Girls on the Avenue explained

Girls on the Avenue
Type:studio
Artist:Richard Clapton
Cover:RC - Girls On The Avenue.jpg
Alt:The album title and the artist's name are written near the top. The main part is a black-and-white photo of three women and the artist. He has his right hand over his right eye, while the other eye is closed.
Studio:Festival Studio 24, Sydney
Genre:Rock
Label:Infinity/Festival
Producer:Richard Batchens
Prev Title:Prussian Blue
Prev Year:1973
Next Title:Main Street Jive
Next Year:1976

Girls on the Avenue is the second studio album by Australian rock music singer-songwriter, Richard Clapton, which was released in April 1975. It peaked at number 33 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.[1] The title track reached number 4 on the related Singles Chart.[2] It was originally released as the B-side of "I'm Travelling Down the Castlereagh", after considerable radio play, it was named as the A-side. The album was produced by Richard Batchens who later produced albums for the Australian band Sherbet, and was released on CD in 1990.

At the 1975 Australian Record Awards, the album won Male Vocal Album.[3]

Reception

In May 1975 Tony Catterall of The Canberra Times felt Girls on the Avenue showed that Clapton was, "suffering from a case of rock schizophrenia: he can't make up his mind whether to be himself, or Australia's answer to Van Morrison... [he's] better off being himself and stick to his fine, gentle rock with his distinctive, melodic voice because it's on tracks, like the title cut where he's at his best... [He] is capable of writing above average lyrics when he's working from his own travelling experiences, [but] when he tries to extrapolate too far from them he falls into banalities that are only made worse by a singing style intended to make them sound profound."[4]

Australian rock music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, observed that, "Almost universally [the title track] was assumed that his song was a sympathetic ode to street walkers... Girls on the Avenue, the song and the album, assured that [Clapton] had Australia's attention from now on. The rest of the album's songs revisited the themes on [his] first album... [The second album's cover] saw Richard depicted with what appeared to be the heroines of his song. One really was!"[5]

Personnel

Band Members
Production

Release history

CountryDateLabelFormatCatalog
AustraliaApril 1975Infinity RecordsLP, Album; Cassette L 35508; C35508
Australia1990Festival Records, Infinity Records[7] CD (Re-Release)D 35508/D 19582

References

  1. http://australianmusicdatabase.com/recordings/girls-on-the-avenue-by-richard-clapton "Richard Clapton – Girls on the Avenue (Album)"
  2. http://www.australianmusicdatabase.com/recordings/i-m-travelling-down-the-castlereagh-b-w-girls-on-the-avenue-by-richard-clapton "Richard Clapton – 'Travelling Down the Castlereagh' / 'Girls on the Avenue'"
  3. Australian Music Awards. Billboard. World Radio History. 54. 29 November 1975. 12 November 2021.
  4. News: Rock Music: Schizophrenia Mars Gentle Works . . 49 . 14,075 . 26 May 1975 . 6 November 2019 . 13 . .
  5. Web site: https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040428140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/14231/20040429-0000/www.howlspace.com.au/en2/claptonrichard/claptonrichard.htm . Richard Clapton . Nimmervoll . Ed . Ed Nimmervoll . Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd . 28 April 2004 . 6 November 2019 .
  6. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. 1975. 0-646-11917-6. St Ives. 94. David Kent (historian). N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.
  7. https://www.discogs.com/Richard-Clapton-Girls-On-The-Avenue/release/8382431 Richard Clapton - Girls On The Avenue (CD Version) at Discogs