeated after the broadcast Network Ten had been interrupted. A nationwide tour of Australia followed in December 2007 with a touring band that consisted of Drayton on drums, Jerome Smith on bass, Charlie Owen on guitar and the newest member Clayton Doley on keyboard.

Amphlett announced in an interview with Richard Wilkins on Network Nines A Current Affair on December 7, 2007 that she had multiple sclerosis , nonetheless, she was looking forward to touring with the Divinyls. The next day the Divinyls headlined the Homebake Music Festival, with Amphlett exuding an atypical fragility when she tried to get the audience to sing along. In August 2009, Amphlett announced that she had finished with the Divinyls and had a new band in New York.

Death of Amphlets and attempts at reunion

On April 21, 2013 Christina Amphlett died at home in New York City from the effects of breast cancer . She was only 53 years old. Due to her previous illness, she could not receive chemotherapy or radiation. She made her illness public beforehand in order to help other affected women. After her death, a number of Australian musicians and celebrities got together who recorded a cover version of I Touch Myself and used the song's ambiguity (“ I touch myself”, but also “I satisfy myself”) to talk about breast cancer and to draw attention to the possibility of self-diagnosis via feeling. As singers participated Connie Mitchell , Deborah Conway , Kate Cerebrano , Katie Noonan , Little Pattie , Megan Washington , Olivia Newton-John , Sarah Blasko , Sarah McLeod and Suze DeMarchi of the music video.

In 2017 the band performed as a one-off in Perth with guests Isabella Manfredi and Jack Moffit from The Preatures .

In 2018 McEntee tried to reform the band with singer Lauren Ruth Ward for a tour in Australia. This met with little approval from the Australian fans and the tour had to be canceled in the end.

Band members

Tour musicians (selection) :

• Christina Amphlett (1980–1997, 2006–2009) - vocals
• Mark McEntee (1980-1997, 2006-2009) - guitar
• Bjarne Ohlin (1980–1986) - keyboard, guitar, backing vocals
• Jeremy Paul (1980-1982) - bass
• Richard Harvey (1981–1985) - drums
• Ken Firth (1982) - bass, replaced Paul
• Rick Grossman (1982-1987) - bass, replaced Firth
• JJ Harris (1985-1986) - drums, replaced Harvey
• Frank Infante (1987) - guitar
• Tom Caine (1987) - drums
• Kenny Lyon (1987) - keyboard
• Matthew Hughes (1987–1988) - keyboard, bass
• Warren McLean (1988) - drums
• Tim Millikan (1988) - bass
• Roger Mason (1988-1989, 1990) - keyboard
• Tim Powles (1989) - drums
• Charley Drayton (1990–1997, 2006–2009) - drums, percussion
• Benmont Tench (1990-1991) - Keyboard: Hammond organ
• Randy Jackson (1990) - bass
• Lee Borkman (1991) - keyboard, guitar
• Jim Hilbun (1991) - bass
• Mark Meyer (1991) - drums
• Charlie Owen (1991, 2006-2009) - guitar
• Jerome Smith (1991, 2006-2009) - bass
• Clayton Doley (2007-2009) - keyboard

time beam

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		AU	UK	US
1983	Desperate	AU5 (... weeks) AU	-	-	First published: January 1983
1985	What a life!	AU4 (... weeks) AU	-	US91 (18 weeks) US	First published: October 1985
1985	Temperamental	AU25 (11 weeks) AU	-	-	First published: May 1988
1991	Divinyls	AU5 (17 weeks) AU	UK59 (1 week) UK	US15th gold (26 weeks)US	First published: January 1991
1996	Underworld	AU47 (3 weeks) AU	-	US91 (18 weeks) US	First published: August 1996

Soundtracks

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		AU
1983	Music from Monkey Grip	AU25 (... weeks) AU	First published: January 1983

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		AU
1991	The essential	AU14 (2 weeks) AU	First published: November 4, 1991
1993	The Collection	AU17 (13 weeks) AU	First published: December 6, 1993
1997	Make you happy	-	First published: 1997
2006	Greatest hits	AU50 (1 week) AU	First published: August 14, 2006
2008	The essential	AU14 (2 weeks) AU	First published: 2008

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		AU	UK	US
1981	Boys in Town Desperate	AU8 (... weeks) AU	-	-
1982	Science Fiction Music from Monkey Grip	AU13 (... weeks) AU	-	-
1983	Siren (Never Let You Go) Desperate	AU45 (... weeks) AU	-	-
1984	Good Die Young What a Life!	AU32 (... weeks) AU	-	-
	In My Life What a Life!	AU47 (... weeks) AU	-	-
1985	Pleasure and Pain What a Life!	AU11 (... weeks) AU	-	US76 (7 weeks) US
	Sleeping Beauty What a Life!	AU50 (... weeks) AU	-	-
1988	Back to the Wall Temperamental	AU33 (... weeks) AU	-	-
	Hey little boy temperamental	AU23 (12 weeks) AU	-	-	Originally from Syndicate of Sound
1990	I Touch Myself Divinyls	AU1 (31 weeks) AU	UK10 (12 weeks) UK	US4 (18 weeks) US
1991	Love School Divinyls	AU43 (4 weeks) AU	-	-
1991	I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore The Collection	AU19 (16 weeks) AU	-	-
1993	Wild Thing The Collection	AU43 (4 weeks) AU	-	-	Originally from Wild Ones
1995	I'm Jealous Underworld	AU14 (19 weeks) AU	-	-

More singles

• 1982: Only Lonely
• 1983: Casual Encounter
• 1986: Heart Telegraph
• 1988: Punxsie
• 1991: Make Out Alright
• 1991: I'm On Your Side
• 1993: Love Is the Drug
• 1995: heart of steel
• 1996: Hard on Me
• 1996: Human on the Inside
• 1997: For a Good Time
• 2007: Don't Wanna Do This

literature

• Amphlett, Christina; Larry Writer, (November 2005). Pleasure and Pain: My Life . Sydney: Hachette Livre Australia. ISBN 0-7336-1959-2 .
• Alison Stieven-Taylor: Rock chicks: the hottest female rockers from the 1960s to now . Sydney: Rockpool Publishing (October 15, 2007). ISBN 978-1-921295-06-5 .

Web links

• Divinyls at Myspace
• Divinyls at Discogs (English)
• Divinyls at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Ian McFarlane: Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin , 1999, archived from the original on September 8, 2002 ; Retrieved July 10, 2008 (English). ISBN 1-86448-768-2 
2. ^ ^{A b} Chrissy Amphlett , Larry Writer: Pleasure and Pain: My Life . Hodder Australia, Sydney 2005, ISBN 0-7336-1959-2 , p. 336.
3. ^ Debbie Kruger: The songs that resonate through the years (PDF) Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). May 2, 2001. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
4. ^ ARIA 2008 Hall of Fame inductees listing . Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
5. ^ Winners by Award: Hall of Fame . ARIA . Retrieved May 25, 2008.
6. ↑ ^{a b} 2006 ARIA Hall of Fame Awards . ARIA. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Cameron Adams: Fine line between pleasure and pain for Divinyls , Herald Sun . November 16, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2008. 
8. ↑ Wild Thing: Sex Tips for Boys and Girls [1]
9. ↑ Patricia Amphlett - Little Pattie . In: Talking Heads with Peter Thompson - transcripts . Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). February 12, 2007. Archived from the original on October 3, 2009. Retrieved on September 24, 2009.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} Christina Amphlett, Larry Writer: Pleasure and Pain: My Life . Hachette Livre Australia, Sydney November 2005, ISBN 0-7336-1959-2 .
11. ↑ ^{a b c d} The Divinyls . Howlspace. Archived from the original on March 28, 2001. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Divinyls discography . In: Australian Rock Database . Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
13. ^ Monkey Grip at Internet Movie Database (IMDb) . IMDb . Retrieved May 31, 2008.
14. ↑ Monkey Grip Soundtrack at IMDb . IMDb . Retrieved May 31, 2008.
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e} David Kent : Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . Australian Chart Book, St Ives , NSW 1993, ISBN 0-646-11917-6, (Retrieved May 30, 2008).
16. ^ Rick Grossman at Australian Rock Database . Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
17. ↑ Jim Farber: Divinyls album review . Rolling Stone . 1992. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
18. ^ The Divinyls: Best Music from the 80s . '80s Music Lyrics. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
19. ^ Fine line between pleasure and pain. In: News.com.au. April 27, 2013, accessed February 27, 2020 . 
20. ^ Divinyls discography . australian-charts.com. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
21. ^ Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) . APRA . Retrieved May 31, 2008.
22. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: UK US AU from 1988 , the rest of the chart positions are based on the Kent Music Report
23. ↑ Christina Amphlett at Internet Movie Database (IMDb) . IMDb . Retrieved May 31, 2008.
24. ↑ Mark Woods: variety.com on August 6, 2006: Review: 'The Boy from Oz', Find Articles at BNET.com. Retrieved May 31, 2008. 
25. ^ Adam Rafferty: Helpmann Award Nominations . July 10, 2007. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.
26. ↑ Barry Divola: I write the songs , The Sun Herald . January 28, 2003. Retrieved May 31, 2008. 
27. ↑ Michael Dwyer:Pleasure and pain: my life -book review , The Age . December 3, 2005. Accessed May 31, 2008. 
28. ^ Garth Montgomery: Natalie Gauci wins but Ten loses on Idol , The Daily Telegraph . November 25, 2007. 
29. ↑ Official website . divinyls.com.au. Archived from the original on December 10, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
30. ↑ I have MS, says Aussie rock legend Amphlett , ninemsn. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2008. 
31. ↑ Brett Winterford, Divinyls: gig review , The Sydney Morning Herald . December 7, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2008. 
32. ↑ George Palathingal: Cookin ', with the femmes at Homebake , The Sydney Morning Herald . December 9, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2008. 
33. ^ Chrissy Amphlett says The Divinyls are finished . In: The Herald Sun , The Herald and Weekly Times ( News Corporation ), August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2010. 
34. ^ Divinyls singer diagnosed with breast cancer. In: abc.net.au. October 20, 2010, accessed February 27, 2020 (Australian English). 
35. ↑ Chrissy Amphlett Dead: Divinyls Singer Dies Aged 53 (PICTURES). In: Huffington Post. Retrieved April 22, 2013 . 
36. ^ I Touch Myself Project. In: iTouchmyslef.org. Retrieved February 27, 2020 (English). 
37. ↑ 'I Touch Myself' Breast Cancer Anthem #itouchmyselfproject. In: YouTube. April 13, 2014, accessed February 27, 2020 . 
38. ↑ Guardian Staff: I Touch Myself covered for breast cancer charity . In: The Guardian . April 14, 2014, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed February 27, 2020]).
39. ↑ Watch Divinyls Reunite For A One-Off Show With The Preatures' Frontwoman On Vocals. In: Musicfeeds.com. September 18, 2017, accessed February 27, 2020 . 
40. ^ Divinyls have officially canceled their upcoming Aussie tour. In: Tone Deaf. February 6, 2019, accessed February 27, 2020 (Australian English). 
41. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US