Cold Chisel

Cold Chisel is the classic Australian "pub rock band", playing a tough breed of rock and blues inspired by seventies bands like Free, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, but characterised by the story-telling skills of their main songwriter Don Walker, whose personal influences came from Bob Dylan. Between 1978 and 1983 Cold Chisel ruled as Australia's most popular band on record and stage. Cold Chisel have sold over three million records in Australia alone, two thirds of that number after their bitter break-up.

They came together in Adelaide on the initiative of guitarist/singer Ian Moss during October 1973, initially calling themselves Orange, and playing their debut performance at an Italian workingman's club. For a while, they took to using a different name for each performance, but after the day they used the name of the Don Walker song 'Cold Chisel', that name stuck.

It was a long and awkward gestation period. At one point Don Walker stepped out of the band while he completed his post-graduate degree in Quantum Mechanics. Gravel voiced Glasgow-born singer Jim Barnes left the band, returned, was sacked, and forgiven. Several times. At one point Jim's brother John Swan joined as second vocalist but he was sacked too for beating up a roadie, and then came back, temporarily as drummer while it was Steve Prestwich's turn to leave and come back again. The only original member who didn't survive was bass player Les Kaczmarek, replaced by Phil Small. All the while Don Walker was building up a strong catalogue of original songs.

Whenever Jim left, the band carried on regardless, since Ian Moss was more than capable as a singer, and that was the case in November 1975 when Cold Chisel recorded their first demos. Jim had joined Fraternity. Again he returned and in August 1976 the band moved from Adelaide to Melbourne to live. Two months later, frustrated by their lack of progress, Cold Chisel moved on to Sydney. Three months later things hadn't improved and the band was considering changing its name to The Dogs.

In May 1977, Cold Chisel found a manager, just as Jim decided to leave again, this time to join brother John Swan in Feather. The farewell show went so well he chose to stay after all. Within weeks WEA Records decided to take a punt by signing the band to a record contract. They were already nearly four years old.

Cold Chisel, their manager, and producer Peter Walker (ex Bakery) had high hopes for the first album. They were going to have it mixed in America and everything. But when WEA landed them a support on a national tour by Foreigner they were ordered to wrap up the sessions so the album could be rush-released. The self-titled album was released in April 1978 without setting the world on fire. The first single 'Khe Sahn' was banned from airplay for a sexual implication in the lyric. The Countdown show asked the band to change the lyric in order to appear, and they refused.

Backed up by the band's ever-growing reputation as a live band the album did enough to earn them a gold record. Cold Chisel then captured their essence with a live EP, provocatively called 'You're Thirteen, You're Beautiful and You're Mine', the stuff legends are made of. Who needed Countdown? Everybody was talking about them anyway, drawn by the songs, and Jim Barnes' presence on stage, crouched, sweating, as he roared his vocals into the microphone at the top of his lungs.

Cold Chisel spent six months recording the second album, ducking in and out of the studio between performances. This time they were put in the hands of a 'real' producer. Richard Batchens was the hot name at the time. Their producer was not all that keen on the band's individual performances in the studio and made them do things over and over. In the end he smoothed out the rough edges, but also lost some of the life, while at the same time, the more sophisticated approach tended to highlight the quality of the songs. Don Walker was really starting to find his feet now. The band had their reservations , but they were reasonably happy with the results, and 'Breakfast At Sweethearts' turned Cold Chisel into platinum selling superstars.

After attempting to record a single with Richard Batchens, Cold Chisel decided to record the next album with Mark Opitz. This time everything fell into place, the sound, the songs, the playing. With Don Walker's blessing, every member took a hand in the songwriting. With Jim's blessing Ian Moss took lead vocals on two songs. The album cover was based on the Marat-Sade 'bath suicide' painting. 'East' was a triumph. Cold Chisel were now the undisputed No.1 rock band in Australia. And they still hadn't appeared on Countdown.

The band and their management now started to set their sights on the rest of the world, while here in Australia they rammed what they were all about with a double live album, 'Swingshift', their first No.1, and Australia's first live No.1 album. And now they appeared on Countdown, not Countdown proper, but the April 1981 Countdown Awards, smashing the set as a climax to their performance. Who needed Countdown? In the meantime 'East' had been released overseas.

'East' didn't sell internationally, and performances aside, their experiences were not happy ones. The next album had an aggressive edge to it, and they called it after the way they felt in America, 'Circus Animals'. The outback cover shot leaves no doubt about where it was recorded. More international sojourns followed, and more frustrating disappointments. In Australia they'd scored another number one album and a major hit with the single 'Forever Now'. (YouTube)

Disillusionment set in, as well as internal tensions. Steve Prestwich left, and was replaced by Ray Arnott, before the band decided to break up in August 1983, inviting Prestwich to return for a farewell album and tour. It seemed a good idea at the time, but it would prove the most difficult four months of the group's existence, recording a final album in between the farewell tour. Different writers were using different producers. Some of the band were barely on speaking terms. None of the members could wait for it to be over, and it finally was, with a farewell performance at Sydney Entertainment Centre on December 12 1983, the group's tenth anniversary. The album, 'Twentieth Century', as you'd expect, was a mixed bag.

Jimmy Barnes jumped straight into an incredibly successful solo career. Ian Moss took five years off before releasing a Number One album of his own ('Matchbook'), reuniting him with the songs of Don Walker. Walker started his own low key recording and performing career, forging relationships with a varied assortment of Australian music makers, both rock and country, without dispute one of the finest songwriters in the country. Drummer Steve Prestwich joined Little River Band for two years. All the while, fans waited in vain for a whiff of a reunion.

Then, after almost two years of secret discussions and jam sessions, a reunion album and tour was assembled for October 1998. After the 'The Last Wave Of Summer' project, which added another No.1 to Cold Chisel's credits but without the songs therein making a serious dint against the old catalogue, the band went its separate ways again. The band reassembled in May 2003 for a series of warm-up concerts before four "in the round" concerts at Sydney's Hordern Pavillion filmed for release on DVD.