I'm Talking
Encyclopedia
I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk
-pop
rock band
, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano
and Zan Abeyratne
. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in 1987.
-based experimental funk band Essendon Airport
in 1983, members Robert Goodge on guitar
, Ian Cox on saxophone
and Barbara Hogarth on bass guitar
set about forming a band to create inventive, commercial, funk-pop music. I'm Talking's original line-up were Kate Ceberano
on vocals (ex-Expozay, Hoagy Cats), Stephen Charlesworth on keyboards
, Cox, Goodge, Hogarth and Cameron Newman on drums
. They introduced sophisticated dance beat music to the pub rock
scene, performing for a year before recording their debut release. The EP
Someday was released in May 1984 on the independent
Randelli label. They also contributed to the soundtrack
of the short film More Sex Stories, they attracted the attention of manager Ken West and then signed to Regular Records. Zan Abeyratne
(ex-Grand Wazoo, Bang) joined as a second lead vocalist.
I'm Talking released "Trust Me" in December 1984, which peaked at #10 on the Kent Music Report
for the Australian singles charts. This was followed by "Lead the Way" in July 1985, then a cover
of the Rose Royce
song "Love Don't Live Here Anymore
" in September, which both peaked into the top thirty. Although their songs are credited to the band as a whole (i.e. I'm Talking), in fact Goodge and Cox wrote virtually all the music and lyrics. The group won 'Best New Talent' and 'Best Debut Single' for "Trust Me" for 1984 at the Countdown Awards ceremony broadcast in 1985. On 13 July, I'm Talking performed "Lead the Way" in the 1985 Oz for Africa
concert (part of the global Live Aid
program). It was broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network
and Nine Network
) and on MTV
in the US.
I’m Talking recorded their debut album Bear Witness in Melbourne, it was released in August 1986. Produced by Fred Maher
(drummer for Scritti Politti
) and Martyn Webster, it peaked at #14 in the albums charts, and spawned three more singles for their Australian label Regular Records. "Do You Wanna Be", entered the charts in May and peaked at #8, this was their highest charting single. "Holy Word" in August featured solo vocals by Abeyratne and peaked at #9. "How Can it Be?" was released in October but had no charting success. They signed to London Records
in the UK but disagreements between the band and that label lead to only one single ("Do You Wanna Be") being released outside of Australia. At least three of their songs later appeared in the 1988 film For Queen & Country.
After returning from their 1986 UK tour supporting Five Star
, there were line-up changes, Warren McLean (ex-Machinations
) replaced Newman on drums and Kevin Wiltshire was 'imported' from the UK tour as a second keyboardist. That line-up appeared on the national Australian Made
tour of January 1987. By March, Abeyratne, Charlesworth and McClean had left. New members were John McAll on keyboards, Philip Jackson on drum machine and electronics, and rapper Tricky J. However, no new material was recorded by this line-up. Ceberano won 'Best Female Vocalist' for 1986 at the final Countdown Awards held in 1987. New material was performed live in 1987, but Ceberano departed to pursue her solo career and I'm Talking disbanded in July 1987. In 1988, a compilation
, Dance was released by Regular Records.
es. They were responsible for transforming Yothu Yindi
's folk-rock song "Treaty
" into a dance-groove hit single. I'm Talking's manager, West, handled Ceberano for a brief time before going into partnership with Vivian Lees and launching their national rock festival The Big Day Out. John McAll went on to play and record with Goodge's former collaborator David Chesworth
, and other jazz and rock acts.
In 2003 Goodge revived a trio of Essendon Airport with David Chesworth and Graham Lee
. In 2007 Kate Ceberano appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2
performing versions of I'm Talking's "Trust Me" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". As of 2008 Cox is a conservator at the State Library of Victoria
. In October 2010, Bear Witness (1986) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
.
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
-pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...
and Zan Abeyratne
Zan Abeyratne
Suzanne "Zan" Abeyratne or simply Zan is an Australian-raised singer born in London. Known for her beautifully soulful voice, Zan came to prominence as one of the female lead vocalists of the 1980s Australian band, I'm Talking, which included the equally powerful vocal skills of Kate Ceberano.Along...
. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in 1987.
History
After the break-up of MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
-based experimental funk band Essendon Airport
Essendon Airport (band)
Essendon Airport was an Australian post-punk group from 1978-83 who explored experimental minimalist, electronic and funk music. They reformed in the original duo lineup for occasional performances in 2003 following the re issue of Sonic Investigations of the Trivial...
in 1983, members Robert Goodge on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Ian Cox on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and Barbara Hogarth on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
set about forming a band to create inventive, commercial, funk-pop music. I'm Talking's original line-up were Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...
on vocals (ex-Expozay, Hoagy Cats), Stephen Charlesworth on keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, Cox, Goodge, Hogarth and Cameron Newman on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. They introduced sophisticated dance beat music to the pub rock
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
scene, performing for a year before recording their debut release. The EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Someday was released in May 1984 on the independent
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Randelli label. They also contributed to the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of the short film More Sex Stories, they attracted the attention of manager Ken West and then signed to Regular Records. Zan Abeyratne
Zan Abeyratne
Suzanne "Zan" Abeyratne or simply Zan is an Australian-raised singer born in London. Known for her beautifully soulful voice, Zan came to prominence as one of the female lead vocalists of the 1980s Australian band, I'm Talking, which included the equally powerful vocal skills of Kate Ceberano.Along...
(ex-Grand Wazoo, Bang) joined as a second lead vocalist.
I'm Talking released "Trust Me" in December 1984, which peaked at #10 on the Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
for the Australian singles charts. This was followed by "Lead the Way" in July 1985, then a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
song "Love Don't Live Here Anymore
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is a song written by Miles Gregory and originally recorded by Rose Royce. It was produced by former Motown songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield for the Whitfield Records...
" in September, which both peaked into the top thirty. Although their songs are credited to the band as a whole (i.e. I'm Talking), in fact Goodge and Cox wrote virtually all the music and lyrics. The group won 'Best New Talent' and 'Best Debut Single' for "Trust Me" for 1984 at the Countdown Awards ceremony broadcast in 1985. On 13 July, I'm Talking performed "Lead the Way" in the 1985 Oz for Africa
Oz for Africa
Oz for Africa was an Australian concert held on 13 July 1985 at the Sydney Sports and Entertainment Centre. It was broadcast locally and internationally as part of the worldwide Live Aid performances to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The concert featured 17 bands performing some of their...
concert (part of the global Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
program). It was broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
and Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
) and on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the US.
I’m Talking recorded their debut album Bear Witness in Melbourne, it was released in August 1986. Produced by Fred Maher
Fred Maher
Fred Maher is an American drummer, programmer and record producer.He was a member of Massacre , Material, Scritti Politti, Lou Reed, and is best known as the producer of I'm Talking's album Bear Witness , Lou Reed's album New York , Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend , and Information Society's self...
(drummer for Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Although there have been various changes to the line-up, Cardiff-born singer-songwriter Green Gartside was the founding member of the band and the only member to have remained throughout the group's...
) and Martyn Webster, it peaked at #14 in the albums charts, and spawned three more singles for their Australian label Regular Records. "Do You Wanna Be", entered the charts in May and peaked at #8, this was their highest charting single. "Holy Word" in August featured solo vocals by Abeyratne and peaked at #9. "How Can it Be?" was released in October but had no charting success. They signed to London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
in the UK but disagreements between the band and that label lead to only one single ("Do You Wanna Be") being released outside of Australia. At least three of their songs later appeared in the 1988 film For Queen & Country.
After returning from their 1986 UK tour supporting Five Star
Five Star
Five Star are a British pop / R&B group, formed in 1983. Comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson, they were known for their flamboyant image, matching costumes and heavily choreographed dance routines...
, there were line-up changes, Warren McLean (ex-Machinations
Machinations
Machinations: An Anthology of Ingenious Designs is the second short story anthology published by the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild...
) replaced Newman on drums and Kevin Wiltshire was 'imported' from the UK tour as a second keyboardist. That line-up appeared on the national Australian Made
Australian Made
Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, Jimmy Barnes and INXS. The series started in Hobart on 26 December 1986 and...
tour of January 1987. By March, Abeyratne, Charlesworth and McClean had left. New members were John McAll on keyboards, Philip Jackson on drum machine and electronics, and rapper Tricky J. However, no new material was recorded by this line-up. Ceberano won 'Best Female Vocalist' for 1986 at the final Countdown Awards held in 1987. New material was performed live in 1987, but Ceberano departed to pursue her solo career and I'm Talking disbanded in July 1987. In 1988, a compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Dance was released by Regular Records.
After I'm Talking
After the break-up of I'm Talking, Abeyratne released three solo singles. Goodge went into partnership with Gavin Campbell to form Filthy Lucre, specialising in remixRemix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es. They were responsible for transforming Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi are an Australian band with Aboriginal and balanda members formed in 1986. Aboriginal members come from Yolngu homelands near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Northern Territory's Arnhem Land...
's folk-rock song "Treaty
Tribal Voice
-Reception:The album reached a peak of #4 on the ARIA album charts.-Track listing:#"Gapu" #"Treaty" #"Djäpana" #"My Kind of Life" #"Maralitja" -Reception:The album reached a peak of #4 on the ARIA album charts.-Track listing:#"Gapu" (Traditional song, arranged by Galarrwuy Yunupingu)#"Treaty"...
" into a dance-groove hit single. I'm Talking's manager, West, handled Ceberano for a brief time before going into partnership with Vivian Lees and launching their national rock festival The Big Day Out. John McAll went on to play and record with Goodge's former collaborator David Chesworth
David Chesworth
David Chesworth is an award-winning Australian-based composer and installation artist. Known for his experimental, and at times minimalist music, he has worked in rock groups, classical ensembles, theatre, opera...
, and other jazz and rock acts.
In 2003 Goodge revived a trio of Essendon Airport with David Chesworth and Graham Lee
Graham Lee (Australian musician)
Graham Lee is an Australian rock musician and record producer, best known as the steel guitar player of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he was nicknamed 'Evil Graham Lee'....
. In 2007 Kate Ceberano appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2
Countdown Spectacular
The Countdown Spectacular is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series Countdown.-Countdown Spectacular:...
performing versions of I'm Talking's "Trust Me" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". As of 2008 Cox is a conservator at the State Library of Victoria
State Library of Victoria
The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...
. In October 2010, Bear Witness (1986) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was published on 25 October 2010 by Hardie Grant Books...
.
Members
- Kate CeberanoKate CeberanoKate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...
— vocals (1983–1987) - Stephen Charlesworth — keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
(1983–1987) - Ian Cox — saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
(1983–1987) - Robert Goodge — guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1983–1987) - Barbara Hogarth — bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1983–1987) - Cameron Newman — drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(1983–1986) - Zan AbeyratneZan AbeyratneSuzanne "Zan" Abeyratne or simply Zan is an Australian-raised singer born in London. Known for her beautifully soulful voice, Zan came to prominence as one of the female lead vocalists of the 1980s Australian band, I'm Talking, which included the equally powerful vocal skills of Kate Ceberano.Along...
— vocals (1984–1987) - Warren McClean — drums (1986–1987)
- Kevin Wiltshire — keyboards (1986–1987 session musician)
- John McAllJohn McAllJohn McAll is a pianist, composer, arranger and producer with experience ranging from jazz, pop, blues, contemporary classical, afrobeat and theatre....
— keyboards (1987) - Philip Jackson — drum machineDrum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, electronicsElectronic musical instrumentAn electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
(1987) - Tricky J (Julien Lodge) — rappingRappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
(1987)
Albums
- Bear Witness - Regular (RML 53202) (August 1986) AUS #14
- Dancing - Regular (1988) (Compilation album)
Singles
- "Trust Me"/"Take It to the Bridge" - Regular (RRSP 734) (December 1984) AUS #10
- "Lead the Way"/"Disko (Fall in Love Forever)" - Regular (K-9778) (July 1985) AUS #25
- "Love Don't Live Here AnymoreLove Don't Live Here Anymore"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is a song written by Miles Gregory and originally recorded by Rose Royce. It was produced by former Motown songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield for the Whitfield Records...
"/"Cry Me a River" - Regular (K 9817) (September 1985) AUS #21 - "Do You Wanna Be?" - Regular (K-9925) (May 1986) AUS #8
- "Holy Word" - Regular (K-39) (August 1986) AUS #9
- "How Can it Be?"/"Disaster" - Regular (K-119) (October 1986)
Compilation
- Cooking with George - Various Artists. Two tracks by I'm Talking: "Here, There and Everywhere", "Scratching" - JJJ (X-13185) (1984) - Box set of five 12" EPs.
Videos
- Music videoMusic videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s were made for each single, from "Someday" onwards. - Australian Made (1988) - live festival video with INXSINXSINXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
, DivinylsDivinylsDivinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...
, The SaintsThe Saints (band)The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
, The TriffidsThe TriffidsThe Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...
and ModelsModels (band)Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...
. - Countdown - The Wonder Years (2006) Retrospective compilation DVD from the TV show Countdown; one track from I'm Talking, "Trust Me"
Further reading
- Pay to Play by Wendy Milson, Helen Thomas and Ponch Hawkes, Penguin 1986
- Australian Made - 1987, book of the January 1987 live tour