[Talking to Australian Strangers] -- In 1981, Mark Seymour, a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, formed Hunters & Collectors. He fronted the band for all nine of their albums, six of which were released in the 1980s. And in July of 1982, forty years ago, Hunters & Collectors released their eponymous debut. Depending on the source, Hunters & Collectors (1982) was released on either July 16 or July 26 ... or maybe even some other date. Well, July 1982 is when the album was released in Australia and New Zealand. It looks like the album didn't reach the US (or Canada, the UK, or the rest of Europe) until 1983.
Hunters & Collectors brought together post-punk and art-funk in a marriage blessed, or at least grounded, by John Archer on bass. This debut record shows a band very much in progress, and it's good progress. Maybe some of the lyrics fall flat, but the band's musicality cannot be denied, at least not in my opinion. The entire record – particularly the the lone single, "Talking to a Stranger," which was released ahead of the album on July 12, 1982 – just seethes with anguished alienation and dark despondency. Moods that are still very relevant today, four decades after these songs were recorded. Yet I find the merest tinge of potential and hope hidden beneath the rants. We could use that hope, too.
My favorite tracks:
- "Talking to a Stranger"
- "Skin of Our Teeth"
- "Boo Boo Kiss"
- "Run Run Run"
This week's embedded playlist is a mashup of the original Australian and the later US releases. The first eight videos reflect the original Australian release of 1982. The US release removed "Alligator Engine," "Skin of Our Teeth," "Junket Head," "Boo Boo Kiss," and "Tender Kinder Baby," and replaced them with four other tracks: "Tow Truck," "Drop Tank," "Mouthtrap," and "Lumps of Lead." Those four songs are at the end of my YouTube playlist.
Flashback: Hunters & Collectors (1982)
That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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