Choirgirl (song)
| "Choirgirl" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Cold Chisel | ||||
| from the album East | ||||
| B-side | "Conversations" (live) | |||
| Released | November 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 3–14 October 1979, Paradise Studios, Sydney | |||
| Genre | Pub rock[1] | |||
| Label | WEA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Don Walker | |||
| Producer(s) | Mark Opitz | |||
| Cold Chisel singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Choirgirl" (also released as "Choir Girl" on subsequent releases) is a song by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, released as the lead single from their third studio album East (1980) in November 1979. A ballad written by Don Walker with an R&B influenced melody,[2] the song marked the first time the band had recorded with producer Mark Opitz. It peaked at No. 14 in Australia on the Kent Music Report.
Details
Songwriter
Producer Mark Opitz said, "I used all the old Alberts Tricks as we built "Choirgirl" - where to bring in the backing vocals, have a half-chorus first...all the things I'd learned from Vanda & Young about keeping the listener interested."[5] Walker said, "Mark was the first person who came along who took the barriers away, who said, "Yes, doing that is not a problem. In fact, that's the way we should do it."[6]
The song is driven by Walker's Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano and although Jimmy Barnes sings lead on most of the song, Ian Moss provides close harmonies on the second verse and sings lead vocals on the bridge.
A 12" version was also released, featuring an additional live version of "Khe Sanh" on the B-side.[2]
An appearance on
Walker later said of the song, "Things can be intensely personal when you write them, but then that gets graded away as you play it 200 times a year over the subsequent five years and then gets played on the radio fifteen times a day right across the country for the next twenty years. It's like saying the same phrase over and over again, it becomes meaningless."[7]
The original album credits for the album East list the song as "Choirgirl", but on some subsequent releases it is written "Choir Girl".
Reception
The single reached No. 14 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart in November 1979[8] and was Cold Chisel's first top 20 hit to chart, after chart successes with "Khe Sanh" (1978) which reached No. 41, "Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)" (1978) which reached No. 65 and "Breakfast at Sweethearts" (1979) which reached No. 63.[4] Don Walker was nominated for Best Recorded Songwriter at the 1979 TV Week/Countdown Music Awards for the song.[9]
Writing for RAM in 1980, Greg Taylor said the song contained "a melody of stately, implacable logic, sung by Barnes in a angel voice".[10]
Cover versions
- In 2007, Australian singer Katie Noonan recorded the song for the Cold Chisel tribute album Standing on the Outside. It was also included as a bonus track on her album Skin, released in the same year.
- In 2013, Australian singer Taylor Henderson recorded a version for his eponymous debut studio album.[11]
Personnel
- Jimmy Barnes – lead vocals
- Ian Moss – lead vocals (bridge), harmony and backing vocals, electric guitar
- Don Walker – Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, backing vocals
- Phil Small – bass, backing vocals
- Steve Prestwich – drums
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (1979–1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] | 14 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1980) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] | 100 |
References
- ^ Bernard Zuel. "Cold Chisel review: 'Last stand', 30 years after the last one, still brings the house down". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax.
- ^ ISBN 1-86503-118-6.
- ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
- ^ ISBN 1-86508-196-5.
- ^ ISBN 9781742757933.
- ^ Don Walker (2001). Cold Chisel. MusicMax.
- ISBN 0-9757080-3-1.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ISBN 0-207-15108-3.
- ^ Greg Taylor (27 June 1980). "The Man and his Music". RAM. No. 137. Sydney, NSW: Soundtracts Publishing Pty Ltd.
- ^ Melissa Redman (27 November 2013). "Album Review: Taylor Henderson – Taylor Henderson". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
