Primitive Man (album)
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''Primitive Man'', the second 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 ...
by Australian rock band Icehouse, was released on 20 September 1982. In January 1982, Icehouse founder Iva Davies started recording ''Primitive Man'' essentially as a solo project. It was co-produced with Keith Forsey, who later worked with
Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...
and
Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...
. Forsey supplied additional
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
; Davies supplied
vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
s,
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
, keyboards ( Sequential Circuits Prophet-5),
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
and programmed the Linn drum machine. Released as an Icehouse album, ''Primitive Man'' reached number 3 on the National album charts and provided their international breakthrough single, " Hey Little Girl", which peaked at number 7 in Australia, number 2 in Switzerland, number 5 in Germany, the top 20 in UK, Sweden and Netherlands, and number 31 on the US ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart. Another single " Great Southern Land" made the Australian top 5; it was later featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious film '' Young Einstein'', and remains their most popular song according to listeners of
Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...
in 2007. To promote ''Primitive Man'' on tour, Davies re-assembled Icehouse with Michael Hoste (keyboards) and John Lloyd (drums), and new members: Bob Kretschmer (guitar, backing vocals), Guy Pratt (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Andy Qunta (keyboards, backing vocals). After the United Kingdom top 20 chart success of " Hey Little Girl" the album was re-released as ''Love in Motion'' in 1983 and contained the same tracks in different order except "Break These Chains" being replaced by "Love in Motion"; the alternate cover work was a still from the
Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian director of film, television, and music videos. He began his career directing music videos for artists like Elton John and Duran Duran, before making his feature directorial debut with the ...
directed video for "Hey Little Girl" (see infobox below right). In 1996, Icehouse released a
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
called '' Love in Motion'' on dIVA / Massive Records, which contains "Love in Motion" but does not have any material from the original Australian release of ''Primitive Man''. ''Primitive Man'' represented a slight departure from earlier material and a move from the more rock-based style of their first album to the synth-based, more atmospheric albums such as ''
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'' and ''
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''. This style is exemplified in "Hey Little Girl", a very relaxed, introspective song which reflects the overall tone of the album punctuated by the heavier "Glam" and the more dance-based "Mysterious Thing". The final track "Goodnight Mr. Matthews" was Iva Davies by his own account directly referencing
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
's songwriting and singing style for the first and only time. The "Street Café" music video clip was filmed in
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
, in a four-day visit into which was packed a lifetime’s worth of difficult, unpleasant, and even hazardous living experiences for performers and film crew alike. Iva Davies flew out of Tunisia still covered with dust and camel dung, clad in the boots, breeches, and bandolier used in the filming, and vowing never to return to that part of the world again.


Track listing

All songs written by Iva Davies.


1982 Australian release


1983 US / UK release


Personnel

Credited to: Icehouse members * Iva Davies
vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
s,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5,
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
, Linn drum machine,
Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...
*Michael Hoste – keyboards (bonus tracks) *Bob Kretschmer – guitar (bonus tracks) *John Lloyd – drums (bonus tracks) *
Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British bassist. He has worked with artists including Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Gary Moore, Madonna, Peter Cetera, Michael Jackson, the Smiths, Robert Palmer (singer), Robert Palmer, Echo & the Bunnymen, T ...
– bass guitar (bonus tracks) Additional musicians * Keith Forsey – additional
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
*
Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...
– bass guitar (bonus tracks) *James SK Wān – bamboo flute Recording details *Mixing – Cameron Allan, Bob Clearmountain, Iva Davies, Keith Forsey *Engineer – Dave Jerden, Brian Reeves, David Price, Rick Butz *Produced – Iva Davies, Keith Forsey *Digital remastering (2002) – Iva Davies, Ryan Scott Art work *Front Cover – Bill Tom *Sleeve & Back Cover Photography – Craig Dietz *Cover Concept – Janet Levinson, Iva Davies *Cover design (''Love in Motion'') – David Storey


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primitive Man (Album) 1982 albums Icehouse (band) albums Albums produced by Keith Forsey Chrysalis Records albums