Phalanx (album)

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Phalanx
Phalanx cover
Live album by Australian Crawl
Released December, 1983
Genre Rock
Length 45:27
Label EMI
Geffen Records
Producer Simon Binks, Ross Cockle
Professional reviews
Australian Crawl chronology
Sons of Beaches
(1982)
Phalanx
(1983)
Crawl File
(1984)
Singles from Phalanx
  1. "Louie Louie"
    Released: December, 1983
European release (1983)
Australian Crawl: Live 1983 European cover
Australian Crawl: Live 1983 European cover

Phalanx is the first live album released by iconic[1] Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl. It was recorded live at concerts at Bombay Rock Gold Coast, Queensland and at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in October, 1983, during the 'Semantics' tour.[2] The album was initially released on vinyl in December, 1983 and was re-released on CD in May, 1995. The album reached #4 on the National Album Charts being released by EMI.[3]

The title of the album is derived from the name for the ancient Greek battle formation where long spears were presented from behind a wall of overlapping spears. Phalanx also refers to a closely ranked group of people, (i.e. the audience).

The cover features distinctive cartoon images by Michael Leunig with the front depicting five sharks swimming towards a lone wader – they are revealed to be five other swimmers with shark fin hair (see infobox). The back cover cartoon depicts a stage manager warning "Five Minutes Mr. Reyne" at the dressing room door. Meanwhile Reyne is combing his hair backwards with Brylcream liberally applied, a guitar and a half-full bottle are nearby.

Phalanx was also released by Geffen Records in Europe but under a different title, Australian Crawl: Live, and with a different cover.[4]

"Phalanx was the Crawl's fourth album... It yielded a rollicking single, in the form of the band's raucous cover of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie"... As this album lodged itself at the top of the charts, the Crawl were off to England for some pre-Christmas shows with Duran Duran." – Glen A. Baker, 1983.[5]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Unpublished Critics" (James Reyne, Paul Williams) – 5:51
  2. "The Night" (Brad Robinson) – 3:50
  3. "La Califusa (Reyne) – 3:01
  4. "Love Beats Me Up" (Reyne) – 4:33
  5. "Things Don't Seem" (Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough) – 3:58
  6. "White Limbo" (Simon Binks) – 3:43
  7. "Louie Louie" (Richard Berry) – 5:48
  8. "Errol" (McDonough, Reyne) – 3:32
  9. "Reckless (Don't Be So)" (Reyne) – 5:41
  10. "The Boys Light Up" (Reyne) – 5:30

Songwriting credits from Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[6]

[edit] Personnel

  • Engineer — John Sayers

[edit] References

  1. ^ "1996: 10th Annual ARIA Awards". ARIA. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  2. ^ Australian Crawl: Phalanx - CD. Homesick.com.au. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  3. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (doc), Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Retrieved on 2008-03-11. 
  4. ^ Zentrum Mensch-Maschine-Systeme. Axel Husfeldt (1999-07-09). Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  5. ^ Baker, Glen A. (1983). Phalanx (album liner notes), EMI. 
  6. ^ APRA. APRA. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.