"You Got Nothing I Want" is a 1981 single from Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...

, the first released from the album ''

Circus Animals ''Circus Animals'' is the fourth studio album by Australian band Cold Chisel, released on 8 March 1982. It was recorded and mixed at Paradise Studios and EMI Studios 301, Sydney, between September and December 1981. It reached number one on ...

''. One of the band's heaviest and most aggressive songs, which was written by singer

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...

in response to the treatment they received at the hands of a record company executive during a U.S. tour earlier in the year. Don Walker said, "After we came back, Jim wrote 'You Got Nothing I Want' more or less as a personal tribute to Marty Schwartz." "You Got Nothing I Want" was also the first song on the album, and representative of the different sound Cold Chisel was attempting on ''Circus Animals'' in a conscious effort to move away from the slick commercial pop rock of ''

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

''. It spent 19 weeks in the national charts, peaking at number 12. Producer Opitz said, "Musically, 'You Got Nothing I Want' was inspired by 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 ...

' '

Start Me Up "Start Me Up" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album '' Tattoo You''. Released as the album's lead single, it reached number one on Australian Kent Music Report, number two in Canada, number two on the ''B ...

'. The Stones' '

Tattoo You ''Tattoo You'' is the sixteenth U.K. and eighteenth U.S. studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 24 August 1981 by Rolling Stones Records. The album is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970 ...

' was Australia's number one album when we entered the studio and Mossy would tune up by playing the riff. I'm sure if you put the start of 'Start Me Up' at the start of 'You Got Nothing I Want', it would work perfectly." A video clip was made for the song. Directed by Peter Cox, who had previously directed the " Cheap Wine" video, it featured the band miming in the wooden-floored

Paddington Town Hall The Paddington Town Hall is a heritage-listed former town hall building located at 249 Oxford Street, Sydney, Oxford Street in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner eastern Sydney suburb of Paddington, New South Wales, Paddington, in the City of Sy ...

. On the 2007

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

'' Standing on the Outside: The Songs of Cold Chisel'', "You Got Nothing I Want" was covered by

Alex Lloyd Alexander Lloyd (Birth name, né Wasiliev; born 19 September 1974) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', ''Watching Angels Mend'', ''Distant Light (Alex Lloyd album), Distant Light'' and ''Alex Lloyd (al ...

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described Barnes' vocals as sounding like, "a buzz saw blade that's flown loose and ripped through a bunch of parked cars. The boys come crashing in through the window like a bunch of rowdies with hell-raising on their minds, cranking out the guitar rock rottweiler." New Zealand music magazine '' Rip It up'' described the song as, "a crunching rocker, and one wonders why he's contributed so few songs to their repertoire". Andrew McMillan wrote in ''

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

'', the song was, "complete with single camera clip and appropriately brutal delivery. Without compromising their own concept of a rock'n'roll band, they spat at the acknowledged life-support system with defiance."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control Cold Chisel songs 1981 songs Warner Music Group singles Songs written by Jimmy Barnes Song recordings produced by Mark Opitz