Gossip (Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls album)

Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: September 1986 (AUS)
July 1987 (USA) | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Post1985Under the Sun1987studioGossipPK gossip.JPGPaul Kelly and the Coloured GirlsSeptember 1986 (AUS)
July 1987 (USA)March–May 1986Trafalger Studios, SydneyAustralian Rock81:38Mushroom/White (Australia)
A&M (U.S.)Alan Thorne, Paul Kellyx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} Template:Album ratings Gossip is the double LP debut album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls.<ref name="McF">Template:Cite book</ref> Produced by Alan Thorne and Paul Kelly,<ref name="ARDb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it was released on Mushroom Records in September 1986, which peaked at No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart,<ref name="Kent">Template:Cite book</ref> and achieved gold record status.<ref name="McF"/> There was commercial success for "Before Too Long" which peaked at No. 15 and "Darling It Hurts" reached No. 25 on the related Singles Chart.<ref name="Kent"/> Gossip was released in different forms, initially as a double album with 24 tracks, it was edited down to a single 15-track LP for North American and European release on A&M Records, when released on CD in North America, it featured 17 tracks.<ref name="ARDb"/>

At the 1986 Countdown Australian Music Awards the album was nominated for Best Australian Album.<ref name="Top40TV">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="1987noms&wins">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls had been named for a lyric in Lou Reed's song "Walk on the Wild Side", but all North American and European releases were credited to Paul Kelly and the Messengers due to possible racist interpretations.<ref name="Jeff">Template:Cite book</ref> "Darling It Hurts" peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart in 1987.<ref name="BillS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The initial 1987 Australian CD release contained 21 tracks; in 2005, a special deluxe 2-CD version was released in Australia which contained all 24 tracks.<ref name="ARDb"/> In October 2010, it was listed at No. 7 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.<ref name="ODonnell">Template:Cite book</ref>

Background

After relocating from Melbourne to Sydney in 1985, Paul Kelly had recorded and released a solo album Post.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> Kelly then began to play and record with a full-time band, which included Michael Armiger on bass guitar, Michael Barclay on drums, Steve Connolly on guitar, eventually bassist Jon Schofield, and keyboardist Peter Bull joined.<ref name="ARDb"/> Through a joke based on Lou Reed's song "Walk on the Wild Side", the band became known as Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Jeff"/> Their first release was "From St Kilda to Kings Cross" but it did not chart.<ref name="McF"/> The line-up of the Coloured Girls changed rapidly with some stability late in 1985 as Barclay, Bull, Connolly and Schofield.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> Stuart Coupe, Kelly's manager, advised him to sign with Regular Records due to difficulty re-signing with Mushroom's Michael Gudinski.<ref name="Jeff"/> Michelle Higgins, Mushroom's Public relations officer, was a Kelly supporter and locked herself into a Sebel Townhouse Hotel room for nearly a week in mid-1986, refusing to leave until Gudinski had signed Kelly to a two-album recording contract.<ref name="Jeff"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In September 1986 Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls released the 24-track double LP Gossip.<ref name="ARDb"/> The album included remakes of songs from Post and also featured "Maralinga (Rainy Land)", a song about the effects of British atomic testing on the Maralinga Tjarutja – indigenous people of Maralinga, South Australia.<ref name="Songline">Template:Cite news</ref> Gossip peaked at No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Charts, with singles chart success for "Before Too Long" which peaked at No. 15 and "Darling It Hurts" reaching No. 25.<ref name="Kent"/> A single LP version of Gossip featuring 15 tracks was released in North America and Europe by A&M Records in July, 1987.<ref name="ARDb"/> Due to possible racist connotations the band changed its name, for international releases, to Paul Kelly and the Messengers.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Jeff"/> They made an American tour, initially supporting Crowded House and then head-lining, travelling across the United States by bus.<ref name="McF"/> "Darling It Hurts" peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1987.<ref name="BillS"/> The New York Times rock critic, John Pareles wrote "Mr. Kelly sang one smart, catchy three-minute song after another - dozens of them - as the band played with no-frills directness." following the band's performance at the Bottom Line Club in New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Kelly unless otherwise indicated.<ref name="APRA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Note: requires user to input song title e.g. Last Train to Heaven</ref>

1. "Last Train to Heaven" – 4:51
2. "Leaps and Bounds" (Paul Kelly, Chris Langman) – 3:25
3. "Before the Old Man Died" – 2:35 Remixed by Scott Litt for North American issues
4. "Down on My Speedway" – 3:25
5. "White Train" – 2:47^^
6. "Randwick Bells" – 3:38
7. "Before Too Long" – 3:24
8. "Adelaide" – 3:39^^ Omitted from North American LP and CD issues
9. "I Won't Be Torn Apart" – 2:51 Omitted from North American LP issue
10. "Going About My Father's Business" – 3:34 Omitted from North American LP issue
11. "Somebody's Forgetting Somebody (Somebody's Letting Somebody Down)" – 3:41
12. "The Ballroom" – 2:02 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues
13. "Tighten Up" – 2:57 Remixed by Scott Litt for North American issues
14. "I've Come for Your Daughter" – 3:21 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues, 1993 Australian CD issue
15. "So Blue" – 3:32 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues
16. "The Execution" – 5:17 Remixed by Scott Litt for North American issues
17. "Incident on South Dowling" – 3:13^^
18. "Maralinga (Rainy Land)" – 3:57 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues
19. "Darling It Hurts" (Kelly, Steve Connolly) – 3:19
20. "Look So Fine, Feel So Low" (Kelly, Maurice Frawley) – 3:22^^
21. "Stories of Me" – 2:45
22. "Don't Harm the Messenger" – 3:47
23. "Gossip" (Kelly, Chris Coyne) – 2:56 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues, 1993 Australian CD issue
24. "After the Show" – 3:17 Omitted from North American LP and CD issues, 1993 Australian CD issue

^^ = previously recorded on Kelly's 1985 solo release, Post

Personnel

Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls

• Paul Kelly — acoustic guitar, vocals
• Michael Armiger — bass guitar (tracks 8, 14, 20)
• Michael Barclay — drums, vocals
• Peter Bull — keyboards, vocals
• Steve Connolly — guitar, vocals
• Chris Coyne — saxophone, saxophone (tenor) (tracks 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 19)
• John Schofield — bass, vocals

Additional musicians

• Richard Burgman — electric rhythm guitar
• Joe Camilleri — saxophone (track 3)
• Mike Cleary — piccolo trumpet
• Wayne Freer — trombone (tracks 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 19)
• Graham Lee — pedal steel guitar (tracks 1, 11, 21)
• Grant McLennan — talking (track 21)
• Astrid Munday — vocals (tracks 7, 17)
• Brian Nixon — timpani
• Dianne Spence — saxophone (track 20)
• Chris Wilson — harmonica (tracks 1, 11, 16)

Recording details

• Producer — Alan Thorne, Paul Kelly
• Engineer — Alan Thorne
• Remixer — Scott Litt (tracks 3, 13, 16 for North American release)

2011 CD Remastered by Rick O'Neil at Turtlerock Mastering. Art work

• Cover Art — Ann Redmond
• Photography — Wayne O'Farrell

Charts

Template:Album chart

Chart (1986–87)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref>	15

Release history

Format	Country	Label	Catalogue No.	Year
LP/Cassette	AUS	Mushroom	L45961/2	September 1986
LP, CD	USA	A&M	SP 5157	1987
CD	AUS	Mushroom/White	MUSH32282.2	1993