What a Life!
Studio album by
Divinyls
Released28 October 1985[1]
Recorded1983-1985
GenreRock, new wave, pub rock, pop rock
Length40:00
LabelChrysalis
ProducerMike Chapman, Gary Langan, Mark Opitz
Divinyls chronology
Desperate
(1983)		 What a Life!
(1985)		 Temperamental
(1988)
Singles from What a Life!
  1. "Good Die Young"
    Released: 16 July 1984[2]
  2. "In My Life"
    Released: 26 November 1984
  3. "Pleasure and Pain"
    Released: 2 September 1985[3]
  4. "Sleeping Beauty"
    Released: 16 December 1985
  5. "Heart Telegraph"
    Released: 5 May 1986[4]

What a Life! is the second studio album by Australian band Divinyls, released in October 1985[1] by Chrysalis Records. The album is a genre of rock and new wave songs—written by Divinyls members Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee.

History

After touring and promoting in the United States, Divinyls came back to Australia to begin the follow-up to Desperate, with Mark Opitz producing again. They produced three songs including "Don't You Go Walking" and "Motion" but Amphlett and McEntee were not satisfied so they returned to the road, replacing drummer Richard Harvey with J.J. Harris, and wrote more songs. A year later they again tried recording, this time with the producer Gary Langan who was the founding member of the band Art of Noise. He brought a sophisticated, high-tech edge to Divinyls' sound, but a full album failed to get done. Recording stopped once more.[5]

Eventually, Amphlett and McEntee made a journey to Los Angeles, where they asked pop producer Mike Chapman to come back with them to Australia and finish their second album. Chapman ended up producing only two songs: "Pleasure and Pain" (which he also co-wrote with Holly Knight) and "Sleeping Beauty". The album was released almost two years after recording began. It reached No.4 in Australia and No.91 in the US, while "Pleasure and Pain" hit No.11 in Australia and the lower reaches of the Top 100 in the US. Two later singles, "Sleeping Beauty" and "Heart Telegraph", charted moderately in Australia but did little in the US. Despite its Australian success, Chrysalis declared the album a failure.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]

Rolling Stone described the music as "loud and hard-edged, as purely physical as any metal band, but tempered with ... swaggering rowdiness". Ram magazine noted the band's writing had a newfound maturity, "verbalising adult fears and lingering adolescent yearnings".[5] AllMusic's later review said many of the album tracks were hardly memorable and that the band's best strengths lay both in Amphlett's unique vocal delivery, and McEntee's bottom-heavy, grungy, guitar work.

Track listing

Australian release

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Pleasure and Pain"Mike Chapman, Holly KnightMike Chapman3:55
2."Sleeping Beauty"Christina Amphlett, Mark McEnteeMike Chapman3:38
3."Good Die Young"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan3:36
4."Guillotine Day"Bjarne OhlinGary Langan3:08
5."Talk Like the Rain"Amphlett, McEnteeCharles Fisher3:07
6."Heart Telegraph"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan4:48
7."Old Radios"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan4:06
8."In My Life"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan3:43
9."Para-Dice"McEntee, Rick GrossmanGary Langan3:53
10."What a Life!"Amphlett, McEnteeMark McEntee, Charles Fisher4:03
11."Dear Diary"Bjarne OhlinGary Langan4:25

US release

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Pleasure and Pain"Mike Chapman, Holly KnightMike Chapman3:55
2."Don't You Go Walking"Mark McEnteeMark Opitz5:58
3."Good Die Young"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan3:36
4."Sleeping Beauty"Christina Amphlett, McEnteeMike Chapman3:38
5."Motion"Amphlett, McEnteeMark Opitz3:36
6."In My Life"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan3:43
7."Casual Encounter"Amphlett, McEnteeMark Opitz3:05
8."Heart Telegraph"Amphlett, McEnteeGary Langan4:48
9."Guillotine Day"Bjarne OhlinGary Langan3:08
10."Dear Diary"Bjarne OhlinGary Langan4:25

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 4
US Billboard 200 91

Personnel

  • Christina Amphlett – vocals, writer
  • Mark McEntee – vocals, guitar, keyboards, writer
  • Richard Harvey – drums
  • Bjarne Ohlin – vocals, guitar, keyboards, writer
  • Rick Grossman – bass, writer
  • Rick Chadwick – keyboards, programming
  • Mars Lazaar – keyboards, programming
  • Mary Bradfield Taylor – background vocals
  • Simon Darlow – keyboards, programming
  • Charles Fisher – producer, mixer
  • Mike Chapman – producer, writer
  • Gary Langan – producer
  • Mark Opitz – producer
  • Tom Colley – engineer
  • John Bee – engineer
  • Richard Meuke – engineer

Sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia — 100,000[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kent Music Report No 590 – 28 October 1985 > LP & Tape: New Releases". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Imgur.com.
  2. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 525 – 16 July 1984 > Singles: New Releases". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Imgur.com.
  3. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 582 – 2 September 1985 > Singles: New Releases". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Imgur.com.
  4. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 616 – 5 May 1985 (sic) > Singles: New Releases". Imgur.com (original document published by Kent Music Report). Retrieved 30 November 2017. N.B. This document erroneously lists the year as 1985 rather than 1986.
  5. 1 2 3 Chrissy Amphlett & Larry Writer, "Pleasure and Pain: My Life", Hodder Australia, 2005.
  6. ↑ Allmusic review
  7. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 91. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
  8. ↑ Barker, Glenn A. (15 November 1985). "Pacing the Majors…". Billboard. p. A-6.
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