Desperate | ||||
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Studio album by Divinyls | ||||
Released | January 1983 | |||
Recorded | 1981-1982 | |||
Genre | Rock, new wave, pub rock | |||
Length | 30:38 (Australian release) 33:25 (International release) |
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Label | Chrysalis | |||
Producer | Mark Opitz | |||
Divinyls chronology | ||||
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Singles from Desperate | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
The Village Voice | A– |
Desperate is the debut studio album and second overall album by Australian rock band Divinyls, released in 1983 by Chrysalis Records. The album contains the hits "Boys in Town", "Science Fiction" and "Siren (Never Let You Go)".
Divinyls formed in 1980, founded by Mark McEntee and fronted by lead singer Chrissy Amphlett. After scoring several gigs, they were discovered by Australian director Ken Cameron. This led to Divinyls providing the entire soundtrack for his film Monkey Grip (1982). Amphlett was also given a supporting role in the film, playing a temperamental rock singer loosely based on herself, fronting a band played by other Divinyls members. In the film, the band performed their debut single "Boys in Town", as well as other songs "Only Lonely", "Elsie", "Only You", "Girlfriends" and "Gonna Get You", the latter being the first appearance of them in the film. The soundtrack Music from Monkey Grip was acknowledged as a Divinyls album, and when released in 1982, it made the top twenty-five of the Australian Albums Chart.
"Boys in Town" was a success in Australia where it made the top ten, peaking at number eight in 1981. The next year, "Science Fiction" was released and was also a success, peaking at number thirteen. When Desperate was released, it climbed the albums chart and eventually peaked at number five. In addition, it proved to be among the top twenty most successful albums of 1983, ranking in at number seventeen according to the Kent Music Report end of year chart.
The track listing of Desperate differed between the Australian release and the international version. Because Divinyls had already released the Monkey Grip soundtrack, which contained the songs performed in the film, in particular the single "Boys in Town", they were not included on the original Australian release of Desperate. This meant that "Science Fiction" was released as the official lead single. On the international release of Desperate, some of the songs from the Monkey Grip soundtrack were included as official album tracks, such as "Boys in Town", "Only Lonely", "Only You" and "Elsie".