Here's one for my Australian friends and rellies, but let's face it, Paul Kelly should be far more internationally well known than he is. Every stage of his career has brought great songs, great songwriting and a longevity that's rare. From way back with the Dots, through the Coloured Girls, the Messengers and his solo work, Paul Kelly has remained a force to be reckoned with.
'Under the Sun' was released as Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls' second album in '87 but when it was put out in the US and European markets it was changed to Paul Kelly and the Messengers.
The Coloured Girls name was from a joke about Lou Reeds song 'Walk on the Wild Side'
"And the colored girls go
Do-do-do, do-do, do-do-do"
I didn't get into Paul Kelly until around 1990 when I was living in Perth. A friend played his music all the time and gave me this album. To be honest, I could have picked any album for this entry, particularly his early work. So many amazing songs to choose from .. and yes, I'm going to list my best of .. (in no particular order).
'Before Too Long', 'Darling it Hurts', 'Dumb Things', 'To Her Door', 'Same Old Walk'.. no, I can't, there's too many.
Tear my heart out every time with 'How To Make Gravy'
Make me smile and sing along to 'Every Fucking City'
... and in answer to your question, YES, I have seen 'Sydney From A 727' at night.
I'm not really going to attempt to write anything much about Paul Kelly's career .. it is long and varied and has had it's rewards, coupled with some gut-wrenching moments. His music tells it all. For a definative walk through, in 2010 he released an 8 CD set called 'The A-Z Recordings' taken from live concerts where typically over 4 nights he performed 100 songs alphabetically. He also put out a companion book named after one of those songs 'How To Make Gravy' where the song titles help to add structure to the stories.
There's a lot of Paul Kelly on YouTube but I've picked one .. 'To Her Door'. It comes from this featured album, it's the first song I heard and it's still my favourite.
There's a whole world of love and hurt and hope in 3 minutes and at the end it leaves you unsure if there was a reconciliation .. "Could he make a picture and get them all to fit?"
There are some references that are specific to time and place ..
The Buttery is a rehab facility in NSW, Silvertop is a Sydney taxi company and Olympic was a bus company.
There's a bitter comment between the second and third verse that's missing from the YouTube version of this song which illustrates the poison in the relationship ..
'She said, "Shove it, Jack, I'm walking out your fucking door'
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