"Science Fiction" is a song by Australian new wave band

Divinyls Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school un ...

, which was the lead single from their first studio album '' Desperate''. Released in December 1982, "Science Fiction", peaked at No. 13 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

Singles Chart. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988. The B-side, "I'll Make You Happy" is a cover of

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success ...

1966 hit. In May 2001, "Science Fiction" was selected by

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

Background

Christina Amphlett and

Mark McEntee Mark McEntee ( ; born 16 July 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the Australian rock band, Divinyls. Early life McEntee was born in Perth, Western Australia, and went to Christ Church Grammar Sc ...

(ex-

Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975, consisting of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). With record sales of 100 million worldwide, they had a suc ...

) met at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

where Amphlett was singing in a choral concert in 1980. They recruited Jeremy Paul (ex-

), Bjarne Ohlin and Richard Harvey, and they provided the soundtrack for the film '' Monkey Grip'' (1982). The group released two singles from the soundtrack, '' Music from Monkey Grip'' EP, "Boys in Town", which reached No. 8 on the national singles chart, and "Only Lonely". Original bassist Jeremy Paul left before the movie or first single were released. He was replaced on bass, eventually by Rick Grossman (ex

Matt Finish Matt Finish are an Australian rock band formed in mid-1979 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Matt Moffitt (1956–2003) and drummer, composer and producer John Prior. The 1981 line-up of Moffitt, Prior, Richard Grossman on bass guitar and ...

). After releasing ''Music from Monkey Grip'' EP on

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

in 1982, Divinyls released their first studio album '' Desperate'' on

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

in 1983. The album included the No. 13 hit on the Australian

Singles Chart, "Science Fiction" . Their early manager

Vince Lovegrove Vincent James Lovegrove (19 March 1947 – 24 March 2012) was an Australian musician, journalist, music manager, television producer and AIDS awareness pioneer. He was a member of 1960s rock 'n' roll band The Valentines, sharing vocals with B ...

was former co-lead vocalist of 1960s pop band The Valentines with

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of ''Classic Rock (m ...

(later in

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

); Lovegrove had organised Divinyls' transfer from WEA to Chrysalis and their first tours of United States. The B-side of this single is their cover version of The Easybeats' 1966 hit "I'll Make You Happy".

Track listing

# "Science Fiction" (Christina Amphlett, Mark McEntee) – 3:32 # "I'll Make You Happy" (

Stevie Wright Stephen Carlton Wright (20 December 1947 – 27 December 2015) was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Called Australia's first international pop star, he is best known for being the lead singer of the Easybeats, who are widely rega ...

, George Young) – 3:21

Personnel

Divinyls members *

Christine Amphlett Christine Joy Amphlett (; 25 October 1959 – 21 April 2013) was an Australian singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the frontwoman of the rock band Divinyls. She was notable for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive hum ...

– vocals *

– guitar * Bjarne Ohlin – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals * Richard Harvey – drums * Rick Grossman – bass guitar Additional musicians Production details * Producer –

Mark Opitz Mark Opitz (born 1952) is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. He started his career with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1971. He has produced AC/DC, the Angels, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Divinyls and INXS. He h ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

References

{{Authority control 1982 singles APRA Award winners Divinyls songs Songs written by Chrissy Amphlett Songs written by Mark McEntee 1982 songs Song recordings produced by Mark Opitz Chrysalis Records singles