''Guilty Until Proven Insane'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

released by

Skyhooks Skyhook was a location technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in location positioning. Founded in 2003, Skyhook initially focused on geolocating Wi-Fi access points by wardriving for commercial purposes. Skyhook trans ...

on 13 March 1978. It was the first album to feature Bob Spencer, who replaced guitarist

Red Symons Redmond Symons (born 13 June 1949) is an Australian musician and television and radio personality. He was the lead guitarist in the band Skyhooks, the snide judge of 'Red Faces' (a segment of the long-running variety show '' Hey Hey It's Satur ...

in early 1977. Spencer had played in Sydney rock band

Finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...

and would later become a member of The Angels.

Details

The album's name comes from a line in the song "Twisted Innocence", which states 'if I'm guilty until proven insane...' The first 5000 copies of the album were available in red vinyl. It is the first of Skyhooks' albums to include an uncensored version of "Why Dontcha All Get Fucked" recorded in a studio, as opposed to live and

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

versions. It is also the last album vocalist Graeme "Shirley" Strachan made with Skyhooks before the recording sessions which would be released as '' The Lost Album''. In April 1979, 350 copies of the album were seized by Victorian vice squad detectives. Senior Constable John Challis said, "The record in question was by the Skyhooks called "Guilty Until Proven Insane" and one song was suspected of being obscene." Two singles were released from the album. "Women in Uniform" was a Top 10 hit nationwide, while "Megalomania" peaked at number 93. The sixth track in the album, "Hotel Hell", was used on the

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

reality series ''

Hotel Hell ''Hotel Hell'' is an American reality television series created, hosted and narrated by Gordon Ramsay, which ran on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network for three seasons from 2012 to 2016. It aired on Monday nights at 8 pm ET/PT. It was Ra ...

'' starring

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

Reception

Donald Robertson, writing in ''

Roadrunner The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States, Mexico and C ...

'', expressed disappointment with the album: "I'm afraid to say it's a really patchy affair. Apart from the cracking "Women in Uniform" the album lacks the sparkle and wit of the stage act and the previous albums. I only hope

Greg Macainsh Gregory John Macainsh (born 30 December 1950) is an Australian former musician and songwriter. He provided bass guitar and backing vocals for pop rockers, Skyhooks from 1973 to 1980 and subsequently for various reformations. According to Austra ...

goes back to writing songs about Australia. No one does it better." '' Rip It Up'' magazine's Jeremy Templer wrote that: "Like

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, Skyhooks still feel something of an obligation to be outrageous but they remain as strikingly original as when they first began."

Track listing

Personnel

*Graeme "Shirley" Strachan – lead vocals *Bob Spencer – guitar, backing vocals *Bob "Bongo" Starkie – guitar *

– bass guitar, narration *Imants "Freddy" Strauks – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

Joe Camilleri Joseph Vincent Camilleri, (born 21 May 1948) pseudonym, aka Jo Jo Zep, is a Maltese Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows. Jo Jo Zep & ...

(Courtesy OZ Records),

Wilbur Wilde Wilbur Wilde (born Nicholas Robert Aitken on 5 October 1955) is an Australian saxophonist, television personality and radio presenter. He is best known for his work on ''Hey Hey It's Saturday''. He rose to prominence with the bands Ol' 55 and ...

– saxophones on "Hotel Hell" *Tony Ansell – piano on "Why Dontcha All Get Fucked"; organ on "Meglomania" *Eddie "Spag" Leonetti – organ on "Twisted Innocence"; string machine on "Point in the Distance"

Details

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

External links

References