Maxine (Sharon O'Neill song) explained

Maxine
Cover:Maxine by Sharon O'Neill.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Sharon O'Neill
Album:Foreign Affairs
Released:May 1983
Recorded:Sydney, New South Wales
Genre:Pop
Length:4:35
Label:CBS Records
Producer:John Boylan
Prev Title:Losing You
Prev Year:1983
Next Title:Danger
Next Year:1983

"Maxine" is a song by New Zealand singer and songwriter Sharon O'Neill. The song was released in May 1983 as the second single from her fourth studio album, Foreign Affairs (1983). The song peaked at number 16 in Australia and New Zealand. It remain's O'Neill's highest charting single in Australia.

Background and release

Late in 1981, O'Neill moved from New Zealand to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to pursue her music career.[1] It was here that she wrote "Maxine", a song that chronicled the life of a Kings Cross prostitute.[2] In a 2016 interview, O'Neill said; "I was living in a hotel in Kings Cross when I got the inspiration to write "Maxine". She was always out there working at 3am when we'd get home bleary-eyed from a gig"[1]

Two music videos were filmed: one in New Zealand[3] for general audiences,[4] and the other in Sydney with far more explicit themes.

Track listing

7" (BA 223082)

Cover versions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Twelve Questions with Sharon O'Neill . NZ Herald. 23 February 2016. 3 August 2023.
  2. Web site: SHARON O'NEILL. MAXINE . Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision . 8 March 2017.
  3. Web site: Maxine. Sharon O'Neill. NZ On Screen.
  4. Web site: NZ Music Month: An ode to Maxine. Lizzie Marvelly. 2016-05-04. Villainesse.
  5. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, NSW. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  6. Web site: Statues in the Park. iTunes Australia. 10 March 2017.
  7. Web site: Cut me Loose. iTunes Australia. 10 March 2017.
  8. Web site: Battle of Broken Hill (EP). iTunes Australia. 10 March 2017.