Fresh out of college and jobless thanks to the U.S. vs. AT&T antitrust case, I had returned home to begin a new employment search. Late one evening, my good friend, Steve M., called me from a local lodging facility where he worked as night manager, saying there was a guy our approximate age from Australia who had come to middle-of-nowhere Tennessee "...to see where God was made." Steve said the guy left him two cassettes to listen to, calling them his favorite band from home, and that I needed to hear them. (My fascination with all things Aussie came from the exchange program Rollins College had with the University of Sydney. Many of my classmates who went Down Under brought back the greatest stories, the biggest beer cans, and incredible music by unheard of names like Midnight Oil, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and Paul Kelly. I was accepted for the program my senior year, yet fate dealt a hand that did not allow it, but my love for the Aussie culture never wavered.) I had to go meet this obviously lost, wandering soul and hear the music he toted 10,000 miles for us to hear.
Steve told me the guy bought Lowenbrau to drink and I knew that would be a disappointment, so I rounded up a 6pk of cans that I believed he'd enjoy much more, Country Club 900. That's a story in itself! Anyway, the guy was indeed our age but sported a ZZ Top-type beard which made him look way older, and the "God" he had referenced earlier was Jack Daniels, produced right down the road in Lynchburg. Our new friend was a diamond miner in Western Australia who worked hundreds of miles from the nearest city. He'd work two or three weeks in a row and then get a week off, driving to Perth to secure his stash of "God" for the upcoming work weeks. How did our buddy end up in Tennessee for two days? He had taken his vacation solo and contracted to deliver an automobile for an elderly lady from Los Angeles to Miami. He had three weeks to make the journey and got to go wherever he wanted just as long as he made Miami on the end date. Wow... We kept him a day longer than he had scheduled, but I don't believe he felt inconvenienced. Stayed in touch via postal services for a couple of years afterward but that was it. If he only knew how he affected my musical being with those two cassette tapes...
...they were Cold Chisel's self-titled debut and "Breakfast at Sweethearts." From the very first song there was an energy and passion in the music that rang my bell. Two excellent singers, one sounding like a Bob Seger/John Fogerty hybrid and the other with a sweet, soulful voice, fiery guitar work, bangin' piano and a solid rhythm section. Barroom boogie, ballads, blues, reggae, rock...you name it, they could play it. And guess what? Their third album,"East," had just been released in the States. It went quintuple Platinum in Australia and actually charted on Billboard's Top 200 here. It's been voted the 3rd Greatest Rock Album of All-Time. Two years later saw the release of band's fourth studio album, "Circus Animals." At the time, I was the interim PD/MD of the local radio station, WBGY, owned by Wayne Newton's brother Jerry, and I stuck the single "Forever Now" into heavy rotation and its B-side, "When the War is Over," into light rotation. I reported both to the trade magazine, Radio & Records, and was the only station on our format panel to do so. Hey, I tried to help. At least Custom Sound sold a few copies. Anyway, those two songs did not truly reflect the anger of the complete album, much of it directed at the American record company that could not break the band in the States. The track "Bow River" still gives me goosebumps thirty years later. For me, these first four albums by Chisel rank right there with Led Zeppelin I - IV and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side..." through "The Wall."
There were a couple of live recordings and a fifth album, which was pieced together since the band members quit getting along with each other, and that was the end of that phase of Cold Chisel. Singer Jimmy Barnes went on to a very successful Hall-of-Fame solo career. Guitarist and second singer, Ian Moss, also had a #1 solo record. Keyboardist and primary songwriter (many consider him him Australia's best), Don Walker, penned songs for both Barnes and Moss and did his own thing called Catfish, also working with Tex Perkins of The Cruel Sea. Drummer Steven Prestwich joined Little River Band for the three years that John Farnham was the lead vocalist. Bassist Phil Small thumped around with a few bands, most notably Billy Thorpe, and played in both Barnes' and Moss' touring bands. Fourteen years after the breakup, Chisel got together for a forgettable record and a tour for another long-form video.
Another fourteen years pass and we get "No Plans." The band played a big one-nighter in 2009 and got together to rehearse, did some writing, etc., but had "no plans" for it otherwise. Riiiiight... I admit to being surprised at the news, alerted to the impending release by fellow Chisel fan, Greg A.. Released on my birthday, I had to impatiently wait a month before it hit my favorite shopping site. Five weeks and multiple spins later, I can safely declare this record to be a winner. I admit to having doubts due to the previous reunion disc, and on first spin I had a "meh" opinion till I reached track #7, the first to feature Moss on lead vocals. Maybe that's what it took to break my preconceived notion that I was destined for disappointment. Each spin thereafter revealed similarities to some of the band's finest works of thirty-something years ago. Produced by Kevin Shirley, rock's most in-demand knob-twister, the album's sound is as clean as anything Mark Opitz did for them back in the day. Barnes vocals are stronger than ever, simply amazing for anyone 56 years old with that growler/howler style. This song should/would/could be a hit worldwide...
There's another track called "Missing A Girl" that's also a smash hit in an alternate timeline. Unfortunately, the availability of "No Plans" content is difficult to find for us in America. This is a link to one of the boogie-woogie rockin' tracks. Here, Barnes comes off somewhat like a Dan McCafferty in his prime. The rest of it you domestics will have have to take my word for it.
For this long-time devoted fan, "No Plans" is a most welcome addition to the fold. Here it is nearly six weeks later and I'm just now taking it out of rotation. I'm not filing it away, though. It will stay out just in case...
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