Many people will not be familiar with Chrissy Amphlett.
And they should be. She was at the forefront of bringing in the second great
wave of female singers after the deep lull between the early 70’s and early
80’s. She was the lead singer of the Australian band The Divinyls.
The big U.S. hits were “Boys In Town”, “Pleasure and
Pain” and “I Touch Myself”. Her style is in the punk vein of the Runaways,
Blondie and Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders who she has often been confused
with.
One of the things I found most revealing and true is
that making a living in rock and roll is a bitch. While they made money, the
band was more often than not in debt and simply working to get out of it. They
were not living the fabulous glamour life of the super groups. Frankly, most
musicians I know, professional or otherwise, live a hand to mouth existence and
are willing to do it because they love the music.
Chrissy Amphlett was able to parlay her talent into
musical theater and had she lived longer, I think she ultimately would have
established herself on Broadway as a presence. She did Blood Brothers and The Boy
From Oz in Australia but she was right at the beginning of exploring this
genre when she passed away.
She went through all the rock clichés as well as gave a
brilliant glimpse into life in the early seventies in the surfing culture in
Torquay in Victoria. She traveled in Europe, she took drugs, and she spent
some time in a Spanish prison.
I relived a lot of really fond memories of Kings Cross
and time I spent in Sydney going to clubs, pubs and beer barns listening to amazing
live music with friends. I had first seen the Divinyls in Seattle in 1983
before they broke big. I was a fan and stayed a fan.
Chrissy Amphlett passed away in 2013 due to breast
cancer. This was a true loss to the music industry but the music lives on and
this book is a great guide to both the woman and the band.
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