Rocktrospectiva: The Powerful "Divinyls" Turns 35

Released on 29 January 1991 "Divinyls" was the 4th., studio album by Australian band Divinyls. The album was the band's most successful record in their career peaking at number 5 in Australia and number 15 on the US Billboard 200. It also contains the band's biggest-selling single, "I Touch Myself", which reached number one in Australia, number four in the US and number 10 in the UK, other singles released were "Love School", "Make Out Alright" & "Lay Your Body Down". 

It was the only album recorded by the band with the Virgin Records label after a recording contract with Chrysalis Records in the UK was terminated. Virgin told manager Andrew McManus they were keen to sign the band—by then comprising just singer Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee—because they saw Amphlett as "the next Madonna". 

Amphlett and McEntee moved to an apartment in Paris where they wrote "Love School", "Make Out Alright" and "Lay Your Body Down", before transferring to Los Angeles, where the remainder of the album was written, partly in collaboration with songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly.

The album was recorded at Jackson Browne's Groove Masters Studio in Santa Monica, with backing provided by bassist Randy Jackson, keyboardist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and drummer Charley Drayton, who later married Amphlett in 1999. The single "I Touch Myself" generated some controversy in the US when lead singer Amphlett sang apparently aboyt female masturbation, but not so many people seemed to care about at the time, Director Michael Bay filmed the video for the single in a nunnery in Pasadena, and became a smash hit on MTV it was also nominated for an MTV award, inredible the video was banned in their native Australia.

This self-titled album offered exactly what audiences expected from the Divinyls: rockin' intensity combined with new wave-ish quirks and a strong melodic sense. The record had respectable and generally appealing tracks, some highlights included the eerie "Love School" and infectious offerings like "Make Out Alright," "Bless My Soul (It's Rock-N-Roll)," and of course the massive "I Touch Myself" this was a release with many more strengths than weaknesses.

The album had mixed critics, especially highlighted Chrissy Amphlett's vocal performance as another step up from the previous album, called her: the most sexually charged voice from a rock female" since Chrissie Hynde, in summary, it was a truly fantastic record for their die-hard fans and was the introduction for newcomers. 

 

Divinyls Track List:  

 

1. Make Out Alright

2. I Touch Myself

3. Lay Your Body Down

4. Love School

5. Bless My Soul (it's Rock-n-Roll)

6. If Love Was A Gun

7. Need A Lover

8. Follow Through

9. Café Interlude

10. Bullet

11. I'm On Your Side