Living in the 70's is the debut album by Melbourne band Skyhooks. Released in October 1974 on the Mushroom Records label, the album achieved relatively little success until early 1975. It spent 16 weeks at the top of the Australian album charts from late February 1975, and became the highest-selling album by an Australian act in Australia until that time, with sales of over 330,000.[2] In October 2010, it was listed at No. 9 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.[3] The album's eponymous track was ranked number 72 as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time ranking.[4]
| Living in the 70's | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 October 1974 | |||
| Recorded | June 1974 | |||
| Studio | TCS Studios, Melbourne | |||
| Genre | Rock, glam rock | |||
| Length | 38:48 | |||
| Label | Mushroom | |||
| Producer | Ross Wilson | |||
| Skyhooks chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Living in the 70's | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Details
editThe album was produced by former Daddy Cool lead singer Ross Wilson. Macainsh later said, "We didn't know what to expect and to what extent we'd have to do things over and over. Ross was a tough producer but he knew what he wanted. The way we recorded it was pretty much the band playing live. We'd been playing those songs live for a while, and that's what we were aiming to get."[5]
The artwork (external front and back, and internal gatefold) was painted by Niels Hutchison.
Two singles were lifted from the album: "Livin' in the 70's", which was released with a non-LP track, "You're a Broken Gin Bottle, Baby", included as track 11 on the 2004 CD remaster; and "Horror Movie"/"Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)". The latter spent 2 weeks at the top of the Australian singles chart in 1975. Six tracks from the album were banned on commercial radio in Australia; in defiance of this, however, the ABC's new youth station in Sydney, 2JJ, played the track "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed" as its first ever song when it began broadcasting in January 1975.
In 2011 the album featured at number 75 on the Triple J Hottest 100 Albums of All Time.[6] In the same year, the album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry.[7]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Livin' in the 70's" | Greg Macainsh | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Whatever Happened to the Revolution?" | Macainsh | 4:08 |
| 3. | "Balwyn Calling" | Macainsh | 3:44 |
| 4. | "Horror Movie" | Macainsh | 3:47 |
| 5. | "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed" | Macainsh | 3:44 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)" | Macainsh | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Toorak Cowboy" | Macainsh | 3:45 |
| 3. | "Smut" | Red Symons | 5:19 |
| 4. | "Hey, What's the Matter?" | Macainsh | 2:47 |
| 5. | "Motorcycle Bitch" | Macainsh | 3:56 |
Personnel
edit- Shirley Strachan – lead vocals (all but 8)
- Red Symons – guitar, backing and lead (8) vocals, mandolin
- Bob "Bongo" Starkie – guitar, backing vocals
- Greg Macainsh – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Imants Alfred "Freddie" Strauks – drums, backing vocals, percussion
Charts
editWeekly charts
edit| Chart (1974–1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[8] | 1 |
Year-end charts
edit| Chart (1975) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[8] | 1 |
Sales
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | — | 330,000[9] |
References
edit- ^ Allmusic Review
- ^ Baker, Glen A. (28 May 1983). "Australia - Explosive Talent Gains Temper Year of playing Dangerously" (PDF). Billboard. p. A-3. Retrieved 10 November 2021 – via World Radio History.
- ^ O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
- ^ "Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Musicfeeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ Peter Holmes (1 November 1998). "Rock of Ages". The Sun-Herald.
- ^ "Countdown - All 100 | Hottest 100 Australian Albums Of All Time | triple j". Abc.net.au. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ National Film and Sound Archive: 'Living in the 70s' on the Sounds of Australia registry
- ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
- ^ Baker, Glen A. (28 May 1983). "Australia - Explosive Talent Gains Temper Year of playing Dangerously" (PDF). Billboard. p. A-3. Retrieved 10 November 2021 – via World Radio History.