Can't Help Myself (Flowers song) explained

Can't Help Myself
Cover:CantHelpMyselfAus.jpg
Alt:Vinyl single label with word Regular Records written at top. Single title, Can't Help Myself is written across lower half followed by songwriting credit, Iva Davies. Bottom has artist name, Flowers, followed with Produced by Cameron Allan.
Caption:"Can't Help Myself" by Flowers
Type:single
Artist:Flowers
Album:Icehouse
B-Side:Send Somebody
Recorded:1980
Genre:
Length:3:10
Label:
Producer:
Next Title:We Can Get Together
Next Year:1980
Misc:

"Can't Help Myself" is the first single released by the Australian synthpop/rock band Flowers, later known as Icehouse.[1] [2] It was released in May 1980 as a 7" vinyl single on independent label, Regular Records, five months ahead of debut album Icehouse. A 10" vinyl single was released in July and had a cover depicting individual images of band members diagonally across the band's name and the single's title (see infobox at right middle). It peaked at #10 on the Australian Singles Charts.[3]

The music video was filmed in 1980 in a car park in Chatswood, Sydney.[4]

It was also released in the UK on Chrysalis Records in October 1981 as the second single under the band name Icehouse (see infobox at right below) as both a 7" and 10" vinyl single and later in the U.S. as a 7" and 12" single.[5] A remix version by Australian Trance DJ, beXta, was released on the Icehouse album Meltdown in 2002.[6]

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Can't Help Myself" was ranked number 85.[7]

Reception

In a single review Cash Box magazine called it "a quick stepping rhythm embellished by both guitar and synthesiser, draws the listener in."[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Iva Davies (as Ivor Arthur Davies) unless otherwise indicated.[9] [10] [11]

7" single (Australian release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself" - 3:10
  2. "Send Somebody" (Iva Davies, Michael Hoste)[10] - 3:42

10" single (Australian release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself"
  2. "Send Somebody" (Davies, Hoste)
  3. "Can't Help Myself" (Extended version)

7" single (UK release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself" (Club Mix 1) - 3:27
  2. "Fatman"[11] - 3:50

12" single (UK release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself" (Club Mix 1)
  2. "Can't Help Myself" (Club Mix 2)
  3. "Fatman"

12" single (US release)

  1. "Can't Help Myself" (Version 1) - 5:56
  2. "Can't Help Myself" (Version 2) - 5:56

Personnel

Credits:[12]

Flowers members
Recording details

Charts

Year-end charts

Notes and References

  1. Encyclopedia: McFarlane . Ian . Ian McFarlane . . Encyclopedia entry for 'Icehouse' . 6 November 2009 . 1999 . . . 1-86508-072-1 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030517224039/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=937 . May 17, 2003 .
  2. Web site: Icehouse. https://web.archive.org/web/19981205220619/http://hem2.passagen.se/honga/database/i/icehouse.html. dead. 5 December 1998. Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Magnus Holmgren. 6 November 2009.
  3. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book Ltd. St Ives, NSW. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970 - 1974.
  4. Web site: IVA DAVIES & ICEHOUSE - 1994 Mum & Dad Davies Interview . Spellbound-icehouse.org . 2016-10-16.
  5. Web site: Can't Help Myself. Connolly & Company. 2004. 29 June 2008.
  6. Web site: [{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r615650|pure_url=yes}} Meltdown > Credits ]. Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. 16 July 2008.
  7. News: Musicfeeds. Here Are The Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'. 4 January 2020. 27 January 2018.
  8. Single Reviews . Cash Box. World Radio History. 13. 7 November 1981. 1 December 2021.
  9. Web site: Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). "Can't Help Myself" at APRA search engine. 7 November 2009.
  10. Web site: Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). "Send Somebody" at APRA search engine. 7 November 2009.
  11. Web site: Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). "Fatman" at APRA search engine. 7 November 2009.
  12. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20130929120725/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/i/icehouse.html . The Flowers / Icehouse . Holmgren . Magnus . Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren) . 29 September 2013 . 21 March 2014 .
  13. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 147.
  14. Web site: National Top 100 Singles for 1980. . 341 . . 5 January 1981 . 17 January 2022 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Can't Help Myself (Flowers song)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.