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Human Frailty Pty Ltd |
COllected Works
Information: A 'best of' collection of Hunters and Collectors as at 1990. In Australia this was a broad collection from the first album up to and including "Ghost Nation". Overseas releases were on IRS, did not include "Ghost Nation" material and basically covered from the "Human Frailty" and "Fate" albums. Released In: [Australia / NZ] [Europe] [USA] [Canada]. Release Date: Australia: 19 November 1990. Other: September 1990. Australian Chart Position: 8 (Double Platinum). Rating: 9/10. Availability: Moderately common. Value: A$6-A$30. Australian Front Cover: Australian Back Cover: Australian CD: Canadian Front Cover: Canadian Back Cover: Canadian CD:
Legend:
Version: Mushroom Records Australian CD album (same as all Australian versions except the video). Album length: 68 minutes, 33 seconds. 01. Talking To A
Stranger (remix)
02. Run Run Run 03. Lumps Of Lead 04. 42 Wheels 05. Carry Me
06. The Slab
07. Say Goodbye
09. Throw Your
Arms Around Me (1990 remix)
10. This Morning 11. January Rain 12. Faraway Man 14. Blind Eye
Version: Mushroom Records Australian VHS (Pal) video. 02. Lumps Of Lead 03. Judas Sheep
04. The Slab
06. Little Chalkie 07. I Believe 08. Say Goodbye
10. Is There Anybody In
There? 15. Blind Eye
16. The Way You Live
17. Throw Your Arms Around Me (1990 remix)
Version: IRS Canadian CD album (similar to all non Australian versions). Album length: 60 minutes, 2 seconds. 01. Faraway Man 04. Dog 07. Around The Flame 08. Give Me A Reason 09. Wishing Well 10. Talking To A Stranger (remix)
11. Say Goodbye
12. January Rain
14. Is There Anybody In
There?
16. Breakneck Road
Original studio source of the songs on these compilation albums:
Australian Version
Lyrics. Mark Seymour. Music. Hunters And Collectors. Publisher. Human Frailty / Mushroom Music.
Art Direction / Design / Construction. Robert Miles, Hugh Brown, Fred Davis, Timothy Eames.
Loud and Clear Management. Michael Roberts. PO Box 276 Albert Park.
[Information on which song is originally on what album - I have shown above with less errors. Information on production elsewhere on web site] 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' is a previously unreleased version produced by H&C and Clive Martin, mixed by E. T. Thorngren.
Collected Works is also available on longform video and sheet music.
For membership of the "Ghost Nation' - an organisation of Hunters & Collectors supporters - contact P.O. Box 276 Albert Park Victoria 3206 Australia.
"Boy, you've been around forever... how long has it been?"
I get asked that question regularly, often by people I've only just met who've never seen the band! It's very strange... sure, we started gigging in early '81, we just never bothered to break up. But then again, I've met people on the road who'd never heard of us before 1989. Hard to believe, and maybe a little hard to swallow. Maybe it's a question of your age. Put it this way, if you're somewhere between eighteen and forty and you've dipped your toes into the pub rock scene, then you've probably seen Hunters and Collectors at least once. We've been discovered, forgotten, remembered, and discovered again. Only thing is, we never went away, except in 1983 when we went to London and wallowed in self-pity for six months. Big mistake! Oh well, they say you haven't lived if you don't have regrets.
Since then we've been around the continent God knows how many times, (John Archer probably has the exact figure locked away in his mind), playing to a crowd that got older and younger at the same time. We'd just never made a point of 'breaking out' or getting 'too big for the pubs'. It's a simple rule. If you're too big to do the Palace once, do it twice. Trying to measure your popularity is dangerously self indulgent. Try and convince me which is more 'real'... the national top 40 or 3000 people 'going off' at Selinas? We could argue all night, but in the end 'chart positions' and 'units moved' are secondary to how much impact a band has when it performs in front of a live audience. It so happens, that in this country there are still hundreds of clubs out there to play in! For me, the only tangible thing is how I feel after a show.
Anyway, even though we've been making a living out of music for most of the eighties, it's only been in the last two years that I've been able to say which band I play in, and assume that the person I'm talking to has heard of Hunters and Collectors! It's amazing how you can lose yourself out there... they say Australia is a small market, but as the saying goes, it's a big country.
This record documents ten years of Hunters and Collectors music. It includes material from every 'period', including those times when the band's popularity waned, music that few people have heard, and music that some may have forgotten. We'd like to thank you, the punter, especially for sticking with us right from the word go. We would also like to thank Greg Perano, Geoff Crosby, Ray Tosti-Guerra and Martin Lubran for being a part of it all. And also, the voice of reason, Mr Reality, Michael Roberts...
See you next time 'round. Mark Seymour.
Hunters & Collectors John Archer Doug Falconer Jack Howard Robert Miles Barry Palmer Mark Seymour Jeremy Smith Michael Waters
Canadian Version
Australian in 1981 was an exciting, vibrant setting for rock 'n' roll's peculiar form of creativity. New wave upstarts Spilt Enz and Men At Work vied with punk offshoots like INXS and Midnight Oil for elbow room in crowded pubs, while American superstars like Bruce Springsteen rose steadily up the Aussie sales charts.
Many young bands first made their mark in these chaotic times. Few, however, exhibited the stamina and consistent physical and emotional power of Melbourne's Hunters & Collectors, who were rapidly building a large local following based upon their sweaty, passionate live shows. Much of the band's early material was born out of the kinetic, unpredictable nature of their percussive, open-ended live jams.
I.R.S. became interested in Hunters & Collectors in 1982, after hearing the track "Talking To A Stranger". In fact, the first episode of I.R.S.'s MTV program "The Cutting Edge" aired the world premier of the "Talking To A Stranger" video in 1982. When, in 1986, the band became available for U.S. distribution, I.R.S. president Jay Boberg signed them immediately.
Human Frailty, released in 1986, was the first record to accurately capture Hunters & Collectors' intriguing blend of insightful, intelligent lyrics and a muscular musical approach. Frailty is well represented on Collected Works by such tracks as the blistering rockers "Say Goodbye" and "Dog" and the haunting ballad "Throw Your Arms Around Me".
1988's "Fate" (originally released in Australia as What's A Few Men) found the band reaching for global concerns. The growing sense of desperation occasioned by the Reagan years had hit hard in their native country, and this album showed off an increasing lyrical and musical sophistication. Their more contemplative side is represented here by the gorgeous "Wishing Well" and the band's biggest U.S. hit "Back On The Breadline", as well as the unreleased B-sides "Still Hanging 'Round" and "Give Me A Reason".
Over the years, Hunters & Collectors have evolved from a large funky ensemble from a large, funky ensemble to one of the rock community's most hard-hitting and thoughtful groups. They are a band who have reached a consistently high level of success (top 10 in their home country) without sacrificing or compromising their ideas or ideals. Collected Works stands as an example of their work to date - it is not meant as a eulogy, it is merely a sixteen song snapshot of lives, loves and thoughts; a cross-section of a day in anyone's life; a moment in time captured by an eye from down under...
DISCOGRAPHY
EP's World Of Stone (1982) Payload (1982) Judas Sheep (1983) Living Daylight (1987)
Albums Hunters & Collectors (1982) Fireman's Curse (1983) Jaws Of Life (1984) Human Frailty (1986) Fate (1988)
[information on production, remixing on every track - see above and previous album information] Talking To A Stranger produced by Hunters & Collectors. Remixed by Mike Howlett. This track appears courtesy of A&M Records.
All songs: Words by Mark Seymour. Music by Hunters & Collectors. Published by Human Frailty Pty. Ltd. / I.R.S. Music, Inc (BMI) except "Talking To A Stranger" published by Human Frailty Pty. Ltd. administered by WB Music Corp (ASCAP).
Mastered by Doug Schwartz at MCA Recording.
Management Information: Michael Roberts Loud & Clear Management P.O. Box 276 Albert Park Victoria Australia 3206 Ph: 61 3 534-9238 Fax: 61 3 537-1371
Liner notes by Rob Yardumian and Sig Sigworth. Cover construction by Timothy Eames. Art direction: Robert Mules, Hugh Brown & Fred Davis. Design: Fred Davis. Photography: Hugh Brown.
For information regarding I.R.S. merchandise write to: I.R.S. Merchandising 3939 Lankershim Blvd. Universal City, CA 91604.
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Highly recommended track.
Commercial single.
Promotional single.